Was it just me or was this week’s Arrow one of the best episodes of this season? It had everything: epic returns (Nyssa! Roy!), shocking revelations (Felicity’s father!), and it even set up a civil war within the League of Assassins. “Unchained” was off the chain! (Sorry.) Let’s recap it all, shall we?
Nyssa made her return in a big way: she escaped her prison cell in Nanda Parbat with the help of loyal League of Assassins members. She sought out Tatsu aka Katana, who’s a new member of something called the Christened Order, to steal the mysterious “lotus” from her. We found out later in the episode that it’s an elixir that can cure the effects of the Lazarus Pit. But why would Nyssa need that? We’ll get to that in a bit.
Roy also made his big return to Arrow and to Star City, but this time as a criminal,  being chased by Team Arrow. Are we back in season one?! He stole components that could build a device capable of destroying the Internet. But since Roy didn’t exactly have the brain power to figure that out (lol), Felicity figured out he was being controlled, so Team Arrow took him out and destroyed the Big Brother tech that was in his eye. He told them all about the Calculator, a man who recognized him as Roy Harper in his new life and threatened to expose him unless he stole the components for the device. Felicity reverse-engineered the tech inside the contact to talk with the Calculator, and he revealed his plan wasn’t to destroy the Internet: it was to destroy Star City and everyone in it. You know, just another night in Star City.
Meanwhile, Thea’s bloodlust—or lack thereof after Damien Dahrk hit her with his magic and temporarily sated it—also returned in a big way. Turns out, if she doesn’t indulge in killing a few people here and there every so often, the Lazarus Pit will retaliate and take her life. It’s literally kill or be killed for Speedy.
Oliver told Roy all about Thea’s medical issues, so he came to visit her at home. But all of a sudden, her wound from Ra’s began to reopen. That sparked Oliver to try and set up a meeting with Damien Dahrk (via his wife Ruvé Adams, who just threw her hat in the political ring to oppose Oliver) to ask him to use his magic to heal Thea permanently. But since Thea didn’t want Oliver owing Damien a favor, Malcolm of all people talked some sense into Oliver, explaining that he needed to respect Thea’s wishes and let her make her own choices.
Of course, since she ended up in a coma in the hospital by the end of the hour, that probably wasn’t the best idea. Thankfully, Nyssa appeared by Thea’s bedside to give Oliver the lotus elixir she got from Tatsu earlier in the episode… under one condition: he has to kill Malcolm. Cue the civil war within the League of Assassins! It’s time to pick a side.
As if that wasn’t enough drama, Team Arrow (with Roy back in his red leather!) figured out where the Calculator was trying to set up the newly-armed nuke. They attacked his hired mercenaries while Felicity attacked his network through the Internet. But the only way to disarm it was to blow it up, and someone had to do it manually. Roy volunteered, and managed to pull it off in an epic way!
Man, it was good to have him back on the team, even if it was only for one mission. Felicity managed to plant a virus in the Calculator’s system while she was inside of it, wiping out everything he had on Roy so he didn’t have to start a new life again. It was time for him to leave again… but not before sharing a romantic, heartbreaking goodbye with Thea. Sob!
Felicity also returned to work for Palmer Tech, which was good because her big presentation with Curtis’ next-generation revolutionary battery invention was pushed up a few months. The Palmer Tech board wasn’t confident in Felicity’s ability to present it in her current state of coming to terms with her new diagnosis in her wheelchair; this invention would decide the fate of the company. But a pep talk from Curtis sparked the return of the old Felicity. She ended up presenting the Palmer Cell to very positive reviews. But guess who was in the crowd: the Calculator! Turns out, he’s her dad. And she seemed happy to see him. Whaaaaat?!
In this week’s flashback storyline, we returned to Lian Yu. Oliver was saved from his torture at the hands of Baron Reiter by none other than his ex-girlfriend Shado! Wait… wasn’t she supposed to be dead? Yeah, we’re not wrong. “Shado” wasn’t really there, but appeared to Oliver in a vision, due to all his injuries. She told him that he needs to forgive himself for all he’s done so he can return to his family back home, and the only way out of his guilt is through his own darkness. That motivated him to finally confess to Taiana that he killed her brother. It’s a start!
What did you think of “Unchained,” Arrow fans? Let me know in the comments section below or tweet me @SydneyBucksbaum!
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Images: The CW
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
