Recap / Arrow S 1 E 23 Sacrifice

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On the island, Fyers orders a missile to be launched. Oliver cuts his bindings loose and attacks, but the missile is headed towards commercial airliner. Shado attempts to redirect it, but must fight off Fyers’ men, so Oliver has to finish connecting the reprogrammed guidance chip. When the missile returns and blows up the camp, Fyers has Shado at gunpoint. Oliver shoots Fyers in the neck with an arrow.

Oliver frees himself from Malcolm’s chains and, with Diggle’s help, escapes the building. Detective Lance brings Felicity into interrogation for her connection to the vigilante. The Hood calls Lance and warns him to evacuate the Glades. He lets Felicity go and is suspended for pushing the Hood’s agenda. At Verdant, Oliver alerts Tommy to their fathers’ plan, but Tommy does not believe him until his father later admits it’s the truth.

Moira holds a press conference to out Malcolm’s plan, which will take place tonight, and is afterwards arrested. Thea rushes to the Glades to save Roy, but Roy chooses to remain behind to help others. Having escaped the cops who came for him, Malcolm is found hiding behind a false wall by Oliver and Diggle, and they engage in a hood-on-hood battle. Oliver runs an arrow through his own and Malcolm’s chest to free himself, severely wounding himself and mortally wounding Malcolm.

After narrowing down the location of the device, Felicity coaches Lance on how to find and disarm it. Lance succeeds, only to find out there is another one at work. The wreckage of CNRI traps Laurel inside. Tommy sets her free, but is soon pinned down himself. Oliver rushes in and hovers over Tommy as Tommy dies.

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Tropes applying to this episode:

• All for Nothing: With Moira's confession making the truth of The Undertaking public, all of the excessively long and complicated preparations designed to disguise it as a natural disaster (and therefore hide The List's involvement) became this. In the end, Malcolm could have achieved the same result in less than half the time, and a fraction of the cost, by using a few home-made bombs.
• All Up to You: Slade can barely stand when Fyers turns up holding a gun to Shado's head. Oliver is holding the bow, but has never killed anyone deliberately before and was unable to reliably hit his mark. Fyers offers to call in a rescue boat, but Oliver choses to take the shot and doesn't miss.
• And Your Little Dog, Too!: Malcolm threatened to kill Moira and Thea after he's done with Oliver.
• Big Damn Kiss: Laurel and Oliver with Lip-Lock Sun-Block, and Roy and Thea (albeit a brief one because he has to save a Bus Full of Innocents).
• Bomb Disposal: Quentin and Felicity disabling the Earthquake Machine.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: Moira uses it, Played for Drama

  "My name is Moira Dearden Queen, and God help me, I have failed this city."

• Blatant Lies: Oh, Felicity.

  Det. Lance: Not exactly a hardened criminal, are you.

  Felicity: I'm not any kind of criminal.

  Lance: What do you call computer hacking?

  Felicity: A hobby. (Beat) That... I do not engage in?

