- "My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in hell, I have come home with only one goal: to save my city. Now others have joined my crusade, to them I'm Oliver Queen. To the rest of Starling city, I am someone else. I am... something else."
- —Oliver Queen (Season 3 intro)
Oliver Jonas Queen[1] (1985)[2] was a former billionaire and playboy turned vigilante archer. At various points he owned and operated the night club, Verdant, and was CEO of Queen Consolidated.
In 2012, Oliver returned to Starling City after being stranded on the island of Lian Yu for 5 years, much to the surprise of everyone as he was assumed dead alongside his father. On the island, Oliver learned to fend for himself and discovered the dark secrets his father kept and tried to atone for, and so upon Oliver's return, he became a green-hooded vigilante archer known by the Starling City populace as The Hood.
Following the events of The Undertaking, Oliver returned to Lian Yu for five months, only for Felicity and Diggle to come for him when things began to go worse for Oliver's family. Called into becoming the vigilante once more, Oliver was determined to "try a new way" in honor of Tommy, beginning his journey into becoming the hero called The Arrow.
Biography
Early life
Oliver was born on May 16th, 1985 to Robert and Moira Queen. In his youth Oliver befriended Tommy Merlyn who became his life-long best friend, he also met and became friends with Laurel Lance at that time as well. When Robert was a pilot he performed his own maintenance which Oliver sometimes helped in and gained some skills in engineering.
When Oliver and Tommy entered their early 20s they got into multiple social scandals together which according to Tommy included assaulting a paparazzi bystander, driving while intoxicated, stealing a taxi, and urinating on a police officer. At some point the two were also acquainted with McKenna Hall.[3] The two also met Laurel's sister, Sara. At one of Tommy's parties Sara sneaked out to see Oliver, as she had a crush on him, and the three were busted by the cops leaving Sara grounded. Oliver later started dating Laurel.
Oliver has also dropped out of four schools, the last one he never told Moira or Robert about until just before the Queen Gambit's trip. It is also likely he was a business administration major.
In 2007 when he was 22 years old, Laurel broached the topic of them getting a place of their own, citing that they had been together even longer than their friends who were already moving in together. Oliver initially agreed, but later panicked and tried to run away from the responsibility.[4] First, he slept with another woman and accidentally got her pregnant, which he was unprepared for, however Moira stepped in and gave the unnamed woman 2 million dollars to start a new life in Central City to raise the child, the only catch being that she had to tell Oliver that it was a miscarriage.[5] Furthermore, Oliver only continued to destroy his relationship with Laurel by sleeping with her sister Sara and even taking her on the Queen's Gambit on his father's trip.[6]
Shipwrecked on Lian Yu and dealing with Edward Fyers
Oliver shipwrecked on the island.
Oliver was on the Queen's Gambit with his father and Sara. A shipwreck occurred, leaving only Oliver, Robert, and one other crew member as the only survivors. As there were not enough provisions to keep all of them alive, Robert chose to give his son a better chance at survival by shooting first the other survivor, then himself, but not before telling Oliver that their wealth had been built on the suffering of others, and it was up to him to make things right and to survive.[6]
Sometime later, Oliver landed ashore upon an island. There, while burying his father, Oliver found a book filled with blank pages in Robert's pocket. Immediately after, a hooded man (later revealed to be named Yao Fei) shot Oliver with an arrow in the shoulder.[7] Oliver awoke sometime later in the man's camp, where he tended to Oliver's wound. Later, when Yao Fei fell asleep, Oliver tried to escape but was snared in a trap. Yao Fei soon arrived, cutting him down and walking off, leaving Oliver with no other choice but to follow him. Not long after, a group of armed men, their faces hidden, examined the sprung trap.[8]
Over the next few days, Oliver spent most of his time gazing at a picture of Laurel until Yao Fei brought him a bird trapped in a cage. He told Oliver that he had to kill the bird if he wanted to eat and survive. Oliver refused at first but, driven by hunger, he later broke the bird's neck. Yao Fei told him that he would be forced to take more lives, and told him to forget about Laurel or he would not survive.[9]
Yao Fei with Oliver, teaching him to aim a bow.
While hunting one day, Oliver tried to shoot Yao Fei's bow, but missed his target, a tree. He went to fetch the rabbit Yao Fei killed, but was captured by the previously armed men. They brought him to their camp, where he was then interrogated by their leader, Edward Fyers. Fyers showed him a picture of Yao Fei, asking if Oliver had seen him, revealing the man's name as well as the island's: Lian Yu (meaning "purgatory" in Chinese). Oliver denied any knowledge of Yao Fei in order to protect him. Not believing him, Fyers ordered an employee of his, Billy Wintergreen, to torture Oliver for more information. Yao Fei barged in, rescuing Oliver and brought him back to the cave. He then left to lead Edward's men away from their hideout, but not before telling Oliver to survive, and sealing the entrance to prevent Oliver from following him.[10]
Injured and alone in the cave, Oliver began hallucinating. He saw visions of his father telling him to survive, otherwise his father's sacrifice would have been for nothing. He also dreamt about burning his father's book. When he awoke, he tore a page out of the book, but just as he was about to throw it onto the fire, the heat from the flames causes letters to appear on the paper. He proceeded to do the same with other pages, and various names began to appear on the pages. He promised the hallucination of his father that he would live up to this responsibility.[11]
Yao Fei returned a while later, bringing with him a captured Fyers. He told Oliver that Fyers had a plane that could take them off the island. They made their way through the woods until they were ambushed by Wintergreen and Fyers' men, with Fyers admitting how convenient it appeared to be that Yao Fei captured him so easily. Yao Fei told Oliver to run and began fighting the men. Unfortunately, he was defeated and knocked unconscious by Billy. From a safe distance, Oliver watched them take Yao Fei and then ran away.[12]
One of Fyers' men continued to search for Oliver after Yao Fei was captured. Armed with only a knife Oliver was eventually forced to confront him. The skirmish resulted in them tumbling and falling down in to a stream. The soldier landed hard on a rock while Oliver ended up in the water. He managed to get out and donned the uniform of the dead man, where he found a set of keys and a map of the island in one of the pockets. [13]
Using the map, Oliver found his way to the camp where Fyers and his men were based. There, unfortunately accompanied by Fyers (who didn't seem to recognize him due to wearing a balaclava) he managed to make his way to where Yao Fei was being held prisoner, but once there, Fyers knocked down Oliver and put him in one of the cells. When he came to, Fyers told him he'd known who he was because of his eyes, which tell everything about a person, which was the reason why his men all wore balaclavas. Fyers then rebuked Oliver for putting his trust in the wrong people, specifically Yao Fei. He motioned to the soldier next to him, who had been the first to talk to Oliver upon his arrival in the camp. The soldier took off his balaclava and revealed himself to be in fact Yao Fei, who had began working for Fyers.[14] Yao Fei proceeded to seemingly kill Oliver in a fighting circle, however he secretly used a technique in order to fake Oliver's death.[3]
As he hit the water, Oliver was revived and swam to shore. In his pocket, he found a map with a route marked out.[3] Oliver proceeded to follow the route, leading to an abandoned plane. Before he could do a thing, a man jumped down, threatening to kill him. Oliver told him that he was sent by Yao Fei, and the man seemed to drop his suspicions, introducing himself as Slade Wilson. Slade then told Oliver that there was an air field, and he and Yao Fei had been observing it for months, that they were going to get off the island together. He then threw a sword to Oliver and told him of his belief that Yao Fei sent Oliver to him because he knew that he could not take the air field alone. Slade then challenged Oliver to a brief sword fight in order to gauge Oliver's fighting skills. He was unimpressed, significantly beating Oliver, and told him how he fought much worse than a girl. Slade then knocked him out.[15]
Oliver woke, tied to a chair. Slade, in order to keep his location secret, decided to kill Oliver, however Oliver managed to escape his bonds by breaking his hand, and then punched Slade in the face. Amused, Slade thought that there might've been a fighter inside of Oliver after all and decided to train Oliver instead. As Oliver went to choose a weapon, he found a bi-colored black and orange mask, identical to the one worn by the man who had tortured him under Fyers' orders. When questioned about this, Slade explained that he and his old partner, and former friend, wore the same mask, that they had come to the island to rescue Yao as a mission from the Australian Secret Intelligence Service.[15]
Oliver working with Slade.
The two progressively fought over an unspecified amount of time. Oliver almost gave up, though was quickly re-motivated by Slade. When the time came, the two of them made their way to Edward's camp, and ultimately the airstrip to a ride home. They set up camp, and Oliver tried to start a fire for several hours, before Slade pulled out a lighter and helped, bemused at Oliver's anger. In return, Slade reminisced about his and his partner, Billy Wintergreen's, arrival on the island.[16]
A day or so later, Oliver accidentally stepped on a land mine left over from a previous war. Slade ran to hide as a group of soldiers approached a masked Oliver. Oliver explained his situation, as Slade had deserted him, and they surveyed the mine. Suddenly, Slade jumped from his hiding spot, slicing through the soldiers with his sword, replacing Oliver with one of them. They continued towards the camp, finally reaching it at dark. Oliver, aided by Slade's sniping, raced stealthily to the communications tower. He attempted to quietly take out the only man in there, only resulting in having a gun pointed at his face. He tried to remove it, but his technique failed. Luckily, Slade reached him just in time, stabbing the man through the gut. They were able to contact the plane, allowing it clearance to land. Slade left Oliver on his own and Oliver, seeing his chance, grabbed a phone and called Laurel, hoping to make up for his wrongdoings. Before he could speak, Slade returned and stopped him, reminding him that it could be monitored. After a short argument, Oliver went to find Yao Fei and rescue him. Yao Fei explained that he was only staying for a person. Fyers and Wintergreen entered the tent, leading Yao Fei to knock out Oliver. When Oliver came to, he was forced into the middle of a circle. After questioning Fyers, he discovered that he meant for Wintergreen to kill him. Before this could happen, Slade caused a distraction so that he could snipe several soldiers and Oliver could run to safety. Oliver watched as Slade and Wintergreen faced off, with Slade overpowering his former friend. As they were leaving, Slade was shot. Oliver helped to protect them as they left, finally knocking out his first soldier with the move Slade had shown him earlier. When they reached Slade's plane, Oliver helped remove the bullet in Slade's arm and mocked that his only friend on the island was named "Wilson".[16]
Later, Oliver checked Slade's wound and found that it was infected. He recalled the herbs that Yao Fei had given him that prevented infection from his arrow wound and offered to go get them. Slade said that he wouldn't last an hour out there, and Oliver believed that he could get them in 45 minutes. He then went to Yao Fei's cave, discovering a man tied up there. The man explains that he was the only survivor of a shipwreck, like Oliver, and had discovered Fyers' soldiers, whom had beaten and taken him to the cave. Oliver, believing it to be a trap, grabbed the herbs and left the man there, returning to Slade with the herbs.[17]
Oliver began working on a broken down radio transmitter to find a way to get off the island with Slade. After working on it for a while, they were able to hear conversations between radios, but unable to communicate back. After listening for a while, the two learnt that Fyers had ordered the shipment of a missile launcher big enough to destroy an entire army.[18] Oliver and Slade were able to sneak in to Fyers' compound, where they stole the launcher's ignition chip. They called Fyers on his radio and told him that they would return the chip in exchange for a way off of the island.[19]
Oliver and Slade soon met with Fyers, who quickly backed down from their deal by revealing to them that he would kill Shado, Yao Fei's daughter, if they did not give him the chip. Oliver then realized that it was because of Shado that Yao Fei joined Fyers' cause. Oliver and Slade escaped with Shado in tow, but soon learnt that Fyers' men had found the chip whilst they had rendezvoused with Fyers, and had taken it back. Shado then told them how she knew of Fyers' plan.[20]
Shado decided to begin teaching Oliver archery so that he could help them defeat Fyers. She proceeded to get him to fill a bowl with water, and then continuously slap it. After a while, Oliver became frustrated and asked Shado the purpose of the exercise, and she showed him that because he had spent so long slapping the water, he then had the strength in his hands to pull back a bow. She then told him that he had to learn how to shoot. After learning how to shoot, the three were shocked to see Yao Fei arrive at their compound. However, he was promptly forced to reveal that he had brought Fyers' soldiers along with him.[21]
The soldiers brought the three of them to Fyers' compound, where Oliver saw that one of the soldiers was the young man who he met in the cave who had claimed to be trapped there. Fyers revealed that the reason he was on the island was because he and his men were hired to shoot down a Ferris Aircraft on its way to China, thus destroying China's economy. Fyers then threatened to kill Shado if Yao Fei did not film a video taking responsibility for the terrorist attack. After reluctance, Yao Fei agreed, but subtly handed Oliver a knife. After filming the video, Fyers shot Yao Fei in the head, killing him.[22]
Just as Fyers and his men prepared to fire the missile, Oliver cut himself free using Yao Fei's knife, and he, Slade, and Shado, fought Fyers and his men. Fyers, however, was able to get the missile fired at the plane, and Oliver and Shado went to manually redirect the missile while Slade covered them. Just as Shado was about to place the chip inside the switchboard, she was attacked from behind, and Oliver managed to redirect the missile, which hit Fyers' compound instead, with both Slade and Shado still there. Oliver went to search for them, and found Slade alive, but then turned around to see that Fyers was still alive and had Shado in his custody. Oliver found Yao Fei's wooden compound bow and arrow, and pointed it at Fyers, who mused about how his meticulously-executed plan over the past two years was undone by a shipwrecked boy, and admitted that he would've gotten him off of the island if Oliver had stopped messing with Fyers' plans. Before Edward could make a move, Oliver shot an arrow at Fyers, killing him, and marking the first of many occasions to come that Oliver killed someone with a bow and arrow.[23]
Associations with Anthony Ivo and the Mirakuru
Months later, Oliver had noticeably improved in his combat tactics, as noted by both Slade and Shado. The three of them soon discovered another group of people on the island, and went to track them down. However, Shado was soon abducted by the group, forcing Oliver and Slade to try and rescue her. They soon found her being interrogated by a group of pirates, who were asking her where to find "bodies". Slade told Oliver to wait for his signal to attack, but Oliver, unable to watch Shado be tortured, attacked them impulsively. While Slade fended off the other pirates, Oliver brutally murdered their leader out of rage, shocking both Slade and Shado.[24]
Slade promptly suggested Shado talk to Oliver, worried that he would lose his mind. This leads to the latter two making love, to the clear annoyance of Slade, who told Oliver that Shado was simply a distraction that would lead to his death. The three of them soon found skeletal remains of Japanese soldiers from World War II, determining that they were the very same bodies that the pirates were looking for. They also deduced that more people were likely to follow, and so they took one of the bodies back to the plane.[25]
As Shado examined the body, Slade and Oliver went to find a strategic point to watch from, if more pirates were to appear. Slade emphasized his point about Shado, though Oliver ignored him. When finally the two reached the top of a mountain, they discovered that the pirates had come from a large ship just off the coast of Lian Yu. They soon spotted a number of missiles coming from the ship, clearly aimed for their compound. Oliver and Slade raced back to the plane, however as soon as they approached, they were both knocked out by the explosion of missiles. Oliver quickly saw Slade some distance off with his hands and face on fire, then fainted. Oliver woke up sometime later, imprisoned in a cell, surrounded by several other people.[26]
