With Agent Watson and the FBI now assisting them, Team Arrow finally has the resources to take down Diaz. But Watson's help comes at a steep price.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unclear where Black Siren is left by the end of the season. While it appears that her plan to impersonate Earth-1 Laurel may come to fruition, it also seems Agent Watson is aware of who she really is and the atrocities she's committed, and it's not known if Oliver's deal for his team's immunity extends to her as well. For that matter, the same can be said for Anatoly, who disappears about a quarter way through the episode.
- Battle in the Rain: The Final Battle between Oliver and Diaz this season takes place on a rainy rooftop.
- Bittersweet Ending: The list of people under Diaz's influence is exposed, finally freeing the city from his corruption. However, he's still in the wind, Quentin dies, Team Arrow's bases of operations have been destroyed in the previous episode, and Oliver goes to prison after publicly exposing himself as the Green Arrow.
- Broken Masquerade: Oliver breaks it himself announcing to the world he is indeed the Green Arrow.
- The Bus Came Back: Sara Lance appears for the first time since Crisis on Earth-X. This will also be her first appearance outside an annual crossover since Lost Souls.
- Character Death: Quentin Lance.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Team Arrow, A.R.G.U.S. and the FBI utterly destroy Diaz's corrupt police force during the beginning.
- Deal with the Devil: Agent Watson isn't helping Team Arrow from the goodness of her heart. Not only does she force Oliver to confess to being the Green Arrow, when Diaz's empire is fully dismantled he has to go to prison at the end.
- The Dreaded: The Longbow Hunters. Even the League of Assassins were afraid of them. Overlaps with Eviler than Thou.
- End of an Age:
- Oliver's six-year hard work to keep his Secret Identity finally comes to an end.
- In a meta-example, this episode marked the last time Paul Blackthorne played a regular character, as he left the show after this season. Marc Guggenheim also stepped down as showrunner, having served in the role since the show's premiere, as did Wendy Mericle, who first took the role in Season 4.
- Feed the Mole: Diaz has become aware of Anatoly's treachery, and gets him to relay information that puts the heroes in a Death Trap.
- Friendship Moment: Oliver has one with each member of the team, giving John a new Green Arrow suit he made for him, reconciling with the New Recruits, and thanking Quinton for being a good father figure for him. This tips Felicity off that something is wrong and acts as foreshadowing for when Oliver turns himself in to the FBI.
- The Ghost: The Longbow Hunters are mentioned but not actually seen.
- Heroic BSoD: The unnamed FBI agent alongside Rene and Watson freezes when the bombs go off and has to be saved by Rene.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Oliver made a deal with Watson. In exchange for immunity for his friends, he turns himself in.
- In a more classic example, Quentin throws himself before a bullet meant for Black Siren.
- History Repeats:
- Once again, a Lance is dealt a mortal blow by the season's Big Bad before finally dying in the hospital. He even gets declared dead by the same doctor who tried to save his daughter.
- Much like when Quentin arrived too late to see Laurel before her death, Sara arrives too late to see her father before his. What's worse is that both Laurel and Quentin were expected to make full recoveries in their respective episodes.
- For the second time in her life, Black Siren watches her father die.
- I Am Not Him: Sara sees Black Siren for the first time and nearly embraces her before remembering that this woman before her is not her sister. When she asked if she's anything like the late Earth-1 Laurel, Black Siren regretfully replies that she isn't.
- I Have Your Wife: Diaz tries to force Quentin to get the FBI out of the city, threatening Laurel's life.
- Internal Reveal:
- Oliver and the rest of the team finally learn about the pacemaker Quentin received between seasons 2 and 3.
- The whole world learns the truth about Oliver and his double life as the Green Arrow, the Arrow, and the Hood. This time, he can't take it back or cover it up.
- Karma Houdini: For the very first time in any season finale of Arrow, the Big Bad is known to still be alive and to have fully evaded justicenote , meaning he'll likely return in the same role next season.
- Loophole Abuse: Oliver's trial for being the Green Arrow was at the state level, so Watson arrests him on federal charges at the end. This can be explained by Oliver's activities taking him across state lines.
- Made of Iron: Diaz takes a beating from Oliver, an arrow right through his torso, and is blasted by Laurel's sonic waves off a building into the water below, but still manages to escape relatively unharmed.
- Meaningful Echo: Black Siren usually scoffs at anyone who compares her to her late Earth-1 counterpart. Her aforementioned I Am Not Him reply to Sara when the latter asked her if she's anything like her late sister is the first time she sounded disappointed that she isn't like Earth-1 Laurel, showing her Character Development.
