The CW’s ‘Arrow’ Season Finale Recap — Who Dies and Who Leaves Team Arrow?

Published on: May 26, 2016 at 6:21 AM

In the Season 4 finale of Arrow , Damien Darhk wants to blow up the world and only Team Arrow can stop him. How will DC Comics’ Green Arrow prevent the world from a nuclear apocalypse?

NOTE: The following contains spoilers for the episode of Arrow (Season 4, Episode 23) that the CW originally aired on May 25 titled, “Schism,” the season finale.

By the end of Season 4, Damien’s daughter is left an orphan, Team Arrow has essentially disbanded, and the Green Arrow’s daytime job may turn out to be saving Star City as its new mayor.

By the end of Episode 23, it would seem that Season 5 of Arrow will involve some major changes.

Green Arrow vs. Damien Darhk

As we learn in the opening scene, Felicity’s hope in the Green Arrow is no longer enough to overpower Damien’s magic now that he has the strength of thousands of Havenrock souls. The fact that his daughter was in the hands of Thea is the only way Team Arrow escaped the situation without a casualty. Damien did escape with Felicity’s laptop, however, giving him the Rubicon codes. As a supervillain would in a season finale, he launches over fifteen thousand missiles, set to make contact two hours later.

After a speech amidst chaos that left the citizens of Star City supporting Oliver Queen, the hope of the people gave him the power to overcome Darhk’s magic. The former League of Assassins member then fought Queen hand-to-hand while summoning ghosts to help restore chaos to those in the streets. Ultimately, Oliver overpowered Damien and killed Darhk (and his magic) with an arrow the same way he had killed Laurel Lance.

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Felicity vs. The Missiles

When Damien stole Felicity’s laptops with the Rubicon codes, the codes were given to Cooper Seldon — Felicity’s ex — who was working for Darhk under threat of his life. While Felicity and Curtis were able to disarm the missile headed towards Star City, they were unable to do so for the rest of the world.

In the end, Felicity appealed to Cooper’s humanity, and he made the sacrifice of suffering an excruciating death to prevent the end of the world.

Oliver Queen: Mayor of Star City

As Green Arrow had to come to terms with the fact that part of being a superhero means always having a dark side to deal with, it was time for a major step in Oliver Queen’s life as well. As the season concluded, everyone from Team Arrow — aside from Oliver and Felicity — made plans that could easily result in any of them being gone for a while, if not for good. Having turned down an offer to work with A.R.G.U.S., what exactly the future holds for the Green Arrow as a crime-fighter, sans his regular sidekicks, is anyone’s guess.

However, on a social level, Oliver Queen receives his just desserts. He is sworn in as the acting Mayor of Star City until a new election can be held. With so much of the city behind Queen after his impassioned speech and slaying of Darhk, could the focus of Season 5 be Oliver Queen’s new role as mayor?

Where to Watch

The CW aired Arrow on Wednesday evenings at 8/7c. Replays of the most recent episode of Arrow can be streamed on-demand at the CW’s website beginning Thursday. Current episodes of Arrow (including “Lost in the Flood”) can also be streamed with a Hulu Plus subscription the day after they air on the CW.

Arrow will return to The CW in the fall, along with fellow DC Comics-based programming The Flash , DC’s Legends of Tomorrow , and Supergirl .

[Image via Arrow on the CW ]

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