Arrow — “The Ties That Bind” — Image Number: AR622b_0100.jpg — Pictured: Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow — Photo: Robert Falconer/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Arrow has provided us with countless amazing moments throughout its near seven-year stint on the air, but just which of them stand out as the best?
Arrow, without a doubt, changed the face of superhero television. Focusing on the legendary DC Comics character, Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, the show debuted on The CW back in 2012. It introduced us to a rich selection of supporting characters, including Laurel Lance, John Diggle, Malcolm Merlyn and Detective Quentin Lance – all of whom would go on to play integral roles in the show throughout its tenure.
However, Arrow did so much more than produce seven seasons of great comic book-inspired drama. It spawned multiple spin-off shows such as The Flash, Supergirl and DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow and, in doing so, launched the Arrowverse itself.
Though the show had a lot of highs and lows throughout its run, it provided us with plenty of amazing moments of superhero goodness. But which of them will go down in history as the greatest of all-time?
Thus, with the show set to leave us for good when its eighth and final season arrives in the fall of this year, let’s take this opportunity to revisit some of its standout moments and pay tribute to the show that kick-started the Arrowverse.
Arrow — “Green Arrow” — Image AR401B_0045b — Pictured (L-R): David Ramsey as John Diggle and Katie Cassidy as Black Canary — Photo: Dean Buscher /The CW — © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
15. Laurel Lance Becomes The Black Canary
Episode: “Left Behind” (Season 3, Episode 10)
Oliver Queen’s presumed death didn’t just leave Team Arrow heartbroken, it left Starling City without its protector. Seizing the opportunity in The Arrow’s absence, Daniel “Brick” Brickwell stepped up in an attempt to take over The Glades. As a result, he became the most feared man on the streets. However, his rise to power just didn’t sit well with one disgruntled attorney.
Recently crushed over the death of her sister, Sara, Dinah Laurel Lance threw herself into work when she heard of Oliver’s supposed demise. That is, until Brick became a thorn in her side. The injustice became too much for her. In a bid to pay tribute to her dearly departed sister, Laurel took to the streets as the vigilante known as the Black Canary.
Using Sara’s sonic devices, she set her sights on the two men who managed to escape justice in the courtroom. As one of them asked her who she was, she simply replied, “I’m the justice you can’t run from” before knocking him out cold.
Though the creative team would do a huge disservice to the beloved character in the year that followed, nothing could take away from this perfect moment. Fans of Laurel had been waiting a long time to see the character finally take up her comic book mantle of Black Canary.
After Sara showed up as The Canary in Season 2, it once seemed like she had been robbed of that chance. However, as ever, Laurel persevered and, only when injustice was at its worst, did the Black Canary rise.
A perfect debut for Arrow‘s most inspiring hero. We miss you, Laurel.
Arrow — “We Fall” — Image Number: AR611b_0267.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jack Moore as William Clayton and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/Green Arrow — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
14. Felicity’s Monologue
Episode: “We Fall” (Season 6, Episode 11)
As Arrow is, at its heart, a superhero show, it’s often easy to get lost in the thrill of each adventure. In doing so, we can overlook the fact that, no matter how trained these vigilantes are, being a superhero is a risky profession that comes at a cost. However, the writers took the time to remind us of that through a child’s concern for his own father’s welfare.
Oliver’s son, William Clayton, was upset when he learned that his father had returned to his vigilante ways as the Green Arrow. Though he knew that Oliver was a pro when it came to saving the city, he feared that something bad might happen to him in the field, leaving him without a father.
It was a totally natural reaction for a child to have, as he was completely right to feel this way. It prompted Felicity to deliver one of the finest monologues in the show’s seven-year history.
Intercut with graphic scenes of a fight between Team Arrow and Cayden James’ henchmen, Felicity spoke of the dangers that Oliver’s way of life entails (as William listened to her every word). She reflected on the cost that this way of life can have, while also acknowledging that those who can love each other through it undoubtedly have the most special kind of love.
The voiceover, the music, the subtle nod to Laurel’s death with a single look at the Black Canary suit, it was a truly powerful moment that not only highlighted the dangers of the crime-fighting life, but how much these characters had been through together.
It was a moving moment that made William see the benefits of such a life, as well as the drawbacks, allowing him to understand just how much the city needs Oliver.