As he awoke, Oliver was approached by the surviving pirate that interrogated Shado. The man asked him who his friends were and whether any of them knew the location of the graves. Refusing to answer, the man gave him two options: he could give him answers, or he could be tortured, though both would ultimately end in death. Oliver obstinately refuses to reveal anything, and the man shot him in the stomach. Oliver was soon given tools and medicinal tools to remove the bullet. Oliver was prompted to ask a nearby prisoner, later revealed as Anatoly Knyazev, as to why the incident occurred. He explained that it was to see if he was strong enough to survive, and showed a scar from the identical injury. Oliver eventually removed the bullet, to immense pain, and the pirate soon came back to find Oliver surviving. "The Captain" asked him again if he knew of the location of the Japanese bodies and although Oliver didn't say a word, the Captain inferred that they were in fact on the correct island. Later, the crew brought Oliver out of his cell, being told that his days of screaming had just begun. He was thrown in to a room, followed through the opposite door by a woman. Oliver sees that, much to his shock, the woman is Sara Lance, somehow having also survived their shipwreck.[27]
Oliver, surprised to see Sara alive, tried talking to her, but she quickly kicked him in the stomach, claiming that "prisoners don't speak".[28] A man entered the room, introducing himself as Ivo, and asked for Oliver's name in return. Sara signaled to Oliver not to give his real name, so Oliver began to lie, firstly stating that his name was Tommy and secondly that he was the only survivor of a shipwreck that occurred near the island. When Ivo asked if he had come by a Japanese submarine while exploring the island, Oliver informed him that he hadn't. Ivo then revealed that during World War II, the Japanese created a serum called "Mirakuru" that increased the physical strength and allowed rapid cell regeneration in humans. He explained that the serum was transported via a submarine that came under heavy fire, running aground somewhere in the chain of islands containing Lian Yu, and it was finally thanks to Oliver that they knew it was Lian Yu itself. Oliver angrily told Ivo that he'd killed Oliver's friends, and Ivo replied, telling him that due to his friends being dead, it was up to Oliver to help Ivo find the sub.[29]
Later, Sara came to visit Oliver in his cell, advising him not to reveal their knowing each other, otherwise they would both be killed. Oliver wished to warn his friends, believing them to still be alive, so later that night, Sara unlocked Oliver's cell, telling him to follow her. As he left, the prisoner he previously talked to asked him to not forget about them, followed by Oliver promising that he would return. Sara brought him to a room with a radio transmitter inside it and showed him that she could operate it. Oliver called for his friends and Shado answered, but before he could reveal his location, Sara disconnected the radio. Ivo and the Captain entered the room, with Ivo revealing that Oliver has confirmed that his friends were alive, and thus still a threat, for which they would be killed. The Captain believed Oliver to be of no more use and pointed a gun towards his head. However, Sara interjected, stating that Oliver could still be useful. Ivo agreed, telling Oliver that he would be going back to the island and calling him by name, revealing that Sara had seemingly been manipulating him the whole time.[29]
Oliver was soon take back to the island and led to the plane wreck, where the Captain laid charges to blow up the compound. However, Shado was successfully able to diffuse the detonator in time, initially unbeknownst to them. As they reached the grave site of the Japanese soldiers, Ivo questioned Oliver about the hōzen he had previously found at the site. Oliver didn't reply, causing Ivo to get angry and send him outside to be tortured. As the Captain was about to torture him, Shado and Slade appeared to save Oliver, shooting one of the men and grabbing Sara and Oliver before running away from Ivo and his men. Once they were a good distance away from Ivo, they stopped and Oliver mentioned the hōzen, which Shado kept as a pendant because it reminded her of her father. They realized that the etchings on one side of the hōzen were co-ordinates to the shipwrecked submarine, where the Mirakuru serum was being kept. When Sara explained that the serum could save the human race, Oliver asked her whether it could Slade, who was slowly dying due to his collective injuries from the previous missile explosions.[30]
Presumably agreeing that the serum could save Slade, the four of them began to trek through the island towards the inscribed coordinates. During their journey, Shado questioned Oliver on how he knew Sara and he admitted that she was Laurel's sister. Dismayed at his response, Shado began to distance herself from him. They eventually found the submarine and entered it, leaving a weakened Slade near the entrance to find the serum. When they did, Sara revealed that they needed to give Slade a sedative before injecting him with the serum, but another scan of the area revealed that there were no sedatives in the sub. Oliver made the decision to use the serum on Slade anyway, and before he was injected, Slade revealed that he had been in love with Shado the whole time she and Oliver were together. That said, Oliver gave him the serum, and he, Shado and Sara were horrified when it only seemed to kill him faster.[31]
Before they could begin to mourn Slade, Ivo and his men arrived,[31] taking the three of them captive. Once they collected the serum, Ivo had his men take them back up to the island, where Sara played on Ivo's affection for her to cajole him into letting Oliver and Shado go. But while Ivo admitted that he cared about her, he forced Oliver at gunpoint to choose who he wanted to live more, Sara or Shado. Given thirty seconds, Oliver tried to get Ivo to leave them alone, but was forced to kneel behind Sara when Ivo moved to shoot her. Taking this as Oliver's decision, Ivo shoot Shado, causing Oliver to be overcome with shock and guilt. Slade suddenly appeared, attacking everyone standing. Ivo ran off, leaving his men to die, and when Slade discovered Shado's body and asked why she died, Sara lied for Oliver and said that Ivo shot her without reason.[32]
Oliver, Slade and Sara later buried Shado next to Yao Fei and Robert Queen. During her funeral, Oliver stated his hope that she was with her father. Slade gave Oliver Shado's green hood, and initially he did not want it, but kept it after being reminded by Slade of their relationship prior to her death. Later as they were walking, Oliver was close to telling Slade the true reason why Shado was killed, when Sara approached him, advising him not to, as Slade still had Mirakuru in him, and they had no idea as to the effects of it. They asked Slade where they were headed and he responded that they were heading back to the plane, in order to get geared up before they killed Ivo and his men. Before Oliver could stop him from continuing his plan of killing Ivo, Slade lifted Oliver a foot off the ground, choking him. Sara promptly hit Slade with a branch, making him let go of Oliver and causing him to realise what he'd done. Oliver simply assumed that that the Mirakuru was messing with his head. Later that night, Ivo contacted them through a radio, telling them they had ten days to deliver the Mirakuru to him, in turn giving them safe passage off of the island. They turned to consult with Slade, only to realize that he had disappeared.[33]
After a number of heart to heart conversations,[34] Oliver and Sara made their way to the cave that they’d found the Japanese soldiers in. Slade was nowhere to be found, though Oliver spotted some calculations on a wall. He recognized them, telling Sara how he’d seen identical calculations on Edward Fyers’ missile launcher, and Oliver could therefore deduce that Slade was going to destroy the Amazo with the missiles. The two rushed to the missile launchers as quick as they could and found Slade inputting the calculations. Oliver attempted to stop Slade, however he threatened to shoot him if he got in the way. Before he could, Oliver admitted that Shado had indeed loved Slade, perhaps not romantically but indeed platonically, and would have wanted him to return home. Knowing this, Slade decided not to fire, so as to not let Shado die in vain, and Oliver reassured him that he would help his friend along the difficult road.[35]
Once Slade had got his senses back, the three of them surveyed the freighter and brainstormed ideas on how to board it. As they were talking they heard a plane. When it came in to sight they began to make noise to signal it, though it was quickly shot down with a missile. They ran to find it and discovered its dying pilot. Sara suggested Oliver get medical supplies from their compound and so he and Slade went back to retrieve some, but they returned back too late to save the man. In the midst of this, however, Oliver noticed a bagged parachute, remarking how it could get them on to the freighter.[36]
For some time, Oliver trained around the forest, improving his archery and various strengths, progressively getting much better as time went by. Slade commended Oliver on his skills, though Oliver reminded him that trees were nothing compared to live enemies. He later discussed plans to attack the ship, while Sara concocted some cocculus indicus, to counteract sodium pentathol, which Sara assumed Ivo would use on Oliver. Outside, Oliver suggested destroying the Mirakuru, to which Slade overheard and agreed. While burning it, Sara explained that Oliver had to be the one to kill Ivo, not Slade, so there were no repercussions. Later that night, Slade produced some alcohol for the three of them, one of the few things that survived the plane’s crash, and they drank to respective things. Oliver asked for Sara to reassure his mother of his moral changes, should he have died the following day, and she agreed. Slade suggested they get some rest and Oliver soon went to sleep. Through the night, Oliver had nightmares. He woke up to Sara and Slade ready to go and donned Shado’s old hood. They trekked to a hill on the shoreline and Oliver prepared to shoot a flaming arrow at a bonfire they’d built. He initially failed the first time, but hit it point blank the second. Slade remarked that they were leaving the island as brothers (in contrast to them meeting as strangers) and Oliver bid him farewell. Down on the shore two of Ivo’s men spotted Oliver. He began to run along the beach, only to trip over a tree root and be captured by the men. On the ship, Oliver was placed back in to a cell. He began talking to a man who introduced himself as Thomas Flynn. Not long after, Ivo summoned Oliver to his room. Refusing to answer Ivo’s questions, Oliver was injected with sodium pentathol, or truth serum. Seemingly dazed, Oliver began to answer Ivo’s questions and apparently reveal their entire plan. He was taken back to his cell, but along the way he knocked the guards out and took their keys. Oliver rendezvoused with Sara and Slade outside and was given his bow and arrows. They let the prisoners go and Oliver made his way to Ivo. Aiming an arrow at him, Oliver blamed Ivo for Shado’s death. Ivo tried to explain how it was in fact Oliver’s fault. When Oliver finally admitted his feelings of guilt, he threatened to kill Ivo, however Ivo alerted him to Slade’s presence in the room, and he turned to face a horrified Slade. Oliver finally admitted to Shado’s death being his fault and Slade began to fight him, letting Ivo escape. Before Slade could choke him to death, there was an explosion that sent Slade flying. Oliver took the chance to run, jumping off the side of the ship just after Anatoly, Thomas and Sara, only to be grabbed by the ankle by Slade. Slade then put him in a cell, announcing that he was the new captain of the Amazo, after killing the previous one. Later Slade ordered Oliver to be brought out. He gave Ivo a gun, asking him to kill Oliver just as he had killed Shado. When he did not do it straight away, Slade sliced his arm off. Ivo was taken away, and Slade claimed that he would not let Oliver die until he had known complete despair, as Slade had, reassuring and promising him that it would eventually come.[1]
While in custody, Slade had Oliver severely tortured by the ship’s crew, zapping him with electricity before finally branding him with the same tattoo that Shado had had.[37]
Later as part of an exchange deal between Slade and Sara, Oliver was returned to the island with Ivo in exchange for Hendrick, a former cellmate of Oliver’s. Oliver intervened when Slade aimed his gun at Sara, and Slade predicted that they would spend the rest of their life on the island, before leaving. As he left, he threatened that once he had the ship moving, he would go to make Oliver’s family suffer.[38]
A little while after, Oliver was being attended to by Sara for his heavily damaged eye, after being punched by Slade. Anatoly attempted to torture Anthony Ivo, only to be stopped before he could. Ivo proceeded to tell Oliver that there was in fact a cure to the Mirakuru, a possible way to stop Slade. Ivo offered to help them find it, if they could provide him a quick death due to the gangrene travelling in his system due to his arm stump. They agreed to the deal and after being told where the cure was, Oliver shot Ivo, rather than Sara doing it.[39]
Anatoly, Peter (another former prisoner), Sara and Oliver all returned to the Japanese submarine. Oliver suggested to Anatoly that he pilot the submarine, having been in the Russian navy, and he reluctantly agreed. When they tried, they were unable to get away. Oliver suggested they blast their way out, so Anatoly retrieved blueprints for the ship’s torpedoes. However, it became apparent that the torpedoes could only be directed by someone in there with them, therefore whoever directed it would die. Peter was quick to volunteer, pointing out that he had inevitably fatal radiation poisoning, and it was a generally heroic action as he would be saving a number of lives. Anatoly soon directed Peter as to what would be happening while Oliver instructed Sara to wait outside for his call. Oliver came to talk with Peter before he prepared himself, and Peter remarked that he believed Oliver would be particularly compassionate one day. The two shook hands and Peter got in to the torpedo hole. After Sara was clear, they fired the torpedo. As it directed back and hit the submarine, the two were knocked off their feet. Oliver was able to stand back up, moving the submarine around. Successful, Oliver proceeded to notify Sara, only for her to desperately shout his name through the radio.[40]
Oliver went above the submarine to find Sara and returned with her walkie talkie, concluding that Slade’s men had taken her. Anatoly mentioned that he’d seen the Amazo moving, so Oliver suggested that they fire a torpedo right at it. He decided that he’d swim across if they could get close enough. This confused Anatoly who asked what the torpedo was for. Oliver requested that he fire it at the Amazo if he and Sara were not back within an hour, much to the shock of Anatoly. When they got close, Oliver and Anatoly said farewell to each other, the latter remarking that the former had made a lifelong friend, warranting any favors happily given. They hugged, Anatoly promising he’d teach Oliver Russian, and Oliver hurried up the ladder and out towards the Amazo. He sneaked aboard and opened Sara’s cell. He made her leave without him, explaining his plan to cure Slade’s Mirakuru, though she refused and they both made their way to Ivo’s quarters. Before Oliver could go for the Mirakuru cure, they were ambushed by Slade who revealed that he had the cure.[41]
Slade took Oliver and Sara to watch him inject numerous prisoners with Mirakuru, though it had clearly failed on several already. Oliver tried to reason with Slade, stating how Shado would have wanted them both to survive and return home. Before Slade could shoot Oliver, Anatoly fired the torpedo at the Amazo. The ship began to flood and Oliver grabbed an arrow, killing Slade’s men where he could. Before Slade could grab the Mirakuru, Oliver was able to, however he was able to grab Sara. Slade threw Sara down the hole in the ship, seemingly killing her again. The two started to fight and soon Slade was able to lift up Oliver by choking him. Oliver took off Slade’s mask, but Slade simply knocked him down. As Oliver stood up, they started to run at each other, but they were knocked off balance and large bits of debris fell on to Slade, trapping him. Being given a choice between curing or killing, Oliver decided to kill Slade by stabbing an arrow through his eye. A further explosion knocked Oliver over. A day or two later, Oliver awoke in a bed. Two men in suits ordered him to follow them, and once outside Oliver was greeted by Amanda Waller, who revealed that he was in Hong Kong.[42]
Forcibly living in Hong Kong
Over the next five months, Oliver made a large number of attempts to contact friends and family, but he was finally stopped by Maseo Yamashiro after trying to email his mother of his survival. He was taken to Waller, who threatened to kill him if he escaped, though Oliver didn't care. Considering this, Maseo was given custody of Oliver, threatening to kill his entire family if Oliver did not comply.[43] Shortly after, Oliver was tasked to execute a target, to which Oliver was shocked to see his best friend, Tommy Merlyn, through his scope. Oliver quickly learned that Tommy was in Hong Kong due to an account alert going off when Oliver logged into his email account. Maseo told Oliver that Tommy needed to be "off the board" as Waller couldn't risk Tommy flashing his picture all over the place. Oliver would suggest to Maseo that they could find a Tommy Merlyn look-a-like at a local morgue but Maseo reasoned that it would be easier winning the lottery and paying Waller off. Oliver decided to kidnap his best friend, telling Tommy that he hacked Oliver's account hoping his mother or sister would come to Hong Kong in search for him. He told Tommy that he was more than happy that Tommy came, as he's the son of the CEO of Merlyn Global Group. He threatened that Tommy pay a ransom or he would join Oliver, before Maseo intervened as a police officer and "rescued" him.[44]
