Arrow Season 3, Episode 15 Recap: Nanda Parbat

Despite his annoying tendency not to get what’s coming to him like most villains, it could be reckoning time for Malcolm Merlyn.

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The erstwhile Dark Archer always seems to be one step ahead, the puppet master pulling everyone else’s strings. Ra’s al Ghul is no one’s puppet, though, and the head of the League of Assassins seems like he’s finally had enough. So of course, Oliver Queen and John Diggle have to go rescue Merlyn. Wait … what?

Let’s see if this scenario really plays out that way in “Nanda Parbat.” Fair warning: this episode is supposed to have several twists and/or heartbreaking moments.

On-the-Mark Recap: Gonna get in the hot tub! Or the Lazarus Pit, as the case might be. Ra’s al Ghul is interrupted in his dip by Nyssa, who informs him that Oliver is sitll alive. He knew that already, and that Ollie was back in Starling City, but he doesn’t seem to care, because he also known Oliver didn’t actually kill his daughter’s beloved, Sara Lance. Nyssa still thinks Queen should die for challenging and defying Ra’s.

What’s Ollie up to right now? Some family swordfighting training with Malcolm (who isn’t too impressed with his skill) and Thea. Diggle stops by to inform everyone that the club has been secured with A.R.G.U.S. tech. Nifty! Laurel Lance remarks that she can’t believe how good Thea has become in just a few months, and that her fighting style reminds her of Sara’s. Thea begs off to take a shower.

Diggle wants a word with Oliver. He was going to ask a favor, but now he’s more concerned about his former boss. Asked if he’s getting any sleep, Ollie responds that he’ll sleep when all of this is over. Elsewhere in the club, Roy Harper asks Thea what’s bothering her, and she spills the beans about finding out that she killed Sara (though Oliver asked her not to talk about that). Amazingly, Roy can actually emphasize because of the time he killed a cop under the influence of mirakuru. Aren’t super hero shows great?

Oliver isn’t the only one who needs a good night’s sleep. Felicity Smoak finds Ray Palmer with some extra facial hair, because he’s been gone from his job for a week and is spending all of his time working on his ATOM suit. He still can’t quite get it right, though Felicity saves him from making an explosive mistake.

Laurel tries to call her dad, and we learn he hasn’t talked to her in over a week. Thea shows up a moment later, saying she needs to talk. It’s about Sara, obviously, and Laurel takes the news surprisingly well as she realizes it wasn’t Thea’s fault — it was Merlyn’s. She does want to know how Thea could still work with him, suggesting that while nothing that has happened so far is her fault, she’s going to be judged by her own choices going forward. Laurel goes immediately from that conversation to confront Oliver, who lies about finding the real killer. They engage in the show’s 179th argument over working with Malcolm, and Laurel says it’s hard to remember a time when she was in love with him. The #Olicity crowd can breathe more easily now.

Oh, but it’s not quite over for Oliver, as he goes home and finds out Thea did something, as she mentions Malcolm having to face justice, and … Uh-oh.

Perhaps realizing that he’s been set up, Malcolm seems unfazed when he’s attacked by Black Canary. She’s not even close to a match for him, but as Merlyn taunts her for trying to defeat him with a “stick,” a bunch of League of Assassins ninjas cut in. Nyssa is leading the pack, and she is able to knock out Merlyn. As her men take him away, Nyssa tells Laurel she can rest easy, as her sister’s murder is about to be avenged.

Oliver is really angry with Laurel, and he’s none too pleased with Thea either. He says they need to get Malcolm back, at which point everyone jumps on him, verbally speaking. He explains that he’s doing it to save Thea’s soul, as he doesn’t want Thea to have to live with the guilt of having her own father killed. That wins over Felicity, who does what she does and finds where the League is extracting Merlyn.

As Arrow, he shows up just before the League loads Malcolm onto a helicopter. He’s able to defeat Nyssa by using a rope arrow to tie her up, but even his mighty archery skills aren’t enough to take out a chopper. Bye-bye Merlyn.

In the Arrow Cave, Nyssa is kept in a cage, and Diggle suggests trading her for Malcolm. That won’t work, so Oliver says he needs the room, insinuating that he’s going to torture her. But there’s no need: Nyssa willingly gives up the location of Nanda Parbat, because she’s convinced Ollie will die there. Convenient, that.

Up in the club, there’s yet another argument about the wisdom of rescuing Malcolm. Also, everyone is convinced Oliver is going to die — again. Diggle asks for a private word, wanting to know if this is really about Thea. Oliver replies that it’s the only thing he’s sure of right now.