In a season overrun with metahumans, T-spheres and warring factions, this monologue grounded things in reality and it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful scenes the show has ever produced.
Photo Credit: Arrow/The CW Image Acquired from CWTVPR
13. Oliver’s Rooftop Showdown With Ricardo Diaz
Episode: “Life Sentence” (Season 6, Episode 23)
Season 6 of Arrow may not have been its greatest outing, but it certainly provided us with many standout moments. Before it went out, it made sure that it gave us one more.
Having finally freed the city from Ricardo Diaz’s grip, Oliver took his newly reunited team (and the FBI!) along with him, as he made his way to a warehouse in order to save the mortally wounded Quentin Lance (and his deceased daughter’s formerly evil doppelgänger Black Siren). And it was here where he would take on his arch nemesis one last time.
Squaring off on the roof, Green Arrow and Diaz quickly disposed of each other’s weapons, evening the odds and ultimately telling us that the battle for Star City’s soul would end with a good old-fashioned fist-fight. Thus, with rain lashing down, both men met in hand-to-hand combat, taking the fight to each other in a huge way.
However, despite his strength and aggression, Diaz soon realized that he couldn’t keep up with the League of Assassins-trained Oliver and was eventually overpowered by the Emerald Archer.
From the visuals to Blake Neely’s epic score in the background and from James Bamford’s stunningly executed fight choreography to Black Siren’s final interference to Scream Diaz off the rooftop, this was the perfect way to bring an end to Season 6’s story.
Not only did Oliver reclaim that fire he had lost, he reunited with his team and managed to defeat Diaz in a fist-fight, proving that once and for all, Star City belonged to the Green Arrow. What a battle.
Arrow — “Lian Yu” — Image AR523a_0609b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Deathstroke and Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen/The Green Arrow — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
12. Oliver Turns To Deathstroke For Help
Episode: “Missing” (Season 5, Episode 22)
In the past, we have seen that Arrow‘s best Big Bads weren’t the ones that wanted to make a name for themselves or destroy the world with some kind of generic villainous plot. No, the Emerald Archer’s greatest foes were those who had some kind of personal vendetta against Oliver Queen himself. And you won’t find a foe that fits that bill better than Prometheus.
Having studied his arch-rival to a level that left the word “obsessive” in the dust, Adrian Chase knew exactly how to defeat the Green Arrow. In doing so, he outmatched, outmanned and outsmarted the hero, leaving him without his identity, his team and even his own son.
Thus, out of options and with his loved ones stranded on Lian Yu, Oliver turned to the island’s greatest weapon. Returning to the A.R.G.U.S. prison below, Oliver silently approached his all-time greatest rival: Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke. Knowing that the Mirakuru drug (that drove him mad) would have left his system by now, he attempted to appeal to the man who Slade once was, asking for his help.
There are some moments that we waited so long for that, at one point, it felt like they were never going to happen – and this was undoubtedly one of them. It had been years since Manu Bennett appeared on Arrow, with the show often just using the Deathstroke suit instead of the actor.
But this, this right here was worth that wait. Seeing Oliver forced to turn to the man who had killed his mother not only proved his how effective Prometheus was a villain, it highlighted just how out-of-options he was.
“Hey kid, I’m glad you came back.” he told Oliver with a smile, completely unaware that, as far as we were concerned, the feeling was 100 percent mutual.
Arrow — “The Longbow Hunters” — Image Number: AR702a_0354b — Pictured (L-R): Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake/Black Canary and Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance/Black Siren — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2018 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
11. Black Siren And Dinah Drake Put Their Differences Aside To Save Quentin
Episode: “Life Sentence” (Season 6, Episode 23)
Arrow‘s sixth season may have been built upon problematic feuds and contrived conflict, but one that actually made sense was the rivalry between new Black Canary, Dinah Drake and the villainous Earth-2 doppelgänger of her predecessor, Black Siren/Laurel Lance.
It wasn’t perfect, but it did give us a lot of entertaining fight scenes, as the pair took great pleasure in tearing each other apart.
However, what started out as your typical hero vs. villain storyline soon descended into something far worse when Black Siren was ordered to kill Vigilante/Vincent Sobel (the longtime love of Dinah) by Cayden James.
