Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 10 - Fadeout

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




Plot

With the Crisis over, Oliver Queen's friends and family gather in Star City to mourn his passing and celebrate a life well-lived and a new dawn in Star City. As what remains of Team Arrow contemplates how they will go on without the man who brought them together, they are forced to join together once more to save William Clayton after he is abducted by an old enemy of Green Arrow, who is out for revenge.



Influences

Crisis on Infinite Earths and Green Arrow: Quiver. (Oliver Queen in Heaven) 


Goofs

Rene is said to be favored to win the election for Mayor in April 2020, yet in 2040 Mayor Ramirez is running for a third term according to the Green Arrow & The Canaries pilot. It seems unlikely that Star City's mayors serve ten-year terms. (There's no guarantee Rene will win in 2020. Also, it could be a different Mayor Ramirez.)

Lyla Michaels is said to have been promoted to a new job in Metropolis. What's higher than Director of ARGUS? (It's likely a more powerful position in the Department of Defense not directly affiliated with ARGUS.)


Performances

The entire ensemble all have great moments, but the man holding it all together so all the tangents work is David Ramsey as John Diggle.


Artistry

The script is a work of art, with lots of nods to the show's history and many great character moments.

The flashback fight-scene of Oliver fighting John Byrne's men is a fitting capstone for the series' amazing action scenes.


Trivia

The episode title has a double-meaning, with a fadeout being the technical term for the slow shift to darkness before the credits at the end of a movie or television show and a part of a bow.

The title card for the episode features all 7 unique arrow-heads used over the course of the series.

The human trafficker Oliver goes after in the flashbacks of this episode, who later kidnaps William Clayton in the modern day is named John Byrne. This is a tribute to comic writer and artist John Byrne, who is perhaps most famous for his work with Chris Claremont on X-Men and for overseeing the reveamp of Superman following Crisis on Infinite Earths.

When Roy proposes to Thea, he does it on an industrial building with a sign in the back declaring that it is Van Wayne Enterprises. This is a nod to Van Wayne, a cousin of Bruce Wayne and one of the main characters of the short-lived series Powerless, which was set in a comedic version of the DC Comics universe. This would seem to affirm that the same characters (or at least Van Wayne) exist in the post-Crisis Arrowverse.

Roy and Thea make mention of Kord Industries - the oft-referred to business run by Ted Kord (aka The Blue Beetle). Brandon Routh was originally meant to play Ted Kord instead of Ray Palmer in Arrow season 3, but the rights for Blue Beetle were tied up in a live-action show based around the Jaime Reyes incarnation of the character.

The penultimate sequence in which John Diggle is knocked off his feet and finds a glowing green object where he thought a meteor had landed is a nod to a long-teased fan theory regarding John Diggle someday becoming a Green Lantern.


Technobabble

Curtis runs a quad-grid search tasked to a keyhole satellite array to track William.

Felicity implanted a subdermal tracking device in William's arm.

When fighting with escrima, it is important to use your whole body as the power comes from your hips.


Dialogue Triumphs

Oliver: My name is Oliver Queen. After 5 years in hell I returned home with only one goal; to save my city. For 8 years, I've fought alongside brave men and women striving for justice, but then a Crisis came, and I had to become someone else. I had to become something else. I made the ultimate sacrifice, which helped birth an entirely new universe. Now my friends and family will have to go on without me, and although I have become a Spectre, there is a part of me that will always be The Green Arrow.

Rene: It's a hell of a legacy. Not just a city of heroes, a world of heroes.

Wild Dog: So how are things? It's been a while.
Ragman: Yeah. Well, a while is what it took for these rags to work again. Since then, I've been fighting for justice.
Wild Dog: To honor your father?
Ragman: To honor Oliver.
Wild Dog: We've had our differences over the years.
Ragman: Yeah, I assumed.
Wild Dog: Why?
Ragman: Of everyone, you're the most like him.

Mia: If Oliver Queen didn't kill you, than neither will I.

Oliver: Plenty of people in this book that deserve to die, plain and simple, but probably not everyone. Let's consider Mr. John Byrne to be proof of concept.
Diggle: That people can be redeemed?
Oliver: That one day I'll be able to trust you.

Quentin: For a long time I hated Oliver Queen. I blamed him for the death of my youngest daughter, I blamed him for the violence in my city, I interrogated him, I hunted him, persecuted him. I've never been more wrong in my life. Oliver Queen wasn't just a hero. He was a good man. He was an honorable person. The fact that he didn't start out that way makes him, in my book, even more honorable. He stands as a reminder to all of us that anyone can change. So will this.
(The cloth coverings behind Quentin are pulled aside, revealing a bronze statue of Green Arrow.)

Tommy: So you're from another Earth, is that it?
Black Siren: I know it's a lot to take in.
Tommy: Well, I just found out there's a reality where I was dead, so that's the curve I'm grading on these days. The Laurel of, well, this Earth, um... She was my wife.
Black Siren: So it must be strange seeing me.
Tommy: Ha! Yeah. Well, strange enough to blow the curve. (smiling) But there's something nice about it, too.

