With Thea in a coma, Oliver has no choice but to bring her to Ra's for treatment despite the objections of his friends and Malcolm.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Diggle asks Maeso what Akio would think of his father if he could see him now.
- A-Team Firing: During the car chase, everyone shoots at each other from moving vehicles and fail to hit anything.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- Ra's al Ghul got what he wanted; Oliver Queen has finally agreed to become his heir.
- In the flashbacks, General Shrieve succeeds in releasing the Alpha/Omega virus.
- Big Damn Heroes: A downplayed version, but when Team Arrow are trapped in a tunnel with archers on both sides, and is Malcolm telling them it would be best not to be taken alive, Oliver recovers from the drug and uses his authority as Heir to the Demon to make everyone back down. He then gets Team Arrow off on their jet before Ra's can find out and punish them.
- Call-Back:
- Oliver tells Felicity of how he broke the neck of a drug dealer in "The Return".
- Sarab uses a purple smoke signal to contact Oliver, as shown in "The Magician".
- Came Back Wrong: Malcolm would rather let Thea die than subject her to the Lazarus Pit since he knows it will have this effect on Thea.Malcolm: The waters change a person in the soul. Even if they work, the Thea you get back would not be the one you lost.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- While watching General Shrieve's men, Oliver notes that they are preparing a binary chemical weapon and getting lunch from a noodle cart. Turns out the noodle cart is how the bioweapon will be dispersed, and the heavy military truck guarded by soldiers is just a decoy.
- Turns out the Arrow logo in the Title Sequence is the symbol branded onto initiates into the League of Assassins.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Flashback-Oliver is struggling with a soldier when suddenly a katana blade bursts through the canvas side of the truck and through the soldier's chest. Tatsu then appears saying she thought Oliver could use some help.
- Death Is Cheap: Subverted in how Thea was never technically dead (just very close to it). It's also stated that the Pit will change her, but how exactly has yet to be seen.
- Despair Event Horizon: As Oliver admitted half a season back, there is nothing he'd not do if it meant saving Thea's life. Including making a deal with Ra's al Ghul to revive her in exchange for his cooperation and sacrificing his past life to become his heir. Captain Lance taking the League's bait and unwittingly helping ensure that he has nothing to lose only further ensures that Oliver would keep his word.
- Didn't Think This Through: Felicity's plan to get Oliver out of Nanda Parbat was bound to fall apart with or without Maseo's help. Lampshaded by Diggle and Malcolm, who are exasperated that she knocked him out and then expected them to think of a way to get him out.
- Downer Ending: Oliver reluctantly joins the League and everyone he left behind bitterly and heartbreakingly accepts the fact.
- Dramatic Irony/You Are What You Hate: Oliver literally becomes a "Dark Archer" at the end of the episode.
- Easily Forgiven: Ra's immediately forgives "Sarab" for betraying him, feeling that it was "Maseo" that did the act.
- Evil Costume Switch: Invoked when Oliver becomes an official member of the League.
- Everyone Can See It:
- Ray could tell from the way Felicity looked at Oliver during Roy Harper's goodbye that she loves him, as opposed to her underwhelming reaction to his Love Confession.
- Ra's cuts to the heart of Felicity's This Means War! bluster, recognising her grief at having Oliver taken from her.
- Fan Disservice:
- We get to see Thea in her bra... after she's been stabbed, is bleeding from multiple wounds, and has had her shirt opened to be defibbed. Later, we get to see her in a Sexy Soaked Shirt after coming out of the Lazarus Pit but she's not in a right state of mind at the time.
- Oliver gives another Shirtless Scene... while being branded as a League member looking visibly uncomfortable.
- Fanservice: The sex scene between Oliver and Felicity. We basically briefly see as much of topless Felicity as The CW would permit. And Oliver ain't too shabby either.
- Foreshadowing:
- Ra's al Ghul mentions that he has two daughters. Talia al Ghul will be introduced in Season Five.
- Ra's story about how he had to abandon his family (specifically a wife, son and daughter) is remarkably similar to what the Monitor will call on Oliver to do in the final season. Given that the Monitor is responsible for the creation of the League of Assassins, this may not be a coincidence.
- A Friend in Need: Felicity asks to borrow Ray Palmer's private jet so she can fly off with Oliver, the man Ray knows she loves more than him. Even though he would have every reason to refuse, he lets her have it in the hope of fixing whatever problem Felicity is having at the moment.
- Freudian Threat: When Tatsu threatens a soldier, he still wouldn't give up the location of the bio-weapon. When the sword was lowered to his groin, he started talking.
- Friendship Moment:
- Oliver shows his appreciation for the remaining members of his team sans Malcolm (whom he is pissed off at) and Laurel (who isn't there).
- Felicity seeks Laurel for comfort due to Oliver's decision.
- Genre Savvy: When Malcolm tells Felicity there's no way they can escape Nanda Parbat with Oliver without being spotted, Felicity says she's seen enough movies to know every Supervillain Lair has a secret exit. Malcolm admits there is, the catacombs.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: The unnamed League priestess.
- Ignored Expert: Team Arrow ignores Malcolm's protests on subjecting Thea to the Lazarus Pits and how suicidal it would be to try to break a bargain with Ra's because a) they hate him and b) he's pretty much the reason why they're in this situation in the first place.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Ray and Oliver say this about Felicity: Ray because she loves Oliver, and Oliver because of his obligation to the League, which he could only tolerate if he knew Felicity was living a happy life somewhere else.
- Kirk Summation: Diggle points out that despite the League's fearsome reputation, many of its members are nothing more than cowards who couldn't cope with pain and grief and so they ran away from their lives.
