Posted in: CW, Preview, TV | Tagged: arrowverse, cw, Legends of Tomorrow, season 7

Legends of Tomorrow EP/Co-Showrunner Explains [SPOILERS] Departure

Since it's still less than 24 hours since the final credits rolled on a rather "golden" season finale of The CW's DC's Legends of Tomorrow, we're going to avoid going too deep into spoilers for "Knocked Down, Knocked Up." That said, we would be remiss if we didn't check in with co-showrunner & EP Keto Shimizu about a certain character's departure from the show, why it was the right time, what their departure means, and if the door is open for a return down the road. So with that said, we are throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer before going any further… you have been warned!

As you know from the season finale, Nate (Nick Zano) rescues Alun (Tom Forbes) but in doing so, he's hit with mustard gas and loses his steel abilities- seemingly for good. But all is not lost as he retires to the Wind Totem to live out his life with Zari (Tala Ashe). Now here's a look at what Shimizu had to say about the decision to TVLine:

Season 7 Finale Just Felt Like the Right Time: "It felt like it was time. It was sort of a natural time to say goodbye to this character. We feel so lucky to have had this wonderful span of six years of developing this character and working with such a talented man."

On Why Nate Needed to Lose His Powers: Explaining that "it felt like a natural way to end his run on the show," Shimizu went deeper into the reasoning. "He began the show by gaining the superpower. It felt right that he say goodbye to it as he's saying goodbye to the team. As we explore in this finale, he still doesn't feel done. He feels like he has this ability, and he has this drive to be out there and saving people," Shimizu continues, "and it really made sense, to us, that he would probably never feel like his job was done as long as he still had that ability because he would always feel like, 'Am I wasting this power by being here and not going out there and actively using it?' We wanted him to literally go out there and give it 100 percent. And in this case, he does that and more, because by going out there into the mustard gas and saving Alun, he becomes a regular mortal man again. But now he knows that he did everything in his power to do this act of heroism."

Nate Finally Got to Break His Family's Legacy/Curse: Having "broken the curse of his forefathers, which was to die on the field, on the moon, by demon, all these ways that Heywood men have died in the past," Nate can "finally say like, 'Wow, I'm still alive. Guess what? I'm going to go live,' and for him that means being with Zari and living a really good life."

So Is Nate Really Gone for Good? "Of course, the door's always open for people to come back and visit. But yes, this is a real goodbye. He's heading off to live with Zari in the totem and to finally writing his book."

DC's Legends of Tomorrow stars Caity Lotz as Sara Lance aka White Canary, Dominic Purcell as Mick Rory aka Heat Wave, Nick Zano as Dr. Nate Heywood aka Steel, Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Charlie, Tala Ashe as Zari Tarazi, Matt Ryan as Constantine/Dr. Gwyn Davies, Jes Macallan as Ava Sharpe, Courtney Ford as Nora Darhk, Olivia Swann as Astra Logue, Adam Tsekhman as Gary Green, Amy Louise Pemberton as Gideon, Lisseth Chavez as Esperanza "Spooner" Cruz, Aliyah O'Brien as Kayla. Greg Berlanti, Phil Klemmer, Keto Shimizu, Grainne Godfree, and Sarah Schechter executive produce. Bonanza Productions Inc. produces, in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

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