Three Ghosts

"Three Ghosts" is the ninth episode of the second season of Arrow. It aired on December 11, 2013.

Synopsis
After a fight with Cyrus Gold AKA the Acolyte, Oliver is drugged and left for dead. Determined to cure him, Felicity makes a risky decision. The cure causes Oliver to hallucinate, and what he sees forces him to confront his past. Meanwhile, Barry continues to help Felicity, and their connection grows stronger. The Arrow asks Lance to look into Gold, but when the stakeout on Gold goes bad, someone gets killed. Roy is captured and tortured by Brother Blood.

Plot
Barry manages to save Oliver's life, but Oliver is angry to find out that Felicity has revealed his secret when he regains consciousness. Barry and Felicity are able to identify and locate Oliver's attacker, Cyrus Gold. While continuing to discover the truth behind the death of Sin's friend Max, Roy is captured by Cyrus and brought before Sebastian who injects him with the Mirakuru serum. The serum fails to work and kills Roy. Oliver arrives and stops Cyrus, including the remaining serum. Oliver revives Roy, but worries that the serum may affect him negatively. In flashbacks, Ivo kills Shado, but flees when Slade turns up with super-human strength and kills his men. Later, Slade is revealed to be alive in the present and the one orchestrating Blood's work; he orders Blood to leave the vigilante alone, so the he can deal with him personally. Barry leaves a green domino mask for Oliver, to better hide his identity, and returns to Central City. A malfunction with the new particle accelerator, coupled with a lightning storm, causes an explosion and Barry is caught in the blast.

Trivia

 * Slade is revealed to have survived the island all the way to the present and is Brother Blood's superior.
 * Tommy Merlyn returns, following his death, as a hallucination to Oliver.
 * The three "ghosts" who appear to Oliver are a reference Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. In following this, Shado is that of the past, Tommy as the present, and Slade as that yet to come.

Production
Preparation ran from October 1 until October 9, 2013. Shooting ran from October 10 until October 22, 2013.