User blog comment:Immortal ripper/Malcolm's resurrection/@comment-108.235.73.242-20131229193325

The out of universe reason is because they need Malcom to serve as a recurring foe, but Tommy's death can drive character development, transforming The Hood in The Arrow. In universe, there are several reasons, 1. Malcom did really die, it was accepted before this that he died. 2. When superpowers and other weird stuff was added to the show, Malcom could reappear, especially with the knowledge the League of Assasins trained him. 3. Malcom was probably barely able to get himself resurrected, by the time he did, Tommy was already long dead, six feet under, with his body already pretty decomposed, and I think the pit has its limits, so he couldn't.