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"Of course, life will go on. It always does. But how? What twists and turns it will take, I can't say. I don't know what the future holds...except to say expect the unexpected. Oliver may be gone, but his mission endures. 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. Because if the past eight 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."
John Diggle's eulogy at Oliver Queen's funeral

"Fadeout" is the tenth and final episode of the eighth season of Arrow, and the one-hundred-seventieth and final episode overall. It aired on January 28, 2020.

Synopsis[]

Plot[]

The episode opens with a voiceover montage of Oliver Queen giving a general recap of his excursion, bringing the crowd up to his demise and the resurrection of the universe because of his penance. Toward the end, he pronounces that some piece of him will consistently be the Green Arrow.

Starling City 2014. The night Deathstroke killed Moira Queen, but this time, the outcome is different. Oliver liberates himself and brings down Deathstroke, sparing his mom. In the present, Moira converses with the Emerald Archer narrative team about thinking of that alternative reality. She likewise clarifies that Oliver's companions have disclosed to her that he's the reason "everything changed" and that their reality is a blessing from him.

Dinah is straightaway looking at preparing everything, as is Rene, addressing Oliver's inheritance. Diggle likewise talks, coping with the loss of Oliver. When the cameras stop, Rene comes to talk with him. It turns out Oliver simply fixed things. He disposed of all wrongdoing in Star City and it's an ideal opportunity to respect him. At the bunker, the group - including Roy - toasts to Oliver. They talk about their future. Quentin Lance is alive and still mayor. He's supporting Rene as his replacement. Dinah is head of the police. Diggle feels like things aren't finished.

Flashback, Starling City 2012. Diggle needs to help Oliver in the field. Oliver opposes this and explores his next target: John Byrne, a human trafficker. Diggle realizes how many names are on The List. Oliver discloses to him the mission is rarely finished. There is a flashback to the life raft after the sinking of the Queen's Gambit. Robert Queen, despite everything, takes his own life. There is then a flashforward to Star City 2040. Mia awakens in her bed and Sara is in her room, having had the opportunity to portal there and get her for Oliver's funeral.

At the Bunker, Laurel is struggling to come to terms with the situation. Roy gives Dinah her "Mark of 4" tattoo and reveals that he's anxious to converse with Thea. It's revealed Emiko is alive, as well. In the past, Diggle keeps on conflicting with Oliver about going along with him in the field, with Diggle attempting to persuade Oliver that there are different approaches to get justice than killing people and losing himself isn't justified, despite any potential benefits. In the present, Mia utilizes the PC in the bunker and reveals to Dinah that something occurs later on - William's capturing - and she at present feels defenseless. The news at that point breaks that in the present, William is abducted from Central City.

John Byrne holding William Clayton hostage

John Byrne with William.

The group has a strategy to find William. Felicity, Rory, Curtis and Lyla show up. Felicity reveals she embedded a tracker in William, but it's not useful at this point. She gets a rundown of potential areas and now the whole gathered group embarks to look at them to spare William. Thea and Roy check one area and he's not there. Before they go to the following, Roy opens up to Thea and says he wants to marry her. At another area, Rory and Rene clear it. Rory's rags work again and he's been battling for justice to honor Oliver. Rory reveals he thinks Rene is the individual from the group most like Oliver. Diggle and Lyla clear another area. William's kidnapping has Lyla shaken as she feels obligated to Oliver for giving them back their girl. Mia then lands on a rooftop and finds William. John Byrne has him.

A flashback clarifies what the situation was with Byrne. At the point when Oliver finds Byrne in the past, he doesn't kill him. Rather, Oliver put him in jail and ruined his life. In the present, Mia decides not to kill him either. He is returning to jail. Back at the Bunker, Felicity learns Mia is her daughter. The news report that Oliver has more likely than not recruited another Green Arrow. In the last flashback, Oliver gives Diggle fighting tips and discloses to him that he didn't murder Byrne. He accepted Diggle's recommendation. At the Queen Mansion, Thea says yes to Roy's proposal.

Laurel meets with Quentin. She is experiencing difficulty with her being revived in the new universe and not Earth-1 Laurel, despite Oliver having "fixed" everything. Quentin discloses to Laurel that Oliver didn't fix the Laurel issue since it didn't require fixing. At the Bunker, Diggle, Dinah, and Rene have another moment together before killing the lights one final time. Afterward, a statue of the Green Arrow is revealed in Star City.

Oliver's funeral

The superhero community's final farewell to Oliver.

Next, the funeral begins. Thea addresses why Oliver couldn't bring back their father. Moira clarifies that Oliver could just change the things that didn't transform him, which means Robert stays dead. Emiko deals with meeting Thea and is invited by her and Moira as family. Tommy talks with Laurel-2 and uncovers that he's aware of the old multiverse, in which he was dead. He likewise says that Laurel-1 was his wife. It's muddled what her destiny was, however it's inferred that she passed on and stays dead. Nyssa and Talia are there also with Nyssa clarifying she had her union with Oliver eradicated. Mia acquaints herself with Felicity and uncovers that she did, indeed, meet Oliver. They embrace. Barry pays his sympathies to Felicity, as does Kara. Anatoly asks if Oliver's buried but Tommy confirms the casket is buried with a box of mementos. Though Sara asks if they would like to say some words, several didn't want to say anything until Felicity suggests to Diggle that it should be him. Diggle offers a tribute regarding Oliver's journey and penance.

