Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 19 - Spartan

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Armed with new information on the killer of Emkio's mother, Oliver hopes to turn his sister away from the Ninth Circle. Unfortunately, a sudden setback will leave Team Arrow at a disadvantage and send Diggle looking for help from an old military contact he has a bad history with. Meanwhile, Felicity is approached with an interesting offer regarding her company, only to have the Ninth Circle steal her latest invention for their own purposes.



Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (The Ninth Circle and Emiko Queen) and Chuck Dixon (the Cygnus X-1 weapon)


Performances

Ernie Hudson is a fun presence as General Stewart.


Trivia

Alena makes reference to a Dr. Will Magnus wanting to buy Smoak Technologies. Felicity describes him as the world's greatest expert on robotics. First appearing in Showcase #37 in April 1962, Dr. Will Magnus was the scientist who created the super-powered robots known as the Metal Men.

Diggle's stepfather is revealed to be a Marine General named Roy Stewart. It is worth mentioning that there is a long-running fan theory that John Diggle is the Arrowverse equivalent of John Stewart - a career soldier who became a Green Lantern. This would seem to confirm the idea, as it was suggested that John Diggle, on Earth-90, had become Green Lantern.

Diggle makes mention of his father dying during a secret mission to Vlatava. In the DC Comics Universe, Vlatava is an Eastern European nation with a long history of religious and sectarian turmoil. The entire country, with the exception of its president and Count Vertigo (the last surviving member of its royal family) was killed by The Spectre.

The Ninth Circle is after a biological weapon dubbed Cygnus X-1, which is said to be a bacteria that can eat through anything. This sounds similar to Mutajek 9-9 - a self-replicating biological weapon from the Green Arrow comics which could eat through any form of plastic and destroy a city in minutes. In the Where Angels Fear To Tread storyline, Oliver Queen died trigger an explosion that prevented a Mutajek 9-9 bomb from being detonated over Metropolis.


Technobabble

The item Virgil and his men were sent to purchase was an ARGUS vault drive, triple-level encryption or eyes-only documents

Felicity says the vault drive contains a security failsafe protocol to prevent it from being hacked that isn't the same as the ones used by ARGUS. She recognizes them as belonging to the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The Galaxy One helmet is powered by a module made of an alloy proprietary to Galaxy One. In order to access its workings, Felicity must get one of that exact make of module.

With enough pressure at a steady pace, a shoelace can saw through hard plastic.

Cygnus X-1 was meant to genetically engineer a bacteria that could consume the byproducts of nuclear fission. Instead, it created a bacteria that would eat through nearly anything.


Dialogue Triumphs

Virgil: (eying Alena as she wields a keyboard like a club) Pistol beats keyboard, darling.

(General Stewart enters into the Bunker)
Stewart: So this is where you people work? Impressive.
Oliver: How did your men end up at Smoak Tech, General?
Stewart: Several months ago, the DIA  got wind of a Ninth Circle mole inside ARGUS. Since then, we've made it a point of tracking their activity, including the theft of that drive, which led us to your friend Virgil.
John: Wait. Wait. Wait. I thought you said you didn't know anything?
Stewart: I said I couldn't -tell- you anything.

Alena: What happened to Archer putting Smoak Tech on the map?
Felicity: Well, that was before I realized all the bad that she could do. I wanted to invent something that would help save the city, and instead I made something that can destroy it.
(Felicity freezes up in horrified realization.)
Felicity: Oh, my God. I'm a mad scientist. Oh, my God, no. It's so much worse than that. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm my dad!
Alena: I am your friend who has some real-life experience working with evil geniuses, and you need to trust me on this one - you are not one of them, okay?

John: Oliver told me the truth about Vlatava... about my father. Why did you let me believe a lie? You let me hate you.
Stewart: Every child deserves to believe that his father is a hero. And believing it, you became one. If he could see you today, I know he would be so proud of you.
John: If I'm a hero It was all because of you, Sir.


Continuity

Virgil appears for the first time since 714, leading the group of Ninth Circle soldiers trying to buy a high-security ARGUS vault drive.

