The Hōzen (宝箭) is the arrowhead stone Oliver Queen found around the neck of one of the corpses in the graves of Japanese soldiers on the Island. It is currently in the possession of Thea Queen, after being given to her by Oliver as a gift.
On one side is a Buddhist inscription, and on the other is a set of numbers, particularly coordinates, leading to the Kairyu-class Japanese submarine which carried the Japanese military's only supply of "Mirakuru". It was being transported when the submarine came under heavy fire by the Allied Forces and ran aground Lian Yu during World War II.
History
The Hōzen was worn as a necklace by a Japanese soldier, until his death on the island of Lian Yu. As soldier of the Japanese Imperial Army from World War II, he was probably tasked with protecting the Hōzen, which told the coordinates to a submarine.
Over 60 years later, the Hōzen was found on the soldier's corpse by Oliver Queen when he, along with Shado and Slade Wilson, discover the graves. Some time after they found it, Shado began wearing it as a necklace because the Buddhist inscription reminded her of her father.[1] They soon discovered that it is actually the Hōzen that Professor Ivo and his men were after because of the coordinates engraved on its surface. According to Ivo, they were looking for the graves because "every report said it was with these bodies".[2]
After he returned from the island, Oliver gave his sister Thea the Hōzen, in hopes of reconnecting with her after "coming back from the dead"[3]. A few weeks later, to refute her suspicions that he is the green-hooded vigilante archer, Oliver claimed that he bought the Hōzen from a gift shop at the Beijing airport.[4]
About a year later, Thea temporarily gave the Hōzen to Roy Harper, her boyfriend, as an ultimatum to fix his life before fixing things with her. Roy later returned the Hōzen to Thea to symbolize his re-connection and desire to be with her.[1]
In 2018, After Thea left Star City with Roy, she gave the Hōzen to Felicity Smoak. Months later, Felicity gave the Hōzen to Thea's nephew, William Clayton. [5]
Years later, for unknown reasons, William traveled to Lian Yu. There, he was captured by an archer that was on the island. To prove to the archer that he is Oliver Queen's son, William showed him the Hōzen, which made the archer to reveal himself as Roy.[6]
Alternate reality
In the dream world created by the Dominators, Thea gave the Hōzen to Oliver as a pre-wedding gift for his marriage to Laurel.[7]
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 5
Season 7
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Trivia
- As Oliver explained to Thea, in Japanese Buddhism, the arrow or hōzen symbolizes reconnecting.[3] Furthermore, it may also mean meeting true friends and is also a weapon against the enemies of Buddhism, one that symbolizes the destruction of the passions.
- The name of the item "宝箭" can be seen as written in both simplified Chinese and kanji.
- Although the given pronunciation "hōzen" is indeed how it is said if trying to say it in Japanese (specifically in on'yomi pronunciation), the term itself is not really common nor used at all in Japan. Therefore, it ties-in with the usage of on'yomi, for it is based on the original Chinese pronunciation, indicating the speaker is simply trying to read out of the kanji.
- The large character on the front "箭" literally means "arrow" in both Japanese and Chinese.
- However, "矢" is the slightly more common word for "arrow" in Japanese.
- The inscription on the back reads "毒箭不需要殺" as "poisoned arrows do not need to kill".
- However, this statement is written in traditional Chinese.
- If in Japanese, the statement will be "毒矢とは殺す必要ではない" or something along the lines.
- Making sense out of all the information above, the Hōzen most likely originated from China before eventually becoming a Japanese possession.