John Diggle: The Oliver that I met 8 years ago is not the one that we say good-bye to today. Oliver always told me that in order to save his city, he had to become someone else, he had to become something else. I always thought that meant becoming the Green Arrow, but today, I realized that meant becoming a better man. The best man he knew how to be. And he took all of us with him on that journey. He changed everything. Oliver brought heroes into the world, he inspired heroes, he inspired all of us here. I was his brother, and Oliver Queen was mine.

(We see John Diggle strapping his children into their car seats and kissing Lyla. She gets in their SUV and drives off, leaving John at their house with one moving van left to drive.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over): Of course, life will go on. It always does, but how, what twists and turns it will take, I can't say.
(We see Mia Queen, standing before the statue of Green Arrow. She walks through a time portal into her bedroom in 2040.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over): I don't know what the future holds
(We see Digg getting ready to get into his van when he stops to look at a shooting star. A meteor crashes into the ground a dozen feet away from him, throwing him back against the van.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over): Except to say to expect the unexpected.
(We see Rene Ramirez in his campaign headquarters, looking at one of his political posters.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over): Oliver may be gone, but his mission endures.
(We see Dinah Drake getting on her motorcycle and driving out of Star City.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over):That mission lives on, Oliver lives on in the people he inspired. Some will take that mission to the rest of the world. Maybe even beyond that.
(We see Digg pulling himself off the ground and approaching the crater. He finds a box, which he picks up and opens. Something inside it glows with a green light.)
John Diggle (Voice-Over): Because if the past 8 years has shown us anything It's that this universe is far bigger than any of us could have dared imagine. Even if it is a little less bright without him in it.

Felicity: Not to complain. I just thought that the afterlife would look a little less like your old office.
Oliver: It's my mom's office. I wanted to be where I first saw you.
Felicity: Well, that would be in the I. T. Department, seven floors down.
Oliver: You sure?
(Cut to a flashback of Oliver Queen hiding around a corner in that same office years earlier.)
Felicity: (looking at a picture of Oliver Queen) You're cute. It's too bad you're, you know, dead, which is obviously a lot worse for you than it is for me.
(Cut back to the present. Oliver smiles at the woman he loves.)
Oliver: It's a long story. Lucky for us, we have all the time in the world for me to tell it to you.
(The two look out the window of the office together. It is a beautiful sunny day. All is right in the world.)


Continuity

The opening scene shows an alternate take on Moira Queen's death in 220. This time, Oliver is able to free his hands and stop Slade Wilson from killing Moira Queen with a sword.

It is revealed that Oliver's influence on shaping the post-Crisis Arrowverse allowed him to prevent the deaths of various people, including Moira Queen. Moira talks about how she apparently died in an interview for a documentary.

The documentary filmmaker from 712 has yet to finish her film in the post-Crisis reality. She is now turning Emerald Archer into a memorial film about Oliver Queen.

Dinah, Moira, Rene and John Diggle are all interviewed about Oliver for the documentary.

Crime in Star City disappeared virtually overnight post-Crisis. This has left Team Arrow with little to do.

Digg, Dinah, Rene, Roy and Black Siren meet in the Arrow bunker for a memorial wake. They drink Oliver's vodka and toast him.

Rene is apparently running for mayor now, instead of the city council, which he was running for pre-Crisis in 804.

It is revealed that Quentin Lance is alive again in the post-Crisis universe and that his term as Mayor ends in April. He is pushing for Rene to replace him.

Quentin has offered Dinah the job of Chief of Police in Star City

It has been one month since the Crisis ended as this episode opens.

In a flashback scene to eight years earlier, Oliver has just killed a man named Jimmy Tarallo who had 22 henchmen armed with machetes. Diggle tries to convince Oliver to take him into the field, but he refuses.

Oliver's next target is John Byrne: a beer company CEO who is using his shipping trucks to facilitate human trafficking.

In 2040, Mia has a dream of Robert Queen killing himself in front of Oliver Queen on their life raft after the Queen's Gambit sunk.

Sara Lance arrives in Mia's bedroom, having traveled via Time Portal, to take her to Oliver's funeral in 2020.

Digg, Roy, Rene, Dinah and Black Siren give each other The Mark of Four tattoo first seen in 708.

Roy says he imagines the funeral will be awkward with both of Oliver's sisters there. This establishes that Emiko Queen is still alive in the post-Crisis timeline. She originally died in 722.

In the flashback, Byrne is discovered to be employing Black Armada - a private security firm made up entirely of former Special Forces soldiers. He pays them $1 million monthly.

Diggle encourages Oliver not to kill John Byrne but to bring him in alive.

Mia talks with Dinah in the Arrowcave and reveals that, for her, it's been a few weeks since William was kidnapped in 809. She's had no luck tracking him down so far.

William is abducted from his grandparents' home in Central City.

Felicity, Curtis Holt, Rory Regan, Roy, Thea, Lyla, Digg, Laurel, Sara, Mia, Dinah and Rene pair off to search Star City for William.

