The CW's Arrow may have ended its eight season run, but the legacy of Oliver Queen will live
on in the lives of the heroes he inspired. Throughout the show's timeline, our deeply
flawed hero strives to become better. In doing so, he saves his city and the entire multiverse.
Oliver Queen is the oldest son of billionaire developers Robert and Moira Queen. Always
a restless bad boy, Oliver is mostly interested in getting in trouble with his lifelong friends
Tommy Merlyn and Laurel Lance. Though he occasionally spends time with his sister Thea, he spends
most of his time partying, sleeping around, getting kicked out of expensive schools, and
otherwise wasting time because of boredom and apathy. The only thing he takes seriously
is his relationship with Laurel, though when they're about to move in together, Oliver
panics and sleeps with Laurel's younger sister, Sara. One fateful day, Oliver takes a voyage
on a yacht with his father, Sara, and a few others.
Unbeknownst to them, Tommy's sinister father Malcolm has sabotaged the boat. When it explodes
at sea, Sara is swept overboard, but Robert, Oliver, and an assistant survive. Adrift in
a life raft, Robert tells Oliver,
"[The family's wealth was] built on the suffering of others."
He puts the burden of redemption on Oliver. Knowing there isn't enough food for all three
of them, he decides to shoot himself and his assistant, but not before giving Oliver one
final command:
"Survive."
This begins a series of events that reveal Oliver's tenacity and his great fortune in
the number of people who help him.
Oliver makes it to the shore of an island he later learns is called Lian Yu, which means
"Purgatory" in Chinese. While burying his father, he discovers a notebook in his pocket,
which he takes with him. When Oliver encounters a man named Yao Fei Gulong , his life changes
forever. Yao Fei turns him over to a mercenary named Edward Fyers, who is in the middle of
a complicated assassination plot. Oliver learns that Fyers is holding Yao Fei's daughter Shado
hostage and frees her with the help of a mercenary sent to stop Fyers named Slade Wilson. During
the course of this adventure, Oliver receives combat training from Wilson, archery training
from Shado, and survival training from Yao Fei. He proves to be a quick study in each,
as nothing is more motivating in acquiring a skill than being threatened with death.
Oliver kills Fyers and stops his plan, but not before Yao Fei is killed.
Soon, a whole new problem arises: a ship called the Amazo and a mad scientist,
Dr. Anthony Ivo. Ivo is looking for a strength and agility-boosting serum called
mirakuru and doesn't care who he has to kill in order to find it. Oliver
winds up on his ship, where he meets future ally and enemy Anatoly Knyazev. To his great
surprise, Sara Lance is on the ship as well and is seemingly working with Ivo. However,
she helps Oliver and Anatoly and joins the others on the island. Ivo gives Oliver a choice
of whom he will kill, and when Oliver jumps in front of Sara, Ivo kills Shado. A dying
Wilson is given the mirakuru, which boosts his powers, but drives him insane. In a pitched
battle on the Amazo, Oliver stabs Wilson in the eye with an arrow, but Sara is swept out
to sea.
Oliver wakes up to find that he's been conscripted to work as an assassin for the spy organization
A.R.G.U.S. His travels take him to Hong Kong, Starling City, and all the way back to Lian
Yu. Eventually he leaves his boss Amanda Waller and A.R.G.U.S behind, traveling to Russia
to make good on a promise he once made: kill a powerful Russian mobster named Konstantin
Kovar.
Oliver nearly winds up getting killed by the Bratva, another Russian mob, trying to find
Kovar. He's spared by Anatoly, a Bratva member whose life Oliver saved on the Amazo. When
Anatoly learns that Oliver wants to kill Kovar,
"I'm here to kill Konstatin Kovar."
he tells him his only chance is with the help of the Bratva. That means joining up. Of course,
membership is rather exclusive, requiring a series of horrific pledge tasks before he's
initiated.
Oliver is captured and tortured by Kovar and learns that the Bratva cut a deal with his
enemy. All seems lost until Talia al Ghul comes along and rescues him.
"My name is Talia. I've been looking for you."
Oliver learns that the contents of the book he retrieved from his father is a list of
every corrupt person in Starling City, and Talia convinces him that they must die. He
decides it's time to go home.