Felicity goes and sees her real boss, who she’s locked out of his own servers. Explaining that she has a friend who’s going to get himself killed, she can stop Ray from doing the same thing. The only option for him to get the password is to get a shower, eat dinner and get five hours of sleep. He’s too tired to argue.

Lyla wants to know if Diggle asked Oliver for the favor, but he says Ollie has his mind on other things. Ah, but Lyla knows what those things are, and she realizes John will feel guilty (that word is getting thrown around a lot tonight) if he doesn’t watch Oliver’s back. Just get back here in one piece.

Oliver can’t leave without one more confrontation with Thea, who was filled in on his brother’s plan by Roy and Laurel. He plays the “I’m doing it for you” card once again. She begs him not to go, but Ollie simply says he’ll be back as soon as he can. In the alley behind Verdant, Diggle makes it clear he’s going too.

Merlyn is brought in front of Ra’s al Ghul, showing his true colors when he offers to hunt for the demon’s head again. Nice try Malcolm, but your fate is going to be long and painful. Ra’s suggests he face his death with honor, or at least dignity.

A shirtless Ray thanks Felicity for the food and shower. She’s busy admiring his art collection but clearly is digging his physique too. When it’s pointed out that he has no clothes on, Ray says when they’re together, he forgets that they work together. Felicity kisses him, then apologizes, though that’s not necessary as he moves in for more. Shazam! And the #Olicity shippers just went to DEFCON 1.

Oliver and Diggle are spotted during their assault, though they’re able to fight their way past a bunch of guards. Back in the Arrow Cave, Laurel and Nyssa bond over memories of Sara’s laugh. We return to the attack, and just before he’s saved from an ambush by Diggle, Oliver reveals he has a tracker on Malcolm. They find him strung up and in bad shape, but he manages to utter a single word: “Trap.”

While chained up together, Oliver and Diggle get to the heart of the real issue. Ollie says that all he can think about every time he closes his eyes is “The Fall,” and that he can’t accept that someone beat him like that. Diggle actually understands, because the solider’s mentality is somewhat the same. Pointing out that they might not get another chance to discuss it, Oliver asks what the favor was, and Diggle says that since his brother is gone, he wants to know how Ollie would feel about being his best man. He’d feel good, assuming they get out alive. Alas, Maseo comes and tells Oliver that it’s time.

Roy shows Thea how he deals with the guilt of killing that cop as they creepily stalk his family. Roy has been giving them cash and groceries, which Thea thinks is kind of crazy. She gets upset and just wants to go home, wondering if she deserves to be punished.

In the words of the late Chris Farley in one of his movie roles, Ray and Felicity “got … it … on!” It might be a blood flow thing, but he has a sudden burst of inspiration.

We see him finish the sut, put it on, and … HOLY CRAP, HE CAN FLY!

Now we see the sum total of Thea’s guilt. She goes into the Arrow Cave, confesses that she was the person who actually fired the arrows that killed Sara, and lets Nyssa out of her cage, giving her a sword so she can take vengeance if she wants.

Oliver is brought in front of Ra’s al Ghul, and he suggests that while he’s willing to face death, he wants Diggle to be set free, and will beg for that if necessary. Admiring Oliver’s strength and determination, Ra’s gives him a surprising reply: he doesn’t want to kill Oliver, he wants our hero to succeed him as the next Ra’s al Ghul.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong: As promised, Oliver gets debriefed by the military. The general apologizes for how thorough Waller can be, and he makes good on his word that Ollie is free to leave with Maseo and Tatsu.

They’re on their way to Japan with their son, who wants Oliver to come with them. He says he’ll send the family jet so they can vacation in the U.S. Alas, it’s not that simple, and the four of them get attacked by Waller’s men as they try to board the boat. Maseo and Tatsu end up pinned down by gunfire as Ollie tries to save their son.

Favorite Moment: Felicity got a little tongue-tied around Ray more than once. My favorite time was when she said that after he got cleaned up, she was going to take him straight to bed. She corrected herself and said “put,” though as we found out, her slip was a Freudian one that really was correct.

Final Thought: The focus of this episode is going to be on the surprising final twist and the debut of the Atom suit, and those were both good moments. What resonated with me, though, was what a good Diggle episode this was. He’s been the most underused supporting character in Season 3, and it was nice to see him get some time to shine. He’s great.

Next: Previously, on Arrow: our recap of The Return

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