Oliver Queen's trial for his life begins, as Diaz is determined to make Oliver is found guilty of being the Green Arrow. But Oliver might receive help from an old and unexpected friend.
- Amoral Attorney: Averted with Alexa van Owen, the outside prosecutor brought in for Oliver's case, she's just very competent at her job. Though she does take advantage of the immense leeway the judge gives her.
- Asshole Victim: McGarvey, the corrupt judge in Diaz's pocket, gets killed by the latter after his pleas of being ambushed and impersonated fall on deaf ears.
- Big Damn Heroes:
- Human Target twice. First when he impersonates Tommy Merlyn dressed as the Green Arrow and a second time when he impersonates the judge.
- Black Siren having a The Dog Bites Back moment and saying Tommy is the Green Arrow after it seemed like she'd just fold over for Diaz like she was implied to be heading towards through out the episode.
- Big Entrance: Human Target as "Green Arrow Tommy" enters the courtroom by crashing through the skylight. A Justified Trope as it helps sell the deception that he's the real Green Arrow.
- Bullying a Dragon: Diaz does this to Black Siren. This is the catalyst for her to turn on him.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Tommy Merlyn; subverted when it's revealed he's actually the Human Target doing Diggle a favor.
- Naturally, Human Target himself is an example of this as well, having not been seen since his debut episode.
- Common Nonsense Jury: The jury finds Oliver guilty, even with "Tommy"'s and "Laurel's" testimony. It's implied that like the judge they are also in Diaz's pocket but it's never actually confirmed.
- Continuity Nod: Several:
- Diggle's reasoning on the stand that he would know if Oliver was the Green Arrow because he used to be Oliver's bodyguard.
- Quentin telling a reporter that he arrested Oliver for being a vigilante years ago.
- The prosecutor managed to find the picture of Oliver in Russia that Susan Williams dug up.
- Corrupt Bureaucrat: McGarvey, the judge at Oliver's trial, is in Diaz's pocket; he does everything he can to undermine the defense by letting the prosecutor do whatever she wants, and overruling every objection that Oliver's defense raise even though they have strong legal merit. Eventually subverted at the end, where he sets aside the jury's verdict believing that given everything that happened no reasonable jury would've found Oliver guilty. Eventually double-subverted when it's revealed that the Human Target was impersonating the judge.
- Courtroom Episode: Most of the episode takes place during Oliver's trial.
- Crazy-Prepared: Turns out there was a reason Black Siren feared Diaz - he has a Power Nullifier!
- Dead Person Impersonation: The Human Target as Tommy Merlyn to throw a wrench into the prosecution's case.
- Don't Create a Martyr: Black Siren explains that the reason Diaz has been trying to get Oliver imprisoned rather than kill him when he had the chance is because he didn't want Oliver to become a martyr. After his plan goes up in smoke, Diaz decides that he doesn't care anymore and plans to kill Oliver and his friends.
- Everyone Has Standards: Even though they still think Oliver's a grade-A jerk, the New Recruits still acknowledge that Oliver has been trying to save the city and they don't want him to go to prison; Rene in particular is driven by a need to atone for getting him into the mess in the first place.
- Faking the Dead: This is Human Target's cover up story for his "Tommy Merlyn as Green Arrow" ploy.
- Friendship Moment: Rene and Oliver finally reconcile after nearly half a season.
- Hero Antagonist: Alexa van Owen. She isn't corrupt, and doesn't even have a personal grudge against Oliver, even calling him a hero. She is just doing her job.
- Hollywood Law: Eye-witness testimony is the worst kind of evidence, and the prosecution appears to rely on it exclusively. No real prosecutor would build a case on the shambles that is Oliver's trial.
- Hypocrite: Rene believes that Oliver is a jerk; he's one to talk.
- I Have Your Wife: When Rene is on the stand and is speaking in Oliver's favor, Diaz walks into the courthouse with Zoe. He backtracks to protect his daughter and says that Oliver, who understands the situation and gives the go-ahead, is the Green Arrow.
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: The mooks in Kasnia, who took Christopher Chance prisoner. Diggle starts opening fire while still landing with a parachute, being a huge visible target right in the air, and none of them even come close to hitting him.
- Internal Reveal: Jean Loring learns that Oliver is the Green Arrow.
- Invincible Villain: Diaz, thanks to having access to everything Cayden James learned about Team Arrow — including the existence of the Human Target
- I Shall Taunt You: Diaz. He taunts Rene by bringing in his daughter Zoe while he's on the stand and then Diggle and Dinah by summoning the SCPD to his side when they attack him.
- Mythology Gag: The title. 11/19/41 is the date GA made his debut in More Fun Comics 73.
- Noodle Incident: It's unknown how or why Christopher Chance wound up captured by armed men in Kasnia, or how Diggle knew about this to come to his rescue.
- Not Named in Opening Credits: Neither Colin Donnell (Tommy Merlyn) nor Wil Traval (Christopher Chance/Human Target) are named in the opening credits, to keep their appearances a surprise note .
- Refuge in Audacity: Star City is so corrupt, that a cop on Diaz's payroll can freely acknowledge the fact while listening in on what's suppose to be a private meeting between Oliver and his attorney. Later on, another cop openly calls Diaz "boss" on the street.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: While not openly saying it, Raisa makes it obvious to Felicity she's known for a long time Oliver is really Green Arrow.
- Smug Snake: When everything goes to shit, Diaz acts like a deluded Spoiled Brat not getting his way.
- Spanner in the Works: Black Siren ultimately derails Diaz's scheme by claiming on live TV that Tommy is the Green Arrow.
- Spotting the Thread: Diaz noticed Laurel's change of behaviour after he burned his childhood bully.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Human Target ups his witty remarks while in his "Tommy as Green Arrow" impersonation
- Time for Plan B: After his half a year plan to get Oliver imprisoned fails, Diaz moves on to his backup plan: killing Oliver and everyone he loves.
- Title Drop: The woman in court announces the title as Oliver's case.
- Took a Level in Kindness: New Team Arrow. Despite all the bad blood between them and Oliver in the past, they are all staunchly rallying behind the man in court.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The press release and the trailers reveal that Tommy Merlyn will be appearing in some capacity.
- Villainous Breakdown: Diaz has one when he sees Black Siren disobeying his orders on television. Though he quickly moves on the Plan B - killing Oliver (and everybody that he knows and loves) instead of just getting him imprisoned.
- What You Are in the Dark: Black Siren publicly testifies that Tommy is the Green Arrow, blatantly ignoring Diaz's orders showing how far she's come this season.
