| “ | You don't understand. The reason the "xenomorphs" are here... Because they have a beef with the metahumans. Tell us something we don't know. Like what exactly have we done to them? Nothing. Yet. But they see individuals with powers such as yours as a future threat, and, frankly, so do I. |
” |
The Dominator Invasion is the Dominators' assault on Earth after deeming the metahumans of the planet to be a great threat to the universe.
History[edit | hide | hide all]
Background[edit | hide]
Reconnaissance in Force[edit | hide]
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In 1951, skeptical over the existence of metahumans on Earth, specifically the Justice Society of America. the Dominators sent a group of their army to execute reconnaissance in force. Upon their arrival, the United States government was able to locate their presence in Redmond, Oregon, though did not act under President Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower's orders. This was proven to be a mistake as the Dominators slaughtered countless soldiers on sight, ultimately calling a truce with Agent Smith of the Department of Defense.[1][2]
Flashpoint[edit | hide]
In 2016, Barry Allen traveled back in time to night of his mother's murder and prevented the Reverse-Flash from committing the crime. Allen created an alternate timeline where both of his parents were alive, and he was able to live a normal life without operating as The Flash. He soon realized the consequences of his actions and how it jeopardized the lives of those close to him. With the help of the Reverse-Flash, Allen returned back in time and allowed the former to murder his mother, seemingly resetting the timeline. Unfortunately, the reversal was not completely effective due to the limits of time travel, and slight changes to reality remained. This act alerted the Dominators once more, with them invading Earth after 65 years.[2][3]
Conflict[edit | hide]
Sending the Dropships[edit | hide]
The invasion began with the Dominators sending four dropships across different cities, among those was Central City, home of Barry Allen, The Flash. Allen was terrified as he arrived on scene, with the Dominators running out of the ship and regrouping with the others. The incident caught the attention of the media, though they were unable to acquire any information except for the Department of Defense's claim that it was merely a drone. Lyla Michaels of A.R.G.U.S. also arrived on scene, but was told not to interfere by National Security Agency operatives. Allen then met Michaels back at S.T.A.R. Labs, with Michaels briefing the team of the Dominators' previous encounter back in 1951. Knowing that they were underwhelmed against aliens, Allen sped across to Star City and recruited Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Thea Queen and Felicity Smoak for assist. Allen also sent a message to the Legends and traveled to Earth-38 to recruit Kara Danvers, the alien superhero known as Supergirl.[1]
Test Run Against Supergirl[edit | hide]
With Team Flash, Team Arrow, the Legends and Supergirl at the S.T.A.R. Labs Hall, Allen and Queen briefed them of the current situation. Allen was appointed leader by Queen, though was inexperienced to effectively lead the group and ordered the group to prepare for a test run under Queen's subtle hints. Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson soon approached Allen, showing him an audio of himself from 2065, warning Rip Hunter and the Legends not to trust him in the Dominator Invasion. Regardless, Queen decided that they should leave the secrets of the Flashpoint until after the invasion is thwarted.[1]
Subjugation of Heroes[edit | hide]
After the test run, the heroes were informed of the kidnapping of the President of the United States, eventually locating the Dominators' base in a salt mine. Before they left, Cisco Ramon discovered the recording and revealed that Allen's tampering of the timeline, as well as its consequences on those present in the hall. Ramon convinced the others that Allen should not be trusted, which Allen himself agreed despite Queen's assurance to the team. Both Allen and Queen were left at the hall, while the rest attempted to rescue the president. Unfortunately, the group was ambushed and brainwashed by the Dominators, with them soon arriving at S.T.A.R. Labs and attacking Team Flash.[1]
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Allen and Queen discovered the attack in the Time Vault and went outdoors to find the heroes unresponsive, yet violent towards them. Allen successfully took out Atom and Firestorm with his lightning bolts, though was ineffective towards the invulnerable Supergirl. As Queen ran to cover from Speedy, White Canary and Heat Wave, Allen fell on the ground and was unable to defend himself. Thankfully, Wally West was able to disorient the trio for Allen to recover. Supergirl then surprised West and knocked him unconscious, right as Team Flash and Overwatch discover the source of the brainwash. Now with a clear plan to stop the heroes, Allen lured Supergirl back to the salt mine and forced her to chase him within the building, while Queen brought West to safety using an underground tunnel beneath S.T.A.R. Labs. Ultimately, Allen was able to trick Supergirl into slamming directly into the source of the brainwash, ending the chaos once for all.[1]
Acquiring Metahuman Intel[edit | hide]
As the heroes recover from the brainwash, they reunited outside of S.T.A.R. Labs in the rain until beams of light started kidnapping members of the group, including White Canary, Atom, Speedy, Spartan and Green Arrow, all of whom were humans without any means of fighting back using their powers. Heat Wave then gathered the rest of the heroes and brought them towards the building as he ran to safety, with Allen trying to grab Queen before he was kidnapped, though he was unsuccessful.[1]
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The kidnapped heroes were then placed in a shared dream world where Queen was never on Queen's Gambit, Diggle was The Hood, Laurel Lance was alive and both Palmer and Smoak remained together. While it seemed to be a peaceful world to the heroes, they soon began to interact with others and got occasional flashes of memories of their real lives, realizing that it was merely a dream sequence activated by the Dominators.[4]