Roy proposes to Thea, saying he's realized he can't live without her after his death and resurrection.

Rory Regan is fighting crime as Ragman again, as a way of honoring Oliver. He doesn't specify how long he's been doing it, but apparently his magic costume has repaired itself since he was forced into retirement in 512.

Rory says he isn't surprised that Rene and Oliver fought the most, saying that out of everyone in Team Arrow they are the most alike.

Mia is the one who locates William and John Byrne.

John Byrne spent 8 years in Iron Heights Penitentiary. He was apparently the first person Oliver Queen spared after deciding to stop killing every person on the list of people his father gave him.

John Byrne tries to provoke Mia until killing him. She refuses to do so.

Amateur video footage of captures Mia capturing John Byrne. Dinah repeats what she said earlier about being sure Oliver would be proud of her.

Felicity avoids approaching Mia for fear of saying something awkward. Ironically, Mia avoids her mother for the same reason.

Moira apparently likes Roy Harper much more in the post-Crisis reality.

Thea accepts Roy's marriage proposal.

Black Siren has a breakdown talking to Quentin, saying she doesn't understand why she's still alive and all these other people came back to life but not the Laurel Lance of Earth-1. Quentin says that Oliver didn't "fix" her because she didn't need fixing.

Diggle, Dinah and Rene shut down the Arrow bunker.  Dinah is the one who flips the switch for the power as they leave it for the last time.

Dinah decides not to take the job of Chief of Police. Instead, she's going to find another city that could use a hero like the Black Canary.

Diggle and Lyla are moving to Metropolis after the funeral. Lyla has been promoted to a new position there.

A candlelight vigil is held for Oliver Queen the night before his funeral. Quentin Lance unveils a bronze statue of the Green Arrow, with a plaque that reads "He saved this city." This is the same statue Mia and William met at in 809.

Before the funeral, while visiting Robert Queen's memorial, Thea asks why Oliver couldn't bring Robert Queen back from the dead. Moira speculates that Oliver could only change those events he was involved in directly and only change them so far. For better or worse, Robert Queen had to die for Oliver to become Green Arrow.

Emiko meets with Thea and Moira for the first time.  Moira welcomes Emiko into the family.

Tommy Merlyn is revealed to be alive in the post-Crisis reality. He was also married to Earth-1 Laurel Lance before her death. He talks to Black Siren and says that seeing her is weird but nice.

Nyssa introduces Sara Lance to Talia as her beloved.

Mia and Felicity do meet and hug.

Barry Allen and Kara Danvers attend the funeral in their civilian identities.

Oliver's body was never found. A casket full of mementos was buried in front of the tombstone erected in his honor, next to Robert Queen's memorial behind Queen Manor.

Diggle gives the eulogy at Oliver's funeral.

Dinah leaves Star City on her motorcycle. We see that the main freeway out of Star City has been renamed in Oliver Queen's honor.

Mia returns to 2040 through a time portal.

Before leaving Star City, John Diggle was knocked off his feet by a meteor crashing near him. Once he got near the crater, he found a box containing something that glowed with a green light.

20 years in the future, The Monitor fulfills his bargain and guides Felicity Smoak to the afterlife, as in the final scene of 722.

Felicity meets Oliver Queen in a place that looks just like his mother's office. When she asks why the afterlife looks like that, he says he wanted to see her as she was when he first saw her. When she says that they first met in the IT Department at Queen Consolidated seven floors down in 103. However, Oliver says that isn't the first time he saw her, as he thinks about seeing her while being undercover at Queen Consolidated in the flashbacks of 314.


Location

The Afterlife



Untelevised Adventures

Much of the history of Arrow has apparently been rewritten in the post-Crisis reality. For instance, one wonders how the events of William Clayton's being revealed as Oliver Queen's son played out with Moira still alive or if Laurel Lance developed the same drug problem she did in Season 2 without Tommy Merlyn's death weighing her down.


The Bottom Line

A fitting conclusion that brings everything to a happy ending for most of the supporting players, while still leaving ample room for development of many of these characters elsewhere in the Arrowverse. Some characters are given short shrift than others and some subplots remain untouched, such as Talia and Thea forming a new, heroically inclined League of Assassins. Still, the possibilities left open by Diggle and Lyla moving to Metropolis and the plot with Mia Smoak in the future offer many avenues for exploration. The Queen is dead. Long live The Queen.

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 8, Episode 1 - Starling City

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




Plot

While trying to decipher the cryptic instructions given to him by The Monitor, Oliver finds himself back in Starling City on another Earth. Meanwhile, in the future of Star City 2040, Mia and William's team of vigilantes clash with an unexpected new foe.


Influences

Season 1 of Arrow and Crisis on Infinite Earths.