Though she was clearly reluctant, she used her Cry and screamed directly into his ear, killing him within a few seconds. It kick-started a blood feud between the two Canaries that would eat up a major part of the season, as Dinah attempted to kill the woman who took Vince from her. While she eventually decided against it, the pair remained at loggerheads for the remainder of the season.
However, when Siren was kidnapped by Ricardo Diaz in the season finale, her surrogate father (and the actual father of Earth-1’s Laurel), Quentin Lance ended up getting shot in the mêlée.
When Dinah showed up to make the save, there was an uncomfortable face-off between the pair. That is, until, she used her weapon to remove Laurel’s power-dampening collar – a peace-offering of sorts. And just like that, the two enemies put their differences aside to aid Quentin.
Carrying him out of the warehouse, they both used their Canary Cries to take down Diaz’s men. Dinah then took out a few more via hand-to-hand combat, but not before handing Laurel a gun to defend herself.
Not only was it epic seeing these two strong women working together, it was fulfilling to see that Black Siren’s season-long redemption arc was beginning to bear fruit. It was a worthy finish to their lengthy rivalry that set up a new journey for both in Season 7.
Arrow — “Darkness on the Edge of Town” — Image AR122a_0374bc — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as The Arrow and Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen — Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW — © 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved
10. The Hood Confronts Moira Queen
Episode: “Betrayal”/”The Odyssey” (Season 1, Episodes 13-14)
When Oliver Queen returned home to Starling City following his five years in hell, he often had trouble reconnecting with his mother. Though Moira appeared to welcome him home with open arms, she was concerned about the fact that this was clearly a different man from the immature playboy that left on the Queen’s Gambit five years earlier.
While the pair’s relationship did begin to flourish again, Oliver soon found out that she was up to some questionable activities due to her association with Malcolm Merlyn. After his teammate John Diggle revealed that she had been lying to them, he took matters into his own hands.
As Moira wrapped up a business meeting, the window of Queen Consolidated shattered to pieces as The Hood showed up and quickly took down anyone that came his way. Then, as if she were any of his usual targets, the Starling City vigilante pointed the bow and arrow at his own mother before exclaiming those iconic words: “Moira Queen, you have failed this city!”
With a fittingly loud in-your-face score and some gritty camerawork, it all happened so fast that viewers were left in complete shock by the time they realized it was the end of the episode. Undoubtedly a masterful cliffhanger, the following episode opened with a reprise of the scene before Oliver continued with his line of questioning.
Terrified, Moira reached for a photograph of Oliver and Thea and tearfully pleaded with the hooded archer not to take her from her children. There was something strangely ironic about the whole thing, given that she was talking to her own son, but it ended up working, as Oliver was so moved by his mother’s fear that he lowered his own bow and told her that he meant her no harm.
Then, in a moment of ultimate irony, Moira reached for her gun and began firing, wounding him in the process.
An unconventional, but brilliantly intense scene between a mother and her son that served as one of the most heart-racing cliffhangers and opening scenes in the show’s history and highlighted just how cunning (but brilliant) Moira Queen truly was.
The Flash — “Flash vs. Arrow” — Image FLA108c_0157b — Pictured (L-R): Grant Gustin as The Flash and Stephen Amell as The Arrow — Photo: Diyah Pera /The CW — © 2014 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
9. The Arrow Teams With The Flash To Stop Captain Boomerang
Episode: “The Brave And The Bold” (Season 3, Episode 8)
The first of The CW’s now-annual Arrowverse crossovers was a lot more grounded than the major alien adventures and multiverse madness that would follow, but that didn’t stop it from being one of the most revolutionary outings that the shared universe had produced.
The two-show TV event merely consisted of Arrow and The Flash and focused on the first ever (costumed) team up between Oliver Queen and Barry Allen.
Unlike its successors, the two-parts didn’t tell one overall story. Instead, it consisted of two standalone adventures. While Oliver helped the Scarlet Speedster work out his issues during his trip to Central City in The Flash‘s offering, it was up to Barry to do the same for him in the Arrow installment.
Arriving in Starling City with the test results from the boomerang that Team Arrow brought to them, Team Flash ended up sticking around a while, allowing Oliver and Barry to team up for the second time in the same week.
