#arrow 8x03

The Quick and Dirty

Some stuff happened and then THE MONITOR TIME TRAVELS MIA, WILLIAM AND CONNOR TO PRESENT DAY.

Future Team Arrow

I know we have other things to discuss, but I am so excited my brain can not process anything else. .

Full disclosure: Katherine McNamara and Stephen Amell had been dropping hints that something huge was going to happen at the end of this episode. The Arrow writers’ tweeting incessantly to watch live was clue too. The fandom did the math and many thought Mia time travel to present day.

Some of my friends asked, “But Jen! What about William? What about Connor?” I just patted their sweet little heads and said, “Don’t worry. They’ll get their five minutes with Oliver and John in 8x10.” And why did I say that? Because this is Arrow. We don’t get nice things. We certainly don’t get nice things all at once. We really don’t get nice things without the writers shoving a massive stick up our… you get the idea.

BUT IT’S THE FINAL SEASON BITCHES!!!! Gloves are coming off. 

We don’t have to wade through 15 episodes of filler to get to the good stuff. 

Nope, they are handing it all to us and more on a silver plate. GLORIOUS. I never, in a million years, imagined we would get all three kids in present day nor did I imagine it would happen this soon.

I AM DYING. It’s literally an out of body experience where my ghost self is watching my alive self scream with joy. I was so loud that both my husband and daughter came downstairs to ask me what happened on Arrow. After eight years they know I’m not being attacked on Tuesday nights.

Honestly, in terms of surprises this ranks in my top 5. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about the show since they revealed Mia was Olicity’s baby. I am a hell of a lot more excited since Emily left. I was viewing the final ten episodes as required homework. I was this close to the finish line and damn it I wasn’t going to quit. 

But was I looking forward to the episodes? Eh. Not really. There are things I was interested in, but now I AM PUMPED. I am legitimately excited for 8x04 and that hasn’t happened since Emily left the show.

No, this does not make up for Felicity Smoak’s absence, but they have to do something and this is a pretty genius way of handling it. If I can’t get more Oliver and Felicity scenes then I will take scenes with Oliver and their children. PLEASE AND THANK YOU. 

The relationships John and Oliver have with their children are pretty much the only relationships I’m invested in outside of Dyla and the bromance to end all bromances. I do not give one flying flip about Rene or Dinah. I am super pissed off at L*urel again so she can land on another earth and get zapped to ash any time now.

One of the hardest parts of this 20 year twist is the fact  Oliver didn’t get a chance to raise his children. Mia has no memory of him at all. While I understand why the writers went this route it doesn’t make it any less painful or disheartening to see our hero cheated out of the relationships he so richly deserves.

The twenty year twist does give us something more than a happy montage at the end of the series. We get to know Original Team Arrow’s adult children and now we’ll watch our beloved characters interact with those adult children and form relationships with them. We’re going to see all the wonderful push/pull drama that comes with having your children yanked from their time and dumped in the present.

Sure, they didn’t have to keep Oliver separated from his children for twenty years to do this, but he was always going to sacrifice something massive. We were never getting out of this free and clear. The fact Oliver has been “dead” or missing the last twenty years brings another level of urgency and strife to his relationships with Mia and William. And Diggle… he doesn’t even know he adopts Connor! Methinks he’s gonna find out. And holy shit – what are they going to tell him about JJ?

“Hi Dad. FYI, you adopt me in a couple months and JJ turns into Satan.”

That’s not awkward at all. There is just so much these families have to deal with,

which is why I am absolutely thrilled they did this before Crisis. We get time to deal with it. This is a lot more interesting than watching the writers struggle to give LL something to do for 40 minutes. Oliver, Diggle and LL saving the multiverse for six episodes are not my idea of a good time. I AM SAVED.

Let’s discuss what happened before the blinding light made all my dreams come true. Things are not going well for the kids. Our bright and shiny rainbow William is fine. He managed to evade the Deathstrokes by utilizing one of Felicity’s security measures and then did some good old fashioned hiding. I love that Mama saved him.

They need a Plan B and William offers himself as bait, and it kind of makes sense, but Mia won’t hear of it. She wants to take the fight directly to JJ and storm their hideout. 

Nobody, and I do mean nobody, is on board with this plan. Remember all those times when Oliver refused to listen to Diggle and Felicity and it was always disastrous? Good times. Let’s hope it doesn’t take Mia six years to learn like it did her father.

Whenever a character offers sage wisdom all of a sudden on Arrow then it’s time to get prepared for their demise. Particularly if that character is a canary. 

Exhibit A. 

Exhibit B. 

Zoe knows Mia is afraid to lose William and her fear is driving this new plan.

Source: miasmoakdaily

Homegirl is still ride or die though even if she thinks Mia’s plan is the worst (and it is). This is why you are an awesome canary Zoe and all the canaries I love get to stay on the show. 

Mia isn’t just afraid of losing William. She’s afraid of her fear too. JJ has honed in on a perceived weakness and Mia doesn’t like feeling powerless. Her fear makes Mia feel out of control, so she’s trying to seize that control back by attacking JJ full force. Mia wants to be the predator, but this spectacularly awful plan of walking directly into his evil lair makes her team the prey.

Mia paces impatiently behind William as he hacks his way into JJ’s system. It reminded me of all the times Oliver was having a massive attack of fuzzy bunny feels for Felicity and channeled it all into annoyance over how long it was taking her to get whatever information he needed. I miss you Season 2 and 3.  