Goofs

Nothing is said about Robert Queen, who became The Hood of Earth-2 instead of Oliver Queen. Did Moira divorce him after his secret identity was exposed?  Was he sent to prison, like Roy Harper when he was fingered as The Hood in Arrow season 3? Was he killed and that revealed who he was? And why does everyone act like Adrian Chase's Hood is the first Hood on Earth 2? (Possibly Barry Allen's time-travel altered the timeline so both Robert and Oliver died on Earth 2 in the altered reality?)

Why does Earth-2 Simon Morrison use Adrian Chase as an alias when he's a good guy?

Where did Tommy Merlyn get trained to fight in Earth-2's reality?

Who was responsible for destroying the Queen's Gambit if Malcolm Merlyn honestly was a good guy on this Earth?

In a previous episode, Black Siren said that she knew Thea Queen quite well on her Earth and she was far less idealistic than the Thea Queen of Earth-1. Given the Earth-2 timeline, Thea would have been 12 when Black Siren moved to Central City to start a new life without her version of Oliver Queen. This makes it unlikely they would have kept in touch, particularly after Black Siren got her powers.

In this episode, Earth-2's Felicity Smoak is said to be running Smoak Technologies and is a huge success. Yet in an earlier episode, Black Siren said that Felicity Smoak of her Earth ran a criminal empire and was known for being ruthless. (The two aren't mutually exclusive, although now I really want to see Emily Bett Rickards as Earth 2's Wilson Fisk.)

How is Black Siren openly walking around when she was one of the most notorious criminals on Earth-2 five years ago and part of a regime that effectively ruled the world?

Why does Club Verdant - which Oliver started as a front to hide his first Arrowcave on Earth-1 - exist on Earth 2?


Performances

Stephen Amell does some great silent acting throughout the episode, reacting to various bits of bad news, nostalgia and looking at the picture of Felicity and Mia that is apparently the only possession he brought with him.

David Ramsey gets a bit of this too, during the scene where he is once again "The Black Driver."

Colin Donnel does a masterful job of playing a grief-stricken, driven to violence version of Tommy Merlyn.


Artistry

The direction and music do a great job of capturing the feeling of the first season of Arrow.


Trivia

At one point Adrian Chase calls Black Siren "Pretty Bird." This was Oliver Queen's pet name for Dinah Lance in the classic comics.

Reference is made to an incident in Pennytown. This is one of the districts of Star City in the DC Comics Universe.

Adrian Chase says that Bruce Wayne once told him that "if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." This is a direct quote from Sherlock Holmes in The Sign Of the Four.


Technobabble

Adrian Chase analyzes the metallurgy of the Dark Archer's arrows and Oliver Queen's arrows to prove they aren't the same.

Queen-Merlyn recently upgraded their facilities with 500 miles worth of high-capacity fiber optics married to an underground server farm.

Queen-Merlyn is research the possibility of using dwarf star matter as an alternative energy source.

William uses satellite imaging to determine that the Deathstrokes have assumed control of the old Galaxy One headquarters


Dialogue Triumphs

The Monitor: (opening narration) Among the many misconceptions humanity holds dear is the fallacy that all beings are created equal. In truth, there are those who are greater. They are called heroes. But even among heroes, there are different echelons. The highest belong to those known as the paragons. And they are the only hope of all creation.

Moira: I know the changes must be overwhelming, and you must feel like you're on a different planet or something.
Oliver: You could say that.

(Oliver walks into Queen-Merlyn's IT Department. He sees a blonde woman with a pony-tail from behind and can just make out her chewing on a black pen.)
Oliver: It's supposed to be red.
(The woman spins around in her chair. It is clearly not Felicity Smoak. Just some other blonde woman in glasses.)
Woman: Excuse me?
Oliver: Nothing. Sorry. I'm looking for Felicity Smoak.
Woman: (laugh) Like Felicity Smoak would slum it in IT, instead of running Smoak Tech!
Oliver: Oh. Good for her.

(Oliver and Diggle are in a car. Oliver in the back. Diggle driving.)
Oliver: So what do I call you?
Diggle: Diggle. Digg if you want.
(Oliver smiles at the familiarity. This is just like when they first met. We cut to the front seat and Diggle smiles faintly too as we hear Oliver tugging on the door handle only to find the child safety locks have been engaged, so he can't tuck and roll out of the car as he did when he lost Diggle before. It is apparent now that this Diggle saw the trick coming because he is, in fact, Earth-1 Diggle.)
Diggle: Sorry, Oliver. Fool me once...

Diggle: Oliver, has it occurred to you that whatever happens in this crisis happens because you push the people closest to you away?
Oliver: So you're in a forward area. Somebody throws a grenade right into the middle of your platoon. What do you do?
Diggle: I jump on it. I contain the blast.
Oliver: That's what I'm doing. I can't prevent whatever it is that's going to happen to me, but I will be damned if I'm going to put other people at risk.
Diggle: And I will be damned if I just let you go gently into that good night.

