"My name is Oliver Queen. After five years in hell, I returned home with only one goal: to save my city. But I couldn't honor that commitment and honor the promise I made to the mother of my son. So I asked the best man I know to help. His name is John Diggle, and he is the Green Arrow."
— Oliver Queen, Modified Opening Narration
Putting his Honor Before Reason, John has taken up the Green Arrow mantle, so Oliver can focus more on raising William.
- Automatic Crossbow: People were getting suspicious of how Green Arrow isn't using any arrows. So Felicity and Curtis created the "Green Monster" a prototype BFG of a crossbow that can be set to rapid-fire arrows. In a Call-Back to the first ever Arrow episode, Diggle tosses a couple of tennis balls and with the Green Monster, he's able to put arrows into each one in quick succession.
- Batman Gambit: Oliver pulls one by using a provison in the city charter to take an anti-vigilante bill that would've passed city council and been impossible to veto by turning it into a city-wide referendum. It also just makes Agent Watson more suspicious.
- Car Cushion: Taken to a ridiculous level when Diggle is intentionally launched into one by Canary’s Cry.
- Continuity Nod: Oliver mentions the Reston family from the Season 1 episode "Legacies", while claiming that Diggle's insistence back then that he focus on fighting crime beyond the List is what was the true genesis of the heroic 'Green Arrow' persona.
- The Chains of Commanding: In addition to his nerve damage, John finds out the hard way that it's not easy to be in command and having to call the hard shots. He admits that this never happened when he was in the army, as there's always someone these higher up the chain of command. That's not the case here.
- Every Car Is a Pinto: Semitruck in this case. The Villain of the Week blows one up simply by crashing it.
- He's Back!: By the end, John is able to work through his nerve damage and is able to shoot again — even better; subverted as the end of the episode reveals he's taking some sort of illicit steroid to fix it.
- Hollywood Healing: Averted with Alex Faust, whose arm is still in a bandage.
- Honor Before Reason: Diggle never told Oliver about his nerve damage... or anyone else; on the flip Dinah continues to keep Diggle's secret even though it's not in Team Arrow's interest. His inability to shoot at a target predictably causes complications.
- Idiot Ball: John grabs it by not only telling anybody about his nerve damage but also by taking some sort of illicit steroid to control it.
- Jerkass: Agent Watson shows up in Oliver's office unannounced for no other reason than just to give him grief.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Even Quentin agrees with Agent Watson that the Mayor supporting the Green Arrow undercuts police morale; contrast the Central City Police Department where the Flash's presence is welcomed — mainly because without him they would be over-run with meta-humans.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: Mixed with Adaptational Villainy. Onyx, while having ties to the League of Assassins, is usually an ally of the Batfamily in the comics. Here, she is an enemy of Team Arrow.
- Spotting the Thread: Everyone is quick to notice that the Green Arrow isn't firing arrows.
- String Theory: Agent Watson has one trying to figure out who the Green Arrow is; it has Oliver on and all of his known associates.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Dinah gives Diggle grief over his not telling the team the truth. Beforehand, there is Rene calling John out on his apathy in the field.
- Would Hit a Girl: Diggle has no qualms about fighting hand to hand with Onyx and finally incapacitates her with a knockout punch to the face.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: When Oliver finds Diggle brooding, he reminds him that he was the one who turned the Hood into an actual hero, by getting him to actually help people instead of just focusing on the list. He even tells John that he has the potential to be a far better hero than he ever was.