When Felicity accidentally fries the drive before they can figure out what the Ninth Circle was after, John Diggle says he has a contact with the Defense Intelligence Agency - the DOD department who encrypted the vault drive.

John's contact is revealed to be General Roy Stewart - John's step-father.

General Stewart denies knowing anything about the Ninth Circle and says he can't tell them anything about what is on the drive since John lost his security clearance after he quit ARGUS.

Felicity is still trying to get Archer rebooted.

Robotics expert Dr. Will Magnus is apparently interested in buying Smoak Technologies because of Archer. Apparently it sounds similar to an AI he's been working on for years.

Smoak Technologies is attacked by the Ninth Circle and Virgil.

Felicity and Alena are saved by General Stewart's men, but the tablet holding Archer is stolen.

General Stewart lied about not knowing about the Ninth Circle and reveals the drive contained a list of DIA Special Agents in the field.

John has never gotten along with his step-father. He later tells Oliver this is due to Stewart being his father's commanding officer on a Vlatava, where he died and the report of the mission making it sound like Stewart left his men to die while escaping himself

John also says that Stewart was a harsh man, who had him and his brother run through the same Spartan-style training drills that he did as a marine in a bid to make them tougher. He said he didn't care if he was liked, so long as they were strong.

Only one of the DIA agents is unaccounted for. When Team Arrow goes after him General Stewart and Diggle are ambushed and abducted by the Ninth Circle.

General Roy Stewart has been, over the course of his career, the thrice-decorated Commander of the 1st Recon Battalion, Commandant of the USMC, the head of DARPA and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to Felicity, the botched mission where Diggle's dad died was actually a huge success and part of why General Stewart was asked to head DARPA.

The Ninth Circle wanted General Stewart for his knowledge of a project called Cygnus X-1. It becomes clear they intend to use Archer to find the DIA personnel who have access to it and follow them to steal it.

Oliver gives John the unredacted files describing his father's death. According to them, John's dad was negligent, got two other Marines killed and the only reason anyone survived was because of General Stewart's leadership.

Felicity deletes Archer rather than let it be used by the Ninth Circle.

Oliver tries to tell Emiko about Dante's setting up her mother's assassination, but she doesn't believe him.

The Ninth Circle gets away with the Cygnus X-1.

John makes his peace with General Stewart.

Alena makes a back-up of the root files of Archer. She says they can rebuild but Felicity argues against it. Judging by the way Alena looks at her flash-drive, she disagrees.

Emiko kills Dante, saying she learned the truth about how he arranged for her mom ti die.  He says it was to make her stronger by destroying the final piece of her old life.

Mia gives Felicity the helmet she took from the Galaxy One soldier in 718.

The bombs The Canaries stole are secure and William is making sure they can't be exploded remotely.

Roy and Dinah are setting up a perimeter around the last Canary Nest.

Felicity needs a unique power module to access the helmet. Connor and Mia go to retrieve one.

The Deathstrokes are a gang that control part of the marketplace in Central City. Only certain people can get into their territory.

Connor has a UV tattoo that allows him to go into Deathstroke territory.

John Diggle Jr. is revealed to be the leader of The Deathstrokes. Connor says that he rebelled against their parents teachings.

Before their off-camera encounter, Connor hadn't seen JJ in over a year. They used to be best friends before JJ rebelled against their father.

Mia forgives JJ for lying to her while working in his deep-cover identity.

Mia and JJ have to evade the Deathstrokes that JJ apparently sent after him.

Felicity determines the helmet connects its wearer to Archer, effectively giving them an AI-driven sixth sense. An army of soldiers with tech-enhanced armor could easily destroy the Canaries, according to Felicity.


Untelevised Adventures

Connor Hawke's meeting with JJ takes place off camera.


The Bottom Line

A lackluster and largely forgettable episode, that does nothing to advance the plot until the final two minutes. Even then it doesn't really change much beyond letting us know WHY the soldiers killing The Canaries are so awesome and Dante dying... though it is unclear if Emiko is going to turn on the whole organization or use the Ninth Circle to make the whole world burn. Alas, thinking on next week's episode is more entertaining than this one.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 17 - Inheritance

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.