Mia’s doing the exact same thing only platonically, which leads to an argument with William. 

I love the gender dynamics they’ve created by flipping the male/female status quo. Mia is physically stronger and more capable in terms of fighting than William, but she’s emotionally closed off like Oliver. William may not be able to take down the Deathstroke gang in a single punch, but he is far more open emotionally. He wears his heart on his sleeve much like their mother.

Arrow definitely leaned into the damsel in distress dynamic early on with Oliver and Felicity as they fulfilled the traditional hero/heroine roles. That’s not to say it was a bad thing. I loooooved when Oliver saved Felicity. 

And as Felicity’s character grew, she saved Oliver (and herself) plenty. 

The writers also strive for Oliver to offer Felicity emotional support just as much as he protected her. Their roles expanded beyond the traditional dynamic as time went on in wonderful ways.

I only bring it up because I think William has a bit of a quandary Oliver never dealt with. Mia is not only a physically more capable fighter, but she’s also his baby sister. There’s a natural protectiveness that goes along with the big brother role. William is clearly frustrated by Mia’s refusal to see him as someone who can not only protect himself, but protect her as well.  Mia’s unwillingness to use him as bait feels like a lack of trust. He is not an equal in her eyes. Mia is not treating William like a true partner.

DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR? Sweet holy Moses I can only handle one near death heart to heart in a sewer. Get your shit together faster than your parents ok kids?

Of course, Mia’s reasons for trying to chain William to a desk every time she leaves the room isn’t because of a lack of trust or respect. It’s love. 

Mia, who is so much like Oliver Queen, doesn’t react this way because she doesn’t care. It’s because she cares so much. William is the most important person to her in the world. Even though they don’t know each other all that well, he is still her brother and the only tether she has to Oliver and Felicity. 

Just like Thea was all Oliver had left of Robert and Moira.

William is very touched by his sister’s “Don’t you understand that I love you idiot?!!!” outburst, and he loves her too, but the issue remains the same. He wants to protect Mia as much as she wants to protect him. The only way to survive is by treating each other as equals and not making their decisions based on fear.

Trust does not come easily to Mia. Believing William can handle himself, that he’ll be alright, and treating him like a partner is almost an impossible ask for her at this stage, but Mia has to trust somebody. She has to let somebody in. Mia has to love William without fear and that requires a leap of faith.

Source: oliverxfelicity

It’s a leap their father took not so long ago. 

This is the second “Don’t make decisions based on fear” pep talk Mia has been given in the span of 23 minutes, so make sure you tattoo it somewhere on your arm my morose little moonbeam.

William: Are you sure about this?

If you watch Katherine McNamara’s performance closely you can see that no, Mia is no longer sure about any of this. She knows William and Zoe are right and she formulated this plan because she’s afraid of what JJ can take from her. But Mia’s youthful hubris dismisses her hesitation and she forges ahead.

It’s a mistake and a colossal one at that. JJ almost severs Mia’s carotid artery with his sword (cue Jen screaming), but is saved by Zoe who does some impressive gymnastics to do so and knocks JJ away. Zoe asks if Mia is ok, Mia thanks her for the save and Mama Jen yells, “WHY ARE YOU STANDING AROUND MAKING SMALL TALK WHILE A LUNATIC WITH A GIANT SWORD, WHO IS NOT REMOTELY INCAPACITATED IN ANY WAY, IS LAYING NEXT TO YOU?”

Because Zoe is gonna die. 

JJ stands and shoves his sword right into her chest. (Cue more Jen screaming).

ZOE IS THE ONLY CANARY I LIKE ON THIS DAMN SHOW!!! Mia holds Zoe as she’s dying and it’s truly awful. It’s Tommy Merlyn all over again.

I’m not saying Zoe and Mia are as close as Oliver and Tommy or that I’m even as invested in Zoe’s character as much as I was with Tommy. 

But this is Oliver’s daughter. He has suffered so much pain and endured so many losses. I wish those sacrifices would somehow put a protective force field around his children. It’s what all parents want, even though I know that’s not how the world works. The fact remains, Oliver would give everything he has to keep this from his daughter. So would John and Rene for their children. We don’t want bad things to happen to Mia, William, Zoe, Connor (and yes even JJ), because Future Team Arrow feels like our kids too.

Source: miasmoakdaily

By the way, brace yourself if you haven’t seen Katherine McNamara cry over a fallen loved one before. It’s brutal. I’m still traumatized over this scene from Shadowhunters.

William weeps as he watches Zoe die in Mia’s arms, but Connor becomes enraged. He attacks JJ, who truly looks like he’s been spawned straight from the devil’s thorns, and the toxic Diggle brother cycle is about to claim another generation. Connor is absolutely going to kill JJ and they both know it. We know it too.

As @callistawolf​ mentioned in our Watchover podcast, this is very similar to Season 4.  

Andy was partially responsible to Laurel’s death and Diggle killed him as a result. 

This is one of Arrow’s darker storylines over the past year, so are the kids doomed to repeat the past?

The light, as always, is our first clue. Things are about as bad as they can get in the future. The city is overrun by the Deathstroke gang, JJ is a murderer, Connor is about to kill his own brother and Zoe is dead. And yet, in the moment of their darkest hour there is there’s nothing but bright, shining, hopeful… light.

