Streets of Fire

"I have failed this city"

—Oliver starting to doubt if he can really defeat Slade

"Streets of Fire"
Information
Episode number	45 of 170
Original airdate	May 7, 2014
Written by	Jake Coburn Ben Sokolowski
Directed by	Nick Copus
Guest stars
Kevin Alejandro as Sebastian Blood Caity Lotz as Sara Lance/The Canary Summer Glau as Isabel Rochev/Ravager Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Amanda Waller Adrian Holmes as Frank Pike Chelah Horsdal as Kate Spencer John Barrowman as Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer Keri Adams as Bethany Snow David Nykl as Anatoly Knyazev Garfield Wilson as "Ripped"
Chronology
Preceded by	"City of Blood"
Followed by	"Unthinkable"

"Streets of Fire" is the ???th episode of Arrow. It aired on May 7, 2014. "Streets of Fire" is the twenty-second episode of the second season of Arrow, and the forty-fifth episode overall. It aired on May 7, 2014.

Synopsis

Oliver rallies his team as Slade's soldiers attack the city. Felicity gets a call from S.T.A.R. Labs with game-changing news and Thea comes face-to-face with her father - Malcolm Merlyn.

Plot

Oliver and Laurel are trapped beneath rubble due to the ceiling collapse he caused in the last episode. They are separated, Laurel with Oliver's bow and arrows. Laurel uses one of his explosive arrows to break out of the debris.

Diggle and Isabel fight, with her clearly having the upper hand. However, Felicity shows up, and hits Isabel with a van so that Diggle is able to escape. It is shown that Isabel is still alive.

Quentin continues to fight one of Slade's men back at the police station, where a number of officers have been taken out. Quentin sets off three grenades, killing him.

Sebastian Blood is trying to convince the people of Starling to stay calm. He is very calm, because he "knows" that they will get through this.

Laurel and Oliver embrace, before they return above ground, where Slade's army is wreaking havoc.

Thea is trapped in the train station, and almost killed, but her father, Malcolm Merlyn, shows up to save her.

Felicity tells Oliver that the people at S.T.A.R. Labs have found a cure for the Mirakuru. Laurel leaves for the police station, whilst Team Arrow head to find Felicity's friend. Slade dispatches a man to find and destroy the cure before Oliver can find it.

Finally trusting Lance, the police force pledges to help the Arrow stop Slade's men, and Quentin is re-promoted to detective to lead the other officers.

Laurel is almost ambushed by one of Slade's men, but is rescued by Sara, who returns as The Canary. Sebastian Blood watches the news in his office, until it is wrecked by one of the men who took the Mirakuru. He orders the man to stop, but his orders are refused, and his assistant is killed.

The Arrow gets a call from Quentin, inquiring if he needs any help. The van that they are in starts being followed by Slade's army, until one of them moves a car in front of it, causing a crash. They all survive, but are being surrounded by the men. Oliver kills two of them with an explosive arrow before carrying Felicity away.

Thea runs from her father, who says that he is not there to hurt her. She lists the things that he has done, and he is apologetic, and explains that he is only worried for her safety. Thea tells him that he is not her father and that she wants nothing to do with him, but Malcolm persists in his efforts to make her safe.

Slade and Isabel watch the destruction of Starling from Queen Consolidated. He mentions Shado, which confuses her. Sebastian walks in, furious that so many innocent people are dying. Slade reveals to Sebastian that he plans to destroy the entire city, people and all, in his quest for vengeance against Oliver.

Laurel and Sara find a police car, which is surrounded by dead bodies. Sara tells Laurel that there is nothing there for her, to which Laurel replies, "your family's here." At this, the Canary unmasks herself, and tells her sister that she is not a hero, but she is in fact the furthest thing from it. Laurel tells her little sister that "these things don't break us, they make us who we are." Sara still tries to say that she is a bad person, but Laurel says that she isn't irredeemable because the Canary is a beautiful name. Quentin goes to pick up Sara and Laurel.

Felicity calls her friend, who is still waiting for them at the scene of his car crash. Before they reach him, however, he is visited by one of Slade's men. They hear his screams down the phone. When they finally show up, the briefcase is gone, and her friend is dead. Felicity says that there is no more of the cure, and Oliver is in despair that there is no other way of saving the city. He says that he couldn't have imagined anything like this could have happened, and that he failed Starling City. Oliver goes on to list the people he has lost, and says that he is giving up. Felicity counteracts this with a list of the people that he has beaten, and says that he can do this because she believes in him.

Laurel and Sara await their father when they hear a woman screaming. The building before the woman explodes, and Quentin shows up. After it explodes again, the Canary walks out holding the woman' daughter.

Thea continues to argue with her father. He fights one of Slade's men, killing them, but getting injured himself. His daughter watches, alarmed. Felicity says goodbye to Oliver and Diggle, because she is watching over Roy at the clock tower.

Sebastian steals the cure and takes it to the City Hall. He calls Oliver to ask for his help. Blood relays his sob story, which is frankly quite boring. He gives the antidote to Oliver in return for help saving the city, and promises to try to make Starling City better. Queen is confused as to why he thinks they'll let him be mayor, to which Blood replies that they don't know about his true identity.

Quentin and Laurel embrace Sara at the police station, where a woman says that the Canary is the bravest woman she has ever seen. Because of his betrayal, Slade has Isabel kill Sebastian. His last words are, "I loved this city."

The Lances and police watch the news down at the station, where they see that the army has finally arrived, however they are stationed at the entrances of the city, which confuses them at first, until they realise that it isn't even the army.

Oliver almost tests the cure on Roy, to Felicity's distress, but can't go through with it. Quentin calls, telling them to turn on the television. Oliver recognises that the troops are A.R.G.U.S., and calls Amanda Waller. She tells him that they plan to bomb the city at dawn, in order to protect the country from Starling City.

Thea holds a gun up to her father, threatening to shoot him. He acknowledges that her eyes are like his, filled with pain and anger. Malcolm says that they are the same in the way that they have lost everything except each other. Before he can finish his sentence, she fires two bullets at him.

There's a flashback to Oliver on the submarine. He knows that Sara is gone, and Slade has taken her. Oliver says goodbye to Anatoly, who agrees to sink the ship within an hour if he and Sara do not return. Oliver sneaks onto the ship, and finds Sara in a cell. He refuses to leave Slade behind, because he injected him with the Mirakuru, and they are friends. Sara refuses to leave without him. They break into Ivo's old lab, where they encounter Slade and two of his men. Slade holds the antidote in his hand.

Behind the scenes

• This episode, as with the first season penultimate episode, "Darkness on the Edge of Town", is named after a Bruce Springsteen song, both of which coincidentally are from the same album, Darkness on the Edge of Town.
• When Sara goes to save a young girl in a burning building, Officer Lance, on the radio, requests Delta Charlie 52. This may reference the DC New 52 series.

Gallery

Promos

Arrow 2x22 Promo "Streets of Fire" (HD)

Promo

Arrow 2x22 Extended Promo "Streets of Fire" (HD)

Extended promo

Production

Preparation ran from March 18 until March 26, 2014. Shooting ran from March 27 until April 7, 2014.