Arrow – Lian Yu

By: Stacy Miller

“The name of the island is Lian Yu. It’s Mandarin for ‘purgatory.’” – Oliver Queen

Picking up from last week’s episode, Oliver (Stephen Amell) visits Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) in his cell on Lian Yu and says him he needs his help. He tells the guard that he’s also taking Digger Harkness (Nick E. Tarabay) and orders the guard to leave the island. When the guard refuses to leave his post, Oliver renders the man unconscious. Slade tells Oliver that he has his sanity now and feels remorse for having killed Queen’s mother. Oliver tells Slade about Adrian Chase and gives Wilson a flash drive that has all the information Oliver has gathered to help find Slade’s son. Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson will be working together once again.  But Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law) is not pleased to be working with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). Oliver tells his temporary team that because they are unmatched by Chase’s team, he has no intention of this being a fair fight. “Is that why you released the animals from their cages?” Nyssa asks Oliver, referring to Harkness and Wilson. Then, a bomb flies overhead and blows up their supply plane with the ammunition stored inside.

In the flashback, Kovar (Dolph Lundgren) comes to check whether Oliver succumbed to the Red Death drug and has taken his own life. He finds the gun in the cell and Oliver gone. Kovar orders his men to find Queen, but quantifies that with “no one kills him but me.”  Oliver runs through the island, but is caught by Kovar’s men.

In the present Oliver, Slade and Harkness find Thea, Curtis, Felicity and William’s mother Samantha (Willa Holland, Echo Kellum, Emily Bett Rickards and Anna Hopkins) in cages. But the cages are unguarded so it’s obviously a trap. Evelyn Sharp (Madison McLaughlin) and Talia al Ghul (Lexa Dog) come down from the trees. Talia points an arrow at Samantha and warns Oliver if he moves his son loses his mother. Then Harkness pulls out the gun Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) gave him. He said he got a better offer from Chase. He points the gun at Slade Wilson and asks him whether he’s ready to join the winning side. “Assumption is the mother of all failures,” Slade tells Harkness, managing to disarm him.  And when her sister Nyssa appears and Talia sees she’s now outnumbered and trapped, she uses magic to escape.

Returning to the flashback, Oliver pretends to surrender but manages to overpower the guards and get away. But Oliver runs into Kovar and they fight. “I don’t have to kill you Oliver, I only have to make sure you don’t get on that boat,” Kovar states.

Back in the present on Lian Yu, Oliver has Evelyn in one of the cages, but she taunts that this could be part of Chase’s plan. Thea pulls Oliver off to the side and asks how he could work with Slade and Malcolm Merlyn.  Oliver tells Thea what they’re up against, he had no choice. Returning back to the others, Oliver tells Slade to get Thea, Curtis and Felicity off the island. In another location, Black Siren (Katie Cassidy) reunites Quentin (Paul Blackthorne) and John (David Ramsey) with his friends/fellow prisoners Rene (Rick Gonzalez) and Dinah (Juliana Harkavy). There is a sonic dampener in the place they are being held so Diana’s canary scream doesn’t work there. “Don’t worry, Oliver will get us out of this,” John says confident his friend will rescue them. Slade Wilson tells Oliver that his (Oliver) past keeps coming back to haunt him because he suffers from survivor’s guilt, he blames himself for his father’s suicide and every bad thing that has happened since. Wilson urges Oliver to forgive himself. Samantha tells Felicity that she is not abandoning her son, she’s not leaving the island without William.

