Oliver is forced to confront the truth about Emiko.
- Ancient Conspiracy: The Ninth Circle goes back centuries back to the Renaissance.
- Asshole Victim: Felicity doesn't exactly react negatively when she first hears that Emiko killed Diaz.
- Badass Longcoat: Seems to be the standard gear for the Ninth Circle.
- Bait the Dog: Emiko shows Robert a business proposal and he's very impressed, noting Oliver never shows this kind of business initiative. He then tells her that he can't give her the money for a startup loan because his company is for Oliver.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Due to their past partnership and the fact that he believed in her, Emiko spares Rene and tells him to run before using an arrow to escape.
- Betrayal by Inaction: Emiko knew that Merlyn planned to wreck the Queen's Gambit, but, out of spite over Robert refusing to acknowledge her as his daughter in favor of Oliver, didn't tell him, thus leaving Robert (as well as Oliver, Sara, and anyone else aboard) to die.
- Big Bad: Emiko, not Dante, is the leader of the Ninth Circle and the season's real Big Bad.
- The Bus Came Back:
- Robert Queen, via flashbacks.
- Alena, Felicity's hacker friend from Helix, returns and gets invited to join Smoak Tech.
- Cain and Abel: Oliver and Emiko. Her reasons for hating her brother (resentment over a father's favor) are even similar to the Biblical Cain's motive for killing Abel.
- Call-Back:
- Diggle points out that Oliver's situation with Emiko is identical to the one he had with Andy and that Oliver shouldn't let Emiko guilt trip him over her choices.
- The picture of Laurel and Diaz is from the road trip they took back in "The Dragon".
- Character Development: Dinah, in previous seasons vengeful and violent, shows how far she's come since then, trying to convince Laurel that acting according to the law is the only right way to achieve justice.
- Disproportionate Retribution:
- Emiko responded to Laurel following her by framing her for murder and exposing her connection to Diaz, threatening to ruin her life.
- 12 years ago, Emiko responded to her father's rejection by leaving him and her own half-brother to die aboard the Queen's Gambit.
- Evil Is Petty: Emiko leaks photos of Black Siren and Diaz together to the local media and kills a suspect she was interviewing, all because Laurel was following her.
- Evil Mentor: Dante for Emiko.
- Exact Words: Dante promises a scared Palmer Tech employee that her family will be kept safe...but he didn't say she would be kept safe, so he promptly disposes of her.
- Fatal Flaw: Oliver's is his blind spot for family, as both Laurel and John point out.
- Flashback: Several of them, showing Emiko being abandoned by Robert Queen, falling in with Dante, trying to win back Robert's approval, and then finally not warning him about Malcolm Merlyn's sabotage of the Queen's Gambit as payback for him rejecting her.
- Freudian Excuse: Emiko's is explored in depth. Even after becoming involved with the Ninth Circle, she tried to win her father's approval by showing him a business proposal, which he turned down even though he was very impressed by it. finally making her bitter enough to stand by and let him die.
- Honor Before Reason: Even after all is said Oliver still believes that Emiko can be redeemed; but given that she's actually the Big Bad it's a hopeless cause. Oliver himself more-or-less admits to Diggle that his hopes are wishful thinking.Diggle: Still trying to redeem her?
- Internal Reveal: Black Siren tells Oliver that Emiko killed Diaz. He's skeptical, but not dismissive and he decides to follow her. He sees her and Dante together, but like Laurel noted he has a "blindspot for family" and wants to hear her side of the story and believes her when she says she's working with him under duress. He's forced to confront the truth that she is indeed a villain.
- It's All About Me: Robert walked out on Emiko's mom because if he didn't Moira would divorce him and take him to the cleaners leaving him with nothing. Years later, Emiko shows him a very impressive plan for a business startup, but he refuses to give her the money because publicly, Oliver is his heir.
- It's Personal with the Dragon: Subverted; it initially appears as though Emiko is Dante's Dragon, and that her Cain and Abel relationship with Oliver certainly makes her a much more personal opponent than Dante. However, it turns out that Dante is The Dragon in their relationship, as Emiko is leading the Ninth Circle and is the real Big Bad.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Laurel has a point about Oliver having a blind spot when it comes to family.