Days later, Oliver was tasked to kill a "terrorist" which Oliver believed didn't look like one. Maseo told Oliver that those were the best terrorists and ordered Oliver to proceed to kill him. Oliver proceeded to kill the man in the open though and due to the crowd, it went unnoticed, as Oliver retrieved a USB which Waller required to be acquired. At Maseo's home, Oliver questioned what it was needed for, though Maseo refused to answer. While Maseo was busy, Oliver convinced Akio to lend the laptop, to which Oliver plugged in the USB and learned the man he was sent to kill was Edward Fyers' handler. Oliver requested a meeting with Waller as he realized she was the true perpetrator behind the attempted shooting of the Ferris air jet. Oliver learned from Waller that the true reason why she wanted the plane shot down was to eliminate Chien Na Wei, as it was their only opportunity.[45]
Sometime later Oliver and Maseo waited in a street for an hour (after having also circled the block five times). Maseo updated Oliver as to who their target was, telling him that he only needed to get information and not kill him. They spotted the man and Oliver attempted to inconspicuously follow him. However, the man was able to knock him down as he ran off. Oliver began to run after him, stopped by various roadblocks he had caused. As he rounded a corner, the man was struck down by a car. Maseo caught up, trying to find the envelope they were looking for on his person, though he concluded that it had been stashed on the way. He reasoned that Oliver mightn't consciously remember, but likely still saw him stash it. They headed back to Maseo's apartment, where Akio helped Oliver to concentrate with a game. The game was interrupted by Tatsu, who offered her help upon encouragement from her husband. She sat opposite him, lighting a candle, instructing him to close his eyes and breath deeply, trying to recall the memory. From this exercise, Oliver remembered what he needed to. At the dead drop they found the envelope, inside a random photo. Initially confused, Maseo explained that it was concealing a hidden message. They examined the image with a computer and came across the message, "Contact Li Kuan Hui". Oliver thanked Tatsu, who simply asked for him to leave their lives as soon as possible.[46]
Days later, Oliver was attempting to learn Cantonese as Tatsu angrily brought him his washing, and he claimed to not know how to do it. Maseo began to leave, explaining that he had a contact at the docks but a "gaijin" like Oliver would stick out, so he couldn't accompany him. However, after he didn't return 9 hours later (claiming he'd only be 1), Oliver and Tatsu decided to go searching down at the docks. They headed to the docks, where Tatsu explained that Maseo had called him a foreigner (gaijin in Japanese). Oliver decided to go and ask some men if they'd seen Maseo, though they began to beat him up. Tatsu intervened, killing them all with a katana. She questioned a man with the katana at his neck and he claimed to have heard of three A.R.G.U.S. men being killed by the Triad. Heading back to the apartment, Tatsu worried about having to tell Akio what had happened. As they entered they happened upon Maseo playing with Akio. Tatsu ran to embrace him and he had explained how they'd been in lockdown due to the A.R.G.U.S. deaths. Oliver watched on as the entire family embraced, and soon went to do his laundry.[47]
Following that, Oliver was taken by Waller to a warehouse, where she introduced a tied up Katsu Chang, who had planted a bomb somewhere in Hong Kong. Waller revealed that they'd salvaged Oliver's old bow and arrow from the Amazo's wreckage, and she asked Oliver to torture out the location of the explosive device. He pointed the bow and arrow at Chang, though he suggested correctly that Oliver wasn't keen on actually torturing a man. In wasting this time, a massive explosion occurred in the city, which Oliver witnessed. Angered, Waller lectured Oliver, reasoning that extreme people could only be dealt with using extreme measures, therefore he should have just shot an arrow instead of waiting. Allowing him to make an attempt at redemption, Waller brought him Li Khuan Hui, asking him to torture him for details on Chien Na Wei's agenda in Hong Kong. Waller left, allowing Oliver to get ready his bow.[48]
Oliver returned back to Maseo's apartment, being given a towel to wipe excess blood off. He was handed food, but claimed to have no appetite. He revealed what he'd learnt from his torture, that a biotechnology company had created a supervirus, Omega, when initially attempting to create a super-antibiotic, and that one vial could wipe out an entire city. Following that, the two men headed to the initial company, BTHK Biotech. Maseo headed off to watch the security footage. Unable to find any vials of it, Oliver told Maseo, who checked recent footage, finding a scientist from the inside who'd stolen it for Chien Na Wei. They found the man, who claimed to have absolutely no knowledge of what they were talking about. Getting no answers, Oliver threatened him with a bow and arrow. After much torture, they were confused as to how he would not confess. Maseo finally suggested that he was perhaps under the influence of a hypnotic drug called Vitura. They decided that as they had Chien's "inside man", their biggest problem could've been her finding them. They returned to Maseo's apartment, finding blood on some paper and Akio, claiming that the "white-haired woman" had taken Tatsu.[2]
Under unknown circumstances, Oliver later returned to Lian Yu, where he eventually ended up being alone. He later managed to spot a small fishing boat, and using improvised explosive devices drew attention to himself. The Chinese fishermen came ashore and were able to rescue him, finally finding his way back to Starling City.[6]
Crusade begins and the Undertaking
Once home, Oliver was given several medical exams that revealed that he had multiple scars, burns and bone fractures that had never properly healed. He returned home with his mother to the rest of the family. Together with his best friend Tommy, Oliver was given a brief tour of the city, noticing that much of the city was in a damaged state, with high poverty and high crime. After a difficult meeting with Laurel, Oliver and Tommy were kidnapped by three masked criminals, secretly sent by Oliver's mother. They were taken to a hangar for interrogation. While Tommy remained unconscious, Oliver freed himself and easily took out two of the criminals, and after a quick chase took out the third. When later giving his alibi to the police, Oliver told Detective Lance that they were rescued by a man in a green hood. Upon mentioning this, Oliver decided to begin to fight against crime. However, his mother hired John Diggle, a former soldier working in private security. Oliver easily escaped him, leaving to the basement of an abandoned factory owned by his family, turning it in to a base of operations for his future vigilantism. Using a bow he'd brought home and a green costume, he began fulfilling his promise to his father. He decided to target Adam Hunt, a corrupt man who topped "The List", given to him by his father. As a hooded vigilante archer, Oliver eliminated Hunt's men, and forced him to transfer 40 million dollars to the city, or he would steal all of it in an unfriendly way. Adam refused and contacted the police to help defend himself. Oliver positioned his welcome party across the street from Adam's building in order to carry out his mission without anyone noticing. While waiting for the deadline, Oliver caught Thea buying drugs at his party, and explained to her some of the regrets of his former life. Once the deadline passed, he attempted to sneak away, only to be caught by Diggle, who he knocked unconscious in order to continue his plan. Oliver stormed the building and dispatched Adam's security but was wounded by stray gunfire. The police arrived and attempt to subdue him, but Oliver jumped through the window and used his bow to zip line to safety and use his party as a cover. The next day Oliver was able to transfer the money from Adam Hunt, due to capacity with an arrow router which was stuck to Hunt's computer. At the end of the night, Laurel had a conversation with Tommy about their relationship while Oliver as The Hood watched. The Hood targeted another person on "The List", and after overthrowing his men, he forced him to transfer 40 million dollars for retirees of the court to Starling. Oliver went to investigate the circumstances of his death, but this conflicted with Diggle, due to his constant escapes.[6]
Walter and Moira ask for him to take a position within Queen Consolidated, but he rejects the offer. Later, he receives an explanation from his sister Thea for her rebelliousness, justifying the alleged death of Oliver and Robert, and also is encouraged to try to get closer to your loved ones. Following this advice, he goes to the apartment of Laurel, however they are interrupted by China White and her men who invade the apartment to kill Laurel, but with the help of John who was prowling the place, he eliminated the goons, but China White escaped. Oliver has another conversation with John who begins to suspect Oliver, due to his accuracy with the knife during the invasion of the apartment. The Hood goes behind Martin Sommers, it generates a pursuit to Starling docks, but The Hood grabs and forces him to confess to being the mastermind of a man who would testify against him. However, he ends up fighting with China White. The fight is interrupted by the police that invades the place, forcing both to flee, however during the struggle Sergeant Quentin intercepts The Hood who quickly disarms and flees, leaving a device with the recorded testimony of Sommers. The next day during the public memorial to Robert Queen, Oliver appears pretending to be selfish and irresponsible, to hide his real identity, and in front of the tomb of Robert, Oliver vows to fulfill his father's desire even if it means hurting those close to him. [49]
Oliver was tracking James Holder, a man from his list, but he is killed by an assassin known as Deadshot. Oliver decides to build a new night club above his hideout to explain where he goes at night. While comparing the competition, Oliver finds Thea, who reveals that Laurel and Tommy had been sleeping together during Oliver's absence. Which causes Laurel to become suspicious when Oliver does not react to the news. Meanwhile, Oliver uses his contacts in the Solntsevskaya Bratva to learn the assassin's true identity, and enlists the help of Sergeant Lance to stop Deadshot from assassinating more wealthy people. Oliver manages to stop Deadshot by knocking him unconscious by shooting an arrow through his eyepiece, but his bodyguard John Diggle is shot during Floyd Lawton's attempt. Oliver is forced to reveal his true identity as the vigilante to John in order to save his life. [50] When his bodyguard John Diggle is injured by Deadshot, Oliver takes him back to his lair to recuperate and reveals his identity to him. Oliver offers a job to John supposedly as a sidekick. He declines, calling him a criminal and a murderer. Oliver later tries to have Laurel defend Peter Declan from receiving the death penalty and catch the real killer. After he saves Peter, Quentin figures out that Oliver is The Hood and arrests him at his home. [51]
Oliver insists on having Laurel as his attorney, and she eventually accepts to be his legal counsel. He is accepted as not being The Hood when he convinces John masquerade as the Hood and bust a gang and passing the polygraph test. Oliver is released and continues to act as The Hood. [52]
Later Oliver is diverted from the list when a gang of bank robbers start to hit more often. John convinces Oliver to stop the thieves, but it becomes complicated when he learns that the leader of the Royal Flush Gang was laid off by his father, and Oliver feels bad for that injustice. After a third hit, King (Derek Reston) was killed, and Ace (Kyle Reston) was incarcerated. [53]
Oliver goes to Queen Consolidated to pick his mother up for a lunch date they are having. Moira is speaking to Paul Copani representing Bertinelli Construction Company. Suddenly, a biker appears and shoots Paul. Moira falls and hits her head. Oliver chases after the biker but after he loses track of the biker he heads back to his mother. His sister criticizes him for going after the biker when he should have stayed with his mother. Oliver discovers that the man who tried to close the deal with his mother works for Frank Bertinelli and decides to go undercover. He intends to have a chat over dinner with Frank but instead goes with his daughter. Although reluctant at first, he finds himself enjoying the evening. He heads to an Italian restaurant run by Mr. Russo, a man who pays protection money to the Bertinellis. The dinner is interrupted when John comes and informs Oliver that Nick Salvati, Frank Bertinelli's right hand man, was coming around to collect protection money and injuring anyone who refused. Oliver leaves to Hood up and returns to the restaurant where Nick has showed up with his crew. Just as they are about to break Mr. Russo's fingers, Oliver arrives as The Hood and protects him. He is joined by The Huntress. After taking out the men, Oliver and The Huntress fight it out. She is revealed to be Helena. Oliver meets with Helena at the grave of her late fiancée, Michael. Nick and his men jump the two and kidnap them. The two awake in a warehouse. Nick plans on killing the two but Oliver and Helena free themselves and kill all the men. Oliver and Helena then sleep together. [54]
Oliver takes Helena under his wing and trains her to be a vigilante alongside himself. He gives her a crossbow because guns are too noisy and clumsy. The two bust a drug operation that is run by Frank Bertinelli. John warns him about taking these actions, saying that she may be to far gone, but Oliver ignores him, saying that he helps her get through the pain. This warning ends up proving true, as, against Oliver's hopes, Helena becomes too vengeful, and she ends up instigating a war between the Chinese Triad and Frank Bertinelli, by killing the Chinese Triad's leader, and saying it was a hit by Frank Bertinelli. Oliver and Sergeant Quentin are able to stop the war, and he takes Helena back to the Arrowcave. Helena leaves Starling City and Oliver comments, that he will see her soon enough. Oliver heads to the Bertinelli mansion where the Chinese Triad agents are storming the mansion. China White is about to kill Frank Bertinelli when she is stopped by Oliver. During the fight, Frank escapes only to be shot with a bolt by his own daughter. Oliver arrives just as she is about to kill him. This causes enough time for Frank to shoot her with her crossbow. Oliver knocks him out and brings Helena back to the Arrowcave. He tends to her wounds, but she remains ungrateful. She leaves the city and orders Oliver to stop bothering her if he wants his secret to remain a secret. Oliver tells her that he cares for her and lets her go. [55]
When Dark Archer takes to the streets of Starling City, Oliver is determined to figure out who this impostor is. Oliver requests Sergeant Quentin's help in getting one of the arrows of the Dark Archer. Although he refuses, Oliver still tries to find the Dark Archer. At the same time, Oliver tries to reignite the Christmas spirit in the Queen family, he does this by restarting the Queen family Christmas party. As the party starts he learns that the Dark Archer has taken hostages and plans on killing them if he does not get a visit from The Hood. He runs off to save the hostages, ditching the party, he gets into a hand to hand battle with the Dark Archer. The fight ends in a draw, and Oliver wakes in the hospital, as John explains that he was hit by a car while on his motorcycle. He regrets his actions because he almost didn't win the fight, and he let the other archer live, but John tells him that he saved the hostages, and that is enough to be proud of. [56]
Six weeks have passed, and Oliver is still recovering from his experience with The Dark Archer, emotionally, mentally, and physically. As firefighters are being killed, Oliver is reluctant to take up The Hood again. John convinces him otherwise, and although Oliver fails to stop the man, he learns the murderer is a former firefighter. Oliver deduces that the murderer is Garfield Lynns. He confronts the man's former fire chief but is ordered to leave. At a charity gala at his night club for the Fire Department, Garfield shows up and almost kills the fire chief. The Hood stops him and saves the lives of both of them. Garfield commits suicide by walking into the flames after being saved. [57]
After an armored truck is robbed, and the drivers killed, Oliver believes that one of the thieves is ex-marine Ted Gaynor, an individual from his target list. John dismisses Oliver's assumption, as Ted was John's commanding officer during his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and saved John's life. Oliver goes after Ted regardless and steals encrypted data, but John intercedes and prevents Oliver from getting any information directly from Ted. The data is revealed to be plans for robbing armored trucks, to which Oliver uses to track and stop the thieves during their next heist. Oliver informs John that Ted was not at the heist, but someone from his security firm was. While investigating, John learns that Ted was the mastermind behind the robberies, and is forced to join Ted's team to recoup the money they lost on the previously failed heist. John backs out of helping Ted, who attempts to kill John in retaliation. Oliver arrives in time and kills Ted before he can succeed. Afterward, Oliver apologizes for not trusting John more. [58]
After an accident with driving under the influence of drugs, Thea attempts to enter into a plea bargain with the district attorney, but determined to set an example for the Vertigo drug dealers, the judge dismisses the plea and orders the charges brought to trial. In an attempt to help Thea, Oliver begins working on tracking down the supplier, he eventually discovers that the supplier goes by The Count, and he arranges a meeting through his contacts with the Russian mob. The meeting is broken up by the police, and The Count injects Oliver with a concentrated dose of Vertigo when the latter attempts to follow him. John takes Oliver back to his hideout and uses medicinal herb's Oliver brought back with him from the island to fight the drug overdose. Afterward, Oliver has the drug analyzed by Felicity and uses the ingredients to track the location of The Count. As The Hood, Oliver is able to confront The Count and inject him with his own drug just as the police arrive as well. Finally, Felicity shows Oliver the list of names that Walter discovered, and informs him that they came from his mother. [59]