The children are brought to present day, to Oliver Queen, because he is going to be their light. Whatever Mia, William and Connor have to learn from their parents will make them better heroes and the Monitor will give them a chance to fix their mistakes. I do not believe the future will remain this bleak. I do not believe Zoe will remain dead. I do not believe JJ will remain an irredeemable villain. It may not be a full reset, but the future will be different… because it has to be.

We’re in back in present day with Oliver who arrives in the bunker by ray of beaming light as well. (I wonder if the Monitor has a miles program). 

Diggle, Rene and Dinah and Oliver are all quite confused by his sudden manifestation, 

but put that aside to join in a collective WHAT THE FUCK when they see Mia, William and Connor.

And Mia says probably one of the greatest cliffhanger lines of all time.

And Stephen portrays Oliver’s shock, confusion and  

the beginning of realization to absolute perfection 

Source: arrowdaily

just before THE EPISODE ENDS.

YOU CAN’T END THERE!!!!! THAT’S TORTURE!!!! SHE SAID DAD!!!! LITTLE MISS SQUARE BEAR IS ALL GROWN UP BUT THAT’S THE FIRST TIME OLIVER HEARD MIA CALL HIM DAD!!!! SCREW YOU WEEKLY BROADCAST TV. WHY CAN’T I BE OBSESSED WITH A SHOW WHERE I CAN BINGE THE SEASON????  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT???!!!

Well played Arrow. 

Oliver and Thea

How much do you care about the Nanda Parbat stuff? Not so much? Cool. Me neither. I’ll hit the high points quickly. Oliver is in Nanda Parbat to figure out if the Monitor is really a good dude or not. He meets up with Thea, who is still waging her war against Athena and Thanatos Guild. I can promise you I remember next to nothing about this plot line. Season 6 was a bad year for villains. I think my brain has blocked it out.

They meet up with Talia, who is still hanging out in Nanda Parbat training assassins. So... how is the League dead? Wasn’t training assassins the League’s whole thing? 

Moving on. 

She tells Oliver and Thea the first Ra’s Al Ghul,  Al-Fatih’s, met up with some mystical God who told him all the answers to the world and predicted end times.(I might be making a little bit up as I go along, but you’ll get the gist). The writers then blatantly rip off Raiders of the Lost Ark AND Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, which I would be okay with if Oliver had worn a fedora, but he didn’t so it was lame.

Poor Man Indiana finds a mystical scroll, which is conveniently sitting on top of a tomb. The characters try to play it off like the scroll is worthless to grave robbers, but gimme a break. They might as well hang a sign out that says, “Moving The Plot Along. Stephen Is Only Signed For Ten.” It’s not a bad thing. Arrow benefits greatly from a shortened season - as any television show would.

The scroll ultimately leads to Al-Fatih’s journal, which says he was visited by a God “who possessed the power to see all that is and all that will be.” Al-Fatih believed if he failed to keep the balance between good and evil then this God would bring forth the end times. The picture of this God looks a lot like the Anti Monitor promotional image, 

but Oliver doesn’t notice the wildly apparent differences nor does he know there’s even someone called the Anti Monitor. So, he decides Mar Novu is not trying to prevent the Crisis, but will be the cause of it and must be stopped. This feels like a massive communication breakdown the Monitor should fix ASAP.

Let’s get to the Thea stuff. The first thing Oliver does is show off his picture of his beautiful baby girl, which has grown to at least a 5x7. Did he stop at a Kinko’s on the way to Nanda Parbat? 

Thea coos over her little niece and it’s all my fan fiction heart could want. 

Source: oliverxfelicity

I didn’t think Oliver would keep Mia a secret from Thea, but Arrow occasionally misses important emotional beats in the story so they can allot more time for shooting arrows.

Thea has destroyed all the Lazarus Pits (no bringing Oliver back that way!) but is still waging a war against Athena. She even has her very own nifty scar! I guess Roy came back to Nanda Parbat and then he split again to atone? It wasn’t much of a Theroy explanation. Do better show.

Oliver immediately tells Thea about the Monitor and that he’s going to die. Thea’s reaction is CLASSIC. It should be how we’re all reacting to this news.

Do you know how many times Oliver Queen has died? It’s a lot. Thea isn’t worried. Even if her brother does die he’ll find a way to come back to life. She knows he’s Superhero Jesus. Thea is the sage and wise Yoda this week (filling in for Diggle), so you go ahead Oliver and keep thinking you’re dying. The rest of us know the truth.

We have to regress a little bit with Oliver otherwise it’s just not Arrow, so he pulls the whole overprotective brother thing and tries to keep Thea on the sidelines. It’s a lovely parallel to what is happening between William and Mia in present day. Thea blows him off and helps anyway. I LOVE EMPOWERED THEA QUEEN.

My favorite scene between the two is when they are climbing the Mountain of Doom together. This is the same mountain where Oliver lost to Ra’s Ah Ghul and it nearly cost him his life. Luckily there was Maseo, Tatsu and magic tea.

I love the stark difference between the two climbs. In 3x09, Oliver was a climbing alone, in the freezing dark to save Thea’s life. His goodbye to his sister was heartfelt but also filled with lies. Oliver didn’t tell Thea about Ra’s Al Ghul or Sara. There were still so many secrets between them. 

