Line #82 Recap/ArrowS3E12Uprising


1	Oliver begins his journey back to Starling City, while Team Arrow continues to try and fight Brick's men without him. Meanwhile, Thea and Merlyn continuing preparing for the League's assault.
2	----
3	!!Tropes:
4
5	* BatterUp: Sin's weapon during the titular event.
6	* BlindedByTheLight: When he gets tired of masked vigilantes jumping out at his men from the shadows, Brick loads a shotgun with flare shells and uses them against our heroes.
7	* TheBusCameBack: Sin and Ted Grant.
8	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Malcolm intends to kill Brick by shooting him with his own gun, the same one he used on his wife Rebecca. But Brick doesn't know who he's talking about, since he's killed many people with that gun. Eventually he remembers her as the "brunette", his first kill as [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten part of an initiation to join a gang]].
9	* ChronicEvidenceRetentionSyndrome: Turns out that 9mm Beretta Brick carries is the one he uses for all his homicides, including Rebecca Merlyn twenty years ago. Felicity notes he's either stupid or arrogant.
10	* ClarkKenting: Averted when Roy goes to have a conversation with Capt. Lace as Arsenal, in full costume and with a voice changer. Lance ''immediately'' recognizes him.
11	-->'''Arsenal:''' ''(with voice changer)'' Captain Lance.\
12	'''Lance:''' ''Harper.''\
13	''[beat]''\
14	'''Arsenal:''' I'm not sure what you--\
15	'''Lance:''' I've seen you wearing a red hoodie, I've seen you shooting arrows at people, you think I don't recognize ya with a little extra leather and lace?\
16	'''Arsenal:''' ''(beat)'' Well, I guess I won't be needing this anymore. ''[turns off voice changer]''
17	* CatchPhrase
18	** Arsenal and Black Canary uses the BorrowedCatchphrase version when challenging Brick.
19	--->'''Black Canary:''' Daniel Brickwell...
20	--->'''Arsenal:''' You have failed this city.
21	--->'''Brick:''' And you seem to have failed in your maths. [[JustYouAndMeAndMyGuards Can't you see there's a lot more of us than there is of you?]]
22	--->'''Sin:''' [[WalkInChimeIn Guess again]], [[TheNicknamer Brick-head.]] ''(enters with equal number of Glades residents)''
23	** During his speech at the end, the Arrow tells the citizens of the Glades that they have not failed this city, and he won't fail them by leaving it again.
24	* ComfortingComforter: Malcolm to Thea after returning to find her asleep on the couch.
25	* ContinuityNod:
26	** Roy was mistaken as [[Series/{{The Flash 2014}} The Flash]] ("The Red Streak") at the beginning of the episode.
27	** Thea mentions Moira's HeroicSacrifice.
28	** Malcolm mentions The Undertaking and Tommy's death.
29	* ADayInTheLimelight[=/=]VillainEpisode: The episode focused on Malcolm's StartOfDarkness.
30	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: Felicity's WhatTheHellHero to Oliver.
31	-->'''Felicity:''' You said you loved me?! If that's true then why are you abandoning everything that you stood for by working with Malcolm?! Someone who brainwashed Thea, a person you're supposed to love, into killing a woman you used to love (Sara)?!
32	* DescriptionCut:
33	** When Oliver asks Tatsu to teach him swordfighting, she rejects it saying that he needs someone who understands how Ra's fights. "Only the student can surpass the master." We then cut to Malcolm Merlyn sharpening a League of Assassins sword.
34	** When Malcolm [[MeaningfulEcho repeats the line]] about the student surpassing the master, we then cut to a flashback of a young Nyssa in training who meets Malcolm, her future ArchEnemy.
35	* EnemyMine: Malcolm offered Team Arrow a hand in fighting Brickwell. They refused (or rather, Roy was outvoted). At the end of the episode, Oliver asks Malcolm to train him fight Ra's, to the shock of Felicity who was the most vocal opponent of them teaming up.
36	* EventTitle: The episode refers to Roy and Laurel rallying the citizens of the Glades to fight against Brickwell and his posse.
