Warning, if you haven’t seen Wednesday nights Arrow, the following will contain spoilers.
In the past, more often than not, when a major character was killed off it was to help jump start a series and get people to talk. Now with shows like Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead, it’s more about who rather than when. It could also define the show or a character. Arrow’s Seeing Red episode does both. The death Moira Queen at the hands of Slade Wilson will have rippling affects on not only Oliver himself but for Thea and all those surrounding Oliver.
Recent episodes had indicated that something defining was going to happen. But as each episode came and went, you felt like it was more of a tease or a misdirection. This is what makes Seeing Red that much better because you didn’t see it coming until it was already in front of you. Slade makes Oliver relive a familiar scenario when he had to choose between Shado (Slade’s soul mate) and Sara back on the island several years earlier by forcing him to make the impossible choice of choosing between his mother’s life or his sister Thea’s.
Not wanting to burden Oliver with such a choice, Moira does what a good parent will always do, protect her children. She makes the ultimate sacrifice and frees Oliver from making such a decision. Slade, with the use of his sword, kills her in front of her children. Afterwards he gives Oliver a chilling warning that one more needs to die. But who and when, remains to be seen.
In hindsight, the episode was filled with reflective nostalgia from Moira (Susanna Thompson), a mother willing to do anything for her children. Including through the use of flashbacks, Moira paying off one of Oliver’s one night stands who happens to be pregnant to leave town. What’s interesting about this beyond the pregnancy itself is where this person ends up… Central City. One would think this will come into play some time in the future.
With season two just about ready to wrap up, what happens next and what direction the show goes is very much up in the air. What we do know is that Moira’s death will carry with it dire consequences. Arrow, to this point has been a joy to watch and I look forward to seeing how far they go into the mythology and what surprises they have in store for us.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