He told Felicity he loved her, but it wasn’t to start a life with her. He was putting his affairs in order. It was a goodbye.

Now, Oliver is climbing with Thea, in the sun and warmth and they are working as a team to save the universe. There are no lies between them. Oliver has told Thea everything. It’s such a beautiful representation of Oliver Queen’s evolution. He lost his life on that mountain because he was only fighting for survival. Oliver didn’t know how to truly live. Well that and he didn’t know how to fight with swords.

The man we see today is fully evolved. Oliver has let his loved ones all the way in. He doesn’t run from love or push it away anymore. He’s not afraid to be happy. Oliver has embraced life fully. He’s found peace as a result and the  mountain reflects his serenity.

Source: feilcityqueen

It leads to a beautiful heart to heart with his sister. Oliver is tortured with guilt over leaving his family, but he’s also tortured by the horrors he witnessed on Earth 2. The only way Oliver can cope with these conflicting emotions is the belief that his death will ultimately protect those he loves.

Season 8 Oliver is an interesting juxtaposition to Season 1 Oliver. When Oliver returned from Lian Yu he didn’t expect to survive his mission. He tried to keep the people he loves at arm’s length, but still faced tremendous loss. There was no way to truly cut off his emotions no matter how hard Oliver tried.

Now Oliver understands love made him into the hero he needs to be – the kind of hero who can save the universe.  And that love is worth preserving and will last long after he’s gone. Oliver may believe he’s going to die, but he sees life beyond his own. He’s focused on his wife, children, sister, friends, and city. They are Oliver’s legacy. They are his monument. If they live then he can never truly die.

But the biggest difference between Season 1 and Season 8 is Oliver doesn’t want to die. One of the reasons Oliver didn’t fear death is because he felt it was the sentence he deserved. Death was his punishment for all his sins and he could only cheat it so many times before the Reaper came to collect. 

Now, Oliver has found redemption and forgiveness. He very much wants to return home to his family, raise his babies, and die sleeping next to Felicity at the ripe old age of 86. 

Whatever acceptance Oliver has over his impending fate, he is not chasing death. He is fighting to live.

Thea thinks about Robert and Moira and how no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t protect their children. Ultimately, their lies and mistakes formed the heroes Oliver and Thea became as much as their love did. 

Source: blakelivey

They took all their pain, suffering and love from their parents and channeled into something good. It took time and they made mistakes along the way, but they each found their path and place in the world.

Thea: We can’t change the future, Ollie. The past teaches us you might as well not bother trying to.

Thea is trying to alleviate Oliver’s guilt by simply pointing out that the past and future aren’t all that different. Oliver’s children will be formed by his mistakes as much as his love. This would be true even if he didn’t go with the Monitor and spent the last twenty years at his children’s side. 

There’s no avoiding it or changing it. You make the best decisions you can at the time and let the dice roll where they may. Then you make the next best decision. That’s life. 

Oliver has to love without fear and believe he’s making the right choices. Life will do the rest. Hopefully, William and Mia will channel all their love and pain into a force for good just like Oliver and Thea did. And we know they did. Soon Oliver will know it too.

Do I think the future is unchangeable based on this little mountain cliff chat? No. I don’t. Thea doesn’t know her niece and nephew are going to time travel back to present day. The thing is - Thea and Oliver did change their future. They weren’t doomed to repeat their parents’ mistakes. They learned from those mistakes, made better decisions and became better people than Moira and Robert. That’s also the circle of life – if you so choose. Mia, William and Connor will learn whatever lessons they need to from their parents and hopefully that will make them the heroes they need to be for a brighter future.

Source: bruceskate

Honestly, "Please don’t die” really needs to be Oliver's next tattoo.

Oliver is clearly waaaaay more emotional than Thea when they say goodbye, but that’s only because Stephen Amell is headed toward an emotional breakdown. Willa is very chill because she left two seasons ago and the world kept turning.

Remember Stephen ... you said goodbye to Willa two years ago? No. Doesn’t matter, huh? The memories all came flooding back with Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me” as the soundtrack. Okaaaaay. Sob away. 

Source: smoakmonster

I swear this man will need to be scraped off the pavement by 8x10. He’s such a mess. Dude, you chose this! You don’t have to be done with the show if you’re this upset about it!. Yeesh. Somebody get him some Kleenex and a Valium.

 Dyla 

 I was really distracted by all the Dyla formal wear. I was hoping they’d have sex. It didn’t happen. I was annoyed.

We’re slowly but surely moving towards Dyla adopting Connor. I hate that something terrible is going to happen to his birth parents, but we all knew it was coming. Ben Turner is on a deep cover op and Lyla is keeping an eye on his family.  But the son of the terrorist Ben killed to protect Lyla kidnaps his wife Sandra and Connor. At least I think that’s who kidnapped them. Anywho, TEAM DYLA TO THE RESCUE!

Lyla: No one knows the future. All we can do is enjoy the time we have with the people we love. And make our choices from a place of strength and not fear. And if the world ends today there’s nobody I would rather have by my side.

Diggle has a bit of a freak out about Lyla’s safety after watching Earth 2 sizzle like bacon. It was Lyla’s turn to deliver a “Don’t make decisions based on fear” speech so now I am slightly concerned Lyla is going to die at some point. Don’t quote me on that. Let’s just hope I’m wrong.