- Mythology Gag:
- The Longbow Hunters are a reference to the same group from "Broken", the arc that had Oliver Queen fight Ricardo Diaz in the comics.
- It also references a storyline called Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters which was written by Mike Grell (and whose run has served as a major influence for the show’s tone).
- The fact that Oliver winds up in a Supermax prison at the end of the season seems to be a nod to the unproduced film, Green Arrow: Supermax.
- Aside from a few changesnote , Quentin's death from the comicbooks is kept intact.
- The Longbow Hunters are a reference to the same group from "Broken", the arc that had Oliver Queen fight Ricardo Diaz in the comics.
- Never Got to Say Goodbye: Poor Sara Lance just can't catch a break. First her sister by a couple of episodes, now her father by mere minutes.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- Subverted with Quentin, who tips Diaz off about the FBI. But he only did so Felicity could track his pacemaker to Diaz's hideout.
- Played straight with Laurel. Her sonic scream knocks Diaz into the water but leaves him alive, allowing him to escape.
- No Sympathy: Watson has absolutely no kind of sympathy for Black Siren being held hostage. As she says it, she is a criminal who made her own bed.
- Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Oliver's masquerade is permanently broken for good as he breaks it himself.
- The Oner: It's easy to miss, but Oliver's rooftop fight with Diaz is a variant (albeit a short oner, relatively speaking) - the first half of the fight features one long take between the two of them interspersed with closer-up shots, likely to help discern who's who.
- Sadistic Choice: Defied. Diaz tries to get Quentin to kick the FBI out of town in exchange for freeing Black Siren. Quentin, not nearly being so naive tells him to go to hell.
- Season Finale: The sixth one for Arrow.
- Sequel Hook: Despite his empire being destroyed, Diaz is still in the wind, plotting his revenge, and apparently now has the aid of the Longbow Hunters. One should also remember that he is in charge of the Quadrant at this point, and they have plenty of resources.
- Also, Oliver's Secret Identity is revealed to the world and he's incarcerated in a supermax (which is most likely a set-up for a version of the Green Arrow: Escape from Supermax story).
- Shout-Out: Diaz makes a reference to Old Yeller, even though he doesn't remember the name of the film, citing the iconic Shoot the Dog scene. Laurel later calls it out by name.
- Slow Motion: Used in some of the fight scenes, particular the final fight on the roof between Oliver and Diaz, and when Sara arrives in the hospital.
- So Proud of You:
- Rene tells Zoe how proud he is of her when he calls her while being surrounded by bombs.
- Oliver tells Rene that he is proud of him too and that he has become a man that the city needs.
- Spoiler Title: The episode title gives away what will happen to Oliver in the end.
- Stab the Scorpion: Dinah removing Laurel's Power Nullifier at first makes her look like she is trying to kill Laurel again.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Diaz suddenly appears and disappears in Anatoly's car this way.
- Storming the Castle: After the inverse in last week’s episode, the episode's opening has all of Team Arrow, along with the FBI, assaulting the SCPD precinct and taking out the corrupt cops one by one.
- Taking the Bullet: Diaz tries to shoot Laurel after Quentin refuses to obey his order, only for the latter to take it for her.
- Time for Plan B: With the FBI capturing the SCPD, Diaz brings in some new players — the Longbow Hunters.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Agent Watson is noticeably less unpleasant here than in her earlier appearances. While her motivations and rules are still the same, she's much more sympathetic to the heroes, particularly after she witnesses Rene phoning his daughter before what he believes to be his death. That said she won't alter her deal with Oliver as she makes clear several times, even though he never actually suggest it to her.
- Trailers Always Spoil: Stephen Amell's tweets alluded to the fact Oliver might find his way back to Iron Heights.
- The Unfought: The Longbow Hunters are mentioned, but never encountered throughout the episode.
- Wham Episode: Although this is expected for a Season Finale, the fact that Oliver publicly exposes himself as the Green Arrow and goes to prison for it has major, permanent implications for the whole series going forward, potentially even with ripple effects throughout the whole Arrowverse.
- Wham Line: There are two examples, in the Dénouement.
- First:
Dr. Schwartz: Mayor Lance seized during the procedure. The surgeons worked to revive him. They did everything they could, but his brain was deprived of oxygen for seven minutes. He's gone. I'm very sorry.- And then, moments later:
Oliver: I am the Green Arrow. - You and What Army?: One of the corrupt cops comments how stupid the Green Arrow was invading the precinct. He then reveals the rest of Team Arrow and a whole army of FBI agents.
