Year's End

"Year's End" is the ninth episode of the first season of Arrow, mid-season finale, and the ninth episode overall. It aired on December 12, 2012.

Synopsis
Oliver discovers that after he and his father went missing, the Queen family stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy asks Laurel to spend Christmas with him, but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara's birthday and she needs to be with her father. Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal, but Laurel isn't sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, John tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father's list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet.

Plot
Adam Hunt is on the phone trying to raise money for a deal despite the fact that he was recently taken down by The Hood. An unseen figure, who Adam seems to recognize, makes an unexpected visit. Adam asks the visitor if he is here to extract another pound of flesh. The intruder responds by firing three arrows into Adam's chest, killing him.

Oliver and John spar in the Arrowcave. John points out that Oliver has really thrown himself into his vigilante work since his breakup with Helena, having taken down three of the men on the list in a single week. He tells Oliver that he's taking his nephew to the mall for Christmas shopping and Oliver realizes that it's Christmas. He explains that on the island he was too busy trying to survive to keep track of things like holidays, and remembers how his father Robert, would put Christmas trees in every room of the manor. John tells Oliver that he deserves a break and to go spend time with his family on Christmas.

Yao Fei unseals the cave and is surprised that Oliver is still alive. He leaves Oliver a jug of water and a rabbit for food. When Oliver inquires as to where he has been Yao brings in a surprise prisoner, Edward Fyers. Oliver's first thought is to gain revenge on the man who tortured him, but Yao Fei tells him that he is more valuable to them alive, as they can use his private plane to return to civilization.

Oliver returns to Queen Manor and discovers Thea leaving their parents' dinner party. He asks about the lack of Christmas decorations and Thea hesitantly says that everyone was just too busy to bother. Oliver then joins the dinner party where Moira and Walter are hosting several rich and important guests, including Malcolm Merlyn and Police Commissioner Brian Nudocerdo. They discuss The Hood and whether his actions are justified. While Brian voices his disapproval of vigilantes, Malcolm notes that the crime rate has gone down for the first time in 5 years. Brian insists that his new departmental policies are responsible, but Walter suggests that The Hood has put the fear in the criminal element. Malcolm asks Oliver his opinion. Feigning neutrality, Oliver says the vigilante needs a better codename than "The Hood." Malcolm suggests "Green Arrow," which Oliver snidely dismisses. Their conversation is interrupted when Walter gets a call from Felicity. He takes it in the other room and she tells him that seven of the men on the list have been taken down by The Hood. Walter is not surprised by this, but Felicity quickly gets his attention by revealing that Dr. Doug Miller, the head of Applied Sciences at Queen Consolidated, is also on the list. Felicity suspects that Doug may be the Hood's next target. Meanwhile, Brian's aide whispers a message to him and he tells the guests that arrow has struck again and killed Adam Hunt, his first victim. Oliver fakes a call from a contractor and promptly excuses himself.

Quentin Lance arrives at Adam's apartment and meets with Brian Nudocerdo, while The Hood eavesdrops from a balcony. Brian suggests the vigilante is responsible, but Quentin disagrees, the arrows used to kill Adam were black instead of green, and The Hood had already shut down Adam's Ponzi scheme and left him a broken man, killing him now would make no sense. He suggests a copycat is responsible.

The next day, Oliver and John try to work out who killed Adam. Oliver points out the placing of the three arrows in Adam's chest and figures that the killer is an expert archer. He figures the archer used custom arrows that can be traced and tells John that they'll get one from the police. At the police station, Quentin receives a disposable cellphone, which begins ringing almost immediately after he picks it up. Using a voice distorter, Oliver tells Quentin The Hood is not a very good nickname for him. He then insists that he didn't kill Adam, but he needs Quentin's help to track the real killer. He insists that he can go places that the police can't Quentin isn't interested, but Oliver warns that the killer will likely strike again, and instructs him to call the pre-programmed number if he changes his mind.

Walter calls Dr. Doug into his office and tells him that security red-flagged him as someone The Hood might come after. Doug claims that he has no idea why the vigilante would want him.

Oliver and Thea are having lunch at Big Belly Burgers, and Oliver again inquires about the lack of Christmas celebration. Before she can answer, a young man named Shane Colvin comes in and asks if Thea wants to hang with him and his friends. She passes, explaining that she's with her brother. After Shane leaves, Oliver returns to the topic and Thea explains that after Oliver and Robert disappeared at sea, no one felt like celebrating Christmas. After that they just kept avoiding it for the next 4 years. Thea doesn't consider this a big deal, but Oliver clearly does.