Tommy: So I've been thinking it over. And you really were on Lian Yu. Because if you had been here, you would've been protecting our sister. So the question is... why are you running around in The Hood's hood?
Oliver: Doesn't matter.
Tommy: Yes, it does! The Hood is running around this city, thinking that he's saving it, and nothing can save it. You don't understand the cancer that has taken over this city.
Oliver: (shocked by the realization) Oh, my God! This is the Undertaking. You stole the dwarf star particles because you want to destroy The Glades and get vengeance for Thea.
Tommy: How could you know that? And what happened to you on that island?
Oliver: What happened to you while I was on the island?
Tommy: While you were gone, this city has been rotting. It can't be saved!
Oliver: That's not true, Tommy. I have seen Starling City come back from darker moments than this. It can be redeemed. You can be redeemed.
Tommy: You don't understand what I've seen. You don't know how I found our sister. Every time I close my eyes, I see her body lying there, cold, on a dirty floor. So I swore that I would get vengeance on The Glades for what it did to Thea, and I am not going to let her down. Not again!
Oliver: That's not gonna make you feel better, Tommy.
Tommy: I don't care about feeling better. I just want The Glades to suffer.
Oliver: You're a better man than this.
Tommy: That was a different me. Good-bye, Oliver.


Continuity

The Monitor deposits Oliver on Lian Yu on Earth-2 in the year 2019, though this is not immediately apparent.

Oliver is able to summon a boat using the same signal fire trick he used in the Arrow pilot.

On Earth-2's Lian Yu, the Deathstroke mask with an arrow through the eye is replaced with a Batman or Batwoman mask.

On Earth-2, Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn are married in the year 2019 and have merged their companies.

On Earth-2, after Robert Queen was declared dead, Walter Steele hold his shares in Queen Consolidated and went elsewhere. On Earth-1, he took charge of the company and eventually married Moira Queen.

Earth-2's Tommy Merlyn is still alive and living at Queen Manor. He says he has been married and divorced twice in the 12 years since he last saw Oliver.

Earth-2's Thea Queen died of a Vertigo overdose on her 18th birthday. This is a dark take on the events of 111 on Earth-1, where Thea Queen took Vertigo at her 18th birthday party but only crashed her brand new car.

Oliver breaks into Queen Consolidated looking for dwarf star particles. He finds the security team dead, shot by arrows, the particles stolen and is encountered by The Hood of this reality - Adrian Chase.

The fight between Oliver and Adrian is broken up by Black Siren, who asks what Oliver is doing on her Earth. This is the first indication in the episode that we are on Earth-2.

Black Siren has created her own version of The Bunker on Earth-2. It has the same design as the Earth-1 bunker, but with purple lighting instead of green.

Since returning to Earth-2, Black Siren has partnered with Adrian Chase (aka The Hood). They are not lovers, she is quick to note.

Oliver hides the fact that he is from another Earth from Adrian.

The Monitor reminds Oliver that his task is to retrieve the dwarf star particles for reasons he will not explain - not to confront Malcolm Merlyn over his crimes. Oliver defends his actions, saying that he needs to solve the mystery of the stolen particles in order to get them.

Oliver goes looking for Felicity Smoak in the IT Department of Queen Merlyn, learning that on this Earth she is a famous tech magnate.

The Earth-2 version of Curtis Holt is the head of Queen-Merlyn's IT Department.

The Earth-2 version of Rene Ramirez is employed as the Queen/Merlyn bodyguard.

The Earth-2 version of Dinah Drake is a Detective Sergeant in the SCPD.

As on Earth-1, Moira hires John Diggle to act as Oliver's personal bodyguard/babysitter. It is later revealed that this is Earth-1's John Diggle, come to help Oliver.

Felicity told Diggle about The Monitor taking Oliver away. Somehow, Diggle was able to track Oliver to Earth-2 and got there using a dimensional breach device borrowed from Cisco Ramon.

It is Earth-2's Tommy Merlyn who initiates The Undertaking in 2019 rather than Malcolm Merlyn in 2013. His plan involves attacking The Glades using a doomsday device powered by dwarf star particles rather than an earthquake generator. His motivation is avenging the death of Thea Queen, whom he apparently knew was his half-sister in this reality. On Earth-1, Malcolm Merlyn was avenging the death of his wife.

Tommy chains Oliver up in the same location Malcolm Merlyn did in 123.

Earth-2 Rene and Dinah are working for Tommy Merlyn to bring about the Undertaking.They are nowhere near as well-trained as their Earth-1 counterparts and Oliver defeats them easily on his own.

When Adrian Chase asks how Oliver knows so much about what the Dark Archer is planning, Oliver says he's ten steps ahead of him. This is a nod to what Prometheus continually told him during Season 5 of Arrow.

The location where Thea died is 4587 Burke. Apparently the building there is the home to Star City's worst drug dealers.

Tommy quotes something that Thea once told him to Oliver - "The dead don't want anything." Earth-1 Thea said the same thing to Oliver in 102.

Oliver is able to talk Tommy out of activating the device and turning himself in.

Adrian Chase is able to dismantle the Undertaking device and agrees to give Oliver the dwarf star particles.

Chase deduces that Oliver is the Hood from another Earth on his own.

