Arrow - S3E23 - My Name is Oliver Queen
Previously on Arrow, ‘This Is Your Sword’
While Oliver dreams aboard R’as’ death jet, his friends are waking up from a dirt nap. Malcolm used a vaccine made from Oliver’s inoculated blood to make a skin patch, which he then used on the entire Scooby Gang. They owe him a thank you, but he ain’t getting it. Instead, he tells them to wait for the thunder. And as if on cue, the thunder comes as does The Flash.
The Flash takes out of all Ra’s men, stops to gush over the “hot tub,” and then frees the gang from the dungeon. He’d love to stay and help with the Starling City Super Virus (band name!), but he has his own issues to deal with back home. The group heads for their plane.
Two engines on Ra’s jet are on fire and he assumes it’s Nyssa’s doing. He’s about to take his daughter’s head off when Oliver steps forward and finally confirms he’s not down with the Ra’s after all. A sword fight ensues until there’s only Ra’s and his two greatest disappointments left. He promises to hunt them till their end of days and then jumps off the jet with one of the virus canisters and the only parachute. That guy’s a dick.
This leaves Oliver and Nyssa to crash land the plane and drop into Palmer Technologies just as the gang arrives. Left alone with Diggle and Felicity, Oliver explains his plan, which was to infiltrate, sabotage, and then die with Ra’s and the virus. But there’s no time for hurt feelings. They have to stop Ra’s.
They start looking for anything unusual and learn the top floor of the Essex Hotel has been registered to one person: Damien Dark, who happens to be Ra’s nemesis. They’ll get him and then trade him for the virus. They rush the hotel and Oliver confronts Dark, but it’s not him. Dark left the city as soon as he learned of Ra’s’ plans. This guy is a patsy who gets taken out by an arrow from a nearby rooftop. That damn Ra’s!
Laurel fills in Lance and confronts him about his drinking. He’s got it contained to two drinks a day. She explains that’s not how alcoholism works. Meanwhile, Ray and Felicity work on figuring out the most likely areas Ra’s will release the virus and how they can contain it.
After a Felicity pep-talk, everyone takes their positions, which are: various public places with lots of people around. Diggle spots a sketchy dude with a metal briefcase and chases him down. They fight, but sketchy is shot in the back with three arrows from.. Thea! Thea is Roy’s clothes? Well, kinda. Anyway, Thea is bae so I’m happy to see her being all badass. One problem though: the briefcase is empty. Sketchy slits his own throat because he is the virus.
While the rest of the gang works on calming the city’s panic and rooting out other Sketchy Guys with Metal Briefcases, Ray works on how he can distribute the cure using his airborne nanites.
Oliver meets Ra’s at the city’s dam, as requested. As the police look on, the two sword fight it out. As soon as they get a clear shot, the police are going to take them both out. Lance calls Felicity to tell her the bad news, and she begs Ray to fly over there in his Atom suit, but he can’t leave what he’s doing: saving the damn city with his nanobots!
Oliver finally kills Ra’s, but he’s shot by the police immediately after and goes falling off the dam. The Atom suit swoops in and catches him before he hits the bottom and flies him to safety. Did Ray really stop saving the city so he could go save his ex’s boo thang? Nope. It’s Felicity in the suit.
Later, Nyssa is low-key shitty she didn’t get to kill her daddy, but points out that League armor is dope with stopping bullets. Oliver gives a rousing speech: teamwork, no longer The Arrow, love you, Felicity! Let’s leave town. She is not mad anymore so she says yes. I guess.
You know who’s still mad? Diggle. And rightfully so. He needs some alone time and Oliver gives him that, but warns him to invest in a mask if he’s going to be out there saving the city.
Malcolm is leaving town as well. Thea still thinks he’s a shitty person, but thanks him for making her strong, as he promised. Oliver upholds his end of the bargain by handing off something to Malcolm. Whether or not they become enemies depends on what Malcolm does with what Oliver gave him: He is now Ra’s al Ghul. Back in Nanda Parbat, Nysssa and the League kneel before Malcolm.
And Oliver and Felicity ride off into the sunset… literally.