But the kind-hearted Flash couldn’t handle The Arrow’s brutal approach to crime-fighting, which caused some tension as Oliver insulted Barry’s naïve outlook on the world. It reminded him that Starling was a much darker place than Central City.
However, that anger led him into Captain Boomerang’s trap, making him realize that he shouldn’t have taken great pleasure in torturing his foe’s allies for false information. Finally understanding the error of his ways, Oliver extended an olive branch to his younger colleague, setting the stage for the super team-up viewers had been waiting for.
Locating Boomerang at the station, the pair realized that the villain had planted bombs all over the city to distract them. But this was merely a case of divide and conquer, as Barry sped off to help Team Arrow disable the bombs, while Oliver defeated Captain Boomerang without using unnecessarily excessive force.
This moment was a microcosm of the crossover itself, as it highlighted how these two very different characters learned from each other and adapted to become the most formidable duo that the Arrowverse had ever seen. To use the episode’s title, they were, quite simply, the Brave and the Bold.
Arrow — “Uprising” — Image AR312B_0194b — Pictured (L-R): Bex Taylor-Klaus as Sin, Katie Cassidy as Black Canary and Colton Haynes as Arsenal — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2015 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
8. The Battle For The Glades/The Arrow Returns
Episode: “Uprising” (Season 3, Episode 12)
While Arrow‘s third season was a lot more “miss” than “hit”, it still produced some real gems over the course of its 23-episode run. In fact, one of its more enjoyable aspects had nothing to do with the main storyline.
Instead, it revolved Brick’s rise to the top of the criminal underworld in The Arrow’s absence, as Laurel simultaneously rose up on the heroes’ side to become the Black Canary. And it all led to a compelling trilogy of episodes that produced one incredible payoff.
Three episodes in, this violent saga would conclude in an all-or-nothing battle for The Glades, as Black Canary and Arsenal brought out the area’s entire population to face off against Brick and his men. With a twisted grin, the mobster roared at his goons to attack. In an incredibly well-shot sequence, the two sides collided and beat the living daylights out of each other.
It was all capped off by the miraculous return of The Arrow, who convinced longtime rival Malcolm Merlyn not to kill Brick out of vengeance and, instead, use all of his past trauma to become a better man.
With that, he stood atop a police vehicle and spoke to the residents of The Glades, telling them that they did not “fail this city”, while vowing never to leave again. Oh Oliver, if only that were true.
What made this so special was that, in a time when Arrow had allowed itself to become corny and soapy after the introduction of both magic and the infamous Olicity, this returned the show to its dark roots as it brought back that up-close, invasive and violent aspect of crime-fighting that most of the season lacked.
It wasn’t worried about the bigger picture beyond Star City, and it wasn’t worried about Ra’s Al Ghul’s wishes. Instead, it was grounded and gritty. If only for a moment, it recaptured the only magic that mattered: the dark tone that the first two seasons thrived on.
Arrow — “Betrayal” — Image AR113a_0138b — Pictured: Susanna Thompson as Moira — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved
7. Oliver Calls Moira From The Fishing Boat
Episode: “Lian Yu” (Season 5, Episode 23)
It’s hard to refer to this moment as a Season 5 event when we all know that it really took place a long time before that. In fact, it took place right before the events of the pilot episode.
Nonetheless, it was perhaps the most fulfilling moment of the fifth season because, after all this time, it finally showed us how the story ended.
The flashback narrative had one purpose as it played out over the course of Arrow‘s first five seasons, and that was to show us the hell that Oliver experienced on Lian Yu from start to finish.
It had a starting point (the sinking of the Queen’s Gambit) and an ending point (Oliver returning home), but it was up to the flashbacks to fill in the blanks in the middle. While that didn’t stop it from venturing too far off-course on multiple occasions, it did manage to rein it back in, as Oliver’s time on the island drew to a close in the Season 5 finale.
After he defeated Konstantin Kovar, the show began recycling some of the footage we saw in the Pilot, as Oliver signaled a fisherman’s boat for help. With the return of this Season 1 footage, we thought that the narrative had officially come to an end and that this was simply taking us back to the beginning of the show to wrap it all up.
What we didn’t expect was a newly filmed, never-before-mentioned scene where the rescued Oliver called his mother from the boat.
What was even better was that Susanna Thompson returned in an unannounced appearance as Moira became emotional upon hearing her son’s fragile voice over the phone.