Plot

Black Siren is out to prove Emiko Queen is no good and convinces Oliver and the newly reforged Team Arrow to start investigating a lead that winds up leading them to Dante and his organization, The Ninth Circle! Oliver and Rene want to believe Emiko's story about being recruited at a young age and forced into their service but can she be trusted?  Meanwhile, Dinah takes Black Siren to task for her losing her temper and nearly attacking the criminals she is meant to be convincing to plea-bargain.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (Ninth Circle, plotline regarding Emiko Queen not being trustworthy)


Goofs

While it is certainly the most in character Black Siren has been in the last few episodes of Season 7, her sudden temper tantrums while interviewing suspects and threatening to kill people while trying to secure confessions has come out of nowhere. (Perhaps she's feeling new pressure now that Mayor Pollard isn't as focused on trying to catch Star City's vigilantes?)


Artistry

The fight between Emiko and Oliver in the bunker is well blocked.


Trivia

Dante's organization is finally confirmed to be called the Ninth Circle. First appearing in Green Arrow: Rebirth #1, the Ninth Circle are a sinister financial cabal with connections to numerous captains of industry and illegal enterprises. Deep believers in lasszie-faire capitalism, the Ninth Circle will back any business that can turn a profit, even if it involves unsavory things like slavery, terrorism or illegal medical experiments.

The Arrowverse version of the Ninth Circle seems to be cut from the same cloth as the organization in the comics. The key difference so far is that the Arrowverse version is not as flamboyant in their costuming, with their henchmen preferring black robes, hoods and masks to scarred, burned flesh. It remains to be seen if the leadership of the group meet in formal robes and masks, ala Eyes Wide Shut.


Technobabble

Felicity says that Archer has progressed from being a home security system to being a DNA-tracking surveillance system.

Oliver finds a jammer in the med bay of the Bunker that seems to be stopping Archer from rebooting. It is later revealed this also wiped the memory card which means Felicity has to rebuild the entire infrastructure.

Alena says they could reprogram Archer to scan for the DNA of people they don't have a record of, but that would require their hacking a medical or criminal database.


Dialogue Triumphs

Ollie: So you were never under duress.
Emiko: Sorry to disappoint you, but that's what family does, right?

Ollie: You've been lying this entire time, everything about our father, your debt to Dante?
Emiko: It was all true, but I never needed you to put me back together. I just knew you'd try. Can't resist playing the hero, can you?

Ollie: You went looking for a family, and you chose the Ninth Circle?
Emiko: Better than living as a Queen.

Ollie: You don't have to be a part of this. You have a choice!
Emiko: I've made it!

(Diggle finds Oliver brooding in a corner of The Bunker)
Digg: You want to talk? Not even to the guy who found out his long lost sibling was secretly an evil double agent?
Ollie: Being reminded that this has happened before is not really making things better.
Digg: I get that, but I also know that despite what Emiko's done, you're not quite ready to give up on her.
Ollie: That obvious, huh?
Digg: Only to someone who knows you and who's been there. All I wanted was to bring Andy back over to the light. I don't have to remind you what having that blind spot cost us.
Ollie: No, you don't. But please, John, trust me when I tell you that I am seeing Emiko more clearly than I ever have.
Digg: Oliver, you're still trying to save her.
Ollie: John, my family is to blame for her current situation. My my father abandoned her and her mother. She was 11! She was 11 years old, and no one's gonna convince me that... that her life wouldn't be different now if that had never happened.
Digg: Andy tried to convince me that I was the reason for his bad choices, too. He made me feel so guilty that I was willing to trust him again even after knowing he worked for Damien Darhk. I held out hope, Oliver, so much hope that I put you, my family, my team at risk.
Ollie: John, if I abandon her now I'm no better than my father. If I can help redeem her, selfishly I feel like I... I help redeem my family, just a little.

Emiko: (To Black Siren) I thought I was punishing you for following me. Maybe I just set you free?


Dialogue Disasters

(Dinah tells Black Siren about the murder of Gustavo Hernandez)
Black Siren: You think I did this.
Dinah: I'm not exactly hearing a denial.
Black Siren: I shouldn't have to give you one! I think I've done more than enough to have earned the benefit of the doubt from you!
Dinah: I saw how you looked at that man, and it was the same look that you gave Vinnie right before you executed him.
Black Siren: I have busted my ass being a good DA, trying to play by the rules, but no matter what I do, you always just see me as the Black Siren!