37	* EvilMentor: In addition to Thea, Malcolm may well become Oliver's too.
38	* EvilVersusEvil: Brick vs. Malcolm.
39	* GodzillaThreshold: The only way Ollie has even a ''chance'' of defeating Ra's al-Ghul is to be trained by someone from the League, and Malcolm Merlyn is the only choice.
40	* GondorCallsForAid: Team Arrow reaches out to the people of the Glades to ask for help standing up to Brick.
41	* GoneHorriblyWrong: According to Malcolm, everything he has ever planned has turned into this. Even the plans that he believed UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans caused a terrible outcome.
42	* HesBack: Roy and Laurel exchange a delighted look on seeing a green-colored arrow slam into a mook.
43	* HonorBeforeReason: Team Arrow (sans Roy) rejecting Malcolm's offer of help. Diggle even lampshades it by saying they "I don't know if we made the right choice, but we definitely did the right thing."
44	* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim: The episode's Aesop.
45	* IgnoredEpiphany: Felicity had hoped that after his LoveConfession, if by some miracle Oliver survived his DuelToTheDeath it would cause him to reconsider their relationship. Instead the only lesson he has taken is that he needs to join forces with Malcolm, the very option Felicity refused on his behalf not too long ago.
46	* InternalReveal: Sin tells Captain Lance that The Canary that is running around now is not Sara.
47	* {{Irony}}: Lampshaded by Felicity when it turns out Brick is operating from the abandoned police station.
48	* KingpinInHisGym: Thea and Malcolm swordfighting. She does well, but loses because she hesitates to go for the CoupDeGrace.
49	* ALighterShadeOfBlack: Between Malcolm and Brick, the former was portrayed more sympathetically. It even counts as a literal example -- both wear black outfits, but Malcolm's is more "glowing".
50	* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Team Arrow is completely unaware of what Oliver's been up to since he left Starling, so they are less than understanding when he teams up with Malcolm.
51	* LoveMakesYouEvil: Malcolm's StartOfDarkness was triggered by his wife's murder.
52	* LoveRedeems: Cited by Malcolm after Oliver talks him out of killing Brick. Malcolm thinks IveComeTooFar to ever be redeemed, but Oliver convinces him to show Thea a different side to himself.
53	* MistakenIdentity: Roy was mistaken as [[Series/{{The Flash 2014}} The Flash]] ("The Red Streak") at the beginning of the episode.
54	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Malcolm learns he killed the ''wrong'' man in vengeance for his wife, leading him to realize that everything he's done has been one big tragic mistake.
55	* MythologyGag: During the titular uprising, Ted calls himself Wildcat, his comic counterpart's superhero identity.
56	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Thea is understandably confused--though pleased--when her brother turns up at her apartment while Malcolm is there and doesn't kick up a fuss, having already decided to form an alliance with him.
57	* PaperThinDisguise: Once again, Roy's identity is less of a secret than Oliver's. His distinctive fighting style and obsession with the Arrow make it pretty obvious who Arsenal is to anyone who knows him.
58	* PoliceAreUseless: Captain Lance is stuck listening to desperate 911 calls from people whom the police are not allowed to help. He does give whatever help he can to Team Arrow behind the scenes, and after Brick is taken down gets the police to go back into the Glades and arrest the rest of his gang.
59	* PowerFist: Ted's weapon during the titular event.
60	* PragmaticHero: Roy is willing to team-up with Malcolm when the rest of Team Arrow is not. Oliver also asks Malcolm to teach him sword techniques so he'll have a chance of killing Ra's al-Ghul.
61	* PutOnABus: This is the last we see of Sin except for a [[Recap/ArrowS7E12EmeraldArcher cameo in Season Seven]].
62	* RunningGag: Oliver still doesn't like boats.
63	* ShootTheTelevision: A [[{{Exposition}} news report on Brick taking over the Glades]] is interrupted by one of his thugs smashing the screen with a baseball bat before shaking down the owner.
64	* SpotTheImposter: Sin is delighted at seeing the Canary, but is surprised when 'Sara' doesn't appear to recognise her and just rides off with Arsenal. On getting a good look at the Canary later, she realises someone else is wearing the mask and lets Sara's father know.
