We knew this day was coming since the first episode of the season, someone dies and Oliver needs to avenge that person’s death and take down Damien Darkh. The mystery was who died? After Wednesday night’s “Eleven-Fifty-Nine” shocker, we now know. Warning, spoilers ahead…
Most of Season 4 has pegged Team Arrow trying to bring down the big bad of Damien Darhk. Up until recent episodes, Darhk has had the edge. He harassed a power that the team had never encountered before. The tide had turned in Team Arrow’s favor and a powerless Darhk landed in jail. There, the unholy alliance between Darhk and Malcolm Merlyn came to light. Now throw in Diggle’s brother Andy into the mix and we have an explosive episode that will propel the remainder of the season to its finale.
There has been a lot of internet speculation on who’s grave Oliver was standing over. Major kudos to Arrow’s show runners for keeping this mystery intact. Certainly not an easy task in this day and age. As the episode played out the reveal was becoming more apparent. A sense of saying goodbye by one of the major characters was ever present. Even though all the signs were finally there, the shock and sting of it all was very much real in the end.
Malcolm works on getting Darhk’s powers back by retrieving an artifact that will restore that power. The artifact is housed at Team Arrow’s lair. A plan is hatched when Andy lets Diggle and Oliver know of HIVE’s next move. With Ollie and Diggle out, this leaves only Thea and Laurel at the lair with the worst security system ever. Malcolm arrives with some loyal members of the League of Assassins. While Laurel holds her own, Thea battles valiantly against her father only to be knocked out and the artifact now in Malcolm’s hands. When Oliver and Diggle return and discover what had happened, Oliver questions whether or not the team should trust Andy. All of this seemed too simple and suspicious. Diggle didn’t take to kindly to the accusation and warned Oliver to not go there.
Malcolm later arrives at Iron Heights prison to hand over the prize possession to Darhk only to discover there’s an important piece missing, a stone that unleash the power Darhk desires. This will lead to one last showdown between Team Arrow and Darhk & Malcolm. After Darhk takes over Iron Heights with his minions, Team Arrow arrives to put an end to it. Things look good for Team Arrow as they systematically take out one inmate after another. Thea continued her personal battle with daddy dearest and once again got the short end of the rematch. Where the episode turned against Oliver and the team was when Andy revealed himself to be one of Darhk’s followers. He had the stone all the time after Diggle told him about it. Andy hands it over to Darhk and Darhk places it on the artifact. As he starts to regain his powers, Thea arrives and shoots him with two arrows to the chest. But her interference only delays the inevitable. Darhk gains full control of his power and renders Team Arrow useless. He tosses aside Thea and Diggle and lets Oliver know that he finally figured out who’s the man behind the green mask. He knows all their true identities. He then turns to Laurel and tells her about the deal he made with her father Quentin. Should Quentin turn on him, the cost would be his daughter. Oliver musters up enough strength to fire an arrow in Darhk’s direction only to have Darhk catch it before it struck him. He then takes that arrow drives into Laurel.
Oliver was able to get Laurel to the hospital and seemingly in time to save her life. Everyone gathers around her bed and this was probably Katie Cassidy’s finest moment on the show. She told them how much she loved each and every one of them. She confessed her thoughts of hanging up the suit for good before tonight’s showdown. As everyone leaves, Oliver stays behind. Laurel shows Oliver the picture she had carried with her of a happier time. She told him that even though she wasn’t his soul mate or the love of his life, he would always be hers. What a great moment between the two. Then she tells him for one favor. This favor is unknown to the audience. The scene then shifts to Laurel crashing and the doctors trying to save her. It’s too late.
This season Team Arrow has been put through the emotional ringer. Whether it’s Felicity being shot and temporally paralyzed or her breaking off the engagement to Oliver, the family dynamic of this show has been severely tested. There’s that toxic father-daughter relationship between Malcolm and Thea and now we have John Diggle being betrayed by his brother Andy. It’s this betrayal of trust however that has led this season’s most heartbreaking moment, the death of Laurel Lance. What did Laurel say to Oliver prior to her death? Is she really dead? Is there more to this then we know? Given what we’ve seen in the past, death doesn’t always mean forever. We’re just going to have to wait and see how this all plays out.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