(Yes, I killed your boyfriend, but have you ever stopped to think about how hard it is for me not to kill people who annoy me and get in my way?)


Continuity

It is revealed that Emiko Queen did know her father and that he had been keeping her and her mother in a nice house before Moira threatened to take him to the cleaners if he didn't abandon his second family.

Oliver learned Taekwondo from Talia while he was in Russia.

Emiko says she has a good teacher who taught her how to defend herself, but does not elaborate.

Oliver says that Thea always wanted a sister. Emikio says she wanted the same thing.

Emikio catches Black Siren spying on her.  Black Siren is able to get away after being grazed by one arrow.

Alena - Felicity's hacker friend from Helix, makes her first appearance since 613. She is given the full name of Alena Whitlock.

Alena has been in hiding since her on-line hacker identity was a known associate of Cayden James. She's currently working at Tech Village - the big box computer/tech support story Felicity was working at as Season 3 opened.

Alena never told Felicity her full name or gave her a DNA sample when they worked together previously.

Felicity offers Alena a job as CTO of Smoak Technologies. She accepts.

A wounded Black Siren shows up at Ollie and Felicity's apartment, looking for Felicity. When her bandage starts bleeding through, Ollie offers to help take care of it.

Black Siren tells Ollie his sister is not the hero he thinks she is. Oliver, unsurprisingly, does not believe her.

Black Siren says there's no records of Emiko's existence from after she was 15.

Oliver says that Emiko is good enough that if she wanted to kill Black Siren, she'd be dead, so the wounding shot was a warning to back off.

Oliver makes reference to actually shooting Barry Allen (F108) and Roy Harper (208) to make a point.

Oliver finally says he will look into it if Black Siren will promise to back off.

Oliver follows Emiko that night and finds her in the company of Dante and some hooded men who are breaking into Palmer Technologies.

The group meets a scientist who offers Dante and Emiko 8 military-grade drones in exchange for her family's safety.

The lab is blown up with C4 as Oliver is entering the building. He finds the scientist who tells him he must stop The Ninth Circle.

The Ninth Circle are a group so secret that even Felicity could barely find out anything about them on the Dark Web. Despite this, they have an insignia, which was stamped on all the weapons used by Virgil's goons in 714.

Digg confirms that neither he nor Lyla had heard the name The Ninth Circle in everything they did to investigate Dante.

The Ninth Circle has existed since the 14th century - the era of the original Dante.

The Ninth Circle's symbol has popped up on a number of artifacts connected to times of historical upheaval and regime change, including The War of the Roses, The Russian Revolution and the colonization of The Americas.

Black Siren botches a case by illegally coercing a confession out of the Halcones Kingpin Ramiro Gonzales.

Dinah Drake informs Black Siren she has a second chance with Gustavo Hernandez - one of the Halcones' lieutenants. She reminds her once again that she's supposed to follow the rules as District Attorney and that she's going to get fired if she keeps this sort of thing up.

Emiko claims she's been training with her fighting teacher since she was 11.

When Oliver confronts Emiko over seeing her with Dante, she admits that Dante was her teacher and that she was taken under his wing after Robert Queen abandoned her and her mother. She says she had no idea who he was as a child but now knows what a bad person he is.

Oliver offers to help Emiko get out of the Ninth Circle. Emiko says he will only make it worse for her if he tries and there is no way out of the Ninth Circle once you are in.

In a flashback, it is revealed that Dante first encountered Emiko when she was being employed as a runner by Frank Bertinelli. She tried to steal his watch. He noticed, but it was a good lift. He agrees to teach her how to fight but warns her that if she steals from him again he will slit her throat.

Digg is able to get a DNA sample of Dante from the dagger Dante used to kill ARGUS Deputy Director Bell.

Felicity is able to use the sample to track Dante to Szrek Chemicals' plant in Star City. This is the same company whose Central City branch employs Orlin Dwyer (aka Cicada) in The Flash.

