"The name of the island they found me on is Lian Yu. It's Mandarin for purgatory. I've been stranded here for five years. I've dreamt of my rescue every cold, black night since then. For five years I've had only one thought, one goal... survive. Survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers. To live, I had to make myself more than what I was, to forge myself into a weapon. I am returning. Not the boy who was shipwrecked, but the man who will bring justice to those who have poisoned my city. My name is Oliver Queen."
— The Opening Narration of the series
Quotes from the DC Comics TV adaptation Arrow. Be advised, this page contains many spoilers.
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Season 1
Pilot
"Twenty percent of his body is covered in scar tissue. Second degree burns on his back and arms. X-rays show at least twelve fractures that never properly healed."
— Dr. Lamb, on Oliver
"I'm so sorry, I thought I had more time. I'm not the man you think I am. I didn't build our city, I failed it! And I wasn't the only one!"
— Robert Queen
"Save your strength. You can survive this. Make it home. Make it better. Right my wrongs. But you've gotta live through this first. Survive."
— Robert Queen
"She says the island changed me. She has no idea how much. There are many more names on the list. Those who rule my city through intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish I had died on that island."
— Oliver Queen
Honor Thy Father
"The day I went missing... was the day I died. Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments he told me the truth: that our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others, that he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it, and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I had to be someone else. I had to be... something else."
— Oliver Queen
Marcus Redmond, you have failed this city.
— The Hood, telling someone this for the first of many times
Lone Gunmen
"My name is Oliver Queen. To my family, I am a brother and a son who just returned home after being lost at sea five years ago. They don't know I came back with a mission: to bring justice to our city. And they never can. The men and women I have targeted are dangerous, corrupt. A virulent cancer. Cancers like James Holder, whose corporation put defective smoke detectors in low-income housing in the Glades. There have been many fires. And too many funerals. Cancers can be fought and conquered. All it takes is a surgeon... and the right instrument."
— Oliver Queen
"When I was her age, you and Dad let me get away with murder. note Looking back, I could have used less space, and more parenting."
— Oliver, on Thea
An Innocent Man
"Please. I'm starving. I've never killed anything before."
— Oliver, to Yao Fei
Damaged
"The police think they know who I am. They think I'm the vigilante. The man in the hood terrorizing the city's criminals. They also think they have me trapped. That I have no way out. They're only half-right."
— Oliver Queen
Legacies
"My responsibility. I promise, Dad. I promise."
— Oliver, discovering The List in his father's book
Muse Of Fire
Helena: I know it must have been hell for you. Alone on that island for five years. But, umm...
Oliver: But what?
Helena: But was there ever a day when you were just... happy to be away from everything? No pressure from your family; no need to be the person that everyone expects you to be. Was there ever a day when-
Oliver: When I didn't feel lost, I felt... free. More than one, and uh... those are the days that I miss.
Oliver: But what?
Helena: But was there ever a day when you were just... happy to be away from everything? No pressure from your family; no need to be the person that everyone expects you to be. Was there ever a day when-
Oliver: When I didn't feel lost, I felt... free. More than one, and uh... those are the days that I miss.
"No one can know my secret."
— Helena, to Oliver
Year's End
Malcolm: All joking aside, Commissioner, crime is down for the first time in five years.
Police Commissioner: That's because of the changes my department has implemented.
Walter: Or perhaps it's because the vigilante's activities have had a chilling effect on the city's criminals.
Malcolm: What are your thoughts, Oliver?
Oliver: I think the vigilante needs a better code name than The Hood or 'The Hood Guy!'
Malcolm: I agree. How about... Green Arrow?
Oliver: Lame.
Police Commissioner: That's because of the changes my department has implemented.
Walter: Or perhaps it's because the vigilante's activities have had a chilling effect on the city's criminals.
Malcolm: What are your thoughts, Oliver?
Oliver: I think the vigilante needs a better code name than The Hood or 'The Hood Guy!'
Malcolm: I agree. How about... Green Arrow?
Oliver: Lame.