Escape from the Dominator Mothership[edit | hide]
While back on Earth, Ramon and Smoak went to the Bunker and hoped to search for the kidnapped heroes with the help of the rest of Team Arrow. Holt proposed that they hack the alien device Ramon took from the Dominator Dropship, and discovered that they require a regulator to compensate for the excess Dominator power output. They tracked a regulator powerful enough at Van Horn Industries, albeit the device was stolen by Laura Washington and used to enhance her physiology. Knowing that they were not powerful enough to take her down, Smoak called The Flash and Supergirl for backup, leading the two alongside Mister Terrific, Wild Dog and Ragman to the factory.[4]
Arriving on site, Wild Dog expressed his disgust towards superpowered individuals, believing that their hopes to improve the world does more harm than good. Regardless, he worked with the other heroes and was immediately attacked by Washington. Wild Dog was unable to defend himself from her electric blasts, but was rescued by The Flash and Supergirl, whom he then thanked and appreciated.[4]
As Team Arrow attempt to locate the kidnapped heroes, those within the dream world began to fight back against the fail safes based on their enemies in their memory. After defeating Dark Archer, Deathstroke and Damien Darhk, they made their way to the Smoak Technologies Building and woke up on the Dominator Mothership, where they discover they had been taken to outer space. Under Queen's leadership, they made their way to one of the dropships and attempted to out fly the fleet of warships, with the Dominators assembling an advanced cannon against them. Thankfully, the Waverider arrived just in time to break the Dominator fleet's formation, using the tractor beam to attract the heroes' dropship and jumping back to Earth. On the Waverider, they discussed their next move, with Palmer asking Gideon to translate a phrase which he heard. Gideon was unable to fully interpret the meaning of the phrase, but claim that it roughly translates to "we are nearing completion of the weapon" and the mothership was heading on a direct course for Earth at the moment.[4]
Battle of Redmond[edit | hide]
Believing that the Dominators' main intention was against the metahumans, Nate Heywood proposed that they abduct and interrogate a Dominator from 1951, during their reconnaissance mission. Queen and Allen agreed to the plan, and sent Ramon, Smoak, Rory and Amaya Jiwe back in time. In 1951, the Legends waited until they found a Dominator slightly weaker than the others. With ease, they were able to knock him unconscious and were approached by the United States government, led by Agent Smith. Smith ordered the operatives to tranquilize the Legends, taking all of them into custody as they experimented on the Dominator. Ramon and Smoak later came to their rescue, shooting their way into the facility and rescuing the Dominator in the process, with Ramon keeping a transponder in his possession. Ramon then received a call from the Dominator hoping to spare their lives for saving him from death, but he would not be willing to do the same for Barry Allen.[2]
Ultimatum[edit | hide]
Meanwhile, in 2016, the remaining heroes were called to meet the new president as Stein and his daughter work to develop a weapon that extricates the Dominators. The heroes were unable to meet the president, as Agent Smith arrived to demand Allen's surrender. Smith revealed the truth behind the Dominators' return, that they were alerted by Allen's threatening behavior against the universe. Smith claimed that he had come up with a compromise: Allen's surrender for the Dominators' retreat. After Smith left, Allen conversed the heroes and insisted on doing as Smith said. The heroes refused to let him sacrifice himself and thwart the invasion alone, and instead convinced him that they would be able to thwart the invasion together. Stein then informed the group that he had completed the design of the weapon, and distributed among the heroes as they prepared for battle.[2]
Battle of Central City[edit | hide]
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On a rooftop, the heroes of Earth stood across the Dominators as the battle began. The group was split into three: one remaining on the ground to halt the Dominators from attacking the rest of the city, one trying to prevent the detonation of the Meta-Bomb, and one distributing the miniature weapons against the Dominators across the planet. During the battle, Lance and Ramon realized the Waverider was not powerful enough to stop the bomb from landing on Earth, and summoned the help of Firestorm. Firestorm attempted to transmute the bomb, but Jackson claimed that he was not strong enough. Stein successfully motivated him that he must be able to do so, since it would mean the death of his daughter as well. Firestorm successfully transmuted the bomb into water, as Smoak activated the weapons against the Dominators and putting them in agonizing pain. The pain led to their retreat, with them leaving on their mothership as the number of Dominator vessels on Earth doing the same. The Dominator Invasion was thwarted once and for all, with the combined help of Team Flash, Team Arrow, the Legends and Supergirl.[2]
Aftermath[edit | hide]
After their victory, President Susan Brayden went in person to thank those that participated in the war, claiming that no matter masked or not, with or without superpowers, they were all considered heroes. They later celebrated at the S.T.A.R. Labs Hall, with Ramon gifting Danvers an Inter-Dimensional Extrapolator for her to travel across dimensions when needed. The heroes also forgive Allen for his mistakes of creating Flashpoint, as Queen and Allen realize that even though they have the choice of living a normal life, that life would never be full for either of them.[2]
Appearances[edit | hide]
| Appearances | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
Medusa | Mentioned |
 |
Invasion! (The Flash) | Appears |
 |
Invasion! (Arrow) | Appears |
 |
Invasion! (DC's Legends of Tomorrow) | Appears |
|
The Present | Mentioned |
|
Supergirl Lives | Indirectly Mentioned |
|
Phone Home | Mentioned |
|
Crisis on Earth-X, Part 1 | Mentioned |
|
There Will Be Blood | Indirectly Mentioned |
|
Fadeout | Pictured |
|
Marathon | Name Seen |