Oliver was only pretending to be brainwashed, and reveals to Malcolm the plan to destroy Starling City with the Alpha-Omega Virus. Malcolm has to convince Team Arrow to travel to Nanda Parbat to destroy it before it can be deployed.
- All According to Plan
- In the Batman Cold Open, a criminal is being chased by Diggle, only to lead him onto the rest of his gang who are waiting with automatic weapons. While he's Evil Gloating about how he did this deliberately, Diggle explains that letting the crook lead him to his pals was his plan too, and puts in his earplugs...
- Turns out Oliver and Malcolm have been working together the whole time.
- Artistic License – Economics: In the flashback, General Shrieve claims that China can decimate America's economy simply by withdrawing trade. While this is true, China needs America far more than the opposite. If economic ties were cut, America would be devastated, but China would die. That being said, this is a very common myth in real life, and Shrieve is exactly the sort of person who would believe the worst case scenario.
- BBC Quarry: Ra's has the plane he's planning to use to bomb Starling City stashed in a gravel quarry.
- The Big Girl: Laurel has the highest body count (presumably non-fatally) during the assault other than Malcolm and Diggle.
- Book Ends: At the end of last season, Thea walked away from a life with Roy leaving a letter explaining her actions. This year Roy does the same with Thea.
- Broken Pedestal: Diggle tells Oliver in no uncertain terms that the stunt he pulled by kidnapping Lyla "in front of his daughter" not only cost him their friendship but Diggle's respect as well.
- Contrast Montage: Between the wedding ceremony and Team Arrow dying on the dungeon floor.
- The Bus Came Back: Roy, Tatsu in the present day scenes, and General Shrieve in the flashback scenes.
- The Cavalry: Team Arrow fails to stop the bomber from taking off, but fortunately, Felicity "brought some insurance." Cue Ray Palmer flying in with his leitmotif and taking out the bomber singlehandedly.
- Chekhov's Gun: During dinner, Nyssa quietly steals a knife when no one is looking. At the end of the episode, during the wedding, she attempts to stab Oliver—only for him to casually catch her hand and disarm her.
- The Chessmaster: Oliver has been playing everyone in his mission with Malcolm's help to take down Ra's. His friends don't take it well when they find out.
- Cliffhanger: Oliver and Nyssa's wedding are taking place around the same time Oliver's "former" friends sans Tatsu are (seemingly) slowly dying from the Alpha/Omega virus. In the flashback, Akio has died and General Shrieve's men are about to shoot Oliver.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Malcolm saving both Laurel and Felicity.
- Comic-Book Movies Don't Use Codenames: While Tatsu shows up in full Katana gear, she's never actually called that.
- Conservation of Ninjutsu: Subverted. Team Arrow does quite well against the League's assassins, but only because it's a ruse by Ra's to draw out every last member of the team and ferret out a mole in his own organization so these were probably the League's lower ranked members.
- Correlation/Causation Gag: Felicity throws her tablet at a member of the League of Assassins in desperation. She watches amazed as the assassin as starts to fall to the ground. However, as he finishes falling, she sees he has an arrow in his back and Malcolm Merlyn is standing behind him with a bow. "Oh. That makes more sense," she says to herself.
- Cradling Your Kill: Tatsu does this to Maseo after killing him in combat.
- Dark Reprise: Tatsu sings the same lullaby she sang to Akio in the flashbacks to a dying Maseo.
- Death Seeker: Maseo proves to be this, wanting to be released from his "prison" that is his life after the death of Akio. He thanks Tatsu for obliging him before he dies.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: After the team is captured, they claim they gained the information on the virus from Maseo, who died during the assault. Ra's lampshades that it's a little convenient that the dead man is the mole in his organization.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Poor Tatsu saw her son die in the flashbacks, and Maseo in the present.
- Dies Wide Open: Maseo.
- Dirty Coward: Malcolm betrays Oliver to save his own skin. It didn't get him very far the last time he begged before Ra's, and it doesn't get him very far here either.
- Downer Ending: Once again, the episode ends in a very depressing note as Team Arrow minus Tatsu (who was ordered to be spared by Ra's) apparently falls victim to the Alpha/Omega virus.