Oliver: Those people are there because of me. I have to end this.
John: Oliver, this guy... this guy, he's very dangerous.
Oliver: Diggle, there wasn't anything on that island that wasn't twice as dangerous as this pretender, and I survived there for five years!
John: Oliver, this guy... this guy, he's very dangerous.
Oliver: Diggle, there wasn't anything on that island that wasn't twice as dangerous as this pretender, and I survived there for five years!
"You know, Dig, when I confront somebody on The List, I tell them that they have failed this city. But tonight it was me who failed."
— Oliver
Burned
Oliver: I've been close to death on the island more times than I can remember and I never feared it, because I had nothing to lose. But when that archer almost killed me, I thought about all the people that I've let into my life since I've been back. My family. Laurel. Tommy. And that made me afraid. Afraid of what would happen to those people if they lost me. Again. And for the first time in so long, I had something to lose.
John: Maybe you got it backwards, Oliver. You think the people you've let in have taken your edge. I think it gives you one. Maybe you're stronger, even. You can stare down death with something to live for, or none. But something to live for, is better.
John: Maybe you got it backwards, Oliver. You think the people you've let in have taken your edge. I think it gives you one. Maybe you're stronger, even. You can stare down death with something to live for, or none. But something to live for, is better.
Dead To Rights
"I found myself in a place called Nanda Parbat. Ras Al Ghul I met a man there. He helped me make sense of things. He helped me to find a purpose for my life. To make this city a better place for everyone. Especially for you."
— Malcolm Merlyn, to Tommy
Salvation
"If you make the Glades your home, you know who this man is. John Nichol. He owns your tenements. Manages your slums. Provides the leaking roofs over your heads. The lead in your pipes. The asbestos in your walls. Basically, he makes money off of our suffering. But the police aren't interested in helping us. They may have let us down, but I won't."
— Joseph Falk
"How did you know Sara had her hat with her when she went on the boat?"
— Laurel, to her mother
Unfinished Business
"There once was a young boy whose father dropped him off at a Shaolin monastery to study kung fu. After a year, the boy came to visit his family. When asked what he'd learned, the boy hung his head in shame. All the monks had him do was slap water in a barrel for a year. The family didn't believe him, so he showed them. He raised his hand, and hit the table they were eating on. It broke in half."
— Shado
The Darkness On The Edge Of Town
"My father, he told me that he failed this city, asked me right his wrongs, but I never knew what he meant until now. It's The Undertaking. I promised myself that once I crossed all these names off the list, I'd be done, but taking down these people, it doesn't honor him. I was just treating the symptoms while the disease festered. I stop The Undertaking, I wipe out the disease."
— Oliver
Sacrifice
Tommy: He said you wanted to nuke the Glades or something. It's funny, Scotch doesn't make it any more believable. Maybe after your jihad we can grab some steaks.
Malcolm: It's true Tommy. It's the reason I closed your mother's clinic. I didn't want to see it leveled.
Tommy: What?
Malcolm: I have something I'd like you to listen to. The night your mother died, she called me. I woke to a voicemail from her.
Tommy: Dad...
Malcolm: Her final gift to me.
Rebecca: Malcolm, I'm in trouble. I told them to take everything. My money, my ring.
Tommy: Turn it off.
Rebecca:I screamed for help but...
Malcolm: No one would come.
Rebecca: Oh god, Malcolm... I don't want to die alone.
Malcolm: She bled out into the pavement while people passed and did nothing. Your mother built her clinic in the Glades because she wanted to save this city. It can't be saved, because he people there don't want it to be saved.
Tommy: So you kill them all?
Malcolm: Yes! They deserve to die! All of them! The way she died!
Malcolm: It's true Tommy. It's the reason I closed your mother's clinic. I didn't want to see it leveled.
Tommy: What?
Malcolm: I have something I'd like you to listen to. The night your mother died, she called me. I woke to a voicemail from her.
Tommy: Dad...
Malcolm: Her final gift to me.
Rebecca: Malcolm, I'm in trouble. I told them to take everything. My money, my ring.