Team Arrow is able to stop Dante from robbing the chemical factory and abducting Emiko after he accuses her of betraying him, but he manages to escape.

Emiko says that Dante was trying to steal enriched uranium. There are only two other places in Star City that have it - Dunkirk Power and Global Energy.

Rene tells Emiko he doesn't regret their partnership and he'll still help her take down Dante.

In the flashbacks, an older Emiko has some sort of plan to win Robert Queen's approval that causes her to skip combat practice. Dante admonishes her for abandoning the Ninth Circle, saying they are her family now. He gives her an envelope that he says contains their gift to her.

Black Siren nearly blows the interview with Gustavo Hernandez after he starts taunting her about how Quentin Lance was never able to convict him either.

Emiko reveals herself as a willing Ninth Circle agent rather than having been blackmailed into service.

Digg discovers a break-in at the waste-treatment site in Orchard Bay. The materials stolen there give Dante everything they need to make sarin gas.

Gustavo Hernandez is found dead one hour after being released by the DA's office. Luckily, this scares another Halcones' lieutenant into testifying.

Dinah accuses Black Siren of killing Gustavo Hernandez, though she admits she has no proof other than the fact that she came close to killing him during their earlier interview.

Dante has found who hired Andrew Thornton to make the gun that killed Emiko's mother.

Dante says Emiko can go and deal with her mother's killer but expects her to return and complete her mission once that is done.

In the flashback, Emiko approaches Robert Queen with a business proposal for a new business she calls Queen Materials Inc. She projects that it will be profitable in 6 months with a growth of 14% on the initial investment. Robert says he wishes Oliver showed this sort of interest in business, let alone an aptitude for it, but unfortunately says he has to give his company to Oliver and can't support Emiko in any way. This meeting is revealed to take place just before Robert and Oliver Queen's fateful trip on The Queen's Gambit.

Diggle makes reference to his brother Andy having been a secret double agent like Emiko.

Emiko is confronted by Rene at the drone release site. She uses an explosive arrow to knock him out of her way but doesn't target him directly.

Emiko refuses another chance to let Oliver help her escape the Ninth Circle.

Oliver is able to shoot down 7 of the 8 droves. Emiko shoots his eighth arrow.

Felicity was unable to stop the last drone from releasing its gas. Thankfully, it turns out its target was an abandoned building, as were the missed targets. It seems that this was the test for an eventual real terrorist attack to make sure the drones could release the gas as planned.

Someone releases photos of Black Siren with Ricardo Diaz to the press.

Emiko meets Black Siren in her office and admits to releasing the photos to the press and killing Gustavo Hernandez. She says that she had intended for it to punish Black Siren for stalking her, but confesses that maybe she set her free instead.

Alena is an opera buff and compares Feliicty's coding to a rondo finale. Felicity doesn't get the reference.

Emiko Queen is revealed to be the leader of The Ninth Circle and Dante her trusted right-hand.

The final flashback, to the night of the Queen's Gambit's sinking, reveals that what Emiko found in the envelope Dante gave her was an invoice from Malcolm Merlyn and a blue-print of the Queen's Gambit showing where the explosives were planted.


The Bottom Line

A game-changing episode that might be perfect if it weren't for how haphazardly karma has started to catch up with Black Siren. The stakes also seem remarkably low now that the Ninth Circle has finally been unveiled and one has to wonder why Dante is suddenly wandering around crime scenes in a suit. Still, at least the season seems to finally be going somewhere in the modern day.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 7, Episode 14 - Brothers & Sisters

For a summary of the episode guide layout & categories, click here.



Plot

After months of covertly pursuing the mystery man called Dante, Diggle and Lyla finally have a solid lead on the elusive terrorist. The new Ghost Initiative team is deployed to find him, much to the annoyance of Oliver and Felicity, who have learned of Digg's plans for Ricardo Diaz. Meanwhile, Oliver tries to bond with Emiko by helping her to investigate her mother's murder. And in the future of 2038, William Clayton is confronted with the news that he has a half-sister and tries to win her over so they can find the missing Felicity together.


Influences

The Green Arrow comics of Benjamin Percy (character of Dante, character drama between Oliver and Emiko)


Performances

Adrian Paul is a suitably powerful presence as Dante.