Later, Oliver gathers his family and expresses his desire to resume the annual Christmas party. He went without Christmas during his time on the island, and he knows that he was the reason they stopped celebrating, so now, he can be the reason they celebrate it again. "I know that I haven't been the son, the step-son, or the brother that all of you deserve, especially lately, but this feels like the right moment to start making up for lost time". Moira agrees and Oliver tells them that he'll handle all of the arrangements. As the family leaves, Walter tells Oliver that he's a good man.

Yao Fei leads Edward and Oliver through the forest, and Edward tells Oliver that he can tell that he's a good man, since he suffered torture rather than betray Yao Fei. Edward asks Oliver what he knows about Yao and explains that Lian Yu was a prison. The Chinese army kept the prisoners there that were too dangerous to imprison anywhere else. When they shut down the island 8 years ago, they sent Edward and his men in to purge the facility. Only two prisoners were spared. Yao Fei and Billy Wintergreen. When Oliver points out that Edward had Wintergreen torture him, Edward says that he only did it to find Yao, who had "slaughtered dozens of people," and asks what Oliver would have done in his position.

Moira meets with Malcolm at a secret location. He tells her that Doug reported to him, and that Walter knows more than he should about the list. Moira suggests she talk with him, but Malcolm says they are past the point of conversation. He recalls how she blackmailed him into staying away from her family. He has honored that agreement, but now it seems her family isn't staying away from him. He wonders if they need to bring in their "associate" to clean things up. Moira nervously assures him that she will handle it.

A businessman, Nelson Ravich, is walking home when The Dark Archer kills him. Brian and Quentin arrive sometime later and close the crime scene. They know that The Hood terrorized Ravich into giving up his embezzlement funds a week ago. Brian tells Quentin to accuse The Hood of the two murders but Quentin refuses, pointing out that it doesn't match The Hood's normal pattern of leaving his victims alive once he gets what he wants from them. Brian takes Quentin off the case and leaves, while Quentin goes back to the station. After careful consideration, Quentin calls Oliver and tells him that he left one of the black arrows at a heating vent. However, he warns the Hood that he has until Christmas to find the killer, after that, he'll come after him, "copycat or not".

Oliver recovers the black arrow and goes over it with John. They confirm that it's a custom job and that The Dark Archer is deliberately trying to call Oliver out. Oliver takes the arrow to Queen Consolidated and asks Felicity if she can confirm the point of origin so he can order more for a friend. She does so, and discovers that the company holding the patent on the arrow is called Sagittarius, after the famous archer on the Zodiac calendar. Felicity locates the address of the shipment and gives it to Oliver, who wishes her a happy Hanukkah and departs.

When Laurel comes home, she finds her father listening to Brian's press statement on the news. She figures that The Hood isn't the killer, reminding Quentin that the Hood protected her during the prison breakout. Tommy arrives at the apartment and Quentin rebuffs his attempts to impress him. Laurel reminds Tommy that she wanted to be with her father on Christmas, but he says that Christmas is a time for people to be together, and points out that she's holding something back. When he invites her to the Queen holiday party, Laurel refuses and Tommy gives her his Christmas present and leaves. Quentin complains about how Tommy and Oliver are selfish and Laurel should stay away from both of them. She's surprised and touched to discover that Tommy's gift is an old photo of herself, Quentin, and Sara.

Oliver dons his Hood costume and goes to the address that received the black arrows. A single black arrow is rammed into a table and as Oliver examines it, the door slams shut behind him. A bomb lights off and begins a countdown, and Oliver blasts the door open with an explosive arrow and gets out just in time. He goes back to the manor where the party is in full swing and tells John what happened. As they talk, Shane comes in with flowers for Moira. Oliver has his family pose for a Christmas party and then Thea goes off with Shane, Moira tells Walter that they'll talk later and goes off. Tommy and Laurel arrive and Oliver goes to greet them. Tommy still thinks things are weird between Laurel and Oliver and goes off to get drinks.

When Walter finds Moira, she reminds him that he promised not to investigate any further. Walter reminds his wife that Robert was his oldest friend and that he had no intention of letting the murderers go free. He asks his wife if whatever she is protecting is worth the lies, and Moira explains that she salvaged the boat to use as leverage against the organization. Walter offers to help fight them, but Moira says that she is one of them, and that she hoped Walter's love could save her. He accepts her explanation for the moment and tells her that the time for lies is over, and Moira promises to tell him everything after the party.

Laurel and Oliver talk privately and she figures out that he's still uncomfortable with the fact that she's with Tommy. Oliver insists that he's fine and Laurel admits that since Oliver was declared dead, she hasn't been able to connect emotionally with anyone. She tells Oliver that Tommy is the first person that she has been with in 5 years, and Oliver assures her that he's happy for them.