Returning home, Oliver reunites with his mother, Thea, and Tommy, and begins his crusade against
the corrupt businessmen on the list. He kills some and forces others to pay back stolen
money, shouting his signature catchphrase:
"You have failed this city!"
After various attempts on his life, Moira assigns a security guard named John Diggle
to watch over Oliver. Oliver first tries to ditch him, then eventually makes him the first
member of what will become Team Arrow. A brilliant information specialist named Felicity Smoak
is the next to join the team.
Oliver learns that a number of prominent businessmen, including his mother and Malcolm Merlyn, are
part of what they call "The Undertaking." They plan to set off an explosion that will
trigger an earthquake, causing destruction in The Glades, a low-income section of Starling
City. In a failed attempt to stop The Undertaking, Oliver seemingly kills Merlyn, the ringleader
of the plan, but Tommy dies as well. Grief-stricken, Oliver returns to Lian Yu, abandoning his
role as the Hood.
Diggle and Felicity travel to Lian Yu to bring Oliver back, but this time he wants to seek
justice without killing. Now calling himself the Arrow, he rescues his sister Thea from
Hood copycats and gains a new ally: Roy Harper. A new vigilante seemingly obsessed with the
Lance family also appears. To Oliver's shock, it's Sara, who is not only alive but is now
an ex-member of the League of Assassins.
Oliver has to deal with Sebastian "Brother" Blood, who becomes mayor of Starling City
under sinister circumstances. The man behind the throne is a crazed Slade Wilson, who uses
his mirakuru-laced blood to develop an army of super-soldiers. Oliver is aided by his
new friends Barry Allen, Cisco Ramon, and Caitlin Snow, who investigate Brother Blood's
crimes on leave from Central City.
Slade kills Moira Queen and betrays Blood when he sends his army in to destroy Starling
City. The future Team Flash, aided by the League, stop the army with an antidote for
mirakuru. Oliver tracks down Wilson, who offers him a choice of whom to save: Felicity or
Laurel. The ever-capable Felicity changes the odds when she stabs Wilson with the cure,
and Oliver opts to spare Wilson's life. He's sent to a super-max prison on Lian Yu, which
A.R.G.U.S. has been using for years.
Turns out that it's really hard to kill Malcolm Merlyn, who draws Thea in with the revelation
that he's actually her real father. He uses a hypnotic plant to drug Thea, influencing
her to kill Sara without any memory of it. Sara's death enrages the head of the League
of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul, who demands retribution. Oliver eventually engages him in a duel and
is badly beaten and left for dead. He is saved by former friends from Hong Kong that he had
once rescued.
Laurel starts her training as a vigilante and eventually joins Team Arrow as the Black
Canary. Oliver reveals the truth about his own past to Thea as well as what she did,
and he trains her on Lian Yu.
By League custom, Oliver is forced to become the new head of the League of Assassins. Seemingly
leaving his own past behind, Oliver is actually working with Merlyn to take down the League
from the inside. In an epic battle, Oliver manages to kill Ra's Al Ghul once and for
all. In the aftermath, Oliver quits his role as the Arrow and runs off with Felicity to
live happily ever after.
Happily ever after lasts about five months before Laurel and Thea beg Oliver and Felicity
to come back and fight Damien Darhk, a sorcerer and former assassin. This time, Oliver decides
on a new identity: the Green Arrow. He vows to be a hero and symbol of hope for the newly-named
Star City:
"I am the Green Arrow"
Darhk's scheme involves worldwide nuclear devastation while saving a small number of
people in an underground Ark. He uses Laurel's father Quentin as an informant, threatening
to kill Laurel if he doesn't comply.
However, Oliver first has to help Barry, now known as The Flash, with the mystery of Kendra
Saunders and the threat of Vandal Savage. During this team-up, Oliver is distracted
because he's learned that he has a young son named William. William's mother Samantha Clayton
had been paid to keep him hidden from Oliver.
Oliver decides to run for mayor, but his opponent Ruve' Adams happens to be Darhk's wife. Darhk
kidnaps William and threatens to kill him if Oliver doesn't drop out of the mayoral
race. Oliver complies, but he and the team keep fighting the seemingly invincible Darhk.