- Dynamic Entry: Lampshaded by General Shrieve when Oliver and Maseo burst in on him.
- Extremely Short Timespan: Lampshaded. Malcolm and Oliver thought they'd have months, if not years, before Oliver ascended to Ra's, giving them plenty of time to come up with countermeasures to the plan to destroy Starling. Instead, it's only been a few weeks.
- Exact Words: General Shrieve told Oliver and Maseo that he'll give them the cure. By cure he meant insulin for his diabetes, not for the Alpha/Omega virus that affected poor Akio.
- Facial Dialogue: Our first sign that Oliver is Not Brainwashed is the shocked look on his face at hearing Maseo was the one who gave Omega to Ra's.
- Fake Defector: Turns out Oliver has been faking his allegiance to the League the entire time.
- Fate Worse than Death: How Maseo views his life after Akio's death.
- Faux Affably Evil: Ra's talks of the love he had for Nyssa's mother, yet also implies that she had no choice in the matter. He drops any sign of parental affection by grabbing her in a Villainous Face Hold while making it clear that she won't have any choice either.
- Five-Man Band: The "Nanda Parbat assault team".
- Foreshadowing: Notice that as everyone on Team Arrow dies of the bioweapon, none of them are bleeding from their mouths.
- Gas Leak Cover-Up: The Chinese authorities put the Omega outbreak down to a chemical spill.
- Gone Horribly Right: Oliver's commitment to his League disguise means none of his former friends will ever trust him again.
- He Who Fights Monsters: After Maseo witnessed his son die of the Omega virus, he was so broken that he provided it to Ra's in exchange for entry into the League of Assassins.
- I Just Want to Be Normal: Averted with Roy, who finds his normal life rather boring.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Maseo by Tatsu. She's clearly distraught over it.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Felicity gets in the game for the first time, throwing a damaged tablet with pinpoint accuracy and hitting a League mook right in the throat. Only to reveal it was Malcolm who killed him.
- Improbable Weapon User: Again, Felicity uses a damaged tablet as a weapon.
- Killed Off for Real: Tatsu is forced to kill Maseo when he refuses to back down or turn against Ra's.
- Kill the Cutie: Akio dies in the flashbacks.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Maseo swordfights Tatsu and is fully prepared to kill her, but she ends up killing him instead. Maseo is actually grateful to her, as she has freed him from his misery.
- The Lancer: Diggle, the official Number Two of the original Team Arrow and the second most authoritative member of the assault team after Malcolm.
- The Leader: Malcolm, takes charge of the assault and was in cahoots with Oliver about the plan.
- Locked Out of the Loop:
- Roy didn't tell Thea about his plan to fake his death because she'd tell Oliver, and he'd then proceed to break Roy out anyway.
- Oliver didn't tell anyone but Malcolm his plan to fake allegiance to the League and dismantle it from the inside because his friends are terrible liars. This episode seems to bear that out, as Felicity shouts that they trusted him when he's apparently leaving them to their deaths. Team Arrow is not happy when they find out.
- Nyssa was also not brought into the plan, but Oliver and Malcolm (especially the latter) have no particular reason to trust her.
- Marital Rape License: Ra's orders Nyssa to produce an heir with Oliver, claiming that she has no say in the matter. He outright states that he had a similar attitude with Nyssa's mother as well.
- Mythology Gag:
- Roy brought a lot of Easter-eggs to the table:
- He uses Jason as an alias. In the current comic continuity, Roy is part of a team led by Jason Todd/Robin II/Red Hood II.
- He left his Arsenal costume to Thea and told her that it fits her more. Canonically, Roy was succeeded by Mia Dearden (Thea's counterpart) as Speedy.
- He currently works as a mechanic just like Wally West.
- Ra's mentions Amina Raatko, Nyssa's mother in the comics.
- The Nanda Parbat assault team gathers at Ferris Air.
- During the assault on Nanda Parbat, Laurel does not wear her wig and Domino Mask. The most common depiction of Black Canary doesn't wear a mask, though if she wears a blonde wig or dyes her hair blonde varies Depending on the Writer.