Chase apparently knew Bruce Wayne and quotes a staying Wayne told him, which is cribbed from Sherlock Holmes. This, coupled with the Batman mask on Lian Yu, suggests that Bruce Wayne may have been the Slade Wilson of Earth 2.

Oliver suggests Chase change his name to Green Arrow.

Oliver visits Tommy in the police station after he turns himself in. He also gives his mother a final hug, after lying that he will see her at home.

Black Siren arrives at the SCPD HQ just as walls of antimatter began to destroy everything.

Moira and Tommy are killed by the antimatter.

Oliver, Diggle and Black Siren jump through a breach just as the walls close in on them.

In the future of 2040, William Clayton is now expanding his company into Star City, under his alias. His company is Harris Consolidated.

Crime has risen 300% in The Glades since the wall came down, but is down across the board in Star City in general.

Mr. Vasquez is a figure of importance in the move to reintegrate The Glades and Star City. He credits the vigilantes with reducing crime in Star City as a whole.

The Deathstroke Gang, which is led by John Diggle Jr., abduct Vasquez. They take him to the old Galaxy One building.

William talks Mia into going along with Connor's plan to rescue Vasquez.

Vasequez gives the Deathstrokes a series of codes.

Mia insists that from now on the team is going to do things her way.


Location

Starling City - Earth 2


Untelevised Adventures

The fate of Robert Queen on Earth 2.

Everything involving how Black Siren got herself established in Starling City and Adrian Chase's background on Earth-2.


The Bottom Line

As a walk down memory lane and a tribute to the first season of Arrow, it is wonderful. As a set-up for the season, it's competently executed apart from some major continuity issues - most likely brought on by the series' need to include Katie Cassidy as Black Siren rather than setting this on an entirely different Earth. That being said, the final sequence in which Earth-2 is destroyed is chillingly effective and set the tone for the future episodes of The Flash depicting the same destruction.  The Crisis is coming and nothing will ever be the same again.

Unfortunately, this does take the piss out of the flash-forward sequences, because we know that timeline is safe, even ignoring the reports that filming has already begun on a Green Arrow and the Canaries spin-off combining the planned Star City 2040 spin-off and Katie Cassidy's proposed Birds of Prey series. Is it too much hope that we can get Ashley Scott in there as well if the universes merge into one?

Green Arrow #36 - A Review

Saved from a watery grave by Black Canary, Oliver Queen must confront his treacherous mother and The Ninth Circle in order to save his city. Little does he know that the assassins Malcolm Merlyn and Shado are coming to join the party as well, as Kate Spencer struggles to clear Oliver's name of murder charges as The Trial of The Century begins in Star City!


Click On The Picture Above For A Full-Screen Scan.
There is very little I can say about this issue without spoiling it. Suffice it to say, Benjamin Percy managed something impossible after several issues of doubting the direction of the story and the point in resurrecting Moira Queen only to turn her into an even more treacherous figure than she was on the TV Series Arrow. For that, if nothing else, he has my respect. For his perfect encapsulation of the Green Arrow and Black Canary romance in this issue, he has my gratitude.

I regret that I can't show you every wonderful two-page spread that Juan Ferreyra has put together for this issue. The layouts for this issue are fantastic and Ferreyra's use of color throughout is amazing.This is rightly applauded as one of DC Comics best-looking books.

The Final Analysis: 10/10.

Green Arrow #35 - A Review

With his trial on murder charges fast approaching, it would be a foolish thing for Oliver Queen to leave Seattle on a quest for sunken treasure. Yet when his mother Moira Queen - who reveals that she faked her death and is in debt to The Ninth Circle - asks for her help, he can hardly say no to raiding the wreckage of a sunken Ninth Circle base. Yet even as his enemies move to harm him on the surface, the greatest threat to Green Arrow may be closer than he thinks.



Quite honestly, the only thing keeping me going on this series is my trust in Benjamin Percy as a writer based on what came before. The idea of resurrecting Moira Queen as a villain holds no appeal for me, particularly in light of all the aspects of the Arrow TV Series that work which have been rejected for inclusion in the comics and all of the terrible things from The New 52 reality that could have been jettisoned in Rebirth but weren't. Tommy Merlyn: Assassin, anyone?

Ignoring my protestations regarding what I should and should not like to see in Green Arrow, this issue is a bit of a mess. An entire subplot is devoted to two police characters we haven't seen before, which is rendered largely meaningless by the end of the issue. And while I appreciate that Percy writes a strong, capable Black Canary, it strains credibility that she just happened to put a tracking device on Ollie just when it was needed.

At least Juan Ferreyra's artwork is as grand as ever. The posing, the colors, the use of shadows and light - all of these elements are fantastic. I just wish he'd had a better story to illustrate this time around.

The Final Analysis: 6 Out of 10. 

Green Arrow #34 - A Review

Moira Queen has revealed herself as alive and well. She's also revealed herself as being part of The Ninth Circle and the number one target on their hit-list now that Oliver Queen has done so much to disable their plans. Oliver wants to believe his mother wants to help him turn the tables on the organization that destroyed his life... but can he trust her?