65	* StartOfDarkness: We see Malcolm in a flashback as a loving father to Tommy, waking him up from a nightmare and comforting him. Then some officers show up at the door with some bad news and we see that loving heart ''die''.
66	* SympathyForTheDevil: Oliver (and to a slight degree, Roy) for Malcolm. Averted very much with the rest of Team Arrow who still hate Malcolm with a passion.
67	* TemptingFate:
68	** Felicity can't think of any possible scenario where Oliver would agree to teaming up with Malcolm Merlyn.
69	** Despite his promise to the citizens of the Glades, Oliver is forced to leave Starling City [[Recap/ArrowS3E20TheFallen before the end of the season]].
70	* ThatManIsDead: Thea tries to encourage her father to find a non-violent solution to avenging his wife's murder, but he rejects the idea.
71	-->'''Thea:''' You protected me, risked your life for me just like my mother did.
72	-->'''Malcolm:''' Thea, I know you want to believe there's more to me than a killer, but the fact is, there's not. That man died with his wife.
73	* TimeShiftedActor: Tommy, Oliver and Nyssa are portrayed by children under 12 in Malcolm's flashbacks.
74	* TrueCompanions: When Oliver insists on heading back to Starling City despite not being fully recovered, Tatsu refuses to come with him. She ends up sneaking after him to make sure he gets back to civilization without keeling over.
75	* UnderestimatingBadassery:
76	** Thea clearly still doesn't understand how dangerous the League is, despite Merlyn's warnings. While she's willing to stand her ground and defend herself, she hasn't quite internalized the fact that there's no way she's strong enough to fight the League without killing.
77	** Felicity as well, since she clearly doesn't understand just how badly Oliver needs Merlyn's help to beat Ra's.
78	* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Danny Brickwell killed Rebecca Merlyn. That makes him indirectly responsible for the events of the series.
79	* VengeanceFeelsEmpty: Malcolm kills the man (who he thinks and the police think) killed his wife, but all he feels is anger; hence why he goes to join the League.
80	* VillainousRescue: The Dark Archer turns up to rescue Arsenal and the Black Canary. It doesn't cut any ice with Team Arrow.
81	* WhatHaveWeEar: In the flashback Malcolm is shown doing this to comfort Tommy from a nightmare. On arriving at Nanda Parbat he does the same trick for a young Nyssa [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior after she threatens to kill him]], causing her to give him his League name of "The Magician".
82	* WhatTheHellHero: Felicity is '''not''' happy that Oliver is willing to train under a mass-murdering psychopath who has personally caused the deaths/trauma of several of Ollie's loved ones. (Although Olivier really has no other choice; it's that or let Ra's al-Ghul kill him and everyone else he cares about.)
83	-->'''Felicity:''' Before you left, the last thing you said to me...was that you loved me. Now you're back, and the first thing you tell me is that you are working with the man who turned your sister--a woman you're supposed to love--into a killer, who killed a woman you used to love! ''(beat)'' I don't want to be a woman that...you love.
84	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: An odd example. Brick's gang is armed with various handguns and automatic rifles. The somewhat larger citizen army is armed with mostly ad-hoc melee weapons such as bats, crowbars, and even a plank of wood. They charge into melee and engage hand to hand before firing a single shot.
85	* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: Brick taunts Malcolm with how his wife begged for her life, and contrasts it with his DefiantToTheEnd response.
86	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Brick gets increasingly annoyed by all these Halloween-costumed vigilantes confronting him. During the climactic battle, he manages to fend them off and escape down an alley, only to run into Merlyn in his Dark Archer outfit. Brick yells out an exasperated "REALLY?!" in response.
87	* YouKilledMyFather: Team Arrow (and, by way of a bug on their computer, Merlyn) learn that Brickwell is responsible for the murder of Merlyn's wife.
88	* YouWouldntShootMe: Malcolm gets a brutal beating from the man he thinks killed his wife when he hesitates to pull the trigger. As he's strutting away though, Malcolm shoots him InTheBack.

Context Recap / ArrowS3E12Uprising