Maybe they aren’t hinting at her death and instead it’s just about the big, old LIE she’s been keeping from Diggle about working with the Monitor.

Lyla: Johnny, promise me that no matter what happens you’ll always remember the good times.

If my husband said something like that to me I would immediately ask him, “What did you do?” SERIOUSLY JOHN YOU HAVE NO FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS?  

John: What do you mean?

Lyla: Just don’t divorce me again. Hahaha. Wink wink.

John: Divorce you for what?

Lyla: Oh you know… I’ve been secretly working with the Monitor and didn’t tell you. Standard subterfuge. Also I might have superpowers and come from another earth. No biggie.

See? Follow up questions are not difficult.

This of course is after Diggle talks about how he wishes they were still in friggin Afghanistan because life was simpler. 

Listen, I know things with the Monitor are complicated, but I have a hard time believing Afghanistan at war time sounds appealing. 

I know John probably meant the mission was simpler and maybe less terrifying than the total annihilation of the universe, but you’re in a suit dancing with your hot wife. And there’s probably booze and yummy food. It ain’t all bad, man. 

It was also an incredibly awkward way of reminding the audience John and Lyla were divorced once. Yeah, we know. We choose to focus on the fact they got remarried in Season 3.

Diggle: We'll just hold onto each other. We'll be fine. Like Sandra and Connor.

This isn’t a great comparison either because we know where Connor is headed with his parents and that’s not together. This is a mountain of anvils so alright. I’ll bite. Let’s play writers.

Diggle and Lyla won’t get a divorce. We don’t have enough time for that nonsense, but they do want us worried about their relationship. I’m only slightly worried about Lyla’s survival. I just can’t believe they’d kill Lyla this close to the finish line, particularly when there’s dozens of other heroes to off. (Sorry Ray Palmer).  I’m sure she’ll be fine and this is all a red herring. Unless, Lyla isn’t really Lyla and then she can totally die because doppelganger rules apply.

Diggle will be really mad when he finds out the truth though. Hopefully not so mad that he heads back to Afghanistan. I’d rather not if it’s all the same. Nobody wants to go to Afghanistan John, so just drink some vodka with Oliver for a few hours and then make up with your wife. There are only seven episodes left.

Stray Thoughts

Protect William. At all costs. For he is our precious Source: PaigeOTA

“It’s soon, Speedy.” Every time Oliver talks about dying I cry so watching him actually die is going to be friggin brutal. HOLD ME FANDOM.

A League of Heroes huh? Don’t we already have one of those? I kind of liked the assassins.

Diggle calls JJ “Little man.” *wipes tears away*

Every time Thea, Roy, Moira or Tommy grace my television screen I am reminded of how much I missed them all and how dismally bad NTA is.

I have to remember how to spell all these League names. I did not miss that aspect of S3 at all.

Nanda Parbat looks a whole lot like a park in Vancouver. I guess all the budgets are going to Crisis.

"Not one but two women to wield my father's sword. He would be aghast." Hahaha. True. Ra’s was such a dick. 

I love that they addressed Thea’s Corto Maltese alias. SEE? MIA IS NAMED AFTER MOIRA. ACCEPT IT.

HE TOLD THEA FELICITY GAVE THE HOZEN TO WILLIAM. 

God, if you are a just and true God, there will be a scene where Diggle and Oliver figure out Mia and Connor are a … thing.

Yes, I know Kat posted a goodbye to Andrea. Miss McNamara is very savvy at social media. I don’t believe Zoe is gone for good. NOPE. 

Thanks again for your patience! It’s been a rough couple months health wise for me, but I’m slowing climbing out of the hole. I’ll have 8x04 done before 8x05 airs.

Disclaimer: Any gifs on the blog are not mine. If you would like a gif removed from my reviews, please message me. 8x03 gifs credited.

However, they have a quest to complete first as they find Talia (with ney flute and the duduk) and then they look for the tomb of the first Ra’s.  Interesting enough, Talia’s theme was not used in this episode at all.  However, one theme that did return was the Ra’s al Ghul theme in the crutales (tuned cymbals) just as it was in Season 3 “Ra’s al Ghul.”  This appeared as they found, read, and burned his scroll revealing the ball with the map on it.

After a run-in with the Thanatos Guild, Oliver asks Thea to stay behind which she doesn’t understand.  A version of the Arrow theme plays in the piano (Oliver’s instrument) as he tells he that he cares and he is trying to protect her.  Piano is used for key emotional moments and reflects both his heroic and depth of concern for anything to happen to Thea.  The Arrow theme is heard again, this time in the female voice reflecting back to “The Climb” 3x09 and “Merlyn Brings News” (3x10) as he approaches the mountain where he had been stabbed by Ra’s.  The piano Arrow variation plays again as Thea finds Oliver after being knocked out and betrayed by Talia.

Oliver and Thea have another heart-to-heart while climbing up the mountain. This time, “Not Black and White” (4x23) accompanies them as Oliver admits that he questions his decision about leaving his family and that his over-protectiveness was activated by seeing a world destroyed where Thea died because Oliver wasn’t there to help her.  His current driving force is to have all the members of his family safe. Thea responds that she had been thinking a lot about their parents and how their decisions in trying to protect their children for the most part failed but yet turned them into the heroes that they are today.  Love and family is complicated, accentuated by “Not Black and White” which often plays as Oliver recognizes the schism between darkness and light most frequently in himself, trying to be a hero for others both when he was a mayor and the Green Arrow. It played when he gave a press conference in 5x21 where he shared the truth about his father “Truth about my father” and in Felicity’s speech to William about what it means to watch Oliver being a hero “What your Dad is.” (6x11). Even though their parents were trying to act out of love to protect them, they were also acting out of fear and let darkness take over.  However, Oliver and Thea have turned those struggles through darkness into light to protect others throughout the world. 