Green Arrow #34 has killed the momentum that was set up regarding Oliver Queen's trial pending trial on murder charges over the last few issues. Unfortunately, Benjamin Percy chose this moment to revisit the subplot involving John Diggle's owing Malcolm Merlyn a debt - a deus ex machina from a previous issue nearly as confounding as Moira Queen's sudden resurrection.

I've come too far not to trust Percy as a writer on this series but this issue is painfully slow and heavy on exposition, the best bits and only action sequences involving Black Canary and Green Arrow fighting The Clock King in flashback. At least Stephen Byrne's artwork is as good as ever but he isn't given much to do beyond draw talking heads this week.

The Final Analysis: 6 out of 10. It isn't bad but I expect better from this team. 

Arrow Episode Guide: Season 2, Episode 20 - Seeing Red

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




Plot

Hallucinating due to the Mirakuru in his veins, Roy Harper escapes from the Arrow Cave and goes on a rampage.  As Ollie and Sara argue about whether or not it is still possible to save him, Ollie must contend with further turmoil at home as the relationship between himself, Thea and their mother continues to deteriorate, even as Moira Queen becomes poised to become the next mayor of Starling City.

In the flashbacks, we see an incident in the Queen Family home seven years earlier and learn just how far Moira would go to protect her children even then, as Ollie comes to her with disturbing news.  He got a girl pregnant... and it wasn't his girlfriend, Laurel!


Influences

Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters (the scene of Ollie and Sara in bed discussing their relationship), Green Arrow: Where Angels Fear To Tread (the idea of Ollie unknowingly fathering an illegitimate child while in college).  And while not based on any particular story, the whole episode has the feeling of a Mike Grell Green Arrow comic as we see Ollie benefiting secretly from people he's helped in the past as The Arrow (the doctor who treats Ollie's injuries) in a manner not dissimilar to an urban Robin Hood.  There's also the reoccurring themes of trust broken and lies told by those closest to us to protect us.


Goofs

In the flashback, Laurel says "Good night." to Moira as she's leaving the Queen Mansion, when daylight is still clearly coming in through the windows.

Why hasn't Thea asked why this Slade Wilson guy was so invested in telling her "the truth" in the first place?

Where was Diggle when The Queen family limo was attacked?


Performances

Susanna Thompson is given a great episode to go out on, delivering a number of great speeches in both the modern and flashback scenes.


Artistry

There's some very nice orchestral music throughout the episode.


Trivia

This is not the first time that Oliver Queen has fathered a child out of wedlock.  During Mike Grell's run on Green Arrow, Ollie was raped by the assassin Shado, who later gave birth to a son.

Later, during the Chuck Dixon run, it was revealed that Oliver sired another son - Connor Hawke - with a girl he knew back in his hippie college student days named Sandra "Moonday" Hawke.  Connor become the second Green Arrow after Ollie's death.

Finally, there's a long-running theory - first proposed by Green Arrow expert Scott McCullar - that Cissie King (a.k.a. the heroine Arrowette) and daughter of former Green Arrow sidekick Bonnie King (a.k.a. Miss Arrowette) was Oliver Queen's illegitimate daughter.

We do not find out the name of the woman Ollie impregnated nor the gender of their child, so there's a fair chance the unnamed woman could be either Sandra Hawke or Bonnie King.  Given that reference is made to her returning to college in Central City, it seems more likely that it is Sandra Hawke.

Sara's leaving Ollie, claiming Ollie deserves someone better than her, is similar to arguments why Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance couldn't make a relationship work in the comics, with the genders flipped.


Technobabble

Ollie uses three tranquilizer-dart arrows to bring Roy down.


Dialogue Triumphs

(Ollie in Sara are in bed together, kissing one another softly)
Sara: Do you think Roy's okay?
Ollie: Please tell me that you're not thinking about Roy right now.  We're finally alone.  In a very nice hotel room.
Sara: A hotel room that you couldn't afford.
Ollie: I have something of a history with the manager.
Sara: Mmmm... I can only imagine.
(Ollie glances around the room)
Ollie: I think I trashed this specific room once.  When favors run out, we should think about getting a more permanent place.
Sara: ... we?
Ollie: Well... you're probably getting tired of staying with Laurel.  And we can't sleep in the foundry now that Roy's there.  So..
Sara:  But I mean... "we"... are you asking me to move in with you?
(Ollie answers this by kissing her.  Suddenly, his phone starts ringing)
Sara: Your phone's ringing.
Ollie: I know.
(The two go back to kissing.  Sara's phone starts ringing)
Sara: Okay, BOTH our phones are ringing.  That's nothing good.

Ollie: Mom, I know a little something about... sacrificing the people closest to me for the good of this city.  That's what you need to do now.
Moira: ... I know.
Ollie: Good.
Moira: Oliver... I KNOW.
(Ollie stops dead in his tracks.)
Moira: (quieter) I know.
(Ollie turns around.)
Moira:  I've known... since last year, I suppose.  The night of The Undertaking everything became so clear.  That 's pretty much the night I stopped sleeping.
Ollie: Before you say anything else...
Moira: There's nothing else to say.  Nothing I need to say.  Except I could not be more proud.

