Prometheus Fakeout: Did ‘Arrow’ Throw Out A Red Herring In The Last Prometheus Episode?

In the last episode of Arrow featuring the big bad of Season 5, did the producers and writers pull a Prometheus fakeout on us? As reported by CinemaBlend, it was revealed to the audience that the secretive and mysterious Prometheus – who’s been making life very difficult for the Arrow crew – is actually the son of one of the bad guys that Oliver killed off in season one. But is that answer too easy?

Reasons to Doubt

We don’t always get exactly what we expect on the Arrow, and there’s no reason to think this season will be any different. After all, they did try to make us think that Captain Lance was Prometheus at one point – as ridiculous as that would’ve been.

And previous seasons have seen them frequently use red herrings designed to throw viewers off the trail, such as the time they tried to convince everyone that they were actually killing off Oliver Queen.

As reported by Entertainment Weekly, Greg Berlanti – the person behind all of the CW superhero shows – seems to love doing a bait and switch when it comes to who’s actually behind the mask. Throughout most of last year on The Flash, Berlanti and his writers kept everyone guessing about who Zoom was – not to mention who the Man in the Iron Mask was.

Also, the whole “you killed my father, prepare to die” thing has been done to death in movies and TV. It would seem like a pretty weak back story for this character that was supposed to be so menacing. And in a season that has been a return to form for Arrow, that would be a huge disappointment.

An Alternative Theory

There are several clues that suggest who this mysterious Prometheus might actually be. For one thing, the build and voice of the character means that – obviously – it’s a man. There’s also the fact that this character seems to be at least as skilled in martial arts and hand-to-hand combat as Oliver himself.

Then there’s the fact that he seems to know an enormous amount about Oliver Queen. We’re supposed to believe that the treasonous betrayal of Artemis provided all of this information about the Green Arrow and his team, but what if that’s not the case?

Prometheus was already acting against the Arrow well before Artemis apparently sold everyone out. So this means he would’ve already had to have known a great deal about the Green Arrow and his past. And the fact that he wears a full mask suggests it’s someone the audience would recognize.

Another clue is provided in the suggestion by Oliver that he had seen one of the moves done by Prometheus before, and that it had been taught to him by a woman in Russia. This woman was almost certainly Talia al Ghul, daughter of Ra’s al Ghul.

The #ARROW Midseason Finale Dropped Some Potentially Huge Clues About the PROMETHEUS Mystery https://t.co/1ov9GsRKa1 pic.twitter.com/A21aGJvXIn

— ComicBook NOW! (@ComicBookNOW) December 8, 2016

But again, this is another red herring. It’s very clear that the person in the Prometheus outfit is not a woman. However, it could be someone who had had identical training to Talia al Ghul. In other words, it seems as though it might be Ra’s al Ghul himself.

Yes, he’s supposed to be dead. But it’s a comic book/superhero show and people come back to life all the time on Arrow. Plus, we know that the Lazarus Pit was only destroyed by Nyssa – Ra’s al Ghul’s other daughter – after her father’s death, not before. This means that – in theory – she could have chosen to use it to resurrect her father. Alternatively, her sister Talia could have used it for that purpose.

The mind games being played by Prometheus are also very similar to what we saw in Season 3 from Ra’s al Ghul. Prometheus doesn’t want to kill Oliver Queen – at least not right away. Instead, he’s attacking everyone that Green Arrow cares about. It’s a very Ra’s al Ghul way of thinking and makes a Prometheus fakeout in the last episode even more likely.

[Featured Image by The CW]