The Satanist's Apprentice
Astra apprentices under a trapped occultist, turning the Legends into cartoons.
"The Satanist's Apprentice" is the fifth episode of the sixth season of the American science fiction television series Legends of Tomorrow, set in the Arrowverse. It was directed by series lead Caity Lotz and features a portion of the episode in an animated style inspired by 1990s Disney animated films. The episode stars Olivia Swann as Astra Logue and includes the character Aleister Crowley, who was turned into a painting by John Constantine.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Legends of Tomorrow
- Director
- Caity Lotz
- Writer
- Keto Shimizu; Ray Utarnachitt
- Air date
- 6 June 2021
- Guests
- Raffi Barsoumian as Bishop
- Matt Lucas as Aleister Crowley (voice)
- Russell Roberts as Robert Truss
Facts from the source article.
Plot
At John Constantine's manor, Astra Logue struggles with chores and her neighbor Robert Truss, feeling ignored by Constantine. Bored, she finds Aleister Crowley, an occultist trapped in a painting, who offers to help her find the Fountain of Imperium, a source of alien magic. The Legends arrive, and Astra transforms them into household objects. When Astra tries to stop Crowley from usurping Truss's and the Legends' souls, he betrays her and turns everyone into cartoon characters. Astra uses a spell from her mother Natalie to remove all magic, re-trapping Crowley and restoring everyone, but depowering herself and Constantine. Meanwhile in space, Sara Lance meets her kidnapper Bishop, who claims human greed doomed Earth and wants Sara to teach strength to a new humanity using alien DNA. Sara recruits an AVA clone to escape, but the clone betrays her; after killing Bishop, she is knocked out and wakes to find him again at his lair.
Production
Co-showrunner Phil Klemmer explained that the concept of a part-animated episode began as a joke, as the story became so outlandish that it felt like a 1990s Disney movie. The episode was written by co-showrunner Keto Shimizu and Ray Utarnachitt. Its title, "The Satanist's Apprentice", is a pun on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "The Sorcerer's Apprentice". Klemmer noted that the episode focuses on Astra Logue, portrayed by Olivia Swann, who serves as the episode's version of a Disney Princess. The episode follows two parallel storylines: Astra's at Constantine's manor and Sara Lance's in Bishop's lair. Caity Lotz found these storylines tonally different and challenging to make feel like the same show. The episode references the SyFy series Wynonna Earp, which had previously referenced Legends of Tomorrow. The cast includes Olivia Swann, Caity Lotz, Tala Ashe, Jes Macallan, Shayan Sobhian, Lisseth Chavez, Nick Zano, and Matt Ryan, with all except Lotz providing voice work for their animated characters. Jes Macallan also portrays Bishop's AVA clones, Raffi Barsoumian appears as Bishop, and Matt Lucas guest stars as the voice of Aleister Crowley.
Release
"The Satanist's Apprentice" first aired in the United States on The CW on June 6, 2021, watched by a live audience of 420,000 viewers with a 0.1% share among adults aged 18 to 49. It was the lowest-viewed broadcast in its 8 PM timeslot, the lowest on The CW behind an episode of Batwoman, and the lowest overall for the night. Its viewership matched the previous episode "Bay of Squids" and slightly exceeded the following episode "Bishop's Gambit". Including DVR viewership, it reached a total of 818,000 viewers. The episode received generally positive reviews. Bruno Savill De Jong of Screen Rant praised the animated format and its fluidity, calling it a character-focused episode for Astra, though he found the plot predictable. Allison Shoemaker of The A.V. Club rated it A−, praising the contrast of storylines and the performances of Lotz, Swann, and Ryan, but felt it was less cohesive than "Mortal Khanbat". Jim Dandeneau of Den of Geek called about 90% of the episode an all-time classic, but criticized inconsistent characterization of Constantine. Bruno Savil de Jong of Game Rant called it a highpoint of the season. In 2024, Emma Singer of Comic Book Resources labeled the episode "Peak of the Series' Weirdness".
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