Thea is arguing with Malcolm until she steps on and activates a land mine. Malcolm proves he loves his daughter by offering to take her place on the land mine.  He pushes Thea off the mine. “From the moment you were born all I wanted to do was protect you,” Malcolm tells Thea. “You may not think of me as your father, but you will always be my daughter.” Merlyn orders Thea to leave with the others.  When Harkness catches up and finds Malcolm just standing around, he calls him a fool.  Off in the distance, Thea hears the land mine explode. Is Malcolm dead?  Slade and Oliver arrive at the place where Chase is holding the rest of his friends. Slade then knocks him out and tells Black Siren that he brought Mr. Chase a present. Did Slade betray Oliver or is a trick to gain Chase’s trust? Oliver is chained and brought to his friends. He tells John, Rene, Diana and Quentin that Adrian Chase took William and they have to find his son. Oliver gives Dinah a device Curtis made that should enable the sonic dampener so her canary scream will work. Thea and Felicity share their feelings for their non-traditional fathers. Thea is saddened that Malcolm will never get the chance to be the father he should have been. When they get to the plane, they realize it has been wired with C4 as has been most of the island.

The al Ghul sisters Talia and Nyssa work through their issues in sword combat. Oliver, John, Rene and Quentin meet up with Slade Wilson and we learn that he was only pretending to be working with Adrian Chase in order for Oliver to be able to get Curtis’ device to Dinah. “We find Chase, we find my son,” Oliver says. Rene’s not so sure about that. Soon, Team Arrow face Adrian Chase and his team. “Hello Oliver, welcome back to Purgatory,” Adrian says with a smirk. Oliver demands to know where his son is. “Even at the end, you’re still ten steps behind,” Adrian tells Oliver, warning that unless Oliver kills him he’ll never get his son back. Soon, fights break out. Diana battles Black Siren and both unleash their canary scream on the other. Both are thrown to the ground. Black Siren gets up and walks toward Dinah, but Quentin knocks her out with a quarterstaff. “You didn’t have to do that,” Dinah tells Quentin. “Oh, I did for so many reason,” replies Quentin. No way would he let that woman wear his daughter’s face to be evil and attack his friends!

Meanwhile, Curtis is trying to reach Oliver while Felicity tells Thea she maybe with her equipment back in Star City but she can’t diffuse the bombs on the little tablet she’s using.  Oliver and Adrian are in a bloody fight with Oliver demanding Chase to tell him where his son is.

In the flashback, Oliver is engaged in a fight with Kovar and says, “Hate is fascinating. I told you I was going to make sure you were dead this time.” Oliver has Kovar in a chokehold. In the present on Lian Yu, Oliver has Adrian Chase in the same chokehold.  In the past, Oliver kills Kovar to catch his boat, but in the present Oliver ignores Chase’s taunts to kill him. Oliver tells Adrian that a killer is who he used to be and not who he is now. Oliver says he’s not going to continue to live in guilt for the things he’s done in the past, he forgives himself. Felicity reaches Oliver and tells him that Chase has rigged the entire island with explosives so if Oliver kills Chase, he’ll kill all of them.  After Oliver breaks communication with Felicity, he tells John and Quentin to get everyone off the island.  He’s going to find his son. Oliver doesn’t believe Chase’s claim that William is dead. But either way, Adrian isn’t getting off the island.  Oliver rushes to Chase’s boat and jumps aboard. They fight and Adrian comments on Oliver’s devotion to his son. Felicity calls Oliver and tells him that the plane was sabotaged and they can’t get off the island.  Adrian pulls William out from the cabin and puts the boy in a chokehold.  He gives Oliver a choice: William or his friends.  Adrian taunts that no matter what Oliver decides it proves he (Chase) was right that everyone around Queen dies. Oliver shoots Adrian in the leg with an arrow and grabs William.

In the final flashback, Oliver is rescued and calls his mother Moira (Susanna Thompson). At first she doesn’t believe it’s him, but after listening to his voice Moira knows it is Oliver. He tells her that his father didn’t make it, but he’s on a boat and he’s coming home.

As the episode closes, a wounded Adrian tells Oliver that William got to learn what kind of man his father was. Chase says that they are lucky that they (Oliver and William) have each other. “Because it’s going to be lonely without mom and Felicity.”  Then, Adrian puts a gun to his own head and shoots himself.  The explosives on the island goes off upon Chase’s death. Is it the end of Team Arrow? Is William now motherless? Find out next season on Arrow.