Arrow – Fadeout

By starrymag | February 4, 2020

By: Courtney Groom

 

 

After eight years, eight seasons and one hundred and seventy episodes the end is finally here for The CW’s Arrow. With Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) dead after saving the Multiverse and rebirthing it, forming Prime-Earth, it’s now time to say goodbye to the rest of the heroes that saved Star City and the world.

 

The episode opens, giving a nod to the early seasons, with a voiceover montage of Oliver giving a brief general recap of his journey so far. We see scenes of Oliver dying and rebirthing the universe in “Crisis” to then seeing him in the Green Arrow suit declaring that a part of him will always be the Green Arrow.

 

After a blank screen we start to hear a very familiar voice – Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson). Soon it is realized that we are at the moment in Star City 2014 when Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) kills her. Deathstroke points the gun at Moria with Oliver and Thea (Willa Holland) tied up on the ground. Oliver manages to take down Deathstroke and prevent the death of his mother. We flashback to present day and Moira is talking to the Emerald Archer documentary crew about her understanding that in another alternative reality she was dead. She then explains that Oliver’s friends have realized that the world they live in now is a gift from Oliver, bringing everyone back that he lost everything except himself.

 

Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) has a moment with the cameras crying, talking about how she is processing everything. She is followed by Rene (Rick Gonzalez) and John (David Ramsey) who talk of the legacy Oliver has left behind. Once the cameras stop, Rene and John decide to take a walk and talk about what’s changed. Rene explains that Oliver fixed everything as since “Crisis” there has been no crime in Star City – it just disappeared overnight.

 

We’re then taken to the bunker where the team [Dinah, John, Rene, Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and Roy (Colton Haynes)] are all toasting and taking a shot of vodka for Oliver. Roy asks what the plan is and Laurel says, as she is pouring another shot, that she plans on getting as drunk as she possibly can. They start to talk about what they’re going to do next now no vigilantes are needed in the city. Rene mentions that Lance’s term ends in April. That’s right, you’ve guessed correctly that another fan favourite character back from the dead is Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) and he still Mayor of Star City. Rene mentions that Quentin has endorsed him to take his place and Dinah says Lance also offered her a promotion to Chief of Police. But Diggle feels like the crime in the city isn’t over and something is going to happen.

 

We then flashback to Starling City in 2012 in Season One. John wants to help Oliver out on the field when he is after his next target from the list: John Byrne, a human trafficker. But Oliver refuses to let John lend a hand. Then, we flashback again to the raft that Oliver and his father were on after the Queen’s ship The Gambit sunk. Robert Queen (James Patrick Sheridan) still ends his own life. Another time jump and we land in Star City 2040 with Mia (Katherine McNamara) waking up in bed. At the end of her bed is Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) saying she’s come to pick her up for Oliver’s funeral.

 

Back at the bunker Dinah is talking to Laurel, who is still drinking, asking if she is alright. Laurel claims she is fine before Roy calls Dinah over to get her “Mark of 4” tattoo. Roy talks to Dinah about how nervous he is to see Thea again because the last time he saw her was when he ran away and disappeared. She tells him not to worry and that Thea will be happy to see him.

 

John and Rene then start discussing Felicity (Emily-Bett Rickards). John says he’s reached out to her about the funeral but has had no response and they’re worried she will miss it. Mia is now in bunker too using the computers. Dinah comes over and Mia tells her about something that happened in the future [William’s (Ben Lewis) kidnapping at the end of 8×09] and she feels hopeless. Breaking news comes in on the computers that present William (Jack Moore) has been kidnapped from Central City.

 

Thea then shows up alongside Curtis (Echo Kellum), Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) and Ragman (Joe Dinicol) as they try to figure out who took William. Roy and Thea go to one side where Roy starts to apologize about what he did. Thea immediately shuts him down saying it’s not the right time. The lift doors then open and Felicity is back. She heads up to the computers where she reveals that she implanted a tracker inside William, but it stopped working when he entered Star City. So, instead she put together a list of possible locations he could be at and with that the team sets off to go find him.

 

Thea and Roy check one location on some rooftops but he’s not there. Before they go, Roy opens up to Thea again. He says that his resurrection gave him a whole new outlook on life and he realized he wanted Thea in it. So, he asks her to marry him. At another location Ragman and Rene clear another but find nothing. It is the same with Diggle and Lyla at another. The kidnapping has hit Lyla harder than anyone because she feels indebted to Oliver for giving them their daughter Sara back and she can’t find William for his family he left behind.

 

Mia, in her Green Arrow suit, is at another location on some rooftops when she hears a noise behind her. She turns, pointing her bow and arrow, to see William being pushed by a man. She shouts for him to let William go and asks who he is. The man says she should know because she is wearing his hood. It cues another flashback to Oliver in his Green Arrow suit fighting some thugs, leading himself up the rooftop to be greeted by the same man, John Byrne (Johnny Cuthbert). Before “Crisis” Oliver originally killed him, but since the change this was reversed and instead Oliver put him in prison. Back in the present day John says he escaped and wanted to kill William as payback to Oliver for ruining his life. He lets William go and Mia decides not to kill him, but to send him back to prison.