Ra’s theme returns in the crutales as they enter the tomb, low choir sings (also used for the League in more mystical elements) as they open the coffin/crypt and the duduk theme for “The Black Wedding” (3x22) plays as they head toward the Phoenix trying to avoid being burnt up.  The duduk (Talia) and harp (Thea) play as Thea challenges Talia to a duel as the Heir of the Demon for the original sword of Ra’s. The duduk plays one last time in the end after Thea defeats Talia as Talia tells her that the sword and what it means is Thea’s destiny.  Thea rejects that however to create a League of Heroes as brass and string patterns play, inviting Talia to help her.

Oliver and Thea say goodbye again as Oliver plans to stop the Monitor and Thea goes to create the League of Heroes. As they hug, “Purest Heart” (2x21) plays in the piano and violin. This theme is primarily how Oliver views and loves his sister since Walter told Thea “your brother loves you more than life itself” in 2x21.  This is a love reinforced from Oliver himself and reciprocated by Thea: “There has not been a day that I did not cherish you as a sister” (2x21), “I will always see you as my big brother” (Thea to Oliver, 3x03), “I love you.  Don’t ever forget that, ok?” (Oliver saying goodbye to Thea in 3x20), and as Oliver visits Thea in the hospital both in 4x12 and 6x01. In this scene, neither one wants to let go from their hug as Oliver believes this is the last time he will see her and while Thea doesn’t want to believe it, she does miss her brother every day. The slow version of the Arrow theme plays in the violins as Oliver and Thea say goodbye possibly for the last time.

Diggle and Lyla

Diggle and Lyla end up on a mission to rescue Connor Turner and his mom.  They have a few moments to reflect both on the past and the present. Part-way through the episode, Diggle doesn’t want Lyla to put herself in harm’s way which confuses her since he isn’t usually this cautious. He admits that seeing a universe disappear changed him and that he couldn’t risk losing her.  This moment is accompanied by their main love theme in the piano and hammered dulcimer since 3x01 when Sara was born.  It played during their proposal in 3x08, Oliver telling them to go on their honeymoon in 3x17, and talking about going on a mission as a second honeymoon in 7x03.  This couple has been through many high risk moments from the army to ARGUS but their love still shines through.  This theme then returns at the end after they rescued Connor as Lyla asks John to always hold onto the good memories and John responds that he won’t have to because he’s not going anywhere and neither is she. 

Future Team Arrow

Meanwhile, Mia decided that the best way to stop JJ and his Deathstroke gang is to attack their lair and go on the offensive.  The rest of the team think this is a reckless move but follow her lead.  The harp/guitar harmonic combination returns for Mia and William which is a lovely move to use for both generations of Queen siblings.  Harp for William and guitar harmonics for Mia. William echoes what Zoe had mentioned earlier in the episode: Mia shouldn’t make her strategy based on the fear of losing her brother.  The instrumentation may be familiar but the theme is new as Mia tells him that she can’t lose the only family she has left. 

Unfortunately, things end up poorly as Mia gets cut in the neck by JJ and Zoe pushes him out of the way only to be stabbed herself. As she dies in Mia’s arms, she tells Mia to tell her Dad that she loves him.  The theme in the piano is “Rene’s Loss” from 5x13, first heard in the flashbacks when Rene discovered his wife was using drugs which led to Rene losing his wife and Zoe put into foster care.  It played a few times in Rene and Zoe scenes especially when he was struggling with trying to bring her home in Season 5.  The use of the music of what tragically changed their life when the audience first sees Zoe to be used in her death scene is heartbreaking.  She went through some bumpy patches with Rene but she always loved her Dad.  Not only is it Rene’s loss but a loss to the whole team as they grieve her death.

Harp and future-like high electronics (glissandos up and down) play as Oliver and the Future Team gets beamed into the bunker in 2019, giving it an other world or time sound.  The music continues with a version of the Arrow hero theme but mostly filled with string patterns and atmospheric fluid sounds as it leads to a climatic moment as William, Mia and Oliver look at each other in shock.

Extra Notes:

I am so excited for the reunion in the next episode between Mia, William and Oliver!  

You can tell this is the end of the series because the lack of accessible gifs is staggering.

In a shock move for Oliver Queen, he is open and honest with Thea straight away about his prophesied and imminent death. Thea wasn’t buying it, and Oliver even made a little sarcastic comment to “take as much time as you like to be upset” 😂😂 I’ve seen a few people say that they wanted to see more emotion from Thea here, and in later scenes. My take is that Thea/Willa’s nonchalant air is just classic Thea Queen Swagger™, but did feel like Willa maybe wasn’t really all that present in all of the scenes (mainly the LoA stuff though really). I however loved her total chill at the prospect of Oliver dying...not dissimilar to us...we know what's what! Our boy will be okay in the end!