Woman: I'm not looking for money.
Moira: Of course not.
(Moira hands the woman a check.)
Woman: I told you I don't want money.
Moira: And I'm telling you that this is my first grandchild.  And I want to make certain that he or she has a bright future.  Please.
Woman: (looking at the check) ... this is a million dollars!
Moira: I want to make certain my son has a bright future as well.  That money is yours once you tell Oliver that you've lost the baby.
Woman: ... what?!
Moira: And another million when you return to Central City, never to speak to him again.  Can I offer you some advice, one mother to another?  When it comes to your children, there is no action that is inconceivable.  There is no decision that is impossible.  You do what you must to provide the life that they need and I think that two million dollars is sufficient to provide the life that both our children need.   Don't you?

Sara: I would have killed him.  I was ready to.  He'd be dead right now if you hadn't stopped me.
Ollie: But he's not.  That's all that matters.
Sara: That's not true.  I WANTED to kill Roy.  Because that's what I do.  That's who I am. Because I spent six years in the darkness.  And I looked into the eyes of The Devil.  And I gave him my soul.
Ollie: I can help you get it back.
Sara: No, you deserve someone better.  Someone who can harness that light that's still inside of you.  But I'm not that person.  And I never will be.
Ollie: Sara... don't.
Sara: I'm sorry.  I just care about you too much to be with you.

And the whole scene with Slade's sadistic choice between Moira and Thea.  But especially the final lines...

Slade: (To Moira) You possess true courage.  I am truly sorry... you did not pass that on to your son.



Continuity

As the episode opens, we find out that STAR Labs is still working on the Mirakuru antidote, after Felicity gave Caitlin Snow a sample of the drug in 219.

We also find out that Isabel Rochev's death hasn't made the papers.  We know that's because she isn't really dead thanks to an emergency blood transfusion from Slade Wilson, but Diggle thought he killed Rochev in 219.

The on-line newspaper Felicity is reading in the opening scene has headlines regarding Moira Queen's lead waning and a series of controversial court room reforms being pursued - perhaps in response to the DA's office rehiring a lawyer with a history of drug abuse who was about to be disbarred to an assistant district attorney's post?  Or due to a recently fired assistant D.A. cutting a deal with a mob boss to lure out a violent vigilante that got several people killed (217)?  Or due to both of the aforementioned lawyers illegally withholding evidence from the defense in a capital murder trial (207)?

Another mention of The Big Belly Burger - The DCU's favorite fast-food franchise and - in Starling City - the burger bar run by Diggle's sister-in-law/ex-girlfriend.

Diggle says that Roy was more out of control than Slade was at Oliver's house, referring to 215.

Moira's campaign manager makes reference to Thea's kidnapping in 218.

Sara is still employed as a bartender at Verdant - a job she was hired for in 214.

Sin does not wear make-up.

Ollie is given treatment at Glades Memorial Hospital.  The doctor who treats him makes reference to the Triads stealing medicine meant for the hospital (202) and wondering how he could thank The Arrow for stopping them.  He gives Ollie a brace and some painkillers, noting that Ollie will be able to walk but it will still hurt.

Ollie refers to Helena Bertinelli and Sara not killing her (217).

Sara says the only way to disable a person on Mirakuru is with a head-shot.

Sin tells Thea about how Roy was injected with something that is messing with his head.

We see that Roy has hallucinations of Thea telling him to kill her, similar to how Slade Wilson has visions of Shado telling him to kill Ollie.

Ollie tries to write off his limp as being the result of a motorcycle accident.  Moira calls him on this, saying it is his second accident in as many weeks, referring to Ollie's injury in 219 following Slade Wilson's attack on The Arrow Cave.

Moira reveals that she has known about Ollie being The Arrow since 123.

Moira offers the girl Ollie impregnated two million dollars if she'll tell Ollie that she lot the baby and go back to Central City, never speaking to Ollie ever again afterward.

Ollie makes use of Sara's Tibetan Pit Viper venom (first seen in 212) to keep Roy sedated.

Sara dumps Ollie, saying she doesn't deserve him.  She says her goodbyes to Sin and says she is "going to see an old friend".

Moira is about to tell Thea and Oliver that Malcolm Merlyn is still alive when their car is hit.  The rumors of Merlyn's death being greatly exaggerated was revealed in 208.

Slade sets up a sadistic choice, trying to force Ollie to choose between his sister and his mother, mirroring Ivo's actions in 209.
 

The Fridge Factor

Sin is imperiled to drive home how much Roy has changed.  Thea is imperiled to give Ollie more angst.  And Moira gets fridged to give Ollie even more angst.


The Bottom Line

A powerful episode with a number of honestly shocking and surprising moments.  Definitely one of the best episodes of the season.  Possibly the best one yet!