 

In the bunker once again, Mia is showing young William her bow while Sara and Felicity are watching them. Felicity learns that Mia is her daughter and that she became a hero just like Oliver. Sara asks if she wants to say hello, but Felicity says she doesn’t want to rush it because present day Mia is still a baby and she can’t quite believe what she is seeing. A news report alert comes on the computer as everyone gathers around. It shows Mia as the Green Arrow not killing John. The reporter says Oliver must have inspired a new Green Arrow and Dinah looks over and tells her that Oliver would have been proud.

 

At Queen Mansion Thea is looking at old photos of her and Oliver when Roy enters. Thea explains that the death of her brother has taught that they don’t have a lot of time in life. She asks Roy to promise he won’t leave her and says yes to marrying him.

 

Laurel heads to the SCPD to meet with Quentin. They go into his office and Laurel says she wants to talk about Oliver’s sacrifice bringing back everyone – Quentin, Tommy (Colin Donnell) and Moira but not Laurel (Earth 1). Laurel believes that Oliver didn’t bring back Earth-1 Laurel because she took her place and believes she’s not wanted anymore. Quentin tells her the reason Oliver didn’t fix this was because nothing needed to be fixed. She is still Laurel. At the bunker John, Dinah and Rene meet up to turn the lights off for the final time.

 

Now at the funeral all of Oliver’s friends and family are standing just outside of Star City holding candles while Quentin gives a speech. He says that he blamed Oliver for the death of Sara and for the violence in the city, but he was wrong to do so. Oliver was a good and honorable man and always did what he could to protect his family. A memorial statue is then revealed, much like the one we saw in 2040 last episode, of Oliver as the Green Arrow.

 

It’s then the next day where Moria and Thea are stood beside Robert Queen’s grave in the rain. Thea says she doesn’t understand why Oliver couldn’t bring Robert back if he managed to bring everyone else back. Moria explains that she thinks Oliver could only changes things that didn’t change him or his path in life. If Robert didn’t sacrifice himself, Oliver would have never returned from The Gambit. Emiko (Sea Shimooka), Oliver’s secret sister who was also brought back to life, approaches Thea and Moria to introduce herself as they never got to meet.

 

Behind them is Laurel and Tommy walking together. Tommy asks if it’s true she is from another earth and then says it’s hard for him to realize that in another earth he was dead. He then mentions that Earth-1 Laurel used to be his wife. Laurel says it must be weird seeing her again and Tommy agrees, but says it is also says it’s nice too. As they walk out of shot we see Nyssa (Katrina Law) stood with her sister Talia (Lexa Doig). Talia says she’s sorry to hear the passing of her husband and Nyssa says the marriage wasn’t real but was just a joke from her father to torment her. Sara then approaches and thanks Nyssa for coming. Nyssa introduces Talia to Sara and then calls Sara her “beloved” when introducing Sara to Talia.

 

Elsewhere, Mia plucks up the courage to see her mom Felicity. Mia tries to explain who she is, but Felicity laughs and says she’s already knows and that baby Mia was teething this morning. Mia says Oliver had a similar reaction when they first met and goes on to tell Felicity that he trained her to become a hero. As Mia and Felicity are hugging, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) comes over and apologizes saying he thinks he could have done more to save him. John and Kara Danvers (Mellissa Benoist) join and give crying Felicity a hug. As everyone is stood around his grave, Sara asks if anyone wants to say anything but everyone is too upset to speak. Felicity asks John if he will give the eulogy honoring Oliver’s journey and sacrifice, which he does beautifully.

 

As John gives his speech it shows everyone beginning to move on. John and Lyla head to Metropolis with the kids. Mia returns to the future. Rene oversees his campaign to become Mayor and Dinah heads out into the unknown on her motorcycle. We see John again shutting the doors of a van when something crashes into the earth near him and he pulls an item out of the crater. Opening the box, he’s bathed in a glowing green light.

We flash forward one last time to Star City 2040 and the moment where, in Season Seven, The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) took Felicity into the unknown. As she steps through the portal she is dressed as she was back in Season One – hair up, glasses, blouse and skirt in Moira Queen’s old office. She looks around and walks towards the desk, picking up the red pen and holding it close to her chest. As she picks an old photo up of Oliver and his father, Oliver appears and says he’s glad she could finally make it. She runs up, gives him a kiss and jokes about thinking the afterlive would look different to this. He says they’re in him mom’s office because it’s the first time he saw her. She says that it would be in the I.T. Department seven floors down as we then get one final flashback to Oliver seeing Felicity in the office talking to his photo on his mother’s desk all those years ago.

Now, they have all the time in the world together.