Oliver seeks out Talia Al Ghul to use the Leagues archives (?) to find out more about The Monitor, because she owes him one. I love the idea of Oliver collecting his debts for once...this could fill the rest of the season to be honest; he’s racked up rather a few favours over the years. Talia’s help comes in the form of an Indiana Jones-esque scavenger hunt to uncover an ancient League book, and some special Demon’s head sword (?), with interruptions by the pesky Thanatos Guild from last season, who Thea is at war with. Honestly, plot-wise, I struggled a bit this week; even on rewatch I found it hard to concentrate😂 . I just zoned in on the character moments to get me through. But luckily, there were lots of those! 

One such beautiful character moment with the Queen siblings was on the side of a mountain, and reminded me a little bit of the Will/Mia scene up the Glades wall back in 7x16, I think? Oliver getting all emotional about missing his family and doubting his decisions every single day just punched me right in the feels 😭😭

Source: feilcityqueen

Then his explanation for trying to find answers before the Crisis: “My sacrifice, my death will protect the people I love. I need my family to be safe.” MURDERER!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Thea reassures him with some sage Queen family words, that their parents also made some questionable choices regarding them (that’s putting it lightly), but it ultimately made them heroes because of them. I think this scene was one of my favourites this episode, if not the season so far. Love me some Queen siblings 💗

The upshot of this random adventure with Talia was that Oliver read that the upcoming Crisis will actually be caused by The Monitor (dun dun DUUUNNN!!), complete with a lovely drawing of him 😂😂 But what Oliver doesn’t know, cos The Monitor doesn’t tell him anything is that there is also an Anti-Monitor, who will be the big bad of Crisis...so this may be a bit of a red herring for now!

Oliver ends his time in Nanda Parbat by saying one final (in his mind) goodbye to Thea, which actually made me sob like a baby out of nowhere, and has done every time I’ve rewatched the clip haha! Thea didn’t see it as a goodbye (cos Oliver dying? Pass!), but Oliver just cracks and won’t let go of her, and now I’m tearing up again 😭😭😭

Source: smoakmonster

I think by the way the goodbye scene played out that that will be the last we see of Thea, and ugh it’s such a shame because she has always brought out something special in Oliver, but we know she’ll be with him the whole time...😭😭😭

Stray thoughts:

They had Thea acknowledge Moira as her namesake (still think it’s a stretch, Moira-Mia? No.) but also had a callback to Thea’s Corto Maltese alias, which made me lol, and frankly, I find a better reference 😂

“All beings burn but a Phoenix rises from the ashes”. The Phoenix references this week were as subtle as a sledgehammer...Oliver is the Phoenix, and he will rise from the ashes following his death!

The Guild calling Oliver and Speedy ‘outsiders’ 🙄🙄 Oliver was Ras al Ghul and Thea is heir to the demon; get your facts right, biatch!!

Thea was a total badass this week, taking down Talia was sooo cool, and shows how far she has come as a fighter/hero.

Nice drop-in that Felicity gave the hozen to William!

Thea and Talia joining forces to raise a female ‘League of Heroes’; better than any faux-feminist Canary bullshit!!

The guest stars are fantastic, but their novelty and distraction is wearing off...I MISS FELICITY SMOAK 😫😫 Next week should hopefully tide us over, though!!

Dyla

Dyla had their own little adventure this week, that  echoed their suicide squad mission in Season 2. Bronze Tiger killed a bad guy whilst working for Lyla, and in revenge, that bad guy’s son kidnaps Sandra and little Connor Hawke, then also tries to kill Lyla, but obviously she’s a total badass so that doesn’t happen! Anyway, all’s well that ends well and Dig rescues Connor and his Mum, and that’s about all I can remember plot-wise 😂😂

What we got character-wise, though was really cool! We got the first hint of JJ’s story of being 'neglected' by Dyla...with Dig and Lyla being increasingly away on missions and unable to call him, and in turn finding Connor and obviously starting to fall in love with him because he is the softest little bean 😍 When ickle Connor said “thank you Mr Diggles” I was a goner 😂😂

We saw Dig having a crisis of faith (pun intended) after seeing Earth 2 disintegrate before him, but ultimately he realises (after some Lyla wisdom) that they just have to hold on to each other and do their best. Lyla made a few comments and pulled some ‘I’m keeping secrets’ faces, asking Dig to remember the good times no matter what happens, and I need to know what Lyla knows dammit!! I still believe that she is on the good side, and her appearing to double-cross Dig and Oliver with The Monitor last week is a little bit of a red herring. I need to believe, ok!!!

Flash-forwards

Plot-wise, I actually think the flash-forwards were the strongest storyline this week. Following on from last week we had the team rushing back to the bunker to check on William, after JJ threatened him. This scene brought us another “frack” from Mia 😍, and a mention of Felicity as “Mom” from William 😭, as he managed to electrocute the bad guys all by himself! Will being a techy little badass is a forever mood and is yet another reminder of our Felicity. She is never really gone.

With the Deathstrokes now targeting William and other members of the Star City Unification Movement (SCUM, really?? LOL), William offers himself up as bait. As Oliver’s daughter, you can imagine how that went down with Mia. Badly. Big nope from Mia, who decides on a more direct approach of going to their HQ and kicking all of the ass 😂. Zoe is very much against this, but Mia is all “I know best, we’ll just storm in and take them all out myself” (S1 Oliver anyone?). Said storming in leads to this absolute beauty of a moment:

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!!!