John Diggle investigates a meteor

Diggle inspects an unknown object.

Everybody starts to proceed onward. Lyla heads to Metropolis with the children. Mia returns to the future. Rene administers his campaign. Dinah takes off. Furthermore, at that point, something collides with the earth near Diggle and he hauls something out of the crater. Opening the container, he's washed in a shining green light.

Oliver and Felicity Reunited

Oliver and Felicity reunite for eternity.

In Star City 2040 and the moment where, in Season 7, The Monitor took Felicity somewhere, he tells her that there is no coming back from where she is about to go. Felicity replies that she has waited a long time to see Oliver again and clenches her wedding ring, then enters the afterlife. She shows up as her younger self in Moira Queen's old office, where she is greeted by Oliver, and Felicity rushes to him and they share a passionate kiss and a long embrace.

This is Oliver's existence in the wake of death: he's been sitting tight for her at the time he first saw her and it's not in the IT office. It's the point at which he saw her conversing with his photograph on his mom's work area each one of those years prior. Felicity wants to tell Oliver many things, and Oliver tells her that they have all the time to ever speak. Presently, they remain together in the Queen Consolidated building in the afterlife, constantly happy and forever united.

Cast[]

Main cast[]

Special appearance by[]

Special guest star[]

Guest starring[]

Co-starring[]

Uncredited[]

Trivia[]

  • This is the highest rated episode of Season 8 with a rating of 9.2 on IMDb.
  • Oliver's statue has the epitaph: He saved this city, a callback to his infamous line and that he had succeeded in his mission.
  • Marc Guggenheim posted a picture to clarify viewers on where the title came from. In it, the fadeout is the area on a longbow where the grip tapers into the risers and limbs of the bow.[2]
    • In the episode, Mia instructs William on the parts of a bow, pointing out the fadeout.
  • Stephen Amell and David Ramsey got the ending they wanted for their respective characters.[3]
  • The final scene, in addition to being the last scene shot in the episode and series, was a brand new scene written by Marc Guggenheim in one pass after he finished meditating at meditation class one morning. It replaced an ending that had been previously considered. Guggenheim announced prior to the airing of Season 8 that he would post the script of this new ending he conceived if logistics did not allow for it to be filmed.[4]
    • Stephen Amell cried when Guggenheim told him about it at the Entertainment Weekly cover shoot. However, there were a few hurdles involved, because Emily Bett Rickards would not be a series regular for Season 8 and her availability was not guaranteed.[5]
  • This episode was preceded by a TV special airing prior to it, titled Arrow: Hitting the Bullseye.
  • Madison McLaughlin[6] and Jessica De Gouw[1] were unable to make an appearance due to scheduling conflicts.
  • Of the main cast, John Barrowman ("Malcolm Merlyn"), Josh Segarra ("Adrian Chase"), Kirk Acevedo ("Ricardo Diaz"), Ben Lewis (Older "William Clayton", Joseph David-Jones ("Connor Hawke") and LaMonica Garrett do not make an appearance with footage of the latter's appearance being recycled from "You Have Saved This City".
  • There was talk about getting Emily Bett Rickards to appear in the flashbacks but couldn't because she was only available to film for two days.[7]
  • Slade's appearance at the beginning of the episode makes use of unused footage from "Unthinkable" in which Oliver dreams of what would've happened if he had saved his mother.[1]
  • From Mia's perspective, it had been two weeks after the events of "Green Arrow & The Canaries", as opposed to Dinah Drake and Laurel Lance's point of view, as they were versions two months before the events of said episode.
  • This is the first and only episode to feature two different title cards during and at the conclusion of the episode. The first title card is a combination of each season's title card while the end title card reuses Season 1's title card.
  • Oliver wears the exact same wardrobe from when he first met Felicity in "Lone Gunmen".
  • Marc Guggenheim made an uncredited cameo during the statue reveal. He can be seen on the right side next to Diggle, and behind Felicity and Nyssa.
  • There are two references to "Burned":
    • Rene tells John that his arms are "the size of telephone poles", a reference to the Season 1 episode "Burned" Oliver says a variation of the line, claiming that Diggle's arms are "the size of bowling balls".
    • Oliver tells Diggle gives the advice that the power comes from the hips. This advice was previously used by Oliver to Diggle in "Burned", and by Nyssa to Earth-1 Laurel Lance in "The Magician".
  • This is the first episode since The Flash episode "Invincible" that Barry Allen and Earth-2 Laurel have appeared in the same episode.
    • This is also the first episode that Kara Danvers and Earth-2 Laurel have appeared in the same episode.
  • Since Oliver Queen altered the reality when creating Earth-Prime, Tommy Merlyn is alive. However, Oliver stopped killing people because of Tommy in the original multiverse. This was explained in the flashbacks where it was Diggle who ultimately convinced Oliver not to kill in the new multiverse.
  • James Bamford directed his third and final Arrow finale.
  • This is the first (and only) time that Melissa Benoist has appeared on Arrow without the episode being part of a crossover.
  • Series creator Marc Guggenheim always planned for Arrow to end with Oliver dying. However, early plans for the series finale saw Oliver die in the final episode rather than ahead of it. Furthermore, the finale was originally envisioned with Oliver inspiring Batman to begin his own crusade.[8]

Production[]

Preparation ran from October 22 until October 30, 2019. Shooting ran from October 31 until November 13.[9]

Gallery[]

Videos[]

References[]

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