- Kneel Before Frodo: When Team Arrow (and Malcolm) arrive in Nanda Parbat, Ra's has the entire League assembled, so that they can all kneel to Oliver.
- Magical Defibrillator: Unexpectedly averted. At the beginning of the episode Thea has gone into shock and the hospital staff are using defibrillators. However, the moment she actually flat-lines, they switch over to CPR to get her heart started again.
- Manly Tears: Both Oliver and Malcolm break down in tears in the hospital after Thea goes into a coma.
- Meaningful Echo:
- In the flashback Maseo wonders why they're risking their lives to save others, and Tatsu replies that they would be like an Empty Shell if they didn't. Maseo/Sarab repeats the line to explain why he's helping Team Arrow.
- Malcolm warns that the Thea "you get back would not be the one you lost", which is what Moira's doctor said about Oliver in the pilot episode.
- The Missus and the Ex: Felicity seeks Laurel for comfort once she and the other members of Team Arrow sans Oliver himself returns from Nanda Parbat.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Malcolm sees Thea near death's door at the hospital, he realizes just how badly he screwed up by making Thea a pawn in his gambits.
- Mythology Gag:
- Ra's mentions he had a daughter other than Nyssa, later revealed to be Talia al Ghul. He also mentions having had a son, possibly in reference to Dusan al Ghul.
- In the flashbacks, Tatsu shows her skills using a Katana.
- Oliver wearing his League uniform evokes the Injustice: Gods Among Us Green Arrow costume
.
- The Nicknamer: Felicity is not happy about Oliver joining the League of Psychotic Murderers.
- No Name Given: The League priestess is credited exactly just that.
- Oh, Crap!: Oliver after failing to stop the spreading of The Virus in Hong Kong during the flashbacks.
- Only Mostly Dead: Thea. She's not dead, but neither modern medicine or the genius of the S.T.A.R. Labs team can save her—hence the trip to the Lazarus Pit.
- Out of Focus: Laurel only appeared in one scene.
Word of God later said that she has a scene with Oliver that was cut. - Pet the Dog:
- Ra's reveals that he was recruited by a man who arrived in the dead of night and told him to leave his family without a word or watch them be tortured to death in front of him. Compared to that, his actions—especially encouraging Felicity to confess her love to Oliver—are downright cuddly.
- Maseo admits to Ra's that he helped Oliver's friends escape and killed three League members in the process and kneels down expecting to be executed, but Ra's is satisfied that such a gesture proves that Sarab is loyal, and he should not be punished for Maseo's actions.
- Posthumous Character: Akio is confirmed to be dead.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Oliver gives a very brief but very effective one to Malcolm:Malcolm: The Thea you get back would not be the one you lost.
Oliver: The one we lost because of you! - Renamed the Same/This Is My Name on Foreign: Oliver's League codename is Al Sah-him, which is Arabic for Arrow.
- Resurrection Sickness: When Thea is resurrected by the Lazarus Pit, she attacks Oliver in animalistic rage and has to be knocked out by the priestess. Then when she wakes up, she doesn't recognise Oliver (saying her brother is dead) but recognizes Malcolm as her father and asks where her (dead) mother is. She appears to be back to normal by the time she gets to Starling City, but has no memory of the past few days.
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Maseo helps Team Arrow escape from Nanda Parbat. Pity it didn't work.
- Sexy Priestess: The League priestess sports a robe/outfit that shows a lot of skin, though it doesn't reach Stripperific levels.
- Sexy Soaked Shirt: Thea rising from the Lazarus Pit didn't go unnoticed by a number of male fans.
- She's Back: Ironically noted by Malcolm when Thea regains enough memory to start disliking him again.
- Shipper on Deck: Because of the circumstances (see Pet the Dog above), Ra's encourages Felicity to confess to Oliver.
- Shout-Out:
- Maseo says "you know nothing" to John Diggle.
- Worth noting due to who owns the franchise, Maseo also says John never had to tell his dying son that everything will be all right, only for it to turn into a lie.
- Slipping a Mickey: Felicity drugs Oliver's wine in an impulsive attempt to kidnap him from Nanda Parbat, an idea that even she knows is completely insane.
- That Man Is Dead: Ra's states that every League member must forfeit their old identity and forge a new one when they join the League. Oliver is something of an exception; he must stop being Oliver Queen and fully embrace being the Arrow, or as Ra's dubs him, Al Sah-him (Arabic for Arrow).
- Their First Time: Oliver and Felicity finally went horizontal, a fact that they themselves jokingly lampshade afterwards. Funnily enough, Ra's of all people encouraged it (kind of), as a way for Oliver to gain some closure before he fully joins the League.
- This Is Gonna Suck: Team Arrow and Malcolm know going to Nanda Parbat is a really bad idea, but Oliver won't let Thea die.
- Trailers Always Spoil:
- Oliver joining the League of Assassins was blatantly spoiled in the future episodes trailer of The Flash (2014) a few weeks before this episode aired.
- Likewise, Thea's survival was spoiled by this own show's future episodes trailer by showing her wearing a darker version of her comic counterpart's Iconic Outfit (or at least part of it).
- Villain Protagonist: Oliver starts to become this by the end of the episode.
- Villain Respect: When Felicity marches right up to Ra's and chews him out for forcing Oliver into this situation, an act which would likely get anyone else killed, he says outright that he admires her courage.
- White Shirt of Death: Inverted. Thea wears a white gown when she's soaked into the Lazarus Pit, which brings her back to life in a way.
