The following may contain Arrow Prometheus spoilers. As reported by Cinema Blend , throughout most of this season the writers and producers on Arrow have laid out a series of clues about the identity of the mysterious Prometheus . Prometheus has been tormenting Oliver Queen for months, but now things seem to be coming to a head.
In a seeming reveal of the character’s true identity early on in the season, it was suggested he was the illegitimate son of Justin Claybourne – someone executed by the Arrow long before he became the Green Arrow. Claybourne had weaponized a strain of tuberculosis and released it so he could sell the treatment at an exorbitant price.
But are the Prometheus breadcrumbs leading to a revenge-seeking son of Justin Claybourne really red herrings? In the DC television universe created by Greg Berlanti, things are rarely ever is obvious is this. A case in point is the season-long reveal of Zoom on The Flash , with most of the clues provided turning out to be just misdirection. And of course, that’s essential in the shows if they’re going to keep the audience interested.
So – drum roll – what if Prometheus is really Oliver Queen? No, not that Oliver Queen – the Oliver Queen from Earth 2. When Oliver in the latest trailer says that Prometheus is proving to him that “I will destroy myself and everyone in the city” does this line have a double meaning?
Yes, Black Siren in the last episode said her world’s Oliver Queen was dead, but why should we trust her when virtually everything she said was a lie? In fact, her interaction with Prometheus would suggest that he’s someone she’s known before and is terrified of.
Then there’s the fact that Prometheus knew about Black Siren, knew she was being held by Team Flash in their meta-human prison and knew he would be able to use her against Team Arrow. Just why is that if Prometheus didn’t also come from Earth 2 as part of the group Zoom brought over?
Then there is the fact that Prometheus wears a mask. Obviously, this means he’s someone we the viewers – and by extension Ollie – would otherwise recognize. Given this, the idea that it would be some son of Justin Claybourne that Oliver Queen had never met and that no one on Team Arrow would recognize just wouldn’t make sense.
There’s also the rather blatant clue that Oliver provides in a previous episode when he mentions recognizing a move that Prometheus did while they were fighting. With the introduction of Talia al Ghul last time, viewers were apparently supposed to believe this clue meant she trained both Oliver and the mysterious Prometheus.
But given all the above, it would make more sense that Prometheus is the Oliver Queen of the Earth 2 and learned that same move from the Talia al Ghul of his world. Otherwise, you have too many coincidences for us to suspend our disbelief.
For instance, how would Justin Claybourne’s son just happen to contact the League of Assassins, get training under Talia and learn all of the skills that Oliver Queen possesses in the short space of time between Claybourne’s death and the start of this season’s episodes? And even putting aside the question of him having time enough to do it, how would he make the connections?
It’s far more believable plot wise – to the extent that a comic book/superhero show can be believable – that Oliver Queen from Earth 2 has come to Earth Prime to carry out some strange vendetta against his alter ego. What would be his motivation? Well, given that most of the “good guy” characters on Earth 2 are evil, it’s safe to assume that this alternate Oliver Queen would be evil as well.
This would mean that at some point, his life would’ve taken a different road than that of the Green Arrow we’re familiar with. It may be that the producers of Arrow are going to play on the psychology involved, with evil Arrow resenting the fact that the Green Arrow of Earth Prime hasn’t given into the darkness the way he did. If this is so, the resulting Arrow Prometheus clash should be worth waiting for.
[Featured Image by The CW]