Trivia

The bullet which killed Emiko Queen's mother is said to be made of a rare promethium alloy. In the DC Universe, promethium is a rare metal which comes in two forms - depleted and volatile.

Depleted promethium was developed by Dayton Industries and is frequently used in alloys for defensive purposes. Cyborg's armor and cybernetic components are made of alloys of depleted promethium mixed with titanium and vanadium. At one time Roy Harper wore a bodysuit made of Kevlar and a mesh made of depleted promethium.

Volatile promethium can generate and absorb energy and act as a power source. Exposure to volatile promethium has triggered the metagene in some individuals. Deathstroke's armor, sword and staff are made - in whole or in part - of volatile promethium.

In the modern day DC Universe, promethium is one of the five heavy metals born of the Dark Multiverse, along with Nth Metal, Dionesium, Electrum, and Batmanium.

ARGUS discovers that Dante is having a meeting with Princess Noor Harjavti of Qurac. Diggle says he believes that the Princess is planning a revolution and may be asking Dante for help financing it. In the DC Comics universe, Noor Harjavti was a character introduced in the Captain Atom comics as the daughter of the dictator of Biayla and leader of her nation's Freedom Council.

The Arrowverse version of Princess Noor Harjavti seems to be based upon a version of the character introduced in the Young Justice animated series. In this reality, her father was the ruler of Qurac rather than Biayla.


Technobabble

The bullet which killed Emiko's mother was made of a rare promethium alloy used by a handful of black market weapons manufacturers and fired from a customized rifle.



Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: (To Emiko) I understand that my parents weren't exactly the best people, but if they taught me one thing, it's the value of family, which is what you and I are. So if someone's hurt you, you better believe they've hurt me, too.

Mia: If you're here to convince me to join your little merry band of heroes, save your breath.
William: Actually, I was just hoping that we could commiserate about how much our parents suck. I never had anyone to do that with before.
Mia: What do you have against our parents? Seems like you came out all right. You're super rich.
William: Well, let's see. Oliver, being my dad, got my mom killed. Then he and Felicity promised to stay in my life after my grandparents took custody, and then I never heard from them again. And my whole justification for it, you know, that it's hard for publicly recognized vigilantes to raise children, sort of went out the window when I found out they actually had another kid, which means that they just didn't want me.
(There's a long pause as Mia regards William.) 
Mia: Being the kid they wanted wasn't so great either.

Emiko: It's been hard for me not seeing you as him.
Oliver: Him being our father?
Emiko: I just assumed I shouldn't trust you. That's why I've been keeping so much distance between us.
Oliver: Then you give me a chance, and I, of course, immediately overstep.
Emiko: Pretty much.
Oliver: I've lost a lot in my life. People, you know? But with you, I lost time. So you gave me a chance, and I immediately saw it as an opportunity to get some of it back. But there was no excuse for the way that I behaved when I was coming aboard your mission. I'm sorry.
Emiko: I didn't realize Oliver Queen did apologies.
Oliver: Well, I mean, I didn't, but... I've grown a bit over the years.


Continuity

Felicity has a nightmare of Diaz chasing her through the woods which mirrors the nightmare Oliver had of Felicity and William being hunted by Diaz in 701.

Oliver has been trying to call William and has filled his mailbox with voice-mails.

Rene tells Oliver that Zoe froze him out of her life when he first lost custody of her.

Dinah is still in the hospital after being attacked by the Star City Slayer. She has tried checking herself out several times.

Rene tells Oliver about Emiko's mother being murdered.

Oliver approaches Emiko with the bullet used to kill mother.

John Diggle tells Oliver and Felicity about The Ghost Initiative program and Diaz's role in it.

Oliver says he trusts John to keep Diaz controlled. Felicity is less confident.

Felicity begins plotting with Black Siren to trigger the bomb in Diaz's head, but Black Siren tries to talk her out of it, saying it isn't worth the risk.

Black Siren guesses Felicity is pregnant, based on the fact that she's skipping the usual wine and coffee that accompanies their meetings and she is eating more chocolate than normal.

The Ghost Initiative is ambushed at their meeting with Virgil, who was apparently tipped off as to the meeting being an ARGUS operation.

