Arrow season 5, episode 23 synopsis: “Lian Yu”

On Arrow’s Season 5 finale, Oliver recruits enemies from his past to take on Adrian Chase.

Arrow‘s Season 5 was a return to form for the Emerald Archer. With Olicity over, fans rejoiced at the darker storyline, and phenomenally better character interactions. Yes, Oliver was truly back to being “someone else … something else.”

Still reeling from Laurel Lance’s death in Season 4, Oliver Queen was operating as a lone vigilante in Star City. After some talking to, he reluctantly got some new recruits—Curtis Holt, Rene Ramirez, and Evelyn Sharp. To describe their initial interactions as being “rough around the edges” is an understatement.

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After defeating baddie Tobias Church, the team had to contend with a new deadly archer—Prometheus. The team soon learned that Prometheus was playing a long game—one that involved torturing Oliver for something he did in his past.

Making matters worse, Prometheus seemed to always be one step ahead. That’s because he had a mole inside of Team Arrow—Evelyn Sharp. After learning that Talia al Ghul trained Prometheus, Oliver set off to learn his enemy’s true identity.

Talia revealed him to be Adrian Chase—Star City’s District Attorney and Oliver’s ally in the fight against crime. Oliver, when he was still early in his vigilante career, killed Adrian’s father—Justin Claybourne.

Knowing that Team Arrow still lacked a crucial member, Oliver recruited a new metahuman—former CCPD Detective Dinah Drake, a successor to Laurel’s Black Canary. The only difference is that Dinah’s Canary Cry is a metahuman ability unaided by technology.

With his new team and restored faith in himself, Oliver went up again Chase. After defeating Chase, ARGUS took over and imprisoned the serial killer at their facility.

However, Chase proved to be resourceful as he arranged for his own escape by kidnapping members of Team Arrow and holding them hostage. When Thea Queen is kidnapped, Malcolm Merlyn (Thea’s biological father) stepped in, agreeing to help Chase’s escape in order to assure his daughter’s safety.

Oliver was reluctant to team up with Malcolm and, above all, agree to Chase’s deal. However, after learning that William (Oliver’s biological son) was also among the kidnapped, Oliver has a change of heart.

In the Season 5 finale episode, Oliver teams up with former enemies—Nyssa al Ghul, Deathstroke, and Malcolm Merlyn—to go up against Chase and his team. Here’s the official synopsis from The CW:

“Lian Yu”

"The battle between Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) culminates in a final epic battle on Lian Yu. After recent events, Oliver decides to recruit a group of unlikely allies – Slade (guest star Manu Bennett), Nyssa (guest star Katrina Law), Merlyn (John Barrowman) and Digger Harkness (guest star Nick. E. Tarabay) – to defeat Chase. However, Chase has his own army – Black Siren (guest star Katie Cassidy), Evelyn Sharp (guest star Madison McLaughlin) and Talia al Ghul (guest star Lexa Doig) – and the forces collide in an explosive season finale."

And here’s the exciting promo:

Enjoy this week’s episode. And our friends at theStream.tv continue the excitement on Fridays as they give fans a weekly round-up of The CW’s superhero universe—Supergirl, The Flash, Arrow, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow—with their DC TV Universe special.

Arrow airs on The CW on Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. EST.