Leap of Faith

"You know, I've been thinking a lot about mom and dad lately, wondering what they would think about the lives we've chosen. All the mistakes they made, all the lies they told in their own very, very messed up way. They thought they were protecting us."

"They weren't. They didn't."
"No, but it did help us become the people we are today. They turned us into heroes."

—Thea Queen with Oliver Queen on their family legacy.

"Leap of Faith"
Information
Season 8 » Episode 3
Episode number	163 of 170
Original airdate	October 29, 2019
Written by	Emilio Ortega Aldrich Elizabeth Kim
Directed by	Katie Cassidy
Guest stars
Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance (special appearance by; credit only) Willa Holland as Thea Queen (special guest star) Audrey Marie Anderson as Lyla Michaels Andrea Sixtos as older Zoe Ramirez Charlie Barnett as older John Diggle, Jr./Deathstroke Lexa Doig as Talia al Ghul Kyra Zagorsky as Athena
Chronology
Preceded by	"Welcome to Hong Kong"
Followed by	"Present Tense"

"Leap of Faith" is the third episode of the eighth season of Arrow, and the one-hundred-sixty-third episode overall. It aired on October 29, 2019.

Synopsis

Reunited with his sister, Oliver and Thea find themselves searching through a familiar maze of catacombs. Meanwhile, John and Lyla partner on a special ops mission.

Trivia

• Though she does not appear despite being credited, Katie Cassidy made her directional debut in this episode.
• While not having as many as the previous episodes, this episode has some callbacks and references to previous seasons.
  • When John and Lyla talk about their last dance, they reference to the events of "Suicide Squad".
    • Gholem Qadir's son Farzad Qadir appears in this episode and his main motivation of to get revenge for his father's murder.
  • The tomb of Al-Fatih is located atop the same mountain that Oliver dueled Ra's in "The Climb". Thea also referred to this event when Thea mentions that Oliver has cheated death a few times.
  • The League of Assassins return in a major role in the episode. They also had a major role in Season 3.
  • The Thanatos Guild return as the main antagonists of the episode after "The Thanatos Guild".
  • Oliver's and Thea's talk by the bonfire is shot very similary to the one they had on Lian Yu in "The Return".
    • It is also a reference to "This Is Your Sword", where Oliver and Malcolm talked by a bondfire near Nanda Parbat.
  • Oliver mentions to Talia that his students used to ask questions first, as seen in "Checkmate".
  • Oliver also mentions the debt Talia owes him and the death of Jarrett Parker, both of which happened in "The Demon".
  • When discussing Mia with Oliver, Thea references that she once used the name as an alias while in Corto Maltese. This occurred in "Corto Maltese".
  • The brotherly rivalry between Connor and JJ in this episode is similar to the rivalry between John and Andy Diggle, which was a major storyline in Season 4.
    • Interestingly enough, Andy’s betrayal to John, which resulted into the murder of John’s teammate, Laurel Lance/Black Canary is similar to the murder of Zoey Ramirez, a member of the Canaries, who was killed by JJ.
• When they enter Al-Fatih's crypt, Thea jokingly references the Indiana Jones franchise.
• After Talia gives the marble with the map on it to Athena, Oliver questions her about it, Talia replies she memorized it and adds to him, "Didn't you," a reference to the 2018 DC film Aquaman,