ARGUS' analysis of Diaz' phone call to Virgil fails to detect any code phrases or suspicious words indicating he delivered a secret warning.

Virgil carried a replica of a Italian Florin circa 1300 which contained a heavily encrypted microchip.

Andrew Thornton is a black market weapons dealer who specializes in promethium-based custom weapons. Oliver thinks he is the one who made the gun that killed Emiko's mother.

Oliver is able to arrest Thornton, but Emiko intervenes and tries to question him despite Oliver having taken control of the raid on Thornton's latest arms deal.

Diggle finds fake diplomatic credentials for the Qurac Embassy on the microchip. This leads him to believe that Dante will be meaning with the Quraci princess.

Diggle recruits Oliver and Felicity to help with the operation to capture Dante.

Lyla and Diggle discover that the mole in ARGUS is Deputy Director Bell, who is meeting with Dante and the Quraci Princess.

Diaz attempts to blow the operation by warning Dante it is a set-up, as a means of paying off his debt.

Dante kills both Deputy Director Bell and the Princess. He is shown to be a skilled knife-fighter, both in throwing them and hand-to-hand combat.  He is able to knock Oliver Queen's arrows out of the air in mid-flight and can hold his own in a one-on-one battle.

Dante is able to escape after Diggle chooses to stop Diaz from escaping.

Felicity chooses not to kill Diaz, despite being given the chance.

Diaz is sent back to Slabside for violating the terms of his release.

The Ghost Initiative is shut-down for good.

Diggle chooses to take the blame for The Ghost Initiative being reactivated to save Lyla's career and to give them a chance to find out what higher-ups above them might be tied to Dante. He does this despite knowing it will end his career at ARGUS.

Oliver gives Emiko a copy of the police report for Andrew Thornton's interrogation. He apologizes for pulling rank regarding the investigation and they seem to reconcile.

Felicity tells Oliver that she is pregnant.\

Dante has a previous relationship with Emiko Queen and tells her that he is happy she's reconciled with her brother and that it is time for her to go home.

Diaz is attacked in his cell at Slabside, doused in flammable liquid sent through the sprinkler system and set on fire. The final scene of the episode suggests he is dead, as his screams go silent.

In 2038, Dinah Drake, William Clayton, Roy Harper and Zoe Ramirez had no idea that Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak had a daughter together, much less that she was Blackstar.

Connor Hawke reveals himself as John Diggle's adopted son.

Connor Hawke also reveals that his father knew about Mia Smoak's existence and asked him to keep an eye on her because of who her parents were. Mia thought Connor was ignorant of her parentage.

Mia Smoak says that her mother has faked her death and gone into hiding several times before and that Felicity is crazy paranoid.

Paul Loiseau is the sole witness to Felicity Smoak's death. He committed suicide about the same time William and Roy began searching for Felicity.

William says that neither Oliver nor Felicity ever contacted him after he moved in with his grandparents. He had assumed it was because they decided there was no place for a child in their lives... until he found out Mia Smoak existed. (We know this is a lie from a scene earlier in the episode where Oliver is seen trying to call William. Presumably his grandparents intercepted all of Oliver's calls and letters.)

Mia says that she never knew her father and all she knows about him comes from old news reports and Felicity's stories. She asks William if he really was a hero and Williams says he was.

Mia shows William another configuration of his Rubik's Cube - a cube in a cube in a cube. This reveals a secret compartment containing an analog micro-cassette from an old-fashioned answering machine.


Untelevised Adventures

The ARGUS raid to capture Virgil in Cairo takes place off-camera.


The Bottom Line

A halfway decent but rather odd episode. Despite the title, most of the plot deals with ARGUS and Dante. Yet most of the best scenes involve Mia and William in the future and the best dialogue is in the Emiko and Oliver scenes, which are mostly just them standing around and talking. The action scenes are competently executed, but hardly exciting as we've no reason to care about the characters involved. (Seriously, does ANYONE care about Cupid or China White at this point?)   I'd give it a higher rating for finally killing of Diaz, but I refuse to believe the show suddenly developed the good sense to kill him off with an appropriate and ironic death.