- Also, while it was a dick move, Emiko didn't falsefy anything, she did bring Laurel's legitimately criminal past to light, she is a legitimate Karma Houdini who did multiple crimes for Zoom, Prometheus, Cayden James, and finally Diaz of her own free will.
- Kick the Dog:
- Moira forcing Robert to abandon Emiko and her mom and leaving her with nothing, especially considering that she herself committed adultery too.
- The gang member Laurel interrogates makes light of Quentin's death.
- Emiko herself repeatedly taunts Oliver for trying to redeem her, and she later starts working to wreck Laurel's life out of pure spite.
- The Man in Front of the Man: At first, Emiko appears to be The Dragon to Dante. However, it's revealed at the end of the episode that in fact he works for her.
- Must Make Amends: Oliver notes that Emiko would've never got mixed up with Dante if Robert hadn't abandoned her and her mom, so he feels compelled to try and redeem her.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Laurel and Dinah have been trying to get a gang lieutenant to flip on his boss but to no avail. Then Laurel is forced to cut the guy loose due to a lack of evidence. Emiko kills him to frame Laurel. This causes one of the other lieutenants to get scared and offer to testify on his boss.
- One Degree of Separation: As a child, Emiko used to work for Frank Bertinelli.
- Origins Episode: For Emiko.
- Pet the Dog:
- Dante took a young Emiko under his wing, treating her with more respect and compassion than her biological father ever did.
- Emiko has enough affection for Rene that she can't bring herself to kill him. This does not extend to Oliver, whom she only sees as the spoiled son whom Robert favored over her.
- Redemption Rejection: Emiko all but laughs in Oliver's face when he tries to convince her to leave the Ninth Circle.
- The Resenter: Emiko's hatred of Oliver actually has nothing to do with Oliver himself; she just hates him for being Robert's favored child and getting everything from their father that she never did.
- Sigil Spam: The Ninth Circle has their sigil on all their weapons. It's actually the only thing that traces back to them.
- Spotting the Thread:
- Emiko immidiately realizes it when Laurel follows her.
- Dante spots Emiko stealing his watch in the flashbacks.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The Ninth Circle seems to be this for the League of Assassins. Ancient Conspiracy? Check. A slavish devotion to its ideals and never being allowed to leave? Yes. Trained in martial arts and ancient weapons? Check! Emiko being in charge, with Dante being the Number Two is essentially what Ra's Al-Ghul envisioned with Oliver when he asked him to take his place.
- Swapped Roles: Now John is the one to berate Oliver about blind spots regarding to family, as opposed to Oliver doing the same thing to him 3 years back with Andy.
- Tragic Villain: It's really hard not to pity Emiko, considering if Robert had been involved with her life she would've never fallen in with Dante as a child.
- Trapped in Villainy: Emiko claims she's indebted to Dante for training her since she's been 11 and now she's forced to continue working him because just like with League of Assassins, Resignations Not Accepted. Turns out it was just a half-truth, all of what she said was true ... but she has no regrets working with Dante and it's of her own free will.
- Undying Loyalty: Subverted with Emiko in regards to Dante. Despite owing him everything, she threatens to have him killed in the end, should he ever go against her orders again.
- The Unfavorite: It is implied that Emiko felt this way.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Even after he left her and her mom with nothing, Emiko still tried to win Robert's approval. But after he pushes her away one too many times, she gives up and leaves him (indirectly) to die.
- Wham Episode: Dante isn't the Big Bad, Emiko is — she's the true leader of the Ninth Circle with Dante just being The Face.
- Wham Line: Emiko to Dante, revealing who the real Big Bad is:Emiko: You disobeyed a direct order!
- Wham Shot: The episode ends with Emiko burning the blueprints of the Queen's Gambit, which Dante obtained for her from Merlyn Global; had Robert not turned down her business proposal she would've told him what Malcolm Merlyn had planned for him.