mmmkay to start off I just need to talk about the season 8 trailer
when this trailer dropped, I think I was in tumblr hiatus/hiding, so I didn’t get to gush over it with the rest of you.
so I’m just going to take a moment now to revel in how absolutely (surprisingly) perfect this trailer is. it encapsulates the essence of Arrow. It highlights:
Oliver’s tragic origin, everything he had to go through in the 5 years he lost before he could begin his journey to becoming a hero
the people in his life who helped him in that journey, the ones who saw the man behind the mask and inspired him to be better, including his brother in arms John Diggle
and the love of his life, the only one who could help him harness the light that was still inside him, Felicity Smoak
the people he lost (and sometimes found again), leaving a piece of themselves with him always: Tommy, his mom, his dad, Shado, Sara, Laurel, Quentin, etc.
and Roy and his other team members throughout the years.Â
all of whom - be they family or friends - comprise his found family.Â
as well as the villains he has overcome, who posed unique challenges that forced him to grow as a person - to try another way - in order to triumph.
All of whom have been integral to his journey from spoiled billionaire to vigilante to hero.
It does a fantastic job focusing specifically on the relationships that have shaped him into the person he has become:
husband: how from the moment he met Felicity, he started transitioning from someone who was afraid of commitment into someone who declares, over and over with his words and his actions, that she is his always. How through his relationship with her, he was able to learn to trust other people; to see other people as people and not just threats or targets; to laugh and experience joy; and most importantly, to accept that people love him. To realize his own worth.
father: starting with the complicated relationship in life and death with his own father, to the inherent characteristics that Felicity knows “in her bones” mean Oliver will be a great father, to Oliver’s tragically shortened time with his own children, we see how important fatherhood is to Oliver, and we see that it has always been a part of him.
brother: specifically, the growth of his relationship with Thea. How his 5 years away created a rift between them, but ultimately allowed them to get closer than ever. How the tragedies they weather together cause them to lean on each other and trust each other and truly be the family that the other needs and deserves.
And finally to his final trial: the task set by the Monitor, his supposed death...and ultimately the question of what is the essence of heroism?Â
(Spoiler alert: they’re trying to sell us on the idea that the essence of heroism “is to die so others can live” BUT I DO NOT BELIEVE IT because this show spent literal years telling us the opposite: that a hero shouldn’t fight to die, but rather fight to live. So I guess we’ll see.)