Once Laurel leaves, Oliver goes to find Thea and discovers her in bed with Shane. He kicks Shane out and demands to know why Thea is skipping the party. She angrily explains that the party is something he's doing to make himself feel better and that all it's doing is digging up old memories that she rather forget. Oliver wonders why she wants to forget, and Thea tells him that things will never again be as they were before his disappearance. As she walks away, John comes in to tell Oliver that the copycat situation has escalated. They turn on the news and discover that The Dark Archer has captured five hostages and is holed up at an abandoned warehouse. One of the hostages reads a statement from The Dark Archer, accusing the police of lacking the will do what justice demands. He will execute one hostage every hour unless The Hood faces him alone. John suggests that the police handle it, but Oliver insists that it's his responsibility and assures his partner that he handled much worse on the island.

Yao Fei tells Edward to radio his troops and instruct them to bring the plane. Edward tells them that won't be necessary, as they should be arriving any minute. "Do you not think it convenient to capture me so easily"? As Yao and Oliver realize they've been lured into a trap, Wintergreen emerges from the jungle, flanked by two mercenaries armed with AK-74 assault rifles. As Wintergreen draws his ninjato, Yao engages him in melee combat while Oliver draws the gunmen away. Oliver manages to lose the gunmen, but Wintergreen overpowers Yao, who is forced to surrender as more troops arrive.

The police gather outside the warehouse but quickly discover that The Dark Archer has booby-trapped all of the doors. As Quentin arrives, the police see The Hood slide into the warehouse through a window. He quickly frees the hostages and gets them to the roof, and then goes down to find the archer. The Dark Archer, wearing a mask which disguises his voice, tells The Hood that he's eager to see which one of them is the better archer, and took hostages because he knew it would take something dramatic to lure him out. The two archers duel throughout the bowels of the warehouse, they seem to be evenly matched, but The Dark Archer Catches him by surprise. The Hood is brought down by two arrows to the back. As he mercilessly kicks the vigilante in the ribs, The Dark Archer reveals that he knows about the list, and the man who wrote it wants "the Hood" dead. As The Dark Archer moves in to unmask his prey, the Hood stabs him in the leg with one of his arrowheads. and knocking him out cold with a single punch as The Dark Archer flees shortly after that, Oliver radios John for help, and then passes out.

When Oliver wakes up, he's in the hospital with John at his side. John explains that he cleaned up the evidence and carried Oliver away. Oliver's injuries include a few cracked ribs. Walter, Thea, and Moira, arrive and John tells them that Oliver was in a motorcycle accident. They're all relieved to see that he's okay and they admit that they weren't at their best during the party. However, they're all there now for Oliver and that's what matters. Thea stays behind to apologize to Oliver, she realizes he is not the same person that he was 5 years ago, but neither is she. They agree to accept each other as they are now and share a hug.

The Dark Archer returns to his hideout and removes his mask, revealing his identity as Malcolm Merlyn.

Walter checks in at his office. After taking a call from Felicity, he gets into the elevator and the other passenger injects him with a sedative.

Moira demands a meeting with Malcolm, well aware that he's had Walter abducted. Malcolm promises that Walter won't be harmed and that he will never know that Moira is involved. When she complains, Malcolm reminds her that the Tempest Organization is only six months away from rebuilding the city to their dreams. Moira realizes that Malcolm feels nothing despite the fact that their plans will cost thousands of people their lives, but Malcolm tells her that he'll feel a sense of accomplishment, and Walter will be returned to her when it's over.

In the hospital room, Oliver admits to John that he failed the city, because he almost didn't win the fight, and he let The Dark Archer live, but John reminds him that he saved five lives. He figures that Oliver will capture The Dark Archer, but Oliver believes that the author of the list is the true threat, and resolves to find him.

Production
Preparation ran from September 27 to October 5, 2012. Filming ran from October 9 until October 18, 2012.

Featured Music

 * Youth Without Youth by Metric
 * Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Schuyler Fisk
 * Christmastime by Kari Kimmel

Trivia

 * The vent by O'Neil and Adams street are references to Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams. Legendary writer and artist (respectively) at DC who revamped Green Arrow and Green Lantern in the 1970s.
 * Neal Adams is the artisit responsibloe for Green Arrow's update appearance and beard and mustache.  The new look for Green Arrow first appeared in Brave and the Bold #85 (1969).
 * During the conversation about the Hood, Oliver Queen suggests a better name other than the "Hood". Malcolm Merlyn suggests "Green Arrow", which Oliver dismisses. This is an obvious reference to the real name of Oliver Queen's alter ego - as opposed to the "The Hood" and later "The Arrow" on the show.