Prior to kicking all of the asses, Mia and William have a heart-to-heart, with Will still angry at Mia for not trusting him to go into dangerous situations. Will thinks it’s because he’s not a fighter, but Mia comes back with “it’s because you’re my brother” 😭 😭 😭

Source: olicitygifs

In another Felicity-worthy pep-talk, William tells Mia that operating out of fear is not the way to go, and that they need to trust each other to survive. I’m really gonna need a Mia/Will hug soon, please and thank you. Honestly, Will is the perfect balance/offset to Mia with his easy humour and quick wit, but he ALWAYS brings the feels as well. He reminds me so much of Emily’s portrayal of Felicity, and not just in the way that his character has been written, but just by what he brings to the role. Ben is a wonderful actor; I adore him and he and William must be protected at all costs!

In the final confrontation, Mia, Zoe and JJ storm JJ and the Deathstrokes, but JJ gets Mia by the throat in an awesome 3x23 Felicity/Slade parallel. Mia couldn’t save herself like Felicity did in this instance, but we must remember that this is just the beginning of Mia’s journey. She has time. Unlike Zoe, who saves Mia, but is then fatally stabbed by JJ 😬 Poor Zoe dies in Mia’s arms. Kat’s acting here was perfection. I may have shed a tear. They had kept Zoe pretty much in the background in the FFs, so I wasn’t particularly attached; if one of FTA needed to die, then I’m good with her. Sorry Zo. But in all honesty, this fridging trope really needs to end. Another female character didn’t need to die in order to elevate JJ’s evil-factor, or to spur on Mia’s hero journey, or Connor’s struggle with his conscience. Enough now. Hopefully, being a bird, Zoe will be back from the dead soon enough anyway 😂

Source: 1-crazy-dreamer 💗

Connor sees Zoe die and goes after JJ. Hard. Tries to kill him. Between 2 generations of Queens and Diggles, the sibling parallels were so strong this week, and I’m loving it! I wrote a little meta here about it. But does Connor have the guts to actually kill JJ? JJ taunts that he doesn’t, Connor disagrees, but then the bright light comes for all of FTA and so we come to…

THAT ENDING

OH MY GOD ALL OF FTA IN THE BUNKER IN 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!

So most people following any kind of interviews or spoilers had a pretty firm idea that Mia would come back in time at the end of the episode. We were expecting it. What the show did was really quite clever...they allowed these pretty big spoilery-type interviews and tweets to be released, heavily implying that Mia would rock up in the last 30 seconds. They let us think we were all clever and had figured it out then BOOM! EVERYONE CAME BACK (minus Zoe 😬)! 

I am so pleased with this!! All the paparazzi pics etc that we’d seen of Mia in the crossover etc had made me so happy, but equal parts sad that William couldn’t go back and see Oliver too, but now he can!!!

Uggghhhh it was so fucking goooood!! Oliver’s initial confusion of being beamed back to the bunker, stunned Dig, Dinah and Rene (I can live with their 5-second appearances this season 😂😂), then the camera and Oliver pan around to Mia, William and Connor just stood there!! Mia still had tears running down her face from seeing Zoe die, and she has her Arrow suit on and is covered in blood and she sees her Daddy for the first time in her memory!!!!!!! Just one word is delivered in those last few seconds and it was still one of the best moments of the season so far!!

Mia’s “Dad”, followed by Oliver’s confusion, realisation, then shock was just gaaahhhh!! But my absolute favourite reaction (I decided after multiple rewatches, for science, haha) was William’s 😍😭😍 His eyes full of tears, and utter gobsmacked-ness was fucking sublime!!  

Source for all 3 reaction gifs: tylerposey

Next week is going to be so epic!! We have Mia, who has never met Oliver and who has built him up so much in her head and heart from Felicity and William’s stories, and also the tainted Star City archives, getting to finally come face-to-face with him. Then conversely, there is William, who got a few years to know his father, but then left him and eventually believed to have been abandoned by him and Felicity, and has had to live for 20 years until very recently still believing that, and now he gets to see him again, only a few months after little William left! Then there’s Connor, who Dig barely even knows in 2019 and he’s gonna call him Dad and then have to tell him that he nearly just killed JJ, who just killed Zoe, and Rene is right there and I AM HERE FOR ALL OF ITTTTTT!!!! 

There’s so much content coming in next weeks episode it’s going to be so beautiful!!  I wrote a post of things I really hope to see here, and I’m pretty confident we’ll get most of them and so much more!

Then there’s the implications of what FTA being in the present means for the future!! I had a bit of a spec meltdown here about how this could end up saving Oliver, and I think that’s pretty much just wishful thinking, but either way, them coming back to the present to help with the Crisis and to try and stop future Star City turning so bleak is going to make my head hurt and my heart sing in equal measure, I’m sure! After all, what is the point in having the multiverse, time travel, super powers etc in Arrow if we can’t reap some benefits from it somehow? The ending to this episode, and hopefully next week will be our reward for the fuckery we’ve had to endure with the more sci-fi-esque elements since Larry rocked up and the Arrowverse was extended. And I. cannot. wait.

Thank you to the beautiful, talented, and super speedy gifmakers for blessing us with all the amazing gifsets from this episode!! Mwah! 😘😘 (Uncredited gifs are mine)