Oliver confronts his mother about the list of names, but she denies any knowledge. John does not trust Moira and decides to look into her daily activities. Laurel enlists the help of The Hood when criminal Cyrus Vanch is released from prison on a technicality. Oliver acquires evidence that could put Cyrus back behind bars, but Cyrus discovers what The Hood is up to and kidnaps Laurel in an attempt to kill The Hood and take leadership over the city's gangs. Detective Quentin and The Hood team up to save Laurel, as Quentin realizes that Cyrus has contacts in the police force, and that was how he learned of Laurel working with The Hood. The pair save Laurel, with Oliver stopping Quentin from killing Cyrus as revenge for kidnapping Laurel. In order to protect Laurel, Oliver decides that she can no longer have contact with The Hood. John presents evidence to Oliver that his mother is connected to the group he is hunting, and that she also knew that his father's yacht was sabotaged and kept it to herself. In response, Oliver decides to interrogate his mother again, but this time as The Hood. [60] While confronting his mother, Oliver lets his guard down, and Moira manages to grab a gun and shoot him. Seeking out Felicity for help, Oliver exposes his secret and asks Felicity to take him to his hideout. With John's help, the bullet is removed, and Oliver is stabilized. Felicity agrees to join Oliver and John, but only until they find Walter. [61]
Oliver learnt of a jewel thief named The Dodger, who used hostages tagged with bomb collars to steal for him, and how he had come to Starling City. Felicity suggested that Oliver bug the phone of Detective McKenna, an old friend of Oliver's, to gain information on The Dodger. She also convinced Oliver to ask Detective McKenna out on a date so that he could have some down time. Through the wire tap, Oliver was able to determine The Dodger's next location, but was stunned by a bomb thrown by the thief, who subsequently got away. To draw out The Dodger, Oliver donated antique jewels to a local auction. The plan worked, and lured the Dodger, but Felicity was caught tracking the thief, who placed a bomb collar on her as insurance in his getaway. Oliver managed to stop The Dodger and deactivate the collar. [62]
Oliver stopped a hired gunman who comes to Starling City, but had to enlist Felicity to decipher Guillermo's phone and determine who the target was. Oliver persuaded Tommy to attend an award ceremony where Malcolm Merlyn received a humanitarian award. At the last moment, Oliver discovered that Malcolm was the target and raced to the event to save him. Although he was almost caught by Detective McKenna, Oliver managed to get Malcolm away from China White's men. While in an office, Malcolm was shot with one of Deadshot's poison tipped bullets, and Oliver was forced to reveal his identity to Tommy in order to secure his trust so that he could save Malcolm's life. [63]
Oliver has just opened up his new night club and is happy with McKenna, but then Helena, aka The Huntress, arrives still trying to find her father. She threatens Oliver's family and manages to get him on board. Oliver tries to deny his feelings for her throughout the whole episode, but he just cant bring himself to hurt her. When she finally finds her father she ends up shooting McKenna and fleeing. McKenna gets hurt by the bullet and has to go away to live at her sisters house, in Coast City. [64]
Oliver has decided to stay away from relationships as they always get hurt. A new villain appears, grabbing people from the glades and shooting them. When the villain claims he got the idea from The Hood, Oliver decides to take him down. After Roy gets taken, Thea comes to Oliver for help, and Oliver saves Roy (as The Hood). [65]
A girl dies of Vertigo after being in Oliver's night club. Oliver pays a visit to The Count with no luck. Thinking that he was crazy. But after The Count escapes and a stronger flood of Vertigo sweeps town, Oliver, Felicity and John decide to take him down. Oliver finds The Count realizing that he was crazy, his doctor had found some in his system and was able to work out the recipe. Oliver kills him and his partner with some help from John. [66]
Laurel takes on a case with two parents and their son and Deadshot returns to starling city. John is determined to take him down but after the parents of the young boy dies, Laurel goes to great lengths to protect him, including staying at Oliver's house as he has "more protection than the white house" after Tommy suggested it. Unfortunately, Laurel's case clashes with John's feud and Oliver has to make a choice. He chooses Laurel and ends up losing John's trust. [67]
Oliver doesn't want to apologize for not helping John so, despite a visit from Felicity, John wont come back. Oliver and Felicity find a lead on Walters location and to reconfirm the lead, Felicity wants to go out on the "field". Oliver is against it, not wanting to put her at risk but she is determined to find him. Oliver ends up having to come to her rescue. They find Walter after Oliver listened to a conversation between Moira and Malcolm. Oliver apologizes to John, realizing that he needs all the help that he can get. [68]
Oliver and John devise a plan where John dresses as The Hood and kidnaps Oliver and Moira in an attempt to uncover the truth about the Undertaking. The plan works, and Oliver, Felicity, and John break into Merlyn Global Group to hack the mainframe and find the device. Oliver tries to convince Tommy to get back with Laurel but after realizing that once he had finished stopping the Undertaking he could stop being the Hood, he decides to go to Laurel himself. Tommy takes his advice and decides to go to her, only to witness them kissing. Back as the Hood, John and Oliver split up, Oliver going after Malcolm and John after the device. The device is gone, and Oliver tries to fight Malcolm after learning he is the Dark Archer, with no success. [69] After escaping from Malcolm, Oliver tries to tell Tommy the truth about his father which Tommy denies. He and Laurel also fully embrace their relationship after Oliver tries to convince Moira to help him stop Malcolm. but learns that he is planning the Undertaking tonight. The Hood and Diggle set out to defeat Dark Archer and engage him on the roof where Oliver is able to defeat him by stabbing him in the chest with an arrow while being strangled. Oliver was too late to save Tommy, but he apologizes to Oliver, for being angry and jealous at him, Tommy criticizes himself for being like his father, but Oliver tries to assure him, that he's nothing like his father, Tommy reconciles with Oliver, and they become friends again, He watched Tommy die in Laurel's office after the Undertaking levels the east sector of the Glades, much to Oliver's grief. [70]
Crusade 2.0 and Mirakuru plot
Oliver is seen to have left Starling City for some time and returned to Lian Yu. Tommy's death and Oliver's failure to prevent the city's total destruction left an impact on him. Diggle and Felicity travel to the island to find Oliver, and they convince him to return. He returns, but states not to become the Hood again. After his sister is taken by the copycat group The Hoods, Oliver puts on his mask once more and rescues his sister and hand The Hoods over to the police. He agrees to become the vigilante again, but, to honor Tommy's memory, will no longer kill. He also realizes that he no longer wants to be called "The Hood". [24]
Oliver discovers through Roy that drugs that are distributed to the public hospitals Glades, are being stolen by the Chinese Triad, thus causing it to go into confrontation with China White, and her new partner Bronze Tiger. Amidst this, Oliver is attacked, by the people and Sebastian Blood, due to the involvement of his family in the earthquake provoked by Malcolm Merlyn. Thus making him a bountiful feast, to help people injured in the quake. Later Sebastian visits Oliver's office where Oliver offers to host a charity event for the Glades which Sebastian agrees to, but Oliver doesn't show as China White sighted which provokes Oliver to publicly crucify him. After capturing China White and her accomplices, Oliver asks Roy to help him, and to be his informant in the Glades, and decides to convince Laurel that he is not a criminal, however ends up being trapped in the building of the prosecution due to a trap set by Laurel. [71] The Canary invades the building prevents Oliver from getting caught. Oliver then returns to the Arrowcave where he confesses his wrong choice to talk to Laurel and tasks Felicity with finding the Canary. The criminal Barton Mathis aka The Dollmaker, kidnapping and killing, random women, escapes from prison, due to earthquake damage. This makes Quentin ask for help from The Hood, now named The Arrow. Oliver also asks Roy to track The Canary. The team tries using Felicity as bait to trap the Dollmaker but this is unsuccessful and the Dollmaker captures Laurel instead. The Arrow comes in and rescues Laurel. Then The Canary steps in to lend her help in the fight and despite The Arrow's protests she kills the Dollmaker and makes her escape. [72]
Felicity gives Oliver the idea that The Canary may not be following The Arrow, but Laurel instead. He was able to catch her, only for him to be shocked that she not only knows his identity, but she was actually Sara Lance, Laurel's presumably dead sister. While shocked by this new information, he pursues an arms dealer called "The Mayor" who was getting his hands on military weapons. After he attacked a gun rally hosted by Oliver and Sebastian Blood, Felicity managed to find him and Oliver recruits Sara to help him. Meanwhile, he insists on telling Laurel about Sara, even though it would cost him his friendship with her and Laurel's recent drinking problem, but agrees to keep her secret. [73]
Oliver and Sara are attacked by a man who was dressed like Malcolm Merlyn. Sara reveals to him that she used to be a member of the League of Assassins, something that clearly shakes Oliver. They confront the assassin Al-Owal, revealing himself to be Malcolm's trainer, only to see he wasn't alone as two more appeared, and being outmatched, The Arrow and The Canary retreated. After a threat against her family, Oliver kept a watch over Laurel until Felicity called, revealing the assassins were going after Quentin. The Arrow intervenes and while two were killed, Sara left a warning with the last one alive that her family was off limits. [74]
After dealing with counterfeiters that Roy found, Oliver and Felicity offered to help Diggle rescue his friend, Lyla Michaels, from Russia, who was searching for Deadshot. However, it gets complicated when Isabel shows up and comes along, thinking that Oliver was taking the corporate jet for a weekend with Felicity. Oliver introduces Diggle to his old friend, Anatoli Knyazev, who reports Lyla is in prison, but he can get them into the prison thanks to a guard he paid off. After securing transport to get him out, he bonded with Isabel and they ended up sleeping together, something that hurt Felicity. Back home, she asks why he hooked up with Isabel, Oliver responds by saying that he shouldn't get involved with anyone he might actually care about, but Felicity he deserves better than her. [75]
Oliver, Thea and Moira are present for her trial, only for Oliver to learn Diggle has been poisoned with Vertigo and see the same thing happen to the assistant District Attorney. After a televised broadcast by Count Vertigo, Oliver managed to save the ADA, but couldn't stop Vertigo himself. The next day, Moira revealed to both of them a serious threat to her defense; in a moment of weakness, she had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn. Back the trail, Oliver received a call from Vertigo, who had not only revealed his identity, but also had Felicity hostage. At his office, clad in his Arrow costume, Vertigo fires at Oliver, but he manages avoid all of the gunfire. However, Vertigo threatened Felicity with his injector, which got him co-operate at first, but when tries to kill her anyway, Oliver delivered three arrows to his chest, making him fall to his death and breaking Oliver's no killing rule. When Felicity thanked him and tried apologize, Oliver assured her that there was no other choice because he was going to hurt her. [76]
Queen Consolidated is invaded by a mysterious figure. After a brief investigation police, Oliver stumbles upon arrival at the forensic expert Barry Allen ,from Central City, and claims to be working with similar cases, and that the suspect theoretically possesses superhuman abilities. Oliver initially feel disturbed by the presence of Allen, due to its proximity to Felicity. After research results, Oliver goes behind the suspect, that this was in possession of a truck. During their confrontation , the opponent is proved, as having an enormous strength and endurance, and easily beats Oliver, whilst driving the moving vehicle. Oliver later revealed that during his stay on the island, he had faced enemies with such skills , however the serum that gave these powers, was destroyed. Oliver throws a party to celebrate the release of his mother, and also discovers that Barry is actually an assistant forensic scientist and that was not sent to Starling City by his superiors. After analyzing the blood of the criminal, Oliver is goes to a warehouse where the individual would commit a new theft. During the confrontation, Oliver is overcome and seriously injured. [77]
Oliver ends up being saved by Barry, who was brought to him by Felicity, he initially disapproves of the decision of Felicity, by revealing his true identity. Oliver goes home and sees Roy after hearing from Moira that Thea wouldn't leave her room, seriously injured by the arrow which he shot earlier, he then pulls it out and tells Roy that Diggle will patch it up. He then proceeds to hallucinate with Shado, where she tells him that their attitudes as overseer, are unnecessary. Oliver asks Barry to analyze his blood and find out if the poison used to save him causes him to have hallucination. Through a digital of Oliver's neck, they discover that the enemy had nearly killed Oliver, is actually Cyrus Gold. Diggle then goes to Cyrus' house to search for him, stumbling across the poem about Solomon Grundy, and is attacked by Cyrus. After Diggle escaped from Gold, The Arrow went to Quentin and gives him the location of Gold, asking to kill him. Later, Oliver decides to practice with his bow, however he has hallucinations of Slade, one that calls him a coward, and begins a fight with Oliver, in which he breaks several things in the Arrowcave. After that, Barry tells Oliver that hallucinations are purely psychological, and Diggle tells him that this is a message in which he should understand. After the unit Quentin is almost all killed by Gold, Oliver receives permission from Quentin to kill him without success. Oliver goes to the supposed location of Gold, and finds Brother Blood injecting a dose of Mirakuru into Roy who had been captured. Initially, Cyrus Gold was winning the fight, but a hallucination of Tommy helps Oliver regain his strength and motivation, and by violent blows he drops Cyrus, and the supply of Mirakuru explodes, seemingly killing him. Oliver manages to resuscitate Roy, who was almost dead due to Mirakuru. At the Arrowcave, Oliver receives a box from Barry, that he had already returned to Central City, inside the box was a custom mask. [78]
The Arrow spends the next 5 weeks searching for Brother Blood by interrogating as many criminals in the Glades as he could, while during the day as Oliver he continues to support Sebastian in his campaign, unaware that they are the same, but is forced to deal with the bomb threats of Shrapnel who blows up two buildings before targeting Sebastian's unity rally. Oliver also has a falling out with Felicity, who spent most of the 5 weeks visiting Barry as he was struck by lightning and was in a coma, but eventually came to make peace with her. The Arrow visited Sebastian later and tried to get him to call off the rally but the alderman refused and Arrow was forced to head to the rally to stop Shrapnel himself. He later met with Sebastian who offered an alliance to the Arrow believing that together they could save the city and the Arrow agreed. [79]
The Arrow continues to hunt down thugs who may know of Brother Blood's whereabouts but has no luck again, but later learns from Laurel that Sebastian knew Cyrus Gold and she claims that he killed his parents. Wanting proof of Laurel's speculations he tasked Felicity to find any files possible which she did, but only a hardback copy which only an A.D.A like Laurel could access. Arrow then enlisted Laurel's help to retrieve it but found it empty as Oliver visited Sebastian himself to see if he could see any hint of Laurel's speculations from his personally to no avail. Oliver also visited Roy to keep a secret eye on his Mirakuru problem. Laurel was later arrested for drug use and Oliver attempts to talk to her about it at her apartment only to be knocked out by Brother Blood as Laurel was kidnapped. Arrow followed them to the steel-mill where he fought Blood until Laurel shot him but when they took off the mask, they were surprised to see not Sebastian but Officer Daily, and Oliver later blamed himself for nearly believing him just because Laurel said so. He also learned from Thea that Roy hospitalized a man out of rage and approached him as Arrow to train him to use his abilities. [80]
