DC’s Legends of Tomorrow said goodbye to a few more members of the team in its season 5 finale — including Charlie, who decided to leave the Legends. Following in the footsteps of The Flash, the superhero ensemble was the second direct spin-off from Arrow. Although the first season proved mostly underwhelming, the show found its footing in season 2. Embracing a unique and chaotic tone, Legends of Tomorrow is widely considered the Arrowverse’s best show. Though all productions within the shared DC universe are on an extended hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it has already been renewed for a sixth season.

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Played by Maisie Richardson-Sellers, the character Charlie debuted in Legends of Tomorrow season 4. Initially thought to be one of the escaped fairytale creatures that the team was hunting, the Legends (and, especially, John Constantine) clashed with Charlie at first. Across the episodes, however, Charlie became a firm member of the makeshift, dysfunctional family. With the power to shapeshift, she proved an invaluable member throughout her return in Legends of Tomorrow season 5. Equally, the new episodes further fleshed out her backstory, revealing that she was, in fact, one of the three godlike Fates. As such, she found herself caught up in the battle between free will (represented by the Legends) and preordained destiny (embodied by her two sisters).

Ultimately, the Legends prevailed — successfully killing Atropos (Joanna Vanderham), rendering Lachesis (Sarah Strange) mortal, and destroying the Loom of Fate. In the wake of saving the world, the team of heroes celebrated in 1970s London. Once the festivities were over, Charlie revealed that she wouldn’t be returning to the Waverider with the Legends. Instead, she decided that she would remain with her old rock band, The Smell, and forge her own individual path. After the episode, it was confirmed that Richardson-Sellers was officially leaving the Arrowverse to focus on directorial endeavors.

The decision will no doubt disappoint many fans; however, the choice actually makes sense on both a character and a thematic level. Given that it was as the lead singer of The Smell that the Legends first discovered Charlie, there is an element of this moment being her story coming full circle. That symbolism is all but laid out in the song she chose to perform for the crowd — an homage to Mr. Parker, whose in-world TV show theme song references a road that ends in a circle. Charlie’s run on the show began with her running from being imprisoned once again. Legends of Tomorrow season 5 established that she had actually been running from a lot more than that the whole time. As such, the episode marked her no longer burdened by the looming presence of her sisters, the potential fallout from her past actions, or the battle between free will and destiny. For the first time in her long life, she was actually free. She could finally make choices based on what she actually wanted. The fact she used that choice to stay in one place for a change not only worked with the themes of the season, blending a need for stability and unpredictability, but also as a fitting conclusion to her character arc.

It’s certainly a far cry from the departure of Ray Palmer and Nora Darhk earlier in Legends of Tomorrow season 5 — which even actor Brandon Routh was unhappy with. This isn’t the first time Richardson-Sellers has acted out a character leaving the show, however. For two seasons, she previously played Amaya Jiwe (aka Vixen), who departed at the end of Legends of Tomorrow season 3, and whose form Charlie would shapeshift into. As a result, there remain numerous opportunities for both the character and the actress to return in a guest-star capacity down the line. After all, in a world occupied by such sci-fi elements as time and interdimensional travel, nobody in Legends of Tomorrow is ever truly gone. For now, however, fans can at least content themselves with the fact her story had a complete beginning, middle, and (unlike the original Zari Tomaz) a fitting and largely happy end.

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John Atkinson
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John Atkinson has been a news and feature writer for Screen Rant since late 2018. Before that, he had articles published across a number of different outlets. A graduate of the University of London, John was raised on a small island by television and movies. As such, he pursued a career in screenwriting and film journalism when it became apparent that actually becoming Spider-Man was impossible. John’s fondest wish is to one day produce a film of his own. Until then, he’s more than happy to spend countless hours just talking about them.

John’s love of film and television defies genre and sometimes even logic. Nothing is off-limits to his passion – be it Marvel, DC, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars, or Tommy Wiseau’s latest cinematic offering.

Away from screens, John can often be found in a park reading mystery and/or fantasy novels, jumping up and down at various music events, or thinking too deeply about Keanu Reeves’ career and why Edgar Wright doesn’t have an Oscar.

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