As she burst into tears of joy, proclaiming her love for him, it warmed our hearts because this right here, this was the moment we always wanted Oliver and Moira to share. It was so unexpected that left us all emotional wrecks… and that was just before the episode’s jaw-dropping conclusion.
Arrow — “Lian Yu” — Image AR523b_0534b.jpg — Pictured: Josh Segarra as Adrian Chase — Photo: Dean Buscher /The CW — © 2017 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
6. Prometheus Destroys Lian Yu
Episode: “Lian Yu” (Season 5, Episode 23)
We recently discussed how Prometheus’ masterfully executed plan forced Oliver to turn to his old friend Slade Wilson, but not even that could stop the vendetta-fueled villain from forcing his hand.
Chase not only kidnapped Oliver’s entire team, he also tracked down and kidnapped his son, William (who had been given a new identity), and brought them all to the island where Oliver’s journey towards heroism started: Lian Yu.
When it all came down to the nitty-gritty, Oliver’s new allies teamed with the rescued members of Team Arrow to take on Chase’s hand-picked team of warriors. That’s right, as Diggle, Wild Dog and Deathstroke all battled the League of Assassins, Black Canary battled Black Siren and Nyssa Al Ghul faced off against her own sister, Talia. That left Oliver to square off against, and defeat, Chase.
While that should have brought an end to the saga, Chase wouldn’t reveal William’s whereabouts. In a desperate bid to prove that the Green Arrow wasn’t a hero, he begged Oliver to kill him.
However, when Oliver refused to choose between his team and his son, eventually rescuing the latter, Chase decided to go out with a bang (literally), as he shot himself. The kicker: a dead man switch connected his heartbeat to bombs on Lian Yu. When his heart stopped beating, the island literally went up in smoke.
Stranded on a boat and cradling William in his arms, Oliver could only watch as the island that he spent so much of his life on was destroyed before his eyes – knowing that his friends, William’s mother and even Chase’s team of villains were all on it.
As shocking as it was, there was something incredibly poignant about this scene, as it reflected the five-year flashback narrative (which also came to an end in the same episode), bringing an end to Lian Yu’s importance on the show.
Though the series would eventually explain away the casualties by choosing the most predictable death of them all, for a moment we genuinely thought that the end of Arrow‘s first era brought a lot of the show’s core characters with it. And what an edge-of-seat moment it was!
Arrow — “Salvation” — Image AR118b_0017b — Pictured: Colton Haynes as Roy Harper — Photo: Cate Cameron/The CW — © 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved
5. Oliver Saves Roy From The Savior
Episode: “Salvation” (Season 1, Episode 18)
Oliver’s quest to right his father’s wrongs in Season 1 was brutal. The man returned home from Lian Yu and literally killed people because he believed it was for the greater good. His intentions were noble, but his actions were barbaric.
Yet we didn’t question them, and neither did Oliver, because he was the hero of this piece. But when a new, more violent, threat rose from the darkness of Starling City, forged by the corrupt souls in The Glades, he was forced to reconsider his approach entirely.
Joseph Falk, known as The Savior, made his presence felt by kidnapping slumlords and morally corrupt prosecutors and broadcasting their deaths on a live feed. But what made him even more deadly was that, despite those deaths’ publicity, he was, like The Hood himself, untraceable. And when he kidnapped Thea’s boyfriend, Roy Harper, Oliver was more against-the-clock than he had ever been.
The face-off between The Hood and The Savior is, without a doubt, one of the most powerful moments in Arrowverse history. The two vigilantes, twisted and broken, finally came face-to-face after the Emerald Archer tracked the latter to an abandoned subway car.
Secretly firing a small arrow to assist Roy in his escape, Oliver then engaged in a raw and emotional exchange with Falk as a distraction.
Discussing how the corrupt city created both, The Savior likened himself to The Hood. Oliver, however, begged to differ, but that didn’t stop him from attempting to use their similarities to at least try and relate to him.
Though he was dressed in his green attire, he spoke to him without the use of his voice modulater and tried to appeal to what was left of Joseph’s humanity. Unfortunately, not even this could make the emotional widower back down. As he attempted to shoot Roy, Oliver released the arrow from his bowstring.