Tommy: Turn it off.
Rebecca:I screamed for help but...
Malcolm: No one would come.
Rebecca: Oh god, Malcolm... I don't want to die alone.
Malcolm: She bled out into the pavement while people passed and did nothing. Your mother built her clinic in the Glades because she wanted to save this city. It can't be saved, because he people there don't want it to be saved.
Tommy: So you kill them all?
Malcolm: Yes! They deserve to die! All of them! The way she died!
"If I've learned anything as a successful businessman, it's redundancy."
— Malcolm
Season 2
City Of Heroes
"Oliver Queen! You've failed this city!"
— The Hoods
"I spent the past year trying to avenge my father. If we're going to do this, it has to be about honoring Tommy. I need to become the man he thought I could be. You two have helped me take the first step. The city still needs saving. But not by The Hood. Not by some vigilante who's just crossing names of a list, it needs... something more."
— Oliver
Identity
"The world doesn't work anymore. It broke a long time ago, but it was like you were the only one who noticed. That makes you angry, and you're afraid, that that anger is going to burn you up inside, if you have to live in that world one more second knowing, that you could do something to fix it. I think it's going to put you in the hospital, or worse."
— Oliver, to Roy
Crucible
"Sooner or later we all go through a crucible. I'm guessing yours was that island. Most believe there are two types of people who go into a crucible. The ones who grow stronger from the experience, and survive it, and the ones who die. But there's a third type, the ones who learn to love the fire. They choose to stay in their crucible because it's easier to accept the pain when it's all you know anymore. That's why I'm on the clock to help this city. Before it becomes used to living like this."
— Sebastian Blood
State V Queen
"There are parts of the world where death is an illusion. I've been to one. I learned to be very convincing."
— Malcolm Merlyn
The Scientist
"Human weapons? My god, what's next, aliens?"
— John
Three Ghosts
"Death would be a release from this life, and his sentence is yet to be carried out. I'm going to tear everything he cares about away from him. Destroy those who choose to follow him. Corrupt those he loves. Once he has lost everyone and everything he cares about, I will drive an arrow through his eye."
— Slade Wilson
Blast Radius
John: I've just never seen you spooked like this before. note
Oliver: That should tell you something.
Oliver: That should tell you something.
Suicide Squad
"Give me a break. This ain't no task force. Let's call it like it is. Welcome to the Suicide Squad."
— Deadshot Floyd Lawton
"Do you cuties need some counseling? I'm a trained therapist!"
— Harley Quinn
"There's a new player we've been tracking, mercenary. He's left a trail of bodies from Macau to Istanbul to Lisbon. A trail that leads right here to Starling. We've been calling him... Deathstroke."
— Amanda Waller]]
The Man Under The Hood
Laurel: I know who the Arrow is.
Quentin: Don't say another word. Don't say anything. Listen to me, there was a time when I would have sold out my badge to find out his name, you know that. But then I realized I didn't care who he was. In fact, I didn't want to know who he was.
Laurel: Why not?
Quentin: Because I knew if I knew who he really was he would become a person, okay? Maybe he has a family, friends, people to care about him, someone with a life. Then he couldn't be what I needed him to be, what this city needs him to be. See, Arrow - the man under the hood isn't important. Can you imagine what it's like to be him? What he has to live with? Day in, day out? What that's gotta be like?
Quentin: Don't say another word. Don't say anything. Listen to me, there was a time when I would have sold out my badge to find out his name, you know that. But then I realized I didn't care who he was. In fact, I didn't want to know who he was.
Laurel: Why not?
Quentin: Because I knew if I knew who he really was he would become a person, okay? Maybe he has a family, friends, people to care about him, someone with a life. Then he couldn't be what I needed him to be, what this city needs him to be. See, Arrow - the man under the hood isn't important. Can you imagine what it's like to be him? What he has to live with? Day in, day out? What that's gotta be like?
City Of Blood
Oliver: I don't think that I could do something like this.
Peter: You have. What you did for us; coming back to that boat; setting us free.