  • When Quentin places his call to Laurel, she tries telling him she's not at CNRI while she's in the midst of trying to save their files. Quentin calls her on it, knowing full well she would have turned up to work anyway.
  • Tommy brings up how he saw Oliver with Laurel and when Oliver says he's sorry, Tommy just says, "No, you're not."
• Break Out the Museum Piece: Ollie uses the bow he used to kill Fyers in his duel with Malcolm.
• The Bus Came Back: Joanna after leaving in "Burned"
• Call-Back: Quentin's hacker discover evidence of her involvement in the cases involving Blackhawk, Sagittarius and Vertigo.
• Cassandra Truth:
  • Detective Lance is on both ends of this one, given how nutty the whole "prominent citizen creating an artificial earthquake" plan sounds to him and later his captain. Notably, the police don't seem to believe the story until after Moira's press conference confirms everything.
  • Tommy refuses to believe Oliver also until his father confirms it.
• Catapult Nightmare: A variation; the episode opens with Oliver dreaming of Robert Queen's murder/suicide, followed by a Water Wake-up from one of Malcolm's goons as Oliver wakes up hanging from chains in an Abandoned Warehouse.
• Chain Pain: Oliver uses the same chain he was shackled with against Malcolm's Mooks.
• Chekhov's Skill:
  • Oliver shows those pull-up scenes weren't just for Workout Fanservice when he climbs the chains holding him in Unwilling Suspension to free himself.
  • Shado's archery lessons for when Oliver uses Shado's bow to kill the man holding her hostage.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome:
  • Roy tries to live up to his idol by saving people in peril in the Glades even while the earthquake is happening.
  • Laurel goes to remove the CNRI files so their work can continue, despite knowing of the earthquake.
• Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Oliver takes out two mooks with Chain Pain before a third turns up with a gun, but is shot by Diggle who followed Oliver's Tracking Device. Likewise Roy takes down two thugs only to be confronted by a third with a gun, who goes down from a well-aimed bottle thrown by Thea.
• Crazy-Prepared:
  • Oliver has a Tracking Device in his boot.
  • After the climax, Malcolm is bleeding to death, and the Markov device is deactivated. Why is he laughing? Because he has a second Markov device.
• Deadfoot Leadfoot: Shado Boom Headshots the driver of the mobile missile launcher, causing it to drive away from the camp while Shado and Oliver are fighting the other mooks on top of it. When Shado falls off it's up to Oliver to put the reprogrammed command chip back in time.
• Death of the Hypotenuse: Tommy is killed off just as Oliver and Laurel get back together in the season finale.
• Dies Wide Open: Malcolm dies this way.
• Downer Ending: The last shot of season 1 is Oliver crying as Tommy dies, while the Lances hold each other against the backdrop of the now-mostly-destroyed Glades.
• Dramatic Irony: Like his late mother, Tommy died in the Glades while doing something noble.
• Dying Alone: Malcolm plays for Tommy the recorded voicemail message of his mother, where she begs Malcolm not to let her die alone.
• Dying Smirk: Malcolm gloats one last time before dying.
• The End Is Nigh: Turns out people do up these signs even while fleeing an impending earthquake!
• Failed Attempt at Drama: On being ushered into the interrogation room, Felicity refuses to take a seat, only to meekly sit down when Quentin shuts the door loudly.
• Flat "What": Played for Drama when Tommy hears Malcolm admitting his plan to destroy the Glades.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Before Tommy rushes to rescue her, there was a shot emphasizing a rebar pointing out of the debris that was pinning Laurel.
  • When Ollie goes back into Fyers's camp looking for Shado and Slade, Slade starts laughing and says, "I should have known you couldn't save the day without making a mess".
• Friendship Moment: Diggle tells Oliver that since he recruited him and Felicity You Are Not Alone. "A soldier never lets a brother go into battle alone." Compare with how Diggle said Oliver wasn't a soldier but a criminal and murderer on first finding out he was the Hood.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Tommy is impaled on a rebar while saving Laurel from the collapsing CNRI.
  • Oliver chooses to save Shado than to take Fyer's offer of a rescue ship whisking him off the island.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Two examples, one in the present and one in flashback.
  • Fyers's plan and base are destroyed when Oliver and Shado redirect the missile he fired.
  • Oliver manages to defeat Malcolm Merlyn by stabbing them both with one of Merlyn's own black arrows.
• Hope Spot
  • Malcolm has been defeated and the device defused. But there's a second one.
  • Oliver is lifting the rubble off Tommy so it looks like he'll be saved like Laurel. Then we get the Mortal Wound Reveal of a rebar through his chest.
• Humans Are Bastards: Once the Undertaking becomes public knowledge, mass looting, opportunistic street crime, and rioting overtake the Glades and stymie the evacuation.
• If I Do Not Return: When it appears Detective Lance isn't going to be able to disarm the device in time and escape, he calls Laurel to tell her he loves her, and ask her not to shut herself off from life like he did after Sara's death.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:
  • Tommy who on top of being crushed and trapped is also fatally impaled by falling debris.
  • Oliver defeats Malcolm by stabbing himself with an arrow while the latter is putting him in a sleeper hold.
• Internal Reveal
  • Quentin discovers Felicity's connection to the Hood, and he also confesses his own connection to his fellow officers.
  • Moira discovers how Robert really died.
• I Wished You Were Dead: Tommy states, in a fit of anger, that Ollie should have died on that island.
• Kick the Dog: At the start of the episode, Malcolm Merlyn doesn't kill Oliver when he's at his mercy as he is reluctant to harm Moria's son. During their final confrontation however, Malcolm announces that he will not only kill Moira after he is finished with Oliver, but Thea as well.
• Let Them Die Happy: Oliver assures Tommy that he didn't kill his father, letting him believe that his father was still OK.
• Manly Tears: Oliver breaks down after Tommy dies. Tommy himself had a Single Tear while apologizing to Oliver before succumbing to his wounds.
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": We see most of the cast react to Moira's press conference in horror.