Arrow continued to train Roy in the same techniques Shado used on the island but this only enraged Roy, and Oliver told Diggle and Felicity about his story with Slade, and his Mirakuru incident and why it was so important that he not fail Roy. Later Ben Turner aka Bronze Tiger escaped prison and broke into Malcolm Merlyn's house for his prototype Earthquake machine, and at Roy's insistence agreed to take him along with. However once there Roy lost control on one guard while Arrow was stuck fighting Turner before he used the opportunity to escape with the machine. Later Roy lost control against Oliver and headed out to stop Turner himself. Oliver later got wind of where Turner was heading but was told by Thea on the phone that Laurel was loosing it in Verdant. Oliver went to reason with her and learned that she had been disbarded from her job, and she starting flirting with him and Oliver patiently told Thea to call a cab for her, he also discreetly called Sara and told her that Laurel needed her. Later when Arrow found Turner and his employer Milo Armitage he was ambushed and stabbed by Turner from behind, but Roy arrived and attacked Turner while Armitage activated the machine forcing Oliver to reveal his identity to Roy to make him stop attacking Turner and help him destroy the machine. Oliver later introduced Roy to Felicity and Diggle in the lair. [81]
Oliver was present when Walter and Mark Francis were discussing Moira's upcoming campaign, against Sebastian Blood but was called to the hospital after Laurel was admitted with Quentin and Dinah, and noticed Laurel's eyes were strangely discolored. Oliver later met up with Sara in the Arrowcave and tried to convince her not to leave again, and received a call from Quentin telling him to put Sara on. Later Sara met up with Quentin but Oliver secretly tailed her, as the Arrow, and saw Nyssa al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, arrive and saw the two kissing and when he approached them Sara begged him to back off for Nyssa's sake. Later Oliver discovered that Laurel was actually poisoned by Nyssa to draw Sara back to bring Starling City, and to bring her back to the league. The Arrow and the Canary later tailed Nyssa and her lackie in a van and discovered that they had abducted Sara's mother. Later at Moira's campaign announcement Felicity told Oliver that Malcolm Merlyn was Thea's biological father. Later Sara agreed to rejoin Nyssa but took the snake poison assuming that Sara was going to kill Nyssa with it, but when the Arrow found her she had actually poisoned herself and the Arrow fought Nyssa and defeated her and saved Sara with special herbs from the island. Later Oliver confronted Moira about keeping her secret of Merlyn being Thea's father from him and disowned her. Later Oliver was training in the cave when Sara showed up and told him about Laurel's less than positive reaction to her being alive and Oliver told Sara that her family wasn't what he thought. After the two had a moment Oliver and Sara passionately kissed each other before making love. [82]
Oliver holds a welcome home party for Sara at the Queen Mansion and has to pretend that he was unaware of her survival as do the others. Oliver also calls Laurel to ask her to come but Quentin tells him that she isn't coming and confesses to Oliver that he was too harsh and out of line on Oliver last year and the two reconcile. Oliver also does his best to avoid Moira but Thea begins to notice the two not talking. Later the Arrow and the Canary meet with Quentin about a criminal who stole a device called a "skeleton key". The Arrow and the Canary following a lead on it's location found a bank already robbed but their communications were interrupted by an unknown individual who told them that a bus was about to collide with a train, forcing the Arrow to stop the bus while the Canary went after the man in question and got his blood when she hit him, later discovering this to be William Tockman aka Clock King. The Arrow and the Canary followed another lead on Tockman's whereabouts but it was a diversion while Tockman hacked into the Arrowcave's security and fried the computers. As Felicity worked to repair it Oliver accompany Sara to a family dinner at Laurel's house, which was awkwardly broken up by Laurel after she figured out from looks that Oliver and Sara were together again and stormed off, but Oliver stopped her and directly confronted her on her issues but when she ignored him, (finally having enough of her alcoholic, drug addict, and always trying to blame everyone except herself for ruining her life attitude), Oliver coldly criticizing and corrects Laurel on her actions, and he stated that he didn't love her anymore and went back inside. Later Oliver, Sara and Diggle went after Felicity who decided to head out alone after Tockman and Oliver was faced with his guards while Sara and Felicity stopped Tockman. Later when Oliver and Sara were talking at the bar he got a text from Thea stating that there was an emergency at the house but it turns out it was a trick to get Oliver and Moira to talk. Before Oliver could leave Moira introduced him to Slade Wilson who was alive and well, much to Oliver's horror. [83] Slade continues to socialize with Oliver and Moira but secretly taunts Oliver about events from the island before Thea gives him a tour of their art collection and Oliver indirectly calls Felicity and Roy and Sara show up at the house, forcing Slade to leave but Oliver decides to escort Slade to his car as Diggle was meant to take a head-shot on Slade but was aprehended. As they were walking Oliver figured out that Cyrus Gold and Brother Blood worked for him and Slade vows to fulfil his promise as he leaves. [84]
Oliver begins to have nightmares of Shado dying and enlists Alexi Leonov's help to find Slade but he refuses unless he helps him with a favor. Oliver then beats his two guards and forces his co-operation. Felicity then tells Oliver about a robbery in progress which Arrow pursues but finds the robbers dead and on a nearby rooftop sees Slade's island mask mounted to a roof. Oliver eventually receives Alxei's tip but he tells him that they are finished, but Sara follows Oliver and tries to reason with him. After learning of his Shado nightmares Sara attempts to comfort him but he tells her to stay away from him. When Oliver, against Felicity's advise to bring Sara and Roy, arrives in Slade's office he sees Alexi dead and a video of Shado in her youth and returns to the cave to apologize to Sara and confesses his fear and the two make up. Oliver later visits and old friend: Amanda Waller and requests any information on Slade and Amanda tells her of a mercenary named "Deathstroke" who Oliver realizes is Slade. [85]
Oliver helps Sara with watching over Quentin as he starts a police raid against Hugo Mannheim. A gun fight starts and the Arrow helps with taking down Mannheim's henchmen. The Arrow sees Frank Bertinelli run away from the gun fight but he stops him by shooting a ensnarement arrow on his legs. Oliver then escapes when police reinforcements arrive. In the Arrowcave, Oliver explains why Helena wants her father dead. In a flashback, Oliver gets tortured by the Amazo's crew. Back in the present, Oliver and the team finds out that Helena has rented a car is heading to Starling City. Oliver asks Roy if he's ready to get back in field. Oliver tracks down the car and stands in front of it with his bow aimed at it. The driver turns out to be someone else and Oliver stops Roy from killing the driver by calling him "Speedy". Oliver interrogates the driver and finds out that Helena payed the driver to drive the car. Back in the cave, Oliver continues to investigate Helena and Sara nods to him as a sign to check how Roy is doing. Oliver expresses his concern about Roy's rage and asks him to stay away from Thea. Felicity shows Oliver the news about Laurel will lead the prosecution against Bertinelli. Oliver heads to the courthouse to meet Laurel. The Huntress arrives to kill her father and Oliver tries to talk her out of it. The Huntress had brought her henchmen and a gun fight starts between them and the police. Oliver pulls Laurel and Frank away from the gun fight. Oliver gets a phone call from officer Quentin to speak with the Arrow. Oliver calls Arrowcave to bring him his costume and equipment. The Arrow tells the Canary to bring Laurel out of there but Laurel refuses. In a flashback, Oliver tells Sara to not comply to Slade's demands, which results in Oliver getting electrocuted. Back in the courthouse, The Huntress defeated Sara and throws her out of a window, Oliver manages to save her as Helena is about to shoot her. However Helena has captured Laurel and demands Oliver to bring her father. During the trade, several policemen starts shooting at the vigilantes. A policeman aimed at the Arrow but Quentin saved him by knocking the policeman out. Oliver visits Helena at the police station and talks about how he failed Helena. During a flashback, Oliver has been tattooed on his back, the same tattoo that Shado had and Slade explains to him that this is how the Romans reminded the criminals of what they've done. At Verdant, Oliver meets Thea and she tells him about Roy cheating on her. Oliver also meets up with Sara there, he kisses her and compliments her on what she did back at the courthouse. [86]
Oliver continues to train Roy in the skills of archery to control his rage until Felicity tells him about a meeting with Isabel and the board which he needs to attend. Once there 30 minutes before the meeting Moira visits Oliver to confirm if he is indeed showing up to the debate between her and Sebastian Blood but he assures her that he will keep up public appearances as promised, and he coldly tells her ("i gotten pretty good at, pretending to be someone i'm not, i learned it from you"). Later at the debate he tries to get in touch with Thea who hasn't shown up and wishes Sebastian luck. However during the debate a video tape of Thea being held captive is shown and Slade in his Deathstroke costume appears much to Oliver's horror. Oliver later meets with Isabel at the company and appoints her temporary CEO so he can focus more on finding Thea, and also yells at Police Lieutenant Frank Pike for not getting any further in the investigation. After Felicity finds Slade's whereabouts the Arrow, the Canary and Roy head out and sedate him until Officer Quentin arrests and questions him but Slade has his tracks covered and is released and Quentin is discriminated. Later Oliver and Moira reconcile over their recent disagreements in the wake of Thea's abduction and Oliver arrives in the Arrowcave just in time to see Roy strangling Diggle and Sara with an arrow pointed at Roy's chest and Oliver was forced to break up the tension. Roy then declared that he is done and leaves the team. To make matters worse Felicity discovers that Isabel has taken control of the company after an emergency board meeting and becomes the 60% shareholder. Oliver confronts her about it in the office and reveals that she knows his secret and is working with Slade, when Oliver asks why she replies "the sins of the father are the sins of the son" before attacking him. However Oliver overpowers Isabel and gets Thea's location out of her and Slade wants Oliver to come alone or Thea dies. The Arrow then attacks the warehouse but doesn't find Thea and Felicity tells him that Thea just walked into the SCPD and when he arrives Diggle and Sara tell him that Slade high-jacked an Iron Heights Prisoner transfer bus, meaning that Thea's abduction was a diversion. Oliver and Moira arrive and tearfully reunite with Thea, who reveals that Slade told her that Malcolm Merlyn is her father and storms off, their relationship now shattered. Later in the Arrowcave Oliver begins to doubt himself for letting Isabel take the company, letting Slade take Thea and tell her about Malcolm, letting Quentin get arrested and for failing Roy but Diggle and Felicity snap him out of it and Oliver declares that they are taking the fight to him. [87]
On Felicity's advise, Oliver leads his team to Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division to blow it up to prevent Slade from replicating the Mirakuru. After witnessing Isabel's press conference on the matter the others were relived that they hurt Slade but Oliver knew he would press on through other means. Later Ned Foster met with Oliver and and his mother to discus saving their family's wealth from Isabel's seizing of the company, and he also learned from Moira that Isabel was previously his father's lover much to his shock. Also that Thea needs to sign a document that protects their assets so Isabel cannot access the rest of their wealth. As Team Arrow arrived at the cave discussing Quentin's arrest and Roy's departure Deathstroke was waiting for them in the cave and attacked them, throwing Sara against a table, tossing Diggle into the glass container and engaging Oliver in a sword fight which Deathstroke easily won. Oliver and Sara were briefly hospitalized but soon discharged and Oliver went to Thea to talk her into helping him and Moira against Isabel but she refused, further learning that Deathstroke had stolen the Skeleton Key from their lair. Arrow and Canary, unaware they were being followed by Laurel whom Slade told about Oliver's secret, headed to Star Labs to stop Deathstroke stealing a bio-transfusor but arrived only in time to see Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon in panic telling the clerk of the thief. Later at Laurel's request Arrow met with her and she began to show signs of being onto his identity. Oliver soon visited Isabel to get Slade's location and learned from her that Robert was aware of Malcolm being Thea's true father but still loved her anyway and attempted to tell Thea only to have Felicity call and inform him of the transfusor's location. When Arrow arrived he saw that it was not Slade rigged to it, but Roy. Slade and Isabel then arrived and Arrow engaged both of them and rescued Roy as Diggle seemingly shot Isabel several times, taking Roy back to the Arrowcave with a formula of Mirakuru. Oliver stated that they were going to make a cure with it and later against talked to Thea about Robert being aware of her true parentage but she didn't care. Laurel then showed up to hug him for being important to her, unaware she was now fully aware of his real identity. [88]
Oliver and Sara spent some time together in a motel room where he asks if she wants to move in, but is interrupted by Felicity calling telling them Roy woke up but is now on a rampage. Arrow, Canary and Diggle searched the city for Roy on his rampages throughout the city but only arrived to see the victims of his wrath. Oliver also assigned Diggle to bodyguard Thea during this time, much to her annoyance, and learned that Sin had been attacked which sent Sara on the warpath. Later Arrow and Canary found Roy in Sara's hideout where he attacked them, broke Oliver's leg and killed a police officer and left the other critically injured. Arrow and Canary then went to Glades Memorial Hospital where a doctor, previously harassed by China White's medical thefts, helps him. Later Oliver, injured but on his feet, is informed by Mark that his mother is dropping out of the election against Sebastian. While discussing the matter of Roy, Oliver tries to convince Sara that they don't need to kill him but she doesn't see any way around it. He attempts to talk her out of it for Thea's sake and she reveals that she is aware of his identity as the Arrow, telling him that she is proud. Oliver witnessed Moira's rally speech and saw Thea give a brief speech to draw Roy in and Oliver injected himself with medicine to get back up and arrived in time to stop Canary from shooting Roy in the head. Oliver then had Roy put under with snake-venom keeping him down and Sara decided to leave disgusted with herself to wanted to kill Roy and Oliver and left with Moira and Thea where Thea said she knew Oliver was aware of Roy's problem, and Moira stated that she was going to make things right. However as she was about to tell them something about Malcolm, their limo was rammed by a truck. When Oliver awoke he saw Moira and Thea tied up with Slade holding a gun, similar to Ivo holding Sara and Shado hostage on the island, and forced Oliver to choose one. However Moira volunteered and Slade stabbed her with his katana killing her and sending Oliver into a state of shock as Slade vowed one more person would die. [89]
Oliver went missing and hid in his secret secondary lair for days, missing Moira's funeral, even when informed Isabel was alive. Diggle and Felcity searched hours, eventually needing Amanda Waller's help, and found him where he declared his plan to surrender to Slade. He visited Thea where Walter was unsuccessfully trying to convince her not to leave but Oliver encouraged it and called Isabel to tell her he's surrendering. Oliver waited at the pier but was hit by a drugged Flechette and woke up in the lair, with Laurel. Laurel and Oliver were finally able to make amends over loosing Tommy as Laurel begged Ollie not to surrender telling her that Sebastian is in fact Brother Blood as she originally believed. Oliver then met with Sebastian and revealed his identity to him in an attempt to convince him that Slade is merely using him, Sebastian not believing him. Later Arrow arrived at the location of Brother Blood's Mirakuru army as Diggle was attempted to set a bomb to blow them all but Arrow was distracted by a Mirakuru soldier attacking him as Laurel arrived to save him but were pursued by 7 more. Arrow decided to blow the roof to save themselves. [90] As the attack on Starling continued Arrow woke up he guided Laurel through using his bow and arrow to blow herself out of the debris. When they got clear Arrow, Felicity and Diggle were informed by a S.T.A.R. Labs courier that the cure Cisco and Caitlin produced is now on-route and they set out in the van to retrieve it when the courier's car was flipped and he was injured. On the way the van was attacked by Mirakuru soldiers forcing Arrow and Diggle, with Felicity knocked out, to head out on foot but arrived too late as the cure was stolen. Oliver and Felicity hide in Sara's hideout, as Diggle went to retrieve Roy, where he confessed to having failed the city and the people he wanted to avenge but Felicity stressed that he will be Slade having beat everyone else and hugged him. Oliver then received a call from Sebastian that he had the cure and will give it to him. Oliver and John arrived at his office where he confessed his childhood trauma from his abusive father, also being the origin of his mask's creation, and confessed he only ever wanted to help Starling and gave him the cure.