Oliver: I came back to the boat because I want to go home. I wasn't thinking of saving anybody. That's not who I am.
Peter: Maybe not yet.
Peter: You have. What you did for us; coming back to that boat; setting us free.
Oliver: I came back to the boat because I want to go home. I wasn't thinking of saving anybody. That's not who I am.
Peter: Maybe not yet.
Season 3
"I don't put much stock in augury, but there is a prophecy: The man that doesn't perish at the blade of Ra's al Ghul will become Ra's al Ghul."
— Malcolm Merlyn
The Brave And The Bold
Cisco: This world was crazy before all these metahumans and superpowers, right?""
Roy: What's your point
Cisco: Well, maybe metahumans and superpowers were given to us to deal with the crazy.
Diggle: You mean by God?
Cisco: No. By a dark matter wave released from a failed particle accelerator reaction.
Season 4
Beyond Redemption
"We're all desperate. We've been made to do desperate things. Terrible things. But I've gotta believe that we are not beyond redemption. I've gotta believe that this city can still be saved cause once we stop believing that's when this city really dies and us right along with it. Maybe, just maybe we start saving our home by saving ourselves first."
— Quentin Lance
"After five years in hell, I returned home with only one goal: I wanted to save my city. And with your help, I can. With your help, we will restore our home to the shining beacon we know it can be. And how we're gonna get there isn't a mystery. We will overcome our challenges with help from our friends, our family, our loved ones, those we trust, and those we will need to trust again in order to prevail, because the only way we are going to return our home to greatness is to do so together. United."
— Oliver Queen in a speech announcing his run for Mayor of Star City
Season 5
Legacy
Dirty Cop: You're delusional. You're zipcuffed to that chair.
Oliver: I'm sorry, but nobody can know my secret.
Oliver: I'm sorry, but nobody can know my secret.
The Recruits
"This isn't a game. And if you need further evidence of that, then you walk down to the pier, and you look at the statue of Laurel Lance."
— Green Arrow, to Rene Ramirez
A Matter Of Trust
Anatoli: Bratva. Do you know what this word means?
Oliver: Brotherhood.
Anatoli: Da. If you are hungry, brothers will feed you. If you are hurt, brothers bring ten times pain to men responsible. If one brother succeeds, all brothers rich. If one brother fails, all brothers suffer. Your brothers would kill for you, would die for you. As you would kill and die for them.
Oliver: Brotherhood.
Anatoli: Da. If you are hungry, brothers will feed you. If you are hurt, brothers bring ten times pain to men responsible. If one brother succeeds, all brothers rich. If one brother fails, all brothers suffer. Your brothers would kill for you, would die for you. As you would kill and die for them.
Vigilante
Konstantin Kovar: World's a complex place. Who's to say who is the monster and who's the hero? For example... Recognize this man?
Oliver: Never seen him before.
Kovar: Except in jail. Where you snapped his neck, because the Bratva told you to do it. Because they told you it could help you get to me. A convenient lie so they could steal his business. And you killed this man, and you give the IP address, of a black market site on the dark web to the Bratva. A site the Bratva now controls, like they control you. Good, evil. Hero, monster. My friend, truth... is a matter of perspective. note
Oliver: Never seen him before.
Kovar: Except in jail. Where you snapped his neck, because the Bratva told you to do it. Because they told you it could help you get to me. A convenient lie so they could steal his business. And you killed this man, and you give the IP address, of a black market site on the dark web to the Bratva. A site the Bratva now controls, like they control you. Good, evil. Hero, monster. My friend, truth... is a matter of perspective. note
Rene: What the hell was that? I thought I was supposed to be the wild animal...
Curtis: Wild Dog.
Rene: ...you totally lost it on that guy.]] note
Curtis: Wild Dog.
Rene: ...you totally lost it on that guy.]] note
What We Leave Behind
"I don't like rules. Or listening."
— Rene
"There's two types of every legacy. Two versions of what we leave behind. The good, and then the bad. You just really have a lousy habit of focusing only on the bad."