In a truly stunning sequence, Joseph reacted to the arrow penetrating his abdomen, Roy was overcome with emotion because he literally dodged death only to see it take The Savior instead. Oliver just watched with unnerving silence as the events unfolded before his eyes.
Blake Neely’s hauntingly beautiful “Search For Salvation” bellowed over the scene, the music complementing the invasively-close shots of all three men’s faces: all different expressions, but all of them broken by Starling City. Goosebumps doesn’t even begin to cover it.
Arrow — “Seeing Red” — Image AR220a _0064b — Pictured: Susanna Thompson as Moira Queen — Photo: Katie Yu/The CW — © 2014 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
4. Slade Kills Moira Queen
Episode: “Seeing Red” (Season 2, Episode 20)
Slade Wilson showed up in Starling City during Arrow‘s second season. As the flashback narrative had already told us his story, we knew that he would be out to get revenge on Oliver.
Infected with the Mirakuru toxin, his miraculous resurrection had distorted his mind. In doing so, made him think that his ally was responsible for the death of the woman he loved: Shado.
So he did what any good villain would do: attempt to destroy The Arrow. However, he did so much more than that, intricately plotting Oliver’s downfall by emotionally torturing him over the course of the season’s final few episodes.
It all led to a sick recreation of the night that Shado was killed, as Slade kidnapped Oliver’s mother, Moira (who had just been elected Mayor of Starling), and his sister, Thea, and attempted to force him to choose which one would live (like he thought Oliver did when he was forced to pick between Shado and Sara on the island).
An emotional wreck, Oliver was helpless and heartbroken that he had found himself in the same scenario once more, but this time, he made his refusal to choose a lot clearer. However, that’s when something really shocking took place.
Realizing what was happening, Moira stood up and fearlessly faced the man who had struck fear into the hearts of so many in the past, telling him that there would be no choice because she was willing to die for her children.
It was a brave move that caught Slade off-guard – one that earned her his respect. With that, he lowered his firearm and commended her courage. But just as it looked like hope would prevail, he swiftly turned and stabbed her through the heart with his sword.
Moira had taken part in some morally questionable activities during her time on the show, but in the end, she wasn’t afraid to prove that her heart was in the right place. More importantly, she was willing to do anything for her children. In that moment, she was the hero – which made it all the more crushing when Slade killed her.
From the sheer shock of Slade’s heinous actions to the strong performances all around, this was undoubtedly one of the most unnerving moments that the show has ever produced. Despite its graphic nature, this moment remains one of the greatest. Deathstroke had broken the show’s hero in a way that no one else ever could. As he did so, he broke all of us, too.
3. Arrow Battles Deathstroke
Episode: “Unthinkable” (Season 2, Episode 23)
After facing the loss of his mother, his city’s destruction, an army of super-powered Mirakuru soldiers and the near-deaths of the two women that he loved – all at the hands of Deathstroke – there was only one thing left for Oliver Queen to do, and that was to defeat his friend-turned-enemy in one final showdown.
Having tricked Slade by using Felicity to administer the Mirkauru cure, Oliver seized the opportunity and engaged in battle with him. Though he was losing his super-powers, Slade was still a highly skilled swordsman and a formidable fighter. So bringing their exceptionally long story to an end wasn’t going to be easy for Oliver, but that didn’t stop him from trying.
Perhaps the most beautiful thing about this graphic fight scene was that it was intercut with the pair’s final fight on Lian Yu from five years earlier. So, as the Emerald Archer was fighting Deathstroke to save his city, a young Oliver Queen was trying to survive against a rage-induced Slade Wilson.
These flashbacks were the final pieces of context that we needed in their well-documented rivalry and, in being so, they allowed us to see how Oliver’s mistake (attempting to kill Slade instead of curing him) influenced everything that came next and how it ultimately changed him.
Visually, it was, without question, the most impressive fight scene in Arrow‘s history. With uncomfortably close angles of every violent shot that these two men exchanged, it was every bit as brutal and bloody as the final fight between the two longtime enemies should have been.
It was gritty, hard-hitting and everything that defined the first two seasons of the show. With that in mind, the final time that Arrow truly felt like Arrow.
The Oliver vs. Deathstroke saga was a masterpiece. Quite frankly, it couldn’t have ended any other way. What a triumph.
