*** Full Spoilers for 10/7’s Season Premier of Arrow ***
There is no doubt that the final scene of the season premier of Arrow left millions of fans extremely worried for the fate of their favorite supporting characters. In the scene, Oliver stands over a freshly covered grave, the lone mourner remaining at the funeral service before Barry Allen makes a quick cameo.
Personally, I hope it’s not a gimmick — I hope that they don’t tease a scene like this to get people watching and talking about the show only to have the events of a laterFlash episode rearrange the timeline and save whoever may have been lost.Arrow has a nasty little habit of bringing characters back from the dead, and that takes away a sense of consequence from the universe. But, Marc Guggenheim and the the EP’s have gone on the record saying that this death will be permanent… we shall see.
There is a lot to be taken away from the dialogue in this scene, specifically one key sentence from Oliver:
“I’m sorry I missed the funeral.”
“Zoom?”
“Yeah.”
“There was a time when I thought this was my fault, that I brought this darkness upon us. Now I know it’s not my fault. It’s my responsibility.”
“Your responsibility to do what?”
“To end it. I’m gonna kill him.”
“Is there anything I can do?”
“I want to be left alone.”
This is obviously an extremely emotionally charged scene. Oliver doesn’t take his eyes off the grave and Barry looks as if he’s never felt more sorry for anyone — and he’s seen Caitlin lose her fiancee/husband twice. This, and the fact that Oliver’s willing to kill whoever’s responsible, leads us to believe that this person is obviously very close and meaningful to Oliver.
I’ve scoured the the numerous websites, blogs, and social media posts regarding the scene and this seems to be the most likely pool of candidates:
-
John Diggle
-
Felicity Smoak
-
Laurel Lance
-
Thea Queen
-
Lyla Michaels
-
Quentin Lance
-
Oliver’s child’s mother
-
Oliver’s child
Now if we’re looking at funerals in which Oliver would be the lone mourner left there are four potential candidates: Felicity, Thea, Oliver’s child, Oliver’s child’s mother. Every other character has a closer relative that would probably hang around longer than anyone else. For example, if Quentin or Lyla were killed it would make the most sense to have Oliver there supporting Laurel or Diggle, respectively. Also, Barry is acting in a manner that suggests that Oliver truly lost something here, something that was his. (I’m not saying that Felicity is his property, but the love between them is as much his as hers, same goes for the other three).
After originally hearing the suggestion of Oliver’s child or the child’s mother, I thought there was no chance. Then I thought, well maybe if Lance were to do some digging for Damien Darhk that would lead to his discovery that Oliver cheated on Laurel and it was swept under the rug. I could understand him being angry enough to report this to Darhk… but that would imply that he’d be disclosing Oliver as Green Arrow which he didn’t seem too keen on doing in that quick scene at the end of episode one. So I’m not very high on these choices.
Personally, I just can’t see Oliver getting this upset over anyone other than Felicity, Thea and maybe Diggle. One could argue Laurel because they’ve been friends for so long, but those characters haven’t had many recent emotional scenes together as friends or lovers. So I’m going to officially take Quentin, Lyla, and Laurel off the table.
Although it could be a fitting end to an arc that sees her resurrection drive her to madness, I don’t think that they would kill Thea two seasons in a row. I am officially taking Thea off the table.
So it really comes down to the two original recruits to Team Arrow, Oliver’s two greatest friends. Felicity and Diggle are people that Oliver has trusted with his life and his crusade for three years now, he’s gone on several missions with them, he’s been through many ups and many more downs — aside from blood, these are the two characters that Oliver loves most. These are the two characters that would warrant such a scene and such a reaction from both Oliver and Barry.
Ahh, Season One Felicity…
I saw that some internet users are reluctant to think that Barry would miss Felicity’s funeral, but they have to realize, Barry doesn’t work with, let alone see, Felicity all that often anymore. And this is six months into the future. Also, he was preoccupied with Zoom. Even if Barry was going to be the Best Man in the potential Oliver/Felicity wedding, there are some things that would keep someone from attending, Zoom being one of them.
That said, I have also seen some commenters claim that the funeral was not a traditional Jewish funeral, which we all know Felicity to be. I’m not Jewish so I can’t confirm or deny this, but if it’s true then it would seem like Felicity could be safe.
It has been teased that Diggle is planning on investigating HIVE’s involvement in his brother’s murder. Could this lead to him being discovered and killed? Possibly. But would Oliver remain at the funeral longer than Lyla? Again, possibly.
The writers have either framed this mystery extremely well, or they plan on killing someone that is so insignificant right now that we’re not even considering them (unfortunately the latter wouldn’t surprise me).
It’s obvious who they want us to believe is in the grave, though. The scene directly before the funeral showed Oliver’s mother’s engagement ring in a bowl on a coffee table in the foreground with Felicity and Oliver kissing in the background, out of focus. This is why I’m reluctant to believe that it is, indeed, Felicity. Arrow always likes to catch their viewers napping.
The same can be said about the line, “I’m gonna kill him”. The obvious assumption would be season four big bad, Damien Darhk. But what if this is just another fake out? Maybe Oliver is talking about Quentin Lance who was shown to be in cahoots with Darhk. Or they could even bring Malcolm Merlyn back in between now and then — we know how much they love bringing Malcolm back.
Bottom line, if three seasons of Arrow has taught me anything it’s to expect the unexpected, and to look for the big twist.
As far as my official prediction goes: as much as it pains me, I suppose I’ll choose Diggle — but not confidently. I feel like I’m being deliberately set up here and I truly hope that it pays off.