Oliver brought the cure to the tower but saw on the TV, after Quentin told him, that there were army trucks surrounding the city which Oliver knew was Amanda Waller's. He call her to call off that attack but refused prompting Oliver to use the cure on Roy to test it. [91] The Mirakuru soldiers attacked the tower as Roy awoke but the 4 escaped through a cable just as Lyla arrived in time to destroy the tower and the soldiers within. The team arrived in the cave, finding it wrecked, and Oliver ordered John and Lyla to stop or distract Waller long enough for them to succeed. As Felicity and Roy gathered injection arrows Sara returned with Nyssa and 6 assassin archers to assist Oliver against Slade. Before departing for Queen Consolidated Oliver presented Roy with his own mask, using Sebastian's remarks about crucibles to inspire him, and headed to the building where Arrow and Canary confronted Deathstroke and Ravager along with several soldiers. Nyssa and the league soon arrived with the other assassins and killed Isabel but Deathstroke escaped. Arrow, Canary, Felicity and Quentin then discussed Slade's army leaving the city and was informed that Laurel had been abducted. Oliver then secretly stressed his few options to defeat Slade beside killing him, which she gave him the idea to make him over-think his plan. Oliver then took Felicity to his house to hide and confessed to being in love with her, as a ruse to deceive Slade as Oliver had previously discovered his hidden cameras. Arrow then lead Canary, Nyssa, Roy, Quentin and the League against the Mirakuru army and defeated them but Slade contacted Arrow and told him that he had taken Felicity also. Oliver confronted Slade at the steel-mill where he also had Laurel hostage, against like Sara and Shado, and expressed his deepest hatred for allowing Shado to die but Felicity used this distraction to inject Slade with the cure and Oliver fought him and eventually restrained him with Trick arrows. Some time later Oliver had Slade incarcerated in a Supermax on Lian Yu itself and visited him to thank him for teaching him his skills and left as Slade vowed to get out. Oliver, Diggle and Felicity then walked back to the plane where Felicity commented on how Oliver sold the love story between them but was also asked how he knows to fly a plane. [92]
Return of the Church of Blood
Not long following his defeat of Slade, The Arrow and Roy grappled on to a "drug plane" and climbed up on top. They struggled to hold on while Felicity, back at their base, tried to hack the plane's WiFi. Unable to get a clean signal, Dig suggested to go with "plan B". Oliver proceeded to stab an arrow in to the plane. The arrow exploded and the two of them jumped in to the plane. As the occupants began shooting at the men, they began fighting back. Oliver fired an arrow at the pilot, which opened up at the end to reveal a ball, hitting the man in the face. As Roy mused over the new "boxing glove arrow" (a term Oliver claimed to hate), Oliver started to fly the plane back to stability. He placed an autopilot device on to the controls and busied himself with fighting back the remaining occupants of the plane. Roy was momentarily distracted by a comment from Oliver calling him Speedy. In this moment, one of the Spanish-speaking men attempted to fire his gun at Roy, only to get an arrow to the chest from Oliver. Unluckily, Roy was hit by a bullet and began falling from the plane.[93]
Oliver confirmed that Felicity's autopilot gadget was working before jumping from the plane. As he free-fell, he asked Diggle to prep for surgery for Roy's bullet wound. As he got closer he caught Roy and enabled a parachute. Back at the foundry, Oliver reasoned that their base was much closer than a hospital, so it was the smartest move. While Diggle fetched the appropriate blood, Oliver fixed his dislocated arm in order to help with the surgery. After the surgery, Oliver believed that all they could do was wait. He began to blame himself for making Roy take on such a high-risk mission. Diggle then decided to leave in order to help out his pregnant partner, Lyla. Felicity, meanwhile, told Oliver that he needed a new place to live as the foundry was comparable to a cave. She proceeded to accidentally imply that she wanted him in her bed, as opposed to her intended message of a bed owned by her.[94]
Eventually Roy's condition stabilized, though still being in a fairly bad way, and were his condition to worsen then Oliver would personally take him to Starling General. They communicated with Dig who had just received supplies from their supplier, Lodai. Felicity noticed a hostage situation on the top of Winick Tower. As The Arrow arrived there, he threw small arrows at the man, Hoshaw Tolibao, knocking him down. Before he could harm Oliver when he got up, he kicked him back down. On the ground, Hoshaw claimed to be a prophet for Brother Blood, despite Oliver apparently killing Sebastian Blood.[95]
After Laurel talked to Hoshaw, she relayed his claim to be following the word of Brother Blood. The team determined that, as the original Brother Blood, Sebastian Blood, was dead, there had to be a new person taking up the mantle. Oliver decided to suit up and head over to St. Walker's Church, an abandoned orphanage in which Sebastian had grown up. He came across some followers of the Church of Blood, who began crowding around him. Suddenly, Brother Blood appeared. The Arrow requested to know Brother Blood's identity, passing his followers off as lost souls and homeless people. This angered the followers, who began encroaching on him, trying to beat him up.[96] Among them was Werner Zytle, who injected him with some of his enhanced Vertigo.[97] Before they could pull his mask off, he pulled away, throwing down an explosion of smoke. While he was escaping, he found Diggle being dragged by some men to Brother Blood. He hid in the shadows, following them, as they took Dig to their leader. Brother Blood revealed himself to be Clinton Hogue, but not before The Arrow could shoot numerous flechettes in to his back, enabling Oliver to grab Diggle and run. On his way out, The Arrow beat up Clinton. They found some more followers, though Oliver once again used an explosion of smoke, and they began climbing out of the underground. As they reached the top, Oliver came across The Huntress, whom he believed to be in prison.[98] She claimed to be there to pay him back, and to have put a bolt in Diggle's heart. She began beating him up, getting annoyed at him for apparently forcing her to make her wear her outfit. She knocked him to the ground, while meanwhile the followers had reached the surface, causing him to warn her. He got up and went to turn round, instead finding his apparently dead father standing there. He mentioned how Oliver knew several people who had already practically been resurrected, so it was his turn. His father then turned in to his mother, who believed that she should also get a turn. She expressed her disappointment in Oliver. His mother soon turned in to Tommy Merlyn, who knocked him down. He also judged him for not saving him, suggesting that he probably wasn't even his best friend, that title going to John Diggle. Tommy turned in to his father again, who reminded him that he had suicided to save his life, not to "play dress-up". His father became Slade Wilson, who claimed to be able to beat him easily in a fair fight, which was why Oliver didn't even bother saving his mother, whom Slade's form changed in to. She suggested that Oliver had only let her die so Thea wouldn't find out his vigilante identity. All of these hallucinations from Zytle's Vertigo concoction, The Canary appeared, and he was unsure whether she was real or another hallucination.[97] However, as she was indeed real, she knocked Ollie out in order to take him back to the Arrowcave.[99]
Back at the cave, Felicity drew some blood from Oliver and began running tests on it, finding traces of psychotropic drugs in it. He suddenly woke up, no longer hallucinating. Diggle gave him some "magic herbs" from the island and revealed how Oliver had given him plenty of bruises during their brawl. Oliver went on to determine that he'd been injected with something from one of Blood's followrs, also revealing to Felicity the true identity of the new Brother Blood, Clinton Hogue. Though determined to take down Hogue, Sara cautioned restraint, offering to help but only after Oliver had some rest to recover.[99]
Death of Sara Lance and rivalry with Ra's al Ghul
Oliver Queen fights "himself".
Several months later, Oliver found himself on another mission. He ran along a bridge, extending his new compact bow, jumping down on to an approaching truck. He exploded the back of it, allowing Diggle to sort out the illegal shipment of RPGs, then directed the truck towards Roy. The driver, Vincent Steelgrave, made a run for it, but Oliver captured him, commenting that he'd failed the city, before knocking him out. They headed back to the foundry, where Oliver crossed off yet another name from his new list of criminals. He noticed a fern, which she explained as an attempt to liven up the dull surroundings. Oliver promptly received a text from Thea, leading to Roy leaving quickly to do a patrol. As he left, Oliver complimented him on how well he had been doing. Felicity and Diggle also left, though before the latter did, Oliver gave him a gift to celebrate his coming baby. Dig urged Oliver to talk to Felicity, as he believed him to be blatantly in love with her. Later that day, Oliver met with Laurel Lance as Vincent Steelgrave was being taken away by police. Laurel guided him over to a group surrounding Captain Quentin Lance, who was ready to make an announcement. Laurel claimed that it was his surprise. Captain Lance began to announce that, using his new position as a police captain, he was formally recognising The Arrow as a hero, as well as disbanding the task force created to hunt him down. After that, Oliver rushed on over to the foundry, where he caught up with Felicity. He awkwardly asked her out on a dinner date, which she accepted. That night they were on another mission, going after a member of Vincent Steelgrave's crew. Dig patched Oliver over to Felicity, and despite being in the middle of a high speed chase, he asked her as to her interests in Italian food, agreeing on it. The Arrow intercepted Calvin Nico, the man in question, just as Captain Lance also did. He thanked him for what he'd done, excusing himself as he claimed to have somewhere to be. He headed to the restaurant, changing in to a suit and stashing his bag in a compartment. He met Felicity, just as nervous as her. Unable to find anything to talk about, he admitted that he hadn't been on the island for the entirety of his five years away, specifically he'd gone to Hong Kong, for one. He went on to describe how he learnt to stop trusting people, only to begin to do so again when he first met Felicity. Oliver began to suggest that they had the potential to begin a relationship, but the conversation was cut short by a rocket launched aiming for The Arrow. The two of them were knocked out, and Oliver awoke to a badly battered Felicity. He picked her up and took her and his bag back to the base, where he lay Felicity on a table. Roy discovered a GPS tag on Felicity's jacket, Oliver inferring that it had been meant for him, hence the explosive. He gave Lance a call, alerting him as to the situation, and wishing to find the leader of the gang. Felicity suddenly woke up and was comforted by Oliver. Oliver suited up and headed to where they assumed Steelgrave's men to be, where he also found Captain Lance, who told him of the suspect, Werner Zytle. Zytle suddenly appeared, introducing himself and throwing a dart at his neck. He called himself Vertigo, despite The Arrow's claim that The Count was dead. The two began fighting, though The Arrow began to stagger. As Oliver started to hallucinate, Zytle explained that he had brought back the Vertigo drug with an addition that made one see their greatest fear. Vertigo began to turn in to Oliver himself, and resulted in him fighting The Arrow and even winning, holding him up against a wall. Lance began shooting, distracting him long enough for The Arrow to run off. However, Lance collapsed and Zytle started to walk to him. Before he could do any harm, he was shot with an arrow and fled. The Arrow requested Felicity call an ambulance for the captain. Oliver returned to the base, checking that Felicity was okay. He sent Roy out to patrol for Werner's men and instructed Dig to go home to look after Lyla. Felicity and Oliver headed to Queen Consolidated for Oliver's meeting with the company's board. Surprising them, another bidder for the company, Ray Palmer, arrived. Oliver began a heartfelt speech to the board members in a hope to win the bid for the company, only to quickly be squashed by Ray's motivational speech regarding "QC" transforming the city in to a "Star City". They left and Oliver decided that, clearly having lost to Ray, he had previously made a decision to put aside "Oliver Queen" anyway, and so it was likely for the best. Back at the base, Diggle updated Oliver on Zytle's next targets, three crime bosses. Oliver had Roy suit up, while arguing that Diggle had to stay at the base as he was a soon-to-be father. Once at the Rockets Arena, where Werner and the crime bosses were, Roy was sent to deactivate the bomb while Oliver chose to go after Zytle, heading to the roof. Zytle threw a Vertigo-laced dart at him, though Oliver was able to overcome it. Suddenly, The Canary appeared to help keep down Zytle's accomplice. Oliver was surprised to see Sara back, but quickly made sure to tie up Werner. They went for a walk and caught up. Sara suggested that she might return permanently to the city, but advised that Oliver needed to have non-vigilantes in his life. Soon after, Oliver headed to the hospital to find Diggle and Lyla, the latter of whom had given birth. Diggle thanked Oliver for giving him the right advice and the two hugged. Out in the hallway, Felicity and Oliver briefly talked about their situation, before kissing and Felicity walking off upset. Suddenly Oliver received a call from Barry Allen, who had woken up from his coma.[43] Meeting on a rooftop, Barry explained his powers of super speed and how they'd come to be. He also expressed doubts, as as Dr. Harrison Wells had told him that he was just a man struck by lightning, but Oliver promised that his power was a gift to be used in ways Oliver's could not, to be an unseen guardian angel, saving people "in a flash". As Oliver departed he told Barry to listen to his own previous advice and wear a mask. Barry was impressed by Oliver's exit, as was Oliver likewise of Barry's speeding away.[100]
Oliver talks Laurel out of killing Simon Lacroix.