Arrow — “Invasion!” — Image AR508a_0172b.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen and Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance — Photo: Bettina Strauss/The CW — © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
2. Oliver’s Family Reunion
Episode: “Invasion!” (Season 5, Episode 8)
Arrow‘s 100th episode also happened to take place during the four-way Arrowverse crossover that it shared with The Flash, Supergirl and DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow.
So, what better way to mark the occasion than by having the Dominators place Arrow‘s significant characters in a coma so that they could hallucinate the life they always wanted and, in doing so, allow the show to pay tribute to its past?
After realizing that his perfect life, where he was set to marry the love-of-his-life Laurel Lance and play a major role in Queen Consolidated, was all an alien-induced dream, Oliver became emotional because he knew that it meant he would have lost so much of what he loved all over again.
It didn’t take long for the scene to tug on the viewers’ heartstrings, as Oliver tearfully hugged both of his parents before bidding them, and his fantasy, goodbye. It was a fitting tribute to them as they both, especially Moira, played an integral role in the show’s early days, and a painful reminder that they were no longer living.
However, this would be followed by more tears, as Thea revealed that she didn’t want to leave, asking why anyone would want to return to a real world with so much loss in it.
But the tissues weren’t ready to go away just yet as the grand finale soon followed, with Laurel appearing in her wedding dress and questioning Oliver over his decision to leave. A tearful Oliver told her that he was no longer the man that she fell in love with.
In doing so, reminded the viewers that some of the dodgy creative decisions over the years had indeed changed him from who he was supposed to be. He then told her that he wasn’t worthy of her love because she always deserved better (darn right she did, writers!) before kissing her on the forehead and leaving.
An emotional tribute to everything that made Arrow‘s first few seasons stand out so well. It was a testament to the show that it managed to create something so beautiful out of an alien invasion. Bravo indeed.
Arrow — “The Huntress Returns” — Image AR117b_0070b — Pictured: Colin Donnell as Tommy Merlyn — Photo: Jack Rowand/The CW — © 2013 The CW Network. All Rights Reserved
1. The Undertaking/Tommy’s Death
Episode: “Sacrifice” (Season 1, Episode 23)
Arrow‘s debut season told a sort of dual-narrative in which Oliver’s rise towards heroism was reflected in Malcolm Merlyn’s descent further into darkness. As one decided to channel his grief into completing his father’s mission, the other channelled it into exacting revenge on the area that took his wife from him.
But as all of this went down, another man – a friend to one, a son to the other – got caught in the middle. So it was only fitting that the season would come to an end with a battle between these two opposing forces, as the Emerald Archer met the Dark Archer in a fight for the fate of Starling City.
After coming up short every time he battled Merlyn, Oliver sought to put an end to his reign of terror once and for all in one final battle. As his team successfully disarmed the Big Bad’s earthquake device, Oliver dug deep and, upon hearing his father’s words, managed to defeat his enemy with an arrow. But just as we allowed ourselves to believe that it was all over, a dying Dark Archer activated a second earthquake device. And just like that, The Glades fell.
In a race against time, Oliver raced to CNRI to save the woman he loved, Laurel Lance, only to find out that she had already been saved by the man who was caught in the middle of his war with the Dark Archer, Merlyn’s own son Tommy. Unfortunately, he wasn’t so lucky.
A tearful Oliver did all he could to save his best friend but, just like us, Tommy knew he couldn’t be saved. With that, the vigilante lied to him out of love, telling him that he did not kill his father. It was a moving decision that got a heart-warming smile from Tommy before he passed on, breaking all of our hearts in the process.
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Over the course of 23 episodes, Tommy Merlyn developed from boy to man, as he was able to put his former playboy status aside and prove himself a worthy boyfriend to Laurel. Furthermore, he represented Oliver’s past and, although it took him a while, he ended up embracing his present.
So, it was a cruel decision to take him from us just as he was starting to accept what the island had done to Oliver. To this day, we still wonder what Arrow could have been like if he had remained a part of it.
Without a doubt, the most goosebump-inducing moment in Arrow‘s long history. We still miss you, Tommy.
Arrow‘s seventh season is currently airing on The CW on Monday nights. Following its summer hiatus, it will return to the network for its eighth (and final) offering. What was your favorite Arrow moment? Let us know in the comments below!