Quentin betrays Darhk, and as promised, Darhk kills Laurel. That galvanizes Team Arrow once
and for all, as Oliver obtains light magic to counteract Darhk's sorcery. Oliver kills
Darhk as the people of the city rush to his aid. With Darhk finally defeated, Oliver is
elected mayor.
In order to grow Team Arrow, Felicity suggests a membership drive. Rene "Wild Dog" Ramirez,
Evelyn "Artemis" Sharp, Curtis "Mr. Terrific" Holt, and Rory "Ragman" Regan join the team.
Later, Team Arrow recruits a new Black Canary. Police officer Dinah Drake joins the team,
and not a moment too soon. A new threat arrives in Oliver's life with a personal grudge: Prometheus.
Laurel pops up alive, claiming that the Legends of Tomorrow pulled her out of the timeline
to save her life. This is actually the sinister Earth-2 Laurel, the Black Siren. In a series
of betrayals, Laurel and Evelyn are revealed to be working with Prometheus, along with
Talia al Ghul.
Prometheus is Adrian Chase, Oliver's district attorney. It turns out Chase's father was
one of the Hood's victims, so Adrian decides to engage in an elaborate revenge scheme,
destroying Oliver's life and trying to drive him insane. Eventually, they are lured to
Lian Yu after William is kidnapped. William's mother is killed when Chase's death sets off
bombs on the island.
In an effort to get to know his son better, Oliver gives up being the Green Arrow and
entrusts the job to Diggle. Oliver has a big problem to deal with, however: super-hacker
Cayden James and his crime empire. Oliver apparently killed James' son by accident,
so James seeks revenge with his own team: the Black Siren, Anatoly - who feels betrayed
by Oliver over a botched deal - and a quiet criminal named Ricardo "The Dragon" Diaz.
It's revealed that Diaz is the real brains behind James' operation, having manipulated
everyone else. Diaz either buys or blackmails everyone in city government. Even worse, a
lack of trust splits up Team Arrow, as Rene, Curtis, & Dinah form their own team.
"I hope you find what you're looking for."
Eventually, Black Siren and Anatoly switch sides and Diaz is defeated, but escapes.
Oliver wakes up one morning and finds himself living the Flash's life, and he soon discovers
that the same thing has happened to Barry. They manage to convince everyone that they're
not crazy and seek help from Supergirl, who understands what is happening. It turns out
that a cosmic being named The Monitor has given deranged psychiatrist John Deegan a
magical book that he uses to change reality. Eventually defeating him, Oliver makes a deal
with the Monitor in exchange for Barry and Kara's lives.
Diaz is killed in prison, but not before he reveals his connection with a shadowy figure
named Dante, the leader of a terrorist organization called the Ninth Circle. Another green-clad
archer appears: it's Emiko Adachi, another half-sister of Oliver's, this time on his
dad's side. She initially appears to reconcile with Oliver:
"I need to try to make things right."
but is revealed to be the secret leader of the Ninth Circle. She eventually switches
sides and forgives Oliver before she's killed by her own group. The bad guys are defeated,
but the now married Oliver and Felicity go into hiding as she gives birth to their daughter,
Mia.
Oliver and Felicity are happy for a while with baby Mia, until the Monitor comes calling.
Oliver is needed to help stop the impending Crisis on Infinite Earths. He teams with Barry,
Kara, Sara, and a future version of Mia to defend Earth-38. After suffering a fatal wound
helping to save billions of lives, Oliver's friends use a Lazarus Pit to resurrect him.
Before Oliver's soul is restored to his body, he decides to accept an offer to become the
new incarnation of the Spectre, the cosmic personification of justice.
With everyone else in existence annihilated, the Spectre rescues his surviving friends
and they battle the Anti-Monitor, the cause of the Crisis. Shouting:
"You have failed this universe."
Oliver defeats the Anti-Monitor and recreates all of existence. He also resurrects his mother,
Tommy, and Emiko. A monument and eternal flame are erected for Oliver by Barry in the new
headquarters of what will become the Justice League. In 2042, Felicity calls upon the Monitor
to reunite with Oliver in the afterlife, and this time they really do live happily ever
after.
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