The following morning, Oliver headed to the base with Felicity and Roy, where they horrifyingly found Sara lying on a table, dead. Laurel attempted to explain what had happened, before Oliver closed her eyes and comforted Laurel. Oliver met Laurel upstairs, where she told Oliver of a stuffed shark that Sara was fond of. Oliver promised to find Sara's killer, to which Laurel attempted to suggest that she would also help, though Oliver recommended that she had helped enough thus far. Laurel left, leading to Oliver calling Thea, wishing to simply hear her voice, though he only got her voice mail. Felicity approached, letting him know that they had no video surveillance to go off, so he instead decided to go and survey the area. At the scene, Oliver was only able to find a piece of metal, but meanwhile imagined Sara's murder. Diggle approached, having learnt of Sara's death. He attempted to get Oliver to take some time off of work, but Oliver claimed his vigilante work was all he could do, and proceeded to dissect what he could take from the scene, leading to Dig offering his help. Suddenly, Oliver was called by Felicity, who alerted him to Captain Lance wanting to meet. Despite initially fearing it would be about Sara, he was told of a corporate financier named John Burke who'd been killed through seemingly similar means to Sara. Back at the foundry, Dig and Oliver brainstormed possible archers, Oliver suggesting only 10 he knew of, most of whom were in the League of Assassins (counting out those, as they didn't target their own). Felicity alerted them to a new attack by the archer, so Oliver had Diggle check A.R.G.U.S.'s database for potentials while he went to question a likely witness. At the crime scene, The Arrow prevented the man from escaping, before finding out that the man he was looking for wore a black hockey mask. Contacting Diggle, he found out a likely suspect was Simon Lacroix, codenamed Komodo. Patching through to Felicity, she was able to pinpoint Lacroix. As Lacroix almost shot an arrow at a victim, Oliver intercepted. They began driving at each other on motorbikes, aiming arrows. However, rather than hitting him, Oliver was only able to knock over his motorbike, leading to Komodo shooting him with an arrow, allowing the man to get away. Back at the base, they decided on a new tactic - rather than searching for Lacroix, they would attempt to search for his targets. The search took a while, causing Oliver to become impatient and Felicity to become annoyed at him in return. She proceeded to question how Oliver could act so coldly, yet Oliver claimed he could never have that luxury living the life he did. Felicity simply got more upset and stormed out. Following that, Oliver attempted to call Thea again. Not replying, Roy decided to reveal that she'd left him a note upon her leaving, promising to never return to Starling. Oliver read the letter while Roy apologised, and Oliver simply accepted the apology. Sometime later, Laurel came to the team with information regarding Simon Lacroix. They determined his next target, Tom Weston, and Oliver left to Ray Palmer's Star City pledge, despite Laurel's attempts to join him. At the event, Lacroix inevitably attacked Weston. The Arrow and Roy intervened, the former following him down a floor through a window. Despite his efforts, Komodo was eventually pinned to a wall. To Oliver's shock, Laurel appeared, aiming a gun at Lacroix. She accused him of killing Sara, though he explained where he'd been on the night. Oliver believed his story and dragged Laurel off after she'd realised the gun wasn't loaded. The following morning, Oliver reassured Laurel that Lacroix's alibi was authentic. He promised to eventually find Sara's killer, but he had no clue when that might've been. He also urged her to tell her father of Sara's death. That night, they buried Sara in her previously empty grave, and they all payed their respects, while Diggle announced that he would be naming his daughter Sara. Back at the foundry, Diggle decided that he would re-join the team, as long as it took to find Sara's killer. Following on from that, Oliver decided that they would have to go find Thea and bring her home. Oliver expressed that he didn't want to die down in the basement, before Diggle told him not to and left.[44]
Oliver tells Thea the truth about a number of things.
On another mission, The Arrow ran down a man, questioning him as to Sara's death, giving him a piece of evidence from the scene containing his DNA. The man confessed to having been up there drinking, but some woman who seemed to be able to handle herself told him and others to clear off. Oliver headed back to the base, frustrated that the trail had gone cold. Felicity revealed to have found Thea's true location: Corto Maltese. The three men decided to head to the country. Once in the country, Diggle and Roy settled in to their hotel while they allowed Oliver to search down an address where Thea was thought to be living. However, he was unable to find her there, finding a gardener instead, who offered to show him to a café where she worked. Oliver found Thea, who was surprised to see him. They began talking, and he revealed to have two plane tickets home: one of them for her. He emphathized with her, asking her to come back home with him. Despite claiming to love him, she refused to return at all. Oliver left to help Diggle with a job for Lyla, finding an A.R.G.U.S. agent who was unresponsive, Mark Shaw. Diggle approached as Oliver stayed to watch from afar. After all was clear, they headed to a site, Oliver still observing as backup. Suddenly, Shaw double-crossed Diggle, having lied to him about the actual details of the buy he'd believed to be happening. Oliver revealed himself, running after Shaw, but he drove away before he could be stopped. They conferred with Lyla, who promised to be sending a wet team to back them up, asking them to keep their powder dry. However, they chose to disregard her message, going after Shaw instead. They called Felicity, who they asked to ping Shaw's phone and determine his location. Meanwhile, Oliver decided to tell Thea "the truth" in order to get her to come home with them. Diggle reasoned that he'd likely lose Thea if he did, though Oliver further reasoned that he'd already lost her to Corto Maltese. Oliver met with Thea, expressing his fear that he would indeed lose her, but she explained that the lying about her own life, particularly her birth father, was what had driven her away. In hearing this, Oliver revealed the truth about their father's suicide, which Oliver had always mentioned as an accidental drowning. He explained that both of their parents had sacrificed themselves so both of them could live, so they had to stick together. Oliver met back up with John and Roy at the scene of Shaw's buy. As the buy was going down, a group of hired men arrived and began shooting at the three spies. They began shooting and firing back with homemade bows and arrows. After he'd ran out of arrows, Oliver grabbed Diggle's gun and shot numerous soldiers, much to the surprise of Roy. Oliver took out the buyer and his guards, taking his laptop of A.R.G.U.S. names, right as Diggle knocked out Shaw, allowing him to go and effectively leave A.R.G.U.S.. They later waited at the airport, disappointed that Thea had not arrived. However, she shortly arrived, much to the particular delight of Oliver. A nearby passenger spilt his coffee all over Thea's hand, though she was unfazed, which weirded out Oliver. Back in Starling, Oliver came across Laurel, who had been injured in a fight. She expressed her wishes to train and help people like Sara had, but Oliver shot her down as he didn't want her to get hurt. Down in the cave, Oliver and Roy talked about Thea, as Oliver seemed to believe Thea was acting differently. However, they were quickly interrupted by Nyssa al Ghul, who was looking for Sara.[101]
Oliver, Nyssa and Malcolm fight.
After explaining that she had been killed and eventually buried, Nyssa left. Believing she knew something, Oliver asked Roy to follow Nyssa while he met Thea. At the restaurant, Oliver offered to pay, despite being broke, but Thea revealed that she would be buying back Verdant with the help of investors, allowing her to spend a bit of money herself. Following dinner, Oliver left to follow Nyssa, finding her in an abandoned building which she revealed to be Sara's old place. Nyssa went on to reveal that Sara had been in Starling to confirm rumors that Malcolm Merlyn was indeed alive. They headed back to the base, where Roy expressed his skepticism. However, Oliver confirmed that he was indeed alive, showing photos they'd found on a camera from Sara's safehouse, dating back only a few weeks. Following that, they inspected some paper Sara had left in her boot, which Nyssa determined had ghost ink on it, revealed only with heat from a fire. Finding pieces of information regarding an individual named Jansen and that Sara had gone to her father for help, Laurel was sent to talk to Lance. Oliver, Roy, Diggle and Nyssa headed to the monastery of Ken Zhi Jansen, a Buddhist monk who had helped Merlyn, and whom Sara had been tracking down. Nyssa found who she believed to be Jansen, though it was in fact Malcolm Merlyn himself, who quickly got away, despite an attempt by The Arrow to stop him. Back at the base Oliver revealed to Laurel that Merlyn was still alive and was a likely suspect. He went on to mention how he'd tagged him with nanites, traceable via GPS. Laurel got angry that Oliver didn't kill Merlyn when he had the chance, though he reasoned that he would forever be able to trace him, before Laurel stormed out. Nyssa offered to speak to Laurel. Oliver sent Roy to watch over Thea, in case Malcolm contacted her, and had Diggle monitor the tracer program in place of Felicity, who was out of town. Oliver was guided by Diggle to an air conditioning factory, where Oliver was called by Malcolm, explaining how he'd outwitted him. He asked him to come, unmasked, to Nelson Plaza, an extremely public place, in order to talk completely alone. At the plaza, Malcolm reasoned that, as he already had a blood debt with Ra's al Ghul, it was illogical to have killed Sara. He also went on to mention how he'd only come back to Starling City for Thea, as he'd saved her the night of the siege. He swore on Thea's life that he wasn't Sara's killer, before walking off. The following morning, Oliver met Thea at The Grind & Jolt Cafe, revealing that she'd previously been saved by Malcolm Merlyn, thinking that she had no clue. Despite being seemingly skeptical, Oliver reassured her that it was true. Heading back to the cave, Oliver told Nyssa of Malcolm's motives. As Nyssa walked off angrily, Diggle reasoned that although Oliver had made a vow not to kill, Nyssa made no such vow. Soon after, Nyssa kidnapped Thea in order to lure Malcolm. Oliver and the team were able to notice the smoke signals she'd sent up and the former headed to the warehouse while the rest secured the perimeter (sans a post-tranquilized Roy). The Arrow shot down a tied up Thea, allowing her to escape, before engaging in combat with Nyssa. The Dark Archer quickly intervened, the three fighting each other. Before long, Oliver pinned Nyssa against a wall and knocked Malcolm down. Claiming to have not killed Sara, Malcolm gave Oliver the simple choice to kill him or not. However, despite being a killer, Oliver wished to not break his vows and let Malcolm go. Back at the base, Oliver claimed protection over Malcolm, warning Nyssa not to let any League members near him, while she threatened that he'd made an enemy. As she left, Felicity arrived back from Central City. Oliver soon headed upstairs to make sure that Thea was okay, before leaving her and Roy to talk.[45]
The Arrow watches as Cooper takes Felicity hostage.
Oliver fought with Roy using bo staffs. Roy claimed to have had little sleep, causing Oliver to knock him over. Following that, Oliver went to see Thea at her new place. He believed that she could never afford the loft, though Thea explained that she'd inherited the remains of Malcolm Merlyn's estate. Despite his attempts, Thea refused to let Oliver convince her to throw away the supposed "blood money". Thea left to upstairs when suddenly lights all over the city began going out. Thea rushed downstairs to find Oliver, but he'd already left over the balcony. In the streets, Oliver promptly saved a woman from being hit by a car. He walked past a store of TVs when a man claiming to be part of "Brother Eye" explained that they would be bringing the city to its knees. After the transmission, the city's lights were switched back on. Oliver met with Diggle and Felicity at Verdant where they were introduced to Felicity's mom. As they went to go downstairs, Oliver expressed his hesitation to Diggle taking his daughter downstairs. Felicity assured Dig that her mother loved babies and so they handed her over and headed down to the cave. Unable to find them as the previous virus had deleted itself, Oliver wished to find the group before there was a "next time". Brother Eye soon made another broadcast, which Oliver had Felicity trace through breadcrumbs. Learning of the SCPD's dispatch of a riot squad to the Starling National Bank after a threat from Brother Eye, Oliver and Roy suited up before heading over. They shot arrows which released tear gas, dispersing the rioting crowds. During this, Oliver talked to Felicity, who eventually determined that she couldn't stop the virus as she'd written it 5 year prior. Back at the cave, Felicity attempted to explain herself before getting flustered. Oliver calmed her down, asking her to start at the beginning. After she'd explained herself, Felicity looked in to Myron Forest, a potential suspect, while Oliver took care of Thea upstairs, leaving via the alleyway entrance. Thea was trying to get in to the sublevel, while Oliver lied that he'd been told it was completely flooded. He claimed to be there as he was concerned about her, while Thea wished to reconnect with her brother despite their earlier dispute, as she believed family was always family. After this, Oliver and Roy went to interrogate Myron Forest. He reasoned that he was the exact image of what the activists hated, so it was clear that he wasn't part of Brother Eye. They headed back to the Arrowcave, where Oliver made sure that Felicity's former boyfriend wasn't behind it. Not knowing why she was so adamant, she explained in detail how he'd hung himself in prisnon, absolving him completely, before she stormed off crying. When she came back and ran a tracer hack, Oliver made Felicity leave again, this time for an hour to make amends with her mom. After she didn't return, Diggle had an A.R.G.U.S. agent go to check out Felicity's house while Oliver attempted to call her, though she didn't respond. Meanwhile, Felicity had been kidnapped, though she'd allowed Oliver to trace her. Once he'd found her in an abandoned building, The Arrow brought down motion-sensored machine guns facing him and pointed an arrow at Cooper, who'd taken Felicity hostage. Before he could shoot Felicity, she grabbed his gun and beat him down. They soon returned to the base, where Felicity thanked Oliver for his advice on loving one's family and left to her mother.[102]
Completely outmatched, Oliver falls to Ra's
At some point, Ra's al Ghul lost his patience in Oliver's failure to find Sara's killer and sent Nyssa a few members of the League to threaten Oliver if he did not find the person within 48 hours, the League would carry out its tradition and kill 50 people a day until the killer is weeded out. Oliver eventually discovered Malcolm Merlyn was behind was in reality the culprit behind Sara's death, but he used a plant on Thea to make her susceptible to suggestion while not remembering anything that happened while she was under the plant's influence and had her kill Sara. Malcolm threatened to show the League the recording of Thea killing Sara if Oliver told the league Merlyn was behind this. Instead he told Oliver to tell Ra's he did and will be given a right to a trial by combat in order to kill Ra's and erase any blood debt from Ra's rule, including Merlyn's Undertaking and Thea's "killing" of Sara. Oliver complied and climbed up a mountain and dueled with an initially unarmed Ra's al Ghul with two swords. However, Ra's skills were too advanced and he defeated Oliver by stabbing him and pushing him off a cliff.
Personality
Prior to his time on Lian Yu, Oliver was the stereotypical spoiled brat and bad boy. He was unimaginably rich, a playboy and didn't care who got hurt due to his actions. He was also laid back, selfish, and a manipulator, back then. He underwent a rapid change in his personality when his father killed himself, so that Oliver could survive and right his wrongs and also when Sara apparently died because of him. On the island he becomes more subdued, depressed and retreats into a shell. He was inspired by Slade Wilson, who mentors him and teaches him almost everything he knows that he needs for crime-fighting later and as a result gains a much needed sense of loyalty and his sense of principles, morals, integrity and honor which he already had without knowing, began to rise to the surface.