— Thea, to Oliver
"I've studied you, Oliver Queen. I know everything. Who you love. Who you trust. Who you've hurt. Do you know how easy it was to turn Evelyn against you? How easy it will be to turn them all against you? You're not a hero. You're a killer. And I'm going to show them that. I'm going to show them how everything you touch... dies. Oliver fatally shoots and then unmasks Billy Malone, disguised as Prometheus. Four years I've waited, to make you answer for your sins. I told you, Oliver, everything you touch.. dies."
— Prometheus's Breaking Speech to the Green Arrow
"I was reunited with someone from my past, recently. I knew their father. And they told me that I ruin the lives of everyone that I come into contact with. It doesn't matter who they are. It doesn't matter how much I love them. That life turns to ash."
— Oliver's responding Heroic Blue Screen of Death, as a montage of his friends crying and suffering plays, including John's recapture.
Second Chances
Talia: There is a monster inside you, yes. But it is not you.
Oliver: I don't see the difference.
Talia: No. You need to create one. You need to give the monster an identity. It's only when it becomes someone else, something else, that you're free to be Oliver Queen.
Oliver: I don't see the difference.
Talia: No. You need to create one. You need to give the monster an identity. It's only when it becomes someone else, something else, that you're free to be Oliver Queen.
Fighting Fire With Fire
Oliver: You need to make things right with Susan.
Thea: Ollie...
Oliver: You got her fired under false pretenses, Thea.
Thea: Only because I was trying to protect you, which is what I am doing now.
Thea: Ollie...
Oliver: You got her fired under false pretenses, Thea.
Thea: Only because I was trying to protect you, which is what I am doing now.
Dinah: Vigilante is across the street. Sixth floor. He's going to take you out as soon as you step out into the open.
Oliver: Is the team on site?
Dinah: Yeah.
Oliver: Then it'll be fine.
Oliver: Is the team on site?
Dinah: Yeah.
Oliver: Then it'll be fine.
Checkmate
"I'm ten steps ahead of you and you haven't even figured out what game we're playing yet!"
— "Adrian Chase"
Oliver: Ras Al Ghul Your father was an honorable man. You've aligned with a psychopath. And he'd be ashamed of you.
Talia: Well, when it comes to the shame of fathers, I shall bow to your superior expertise.
Talia: Well, when it comes to the shame of fathers, I shall bow to your superior expertise.
Kapiushon
Merlyn: Malcolm Merlyn, CEO Merlyn Global Group.
Anatoly: Anatoly Knyazev, gangster.
"I WANTED TO! AND I LIKED IT!"
— Oliver, revealing his deepest, darkest secret (killing)
Disbanded
Oliver: You think I'm going to stab the district attorney in the middle of city hall?
"Adrian": You're an animal who enjoys murder, there's no telling what you'll do.
"Adrian": You're an animal who enjoys murder, there's no telling what you'll do.
John: I killed my brother, Oliver. And then I was going to let myself rot in prison for what I did. But you told me to atone for what I did as Spartan, and if that's true for me, it is one hundred times truer for the Green Arrow. You don't get to just walk away from this, man. The hood is who you are. You don't think you deserve it, fine. Work to become the man who does.
Oliver: I don't know how.
John: Just ask for help. You don't have to do this alone, Oliver.
Oliver: I don't know how.
John: Just ask for help. You don't have to do this alone, Oliver.
Missing
"See you on the boat."
—"Adrian", to Oliver
Lian Yu
"Nothing is impossible with him."
— Kovar, on Oliver
Oliver: My past is coming back to haunt me.
Slade: Seems to be a recurring theme with you.
Slade: Seems to be a recurring theme with you.
"You have each other...which is good...Oliver, that's good...because it's gonna be lonely without Mom, or Felicity."
—- "Adrian", the moment before he shot himself in the head and blew up Lian Yu
Season 7
Due Process
"The hardest thing is to be a hero when no one expects you to be. The easier path is to be a criminal."
— "Laurel Lance (Earth Two)"
