Arrow: Three Ways Oliver Queen Might Still Be Alive

Sorry for those of you who haven’t seen the Arrow midseason finale yet, but the time for spoiler is pretty much past at this point. Oliver Queen is dead. Long live Oliver Queen.

More from TV

No one really expects him to stay dead, though. Not unless Marc Guggenheim and company are planning on changing the name of the show to The Arsenal, Atom and Black Canary Power Hour. Somehow I’m not so sure the world is ready for that just yet.

So considering that Ollie was run through with a sword by Ra’s al Ghul and kicked off his cliff, how can he return to his second job as Arrow later in this season? Here are three theories:

Someone from the League of Assassins finds him and nurses him back to health

Even though he no longer goes by that name, Oliver’s pal Maseo from the Hong Kong flashbacks didn’t seem to want to see him killed off. It’s very possible he ends up volunteering to find the body and ends up having a change of heart instead. I’d be fine with that, especially if we see more in the flashbacks right after the winter break to suggest that their bond grows even stronger.

Since Ra’s al Ghul is involved, the Lazarus Pit is always a possibility

If you aren’t that familiar with Ra’s from Batman comics, you might have been surprised when he mentioned that no one had challenged him to a trial by combat in more than six decades. He’s holding up pretty well for an old guy.

That’s because he has access to the Lazarus Pit (or more likely, a network of Lazarus Pits), a naturally occurring mix of chemicals and elements with amazing healing powers that can even reverse the aging process or bring the dead back to life. That might sound a little fantastic for the realtively grounded world of Arrow, but lots of those bets are off after the crossover with The Flash, so I think it can be done in a way that doesn’t completely wreck the tone of the show, particularly if Ollie is only “mostly dead” when dunked in the Pit.

There’s also no reason why this couldn’t happen in tandem with the first theory. That is, I wouldn’t be shocked if Maseo comes to Arrow’s aid and the Lazarus Pit is involved.

Maybe that magic herb from the first two seasons cures death

You know the one I’m talking about. It was an antidote to every poison, saved Arrow from the effects of Vertigo, and probably would make some big pharma company a trillion dollars if someone went to the island and brought back a whole bunch of it.

I’m being tongue in cheek here, obviously, but considering what Oliver went through during his time on the island, I don’t think it’s completely out of the question to say he’s just too tough to die right away, and some random villager finds him before he bleeds out. Yes, it would be sloppy of Ra’s al Ghul to stab him in a way that didn’t kill him immediately, but considering his flair for the dramatic, perhaps he wanted Ollie to die slowly and just assumed no one would help him.

All I know is that we’ll be seeing the Arrow again before the end of the season. We’ll see what the writers have up their sleeves when Arrow returns to The CW on January 21.

Next: See how Oliver Queen died in our recap and review of The Climb

Home/TV

Someone from the League of Assassins finds him and nurses him back to health

Since Ra’s al Ghul is involved, the Lazarus Pit is always a possibility

Maybe that magic herb from the first two seasons cures death