Oliver and Team Arrow need to go to Russia to get the help of Oliver's old Bratva ally, Anatoli Knyazev. Meanwhile, Lance prepares to return to work after finishing rehab with help from Rene. In the flashbacks, Talia helps Oliver begin his crusade by targeting a drug supplier known to operate back in Starling City.
- Arrow Catch: Oliver successfully pulls this off after taking down low-leveled drug dealers during his flashback. Talia is pleased since she shot an arrow as a test for Oliver's skills.
- Blackmail: Felicity does this to someone in Russia to get them to provide Team Arrow with info about Walker.
- Brought Down to Normal: After absorbing the nuclear blast, Rory's rags don't function anymore, which is why he is leaving the team.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Quentin doesn't even remember their meeting, which Rene came to see as a turning point in his life.
- But Now I Must Go: Rory goes on sabbatical since the rags lost their magic when he absorbed the blast.
- Call-Back:
- The Bratva are noticeably pissed with Oliver over him getting Alexi Leonov killed back in Season Two.
- When Diggle and Dinah are speaking about working out of their comfort zone, Diggle references the most recent crossover and "fighting aliens."
- Diggle mentioned about how he could have simply shot Walker just like how he shot Andy for threatening to kill his wife and child.
- Call-Forward: Talia once again tells Oliver he will need to become "someone else - something else", a phrase he would borrow for his eventual monologues.
- The whole sequence of Oliver taking down Hideo Yamahe, the drug-dealer from Starling City visiting Russia, is basically one to the Hood's MO in Season 1 (he intercepts the target during a deal, takes him down and says "You have failed (Starling) City", and later crosses the target's name of the List).
- Character Development: Various.
- John continues to move past the tragedies that have shaken his stability as a member of Team Arrow by leaving Walker alive.
- Felicity continues to try to emulate Oliver's older, more draconian measures as Oliver himself tries his hardest to avoid them.
- Like in the last episode, Curtis gravitates back to share the support role Felicity originally filled.
- Oliver continues to trust Rene with increasing autonomy.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: What John and Oliver resort to when interrogating one of Walker's men. Oliver does it with spark plugs, and Diggle with a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Continuity Nod: Anatoly notes that now Diggle is his favorite American. The last time they spoke, he noted that he is his second-favorite American after Oliver, but due to their falling-out, the position defaults to Diggle.
- Cruel to Be Kind: During the training seassion, Rene throws some very investigative and uncomfortable questions at Quentin, and even pokes into Laurel's death, which seems pretty harsh, but he only does it because Susan Williams won't be pulling any punches either.
- Deal with the Devil: Oliver resorts to making one with Anatoly to finish tracking down Walker. Anatoly's comments at the end suggest that he expects Oliver's services in the future too.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Rory stays behind to let the rags absorb the nuclear bomb as it is going off, knowing there is a chance that he may die or just outright fail. It ends up costing him his powers, though.
- Internal Reveal: Susan Williams figures out that Oliver is not only a Bratva captain, but also the Green Arrow as well thanks to her investigator.
- It's Personal: For both Oliver and John. For Oliver, because the Bratva is involved, for John because of General Walker.
- Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: John beats one of Walker's men black and blue in a fit of rage when the intel gathering takes too long.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Felicity's desire to use the data cache is leading her down a very dark path.
- Morality Chain: At various points throughout the episode, Rory effectively acts as Felicity's conscience, helping to prevent her from going down a dark path. But at the end of the episode, he leaves...
- The Oath-Breaker: Anatoly considers Oliver one and refuses to aid him until he proves himself.
- Resignations Not Accepted: As Anatoly reminds Oliver, he swore an oath to the Bratva and that's for life.
- Sink or Swim Mentor: In the flashbacks, after a fight with drug dealers, Talia shoots an arrow at Oliver while he was looking away for a moment, he catches it just barely before it hits him.
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Walker tries to goad Diggle into killing him. It doesn't work.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Dinah acts as Oliver's confidant and conscience just like Laurel was when she was still alive.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: In the flashbacks, Oliver kills Hideo Yamane not with one, but 3 arrows.
- Torture Is Ineffective: Oliver knows this and thus only bluffs Walker's man into thinking he would torture him, but doesn't go through with it because it would only make him say anything to make the pain stop. John however is too much on the edge to care. Either way it doesn't get them any closer to locating Walker,
- Toxic Friend Influence: Oliver worries that he's this to John and Felicity.
- We Used to Be Friends: Oliver's and Anatoly's friendship is strained due to Oliver causing a member of the Bratva get killed by Deathstroke. They reconcile somewhat by the episode's end but it's clear that Anatoly wants Oliver to use his power as mayor to aid the Bratva.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Anatoly really reads Oliver the riot act for allowing a Bratva member to die, and for not following Bratva code.
- Rory confronts Felicity on using her intel to blackmail a man.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Dinah delivers a speech to this effect to Oliver when he worries that he is corrupting the people around him.Dinah: You affect the people the people in your life, Oliver. That's hardly a revelatory observation. Yeah, and I... I think... it's called living. Prometheus has you so fixated on what's wrong with you, you've stopped seeing what's right. You know, John, Felicity... they'll listen to you. Because you have more to offer... (shows his bloodied knuckles) than just this. Your past is a part of you. There's nothing you can do about that. You can't change it. Doesn't mean it has to be your anchor.