In Season 1, upon returning to civilization, he tries to make amends with his family, Laurel and her father. In order to keep his identity a secret, he continues his bratty personality to a certain extent, but he finds this difficult to maintain, due to the fact that he was no longer the spoiled brat and bad boy he once was. Although using the scars, burns. and fractures he has all over his body, any individual could tell Oliver is an entirely different person than before being shipwrecked. To those who know about his secret identity The Arrow, he was responsible, disciplined, intelligent, confident, slightly impulsive, calculating and an individual who always look out for others. He only kills his enemies in self-defense or to save the lives of innocent people, but tries his best to avoid it. He never acts as judge, jury and executioner, and has a sense of justice and honor. Even though it seems like killing his enemies was easy for him, it actually takes a toll on him. He was always willing to give those he punished a second chance, those on the list by surrendering willingly to the authorities and those not on the list, by stopping whatever crime they are committing, and always tries to do the right thing. He also tries to pry out information from his enemies, or tries to get them to confess to a crime they commit it, and records it with one of his trick arrows, and sends it to the police so they can be brought to justice, (by making them think he was going to kill them, when he was actually bluffing), or some times tries to get solid evidence. He was prudent enough to admit he made mistakes and learns from them as well, and he doesn't like to admit when he's wrong, only doing it when he was faced with cold hard facts. Also he was not above apologizing to people, he has unintentionally hurt, or those he has intentionally hurt, when he was a bad boy and a spoiled brat 5 years ago, even if some of them are people he dislikes for a good reason. He tries to see good in everyone (although he has great difficulties trusting anyone; do to what happened to him on and off the island, also because he found that the truth about his father).
However, he doesn't see straight when it comes to those he cares about, often either putting himself at unnecessary risks for them or refusing to admit to logical suspicion on them. He also prioritizes some people or tasks, particularly those related to his family, over others, despite circumstances saying that he should do it the other way around instead. Oliver dislikes vigilantes with no morals nor codes, nor sense of remorse, who kills solely for personal revenge, and dislikes criminals who kills primarily for money, Whenever he encounters these types of vigilantes or criminals, who often say they were the same, he fervently corrects them. His temper was well-controlled, though he was still prone to emotional outbursts when it comes to issues concerning those he holds dear.
His sense of humor was dry, with a hint of sarcasm. While he was not afraid of dying, he was afraid of leaving those he cares about, with broken hearts again, which makes him nearly fearless, and he was very stubborn. He also uses his position, as being one of the highest ranking members of the Solntsevskaya Bratva, to help get information to locate people he's having problems finding, like Deadshot, or Count Vertigo. He does not like lying to the people he cares about, particularly his friends and family, he only does it to protect them, from his secret life as The Arrow. Oliver also became really clever in covering his tracks by opening a night club to make people believe he's managing his night club at night while actually fulfilling his duties as The Arrow.
Oliver can sometimes unintentionally be abrasive.
Despite his newer tough and honorable exterior Oliver still had a slight sense of arrogance believing that he could mend Helena Bertinelli out of her crime spree, and maybe even be with her as had grew feelings for her, and tried to date McKenna Hall, an old friend of his, despite all that was going on in his life both of which he eventually confessed he was wrong to think that he could change Helena and be the Arrow and still have a proper life like with McKenna. He was also completely unwilling to believe anything regarding his mother's involvement in Malcolm Merlyn's undertaking even when presented with more than enough evidence to confirm it. Oliver was also highly blinded by his love for Laurel that he will do anything she needs, as the Arrow, which he sometimes admits was a blind spot he had.
Although Oliver had the best interest of helping the people of Starling City in mind, he was rather quite ruthless over the course of Season 1, having killed at least 26 people in cold blood. He also used the catchphrase "You have failed this city" when threatening his wealthy victims or about to kill them. Oliver also speaks perfect Mandarin, to the point a Chinese Restaurant worker thought Oliver was from China.
In Season 2, when Tommy died Oliver was deeply affected and even exiled himself back to the island for a brief time and refused to become the Arrow again but changed his mind when Thea was kidnapped, but instead of killing her kidnappers decided to spare them. From that point onward Oliver became almost completely against killing his targets, though occasionally has broken this rule to save the ones he loves, most noticeably Count Vertigo. He does however, retain his ruthless interrogation methods, earning him initial disagreements of several people, including Quentin Lance, Joe West, and even Barry Allen. However, upon seeing his results, they decided to not interfere with Oliver's methods because they can't argue with his results even though they may not agree with his methods. In season 3, Oliver did develop more restraint when Carrie Cutter's psychiatrist didn't forfeit any information on her because of the Doctor-Patient Privilege and Oliver responded by trying to reason with her instead of shooting her.
Oliver has mentioned he is a very stubborn person and will most likely not learn from his personality flaws until he's experienced how they can hurt him first as shown during his training with Barry,
Oliver also holds deep regret for the people that he has let die on the island such as Shado and the people he believed were dead such as Sara and Slade. Shado most noticeably continues to haunt Oliver in his nightmares and Oliver even wears the hood in her memory, Oliver's hallucination of Slade told Oliver that he was merely wearing the hood because of Shado.
Despite being kind and caring, Oliver does have his moments of being cold, like when Laurel was trying to blame him and Sara for ruining her life, he derisively criticized Laurel on her actions.
Even when he was still a spoiled playboy Oliver showed immense loyalty to his friends, refusing to give up Yao Fei's location and would rather be tortured.
Despite being skilled at firearms, Oliver prefers bows and arrows because it requires he be clear of emotions and in a calm state of mind, ensuring he doesn't wield his weapons in anger.
Abilities
- Peak of human physical condition: Oliver was shown to be in top physical condition from his intense exercises both in the Arrowcave and from his time on the island. His training regimen seems to be inspired by his mentors on the Island and possibly others. Due to his youth, Oliver was faster than Malcolm Merlyn and was not only strong enough to break a man's neck in a matter of seconds, but was even stronger than the formidable Helena Bertinelli.
- Honed senses: Oliver has repeatedly demonstrated being able to sense danger before anyone else near him does. His keen powers of perception offer aid in otherwise detrimental situations.
- Master archer: Oliver was extremely experienced and has outstanding archery skills. He has extreme accuracy with the bow and arrow, allowing him to shoot 6 bouncing tennis balls without missing, shoot small objects off of people without harming them and shoot with deadly accuracy even while he was moving.
- Master Marksman: In "Corto Maltese", it was seen that Oliver was fairly capable of wielding and very proficient with the use of firearms.
- Master stick fighter: In "City of Heroes", Oliver is seen sparring with Slade in stick fighting, even able to go toe to toe with him. In the present day, Oliver was shown to be a master stick fighter. He knows the Filipino martial art, Eskrima Kali (also known as Eskrima or Arnis), and shows his skills practicing on a training dummy or sparring with Diggle in one of the episodes. In "Crucible", he was able to take down three of The Mayor's thugs simultaneously, while he was using Sara's bo-staff.
- Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Oliver excels in advanced hand-to-hand combat, being a master martial artist. He was proficient in various types of fighting styles, and can more than hold his own against his opponents. Thanks to his experience and training he was able to fight multiple people at once and was even able to land hits on the lightning fast Barry Allen. He styled his fighting styles of self defense, offense, grappling, and takedowns after his mentors, Yao Fei, Slade Wilson, Shado and possible others. The fighting form seems to be a combination of Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jujitsu, Eskrima and possible others.
- Free running/Acrobatics/Stealth: Oliver has shown himself capable of scaling buildings and running from rooftop to rooftop easily. On one occasion he scaled a building using the window ledges of the building to retrieve a bullet. On another occasion, he leapt over a rooftop to land on a lower one. It allows him to sneak in and out of almost any unguarded building without being detected.
- Skilled detective/Tactician/Skilled business acumen: Oliver has been shown to have great detective skills when searching for information about the people on his list. While he is no expert in anything outside his physical skills, he has shown to have extensive knowledge in various fields, including computer engineering, toxicology, combat medicine, weapons and so on, all of which he uses to effectively aid in his investigation while maintaining discretion, often without needing aid from anyone else. He was shown to be a highly skilled tactician and was able to create plans which allow him take on large numbers of heavily armed man, highly skilled martial artists and even beat Mirakuru-enhanced soldiers and The Flash.
- Multilingual: Oliver was capable of fluently speaking English, Russian, and Mandarin. He can speak Mandarin so perfectly, that he was able to fool a blinded Triad member into believing he was actually Chinese. He can also speak Spanish.
- First aid/Toxicology: It has been shown that Oliver was educated in various types of medicine and first aid. He was able to provide medical attention to himself and John, as well as determine the type of poison (Curare) that the bullet contained from his blood, compliments of Deadshot. He has been shown to be able to give first aid on himself or others, and going so far even to treat bullet wounds completely without having to go to the hospital. He apparently keeps stocks of his own blood in his hideout, storing them for future use.
- Intimidation/Interrogation/Torture: As The Arrow, Oliver commands a very intimidating presence, which strikes fear into the hearts of the criminals he confronts, and is not above maiming his targets (which sometimes leaves him at odds with other people, such as The Flash).
- Psychological Warfare: Oliver is very skilled in torturing his victims psychologically. One example was when The Dollmaker's lawyer didn't give up any information, prompting Oliver to shoot him through the shoulder and kept him from going to the authorities and reporting Quentin to his lieutenant or anyone by threatening to shoot his other shoulder if he did. He acquired this skill during his training in Hong Kong with Amanda Waller.
- Indomitable will/Tolerance for pain: Oliver has shown to be very stubborn, and was nearly fearless. Under no situation would he ever give up. Even on the island while he was untrained and in no shape to fight anyone, he was shown to be quite resistant to pain. Oliver was able to injure Malcolm Merlyn's leg with a flechette, before knocking him out cold with a single punch, despite being badly injured by his arrows and having 3 broken ribs.
- Expert driving skills: Oliver has the ability to drive multiple vehicles, and appears to be skilled at it. He was able to pursue enemies in various ways using different vehicles, known of are a car and a motorcycle.
- Master at subterfuge: Oliver also possesses considerable skills at lying and deception, having once bested a lie detector test where only a "slight flutter" was detected coming off of him. He uses these attribute to hide his double life as a wealthy club owner and vigilante.
Equipment
- Customized Recurve Bow: Oliver, as The Arrow, uses as his weapon of choice a Customized Recurve Bow combined with his arrows to fulfill his promise and mission he made to his father before his death. It is unknown who it was designed by and it features standard recurve limbs and a riser that has a metal enclosure for the hand. Oliver Also also used it as an improvised quarterstaff.
- Carbon Fiber Long Bow: this Carbon Fiber Long Bow serves as Oliver's spare bow, after his Customized Recurve bow was chopped in half by a downward forearm strike from Malcolm. It belonged to his late mentor Yao Fei. Oliver has also used it as an improvised quarterstaff.
- Customized Oneida Kestrel Compound Bow: This Customized Oneida Kestrel Compound Bow serves as Oliver's new bow, it was designed by Felicity. It can fire 2 small explosives from the ends of the bow riser, shown in "The Man Under the Hood". Oliver also uses it as an improvised quarterstaff. As of the Season 3 premiere, it curls into a smaller size
- Oliver Queen's Crossbows: Oliver used a crossbow once he was in the elevator shaft, when he was in the building of Merlyn Global Group, while using one of his grappling hook bolts and swinging across the elevator shaft. It is shown to be strong enough to hold 2 people, like Oliver and Felicity Smoak.
- Customized Hunting Arrows: Oliver, as The Arrow, uses as his signature weapon of choice numerous types of arrows, which he creates and designs himself. Combined with his customized Recurve Bow or Carbon Fiber Long Bow to fulfill his promise and mission he made to his father before his death. He carries arrows and flechettes (miniature projectiles stored on gauntlets, the equivalent of throwing knives) that add up to 24 in number.
- Trick arrows: Oliver has used custom-designed arrows such as incendiary arrows that explode on contact. On occasions, he has also been known to use arrows embedded with recording and listening devices.
- Quiver: An arrow container strapped to Oliver's back. He uses it to carry his arrows as his heroic alter-ego, The Arrow.
- Flechette: Oliver, as The Arrow, carries flechettes or the equivalent to darts to disarm people. For example in "Honor Thy Father", he uses one to disarm Quentin's gun. He carries it around his forearm. It is unknown what materials it is made from. In Season 2, it can be assumed that Oliver may carry some trick fletchettes as well e.g. in "Identity", he uses smoke producing ones to assist in his escape from the police.
- Arrow Costume: Oliver wears a costume as his heroic alter-ego, The Arrow, to hide his identity from his enemies, when he goes out fighting crime. Designed by Cisco Ramon, made with a polymer Kevlar weave. The costume by Cisco is 25% lighter than the previous costume and can carry 15% more gear.
- Arrow Gauntlets: These gauntlets are used by Oliver (as his heroic alter-ego The Arrow) to carry his flechettes.
- Arrow Mask: Designed by Barry Allen, it was made from a compressible micro-fabric. This has the ability to conceal Oliver's identity more effectively than the previously used grease paint and has no restrictions on his visual field while on the run or aiming arrows.
- Voice Filter: Oliver uses this device to disguise his voice, when ever he was talking to people, who knows what his voice sounds like, as The Arrow.
- Ghost Phone: Oliver uses this Ghost Phone to call Quentin, from the other ghost phone that he gave him anonymously, when ever he needs his help. When he called Quentin it was shown that it uses the same voice changer technology that Oliver uses to disguise his voice as The Arrow, whenever he was talking to people who know what his voice sounds like. On 2 occasions it was used by Laurel. It is unknown if it was designed by Oliver.
- Oliver Queen's motorcycle: Oliver uses a motorcycle to get around Starling City, when he was out on patrol as The Arrow. It is unknown if this was his civilian motorbike.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3 |
The Flash
Season 1
- "Pilot"
- "Flash vs. Arrow"
Comics
Arrow
|
Arrow: Season 2.5
The Flash: Season Zero
- "A Goodnight Hiss" (mentioned)
- Smoak Signals part 2 (mentioned)
Trivia
- Oliver's costume as The Arrow is featured as an alternate costume for Green Arrow in the video game, Injustice: Gods Among Us. Using this costume also changes Green Arrow's voice actor to Stephen Amell, Oliver's actor.
- In his youth before the island Oliver's social scandals included assaulting a paparazzi bystander, stealing a taxi, driving intoxicated and somehow managing to urinate on a police officer.
- Oliver rarely calls John Diggle by his first name, but often calls him Diggle or Dig.
- Oliver has so far had eight love interests in the show as are listed in order; Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Shado, Helena Bertinelli, McKenna Hall, Isabel Rochev, an unnamed women and Felicity Smoak.
- During the first season, his main quote was "You have failed this city" which was generally said to anyone on The List as he caught them, the last person he said it to in said season was Malcolm Merlyn. In the second season this line is rarely used only said by Oliver once to himself, regarding his failure to stop Slade's attack on Starling. In season three this line has been said twice to Vincent Steelgrave and Myron Forest.
- Oliver has so far used three bows in the series, first was the bow he used as The Hood which was broken by Malcolm Merlyn, second was Yao Fei's bow from the island, third is a custom made by Felicity Smoak.
- Oliver has had three mentors; Yao Fei, who taught him to hunt and survive, Slade Wilson, who taught him Eskrima and some basic combat moves, and Shado, who taught him the basics of archery.
- Oliver received his domino mask from Barry Allen, after he commented that it would conceal his identity much better than greasepaint.[32].
- Technically speaking, Oliver's first kill was a mercenary on Lian Yu, however with his signature weapon of choice it was Edward Fyers, with a bow and arrow.
Gallery
Promotional images1
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