• Meaningful Echo: During the "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Malcolm tells Oliver he keeps losing in their fights because he doesn't know what he's fighting for. At the end of the episode, Oliver tells him, "Thank you for teaching me what I'm fighting for, but my father taught me how." before killing him.
• Misguided Missile: Fyers orders the missile launched before the others can stop it, but Shado is able to reprogram it to return to its point of origin, blowing up Fyers camp.
• Motive Rant: Malcolm shows his true colors to his son and explains the whole plan.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Moira’s middle name or maiden name is “Dearden.” Dearden also happens to be Thea’s middle name. The second “Speedy” in the comics (with Roy Harper as the first) was “Mia Dearden.”
  • Related to the above, Thea mentions that she must have "wicked aim" after taking out a thug in the Glades.
  • There’s a reference to a station near Papp. George Papp was one of Green Arrow’s co-creators.
• Negated Moment of Awesome: Detective Lance and Felicity just barely defuse the Markov Device...and then Malcolm reveals he has a backup device elsewhere that goes off anyway. More broadly, Team Arrow and Detective Lance finally work together and seemingly achieve a clean victory, only to lose the Glades and Tommy Merlyn minutes later.
• Nonchalant Dodge: Oliver easily dodges when a drunken Tommy takes a swing at him.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Det. Lance cuts the blue wire. There's a noise...
  • Everyone when the second Markov device goes off.
• Pet the Dog: After beating him at the end of the previous episode, Malcolm has Oliver chained up but does not kill him. He treats him with evident respect, thanks him for saving his life, and expresses regret for murdering his father and causing Oliver's five year exile.
• Please Wake Up: Oliver begs Tommy to open his eyes after he dies.
• Plot Armor: Downplayed by having Oliver and Shado carried away from the camp on the missile launcher, but only Fyers and a wounded Slade survive the destruction of the mercenary camp.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Malcolm Merlyn destroys a sizable portion of the Glades, but at the cost of alienating (and accidentally killing) his son and exposing himself as a mass murderer and Moira Queen as one of the conspirators. Considering that he and the other conspirators were acting out of love for their families, it's a bit of an own goal.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Downplayed; Malcolm tells Oliver that even though he's younger and faster, he's been able to defeat Oliver because deep down he doesn't know what he's fighting for.
• Rescue Romance: This time it's Thea who turns up to save Roy.
• Rule of Three:
  • This episode marks the third time this season we (and Oliver) get to see a present-day antagonist do an Arrow Catch (Helena and then Malcolm Merlyn); this time, though, Oliver anticipates it and uses an Explosive Arrow.
  • The Dark Archer has defeated Oliver twice before. Oliver tries to even the odds by bringing Diggle, uses an explosive arrow against the Arrow Catch, but even that's not enough until Oliver shows himself willing to drive an arrow through his own chest into Malcolm.
• Season Finale: The inaugural.
• Shirtless Captives: Oliver is stripped to the waist before being chained up, and escapes in a sequence reminiscent of his Workout Fanservice scenes. Apparently this was at the request of gay actor John Barrowman who wanted at least one Shirtless Scene with Stephen Amell.
• Suddenly Shouting: Malcolm does this when Tommy tries to point out that he is willing to kill everyone in the Glades. Even the person he's talking to gets startled by this. This moment signals the beginning of his Villainous Breakdown.
• Spanner in the Works:
  • Oliver, Lampshaded by Fyers.
    Fyers: Amazing. A two year operation undone because a young playboy happened to wash up on the shore.
  • Similarly, Oliver was this for The Undertaking. The plan was to destroy The Glades in a way that appeared to be a natural disaster, so as to avoid any suspicion being cast on The List. This necessitated a process lasting nearly a decade, waiting for the Markov Device to be ready, buying up as much of The Glades as possible, and Malcolm personally murdering anyone involved in creating the device. Oliver's return led to the entire scheme being exposed and almost stopped entirely, and ensured that nobody who could have profited from the Undertaking was able to do so.
• Survivor's Guilt: Tommy closes his eyes for the final time, Ollie cries that he should have been the one who died, not Tommy.
• Took a Level in Badass: Fyers lampshades this to Oliver, noting that he's come far from when he was just a stranded billionaire playboy. The confrontation ends with Ollie shoots Fyers in the neck, while he's holding Shado hostage.
• True Companions: Team Arrow cements their companionship when they refuse to leave Ollie behind.
• Turn in Your Badge: After Lance goes to his Captain with Oliver's information about the Undertaking.
• Verbal Backspace: Felicity says computer hacking is just a hobby. "That ... I ... do not engage in."
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Malcolm's begins when Tommy points out his mass murder, implicitly rejecting him, then escalates when Moira exposes him on live TV and continues through the episode, his Affably Evil facade destroyed.
  • Fyers falls into one after Ollie breaks free.
• Wham Episode: Moira goes public with the Undertaking and is arrested for her part in it; Oliver kills Malcolm but is unable to completely stop the destruction of the Glades; Tommy manages to save Laurel from the collapsing CRNI building but is mortally wounded in the process; and in the island flashback, Oliver, Shado and Slade manage to stop Fyers' plan, destroying his base and killing him and his men, but now leaving them with no way off the island.
• Wham Line:
  Malcolm: If I learned anything as a successful businessman, it's...redundancy.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Oliver finally confronts his mother directly (not as The Hood) about her role in Malcolm's Evil Plan. When Moira tries to justify this as protecting her children, Oliver reveals how Robert killed himself so he could live, and having had to live with that, asks if she really thinks he's going to let her and Malcolm kill thousands on his behalf.
• White Shirt of Death: Tommy is wearing a white polo when he dies. The blood is also emphasized.
• With My Hands Tied: Oliver kills two men using the very chain that was shackling him without unlocking it.
• You Killed My Father: Ollie to Malcolm.
  "You murdered my father! You sentenced me to that island, to five years of hell!"
• You Wouldn't Shoot Me: Tommy tries to stop his father at gunpoint. Malcolm sees his reluctance and easily disarms him.

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