- Much like his comic counterpart, Maseo was killed by a loved one/family member. In the comics, it was his brother. Here, it was Tatsu herself.
- Ra's is seen mesmerized by Tatsu's sword. In the comics, said sword possess powers that enable Tatsu to have some Dead Person Conversation with her deceased loved ones.
- Roy brought a lot of Easter-eggs to the table:
- Not Staying for Breakfast: Roy leaves Thea behind with just a letter and his costume.
- Not Wearing Tights: Diggle still resists the idea of wearing a costume...erhm "identity concealment", with the criminal he's chasing wanting to know if he's working plainclothes.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Maseo and Tatsu after Akio's death.
- Play-Along Prisoner: General Shrieve pretended to have the cure, and claimed it had to be injected in a precise manner, so that Maseo and Oliver would take him to Tatsu so Shrieve's men could finally kill off the last witnesses.
- Pretend to Be Brainwashed: It's not said how, but presumably it was a combination of Heroic Willpower and Malcolm briefing Oliver on the League's brainwashing techniques so he would be mentally prepared for them.
- Ramming Always Works: How Ray destroyed the decoy plane that seemingly contains the Alpha/Omega virus.
- Redemption Rejection: Oliver tells Maseo/Sarab that once he becomes Ra's he can release Maseo from the League so he can return to Tatsu. He's not interested as he doesn't regard the League as a prison; he bears that burden himself.
- The Reveal: Turns out Oliver never fell for the brainwashing, he joined not only to save Thea but to also take down the League from the inside - and Malcolm's been helping him.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Nyssa wears some pretty dresses during the episode.
- Shipper on Deck: Tatsu encourages Felicity to fight for Oliver.
- Shoot the Dog: Tatsu killing Maseo.
- Shoot Your Mate: Played straight this time, with Oliver locking his friends in a dungeon and smashing a vial of Omega on the floor.
- The Social Expert: Tatsu deals with reasoning with both the reluctant members (Diggle, Felicity and Laurel) of Oliver's "former" team as well as her conflicted husband.
- Sixth Ranger: Ray, arrives at the last minute to stop the plane that seemingly contains the Alpha/Omega virus.
- The Smart Girl: Felicity, was in-charge of hacking the plane that (was assumed to) contain the Alpha/Omega virus.
- Storming the Castle: In order to stop the Alpha/Omega virus from being spread to Starling City.
- Take Up My Sword: Of a sort. Roy leaves Thea, not wanting her to be forced to live with him as a fugitive. But he leaves behind his Arsenal costume.Roy: I always thought red was more your color anyway.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Team Arrow really resents having to pull an Enemy Mine with Malcolm. When Malcolm saves Laurel's life in battle, she assures him that she would not do the same.
- Travelling at the Speed of Plot: We see Malcolm speaking to Thea in Starling City in one scene, then to Oliver in Nanda Parbat in the next, which would require a long flight and an even longer infiltration on foot.
- Two Girls to a Team: Inverted. Malcolm and Diggle were the only men in the Nanda Parbat assault team until Ray arrives to balance the genders.
- Trailers Always Spoil: The preview for the next episode renders the Cliffhanger Downer Ending useless.
- The Unfettered: If Oliver has to destroy the respect and love of his friends to save Starling, then so be it.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Oliver gives a silent one to Maseo when he finds out he was the one who gave Ra's the Alpha/Omega Virus.
- Diggle tears Oliver a new one for kidnapping Lyla. And at the end, all of Team Arrow give him one when he allows them to be subjected to the Alpha/Omega virus.
- Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: One has to wonder how the League got its hands on a state-of-the-art transcontinental bomber that they can afford to sacrifice as a diversion. Being a centuries old, wildly powerful organization has its perks. Plus, the overhead on swords and arrows and stuff is pretty low.
- Widowed at the Wedding: Nyssa attempted to free herself from being unhappily married to Oliver by attempting to kill him during the ceremony itself. She failed.
- You Are in Command Now: Ray had Felicity sign some papers regarding "corporate stuff." She should have paid more attention, because Ray just gave her ownership of Palmer Industries.
- You Are Too Late: Oliver and Maseo return with the cure only to find Akio has already died. Turns out the cure was non-existent anyway.
