#arrow 7x06

Dinah Drake and Laurel Lance icons

Arrow

Season 7, Episodes 5 and 6

olicity love fern | a symbol of true love

bonus:

Hear me out for a minute.

Classic time travel and alternate history stories often revolve around the idea of key moments in time, of key events that when changed branch off into new timelines.

Think of Flashpoint on The Flash or the alternate 1985 in Back to the Future.

There are specific turning points that occur, specific choices that are made that determine the future.

This season, Arrow has introduced some key details in the Flash Forwards.

Dinah’s scar

Zoe as Vigilante

Felicity is a villain consumed by darkness and is now dead

Star City is essentially defeated

The Glades have risen up

Vigilantes are not heroes

William was abandoned

(And more that I can’t remember)

Now, when you pay close attention to the Flash Forwards and to the 2018 storyline, I think a pattern has started to emerge. Some of the pattern has to do with the new Green Arrow and some doesn’t. But overall, the pattern seems to be about key turning points and choices that tie into what was discussed heavily in 7x06 tonight and the season’s overall theme: being a hero is hard and redemption. And that those turning points, those choices have the capacity to change the future course of events.

So, let’s hypothesize for a moment that the Flash Forwards are a possible future that depend on specific things happening. Some of those things could include:

Oliver remaining in prison or dying in prison.

Felicity going completely dark, torturing Silencer, killing Diaz, etc.

William never returning from boarding school or being abandoned in another way.

Dinah being injured by the Longbow Hunter dude’s shield thing and losing her canary cry.

Black Siren relapsing.

Team Arrow remaining disbanded and working against each other.

(And more...)

Now, I think things have been happening in the present storyline so far that are these turning points. Some may end up being meaningless, but some have the potential to be vital to half the future turns out. These are events and decisions that contradict what is happening in the future if their trajectories continue to play out. They include:

Oliver not escaping with Talia and becoming a fugitive that his family can never redeem.

Oliver recognizing the humanity of his fellow prisoners.

Felicity not torturing The Silencer.

Felicity not killing Diaz.

Black Siren working with Felicity, agreeing to argue Felicity’s case for Oliver, not killing the judge.

Zoe being saved by the Green Arrow in the fire.

The Green Arrow appearing and giving Star City a vigilante to once again look up to.

Rene finding a reason to want to give Star City a chance through the mystery of the new Geeen Arrow.

Dinah dodging having her neck sliced open.

Team Arrow banding together to capture Diaz instead of working on opposing teams.

And, all the instances in which the new Green Arrow seems to show up in the nick of time, such as tonight when they knocked the phone away.

Am I the only one who has noticed this pattern?

What do you think?

We need to talk about how literally everything about it proves that in the flash forward future,

Felicity is not dead

she is not “dark”

she is not alone

First off, can we all agree that if Felicity were really to go dark, she would never-in-a-million-years style herself “The Calculator?” Like, never. She has enough daddy issues. If she ever became a villain, she would NOT take a parallel path to his. I mean, even excusing everything else, she’s just more creative than that (and I think she has expressed some serious disdain for the name in the past). 

Therefore, the only conclusion we can draw is that she chose that name because of its association. The Calculator (Noah Kuttler/her father) is certainly googleable, dark-internet-searchable, mythic in certain circles, and - most importantly - personally connected. So it’s a clue. It’s not seriously Felicity’s villain name.

Secondly, the tennis ball arrow passcode thingy. I DON’T NEED TO SAY ANYTHING, OBVIOUSLY.

Therefore, the only conclusion we can draw is that Oliver - who he is and who he was - is/was still very important to Felicity. She still loves him. Which means that if he is alive and able to be with her, he’s with her. (And he’s definitely alive. And if he can’t be with her physically for whatever reason, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT THEY’RE AT LEAST NOT IN CONTACT.) 

Also therefore, the tennis ball arrow passcode thingy existing in that lair proves that Oliver - what he stands for - is centrally important to whatever her mission she is on in that secret lair. In other words - her mission IS NOT EVIL.

THIRDLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY. The fern.

Two things: The fern exists, and the fern is dead.

We know that the fern itself is symbolic of several things: 

Oliver himself: the fact that he is dark but he “thrives on low light” - his light being Felicity

Felicity herself: she is the spot of brightness that can thrive in dark conditions

Overall, then, it represents Oliver and Felicity’s relationship - the symbiotic nature of their love for each other

JUST THE FACT that the fern is there, then, SHOWS US IN VERY OBVIOUS TERMS that (up until it died, which couldn’t have been that long ago and might have only happened since Felicity was “murdered”) what Oliver stands for is still very important to Felicity, that she was still lightness in dark conditions, and that she still loves Oliver.

AND THE FACT THAT IT IS DEAD is clearly an obvious attempt to suggest that everything it stands for has likewise died. That she has lost her light, that she has lost her love, that she has actually died. 

Arrow 7x06 “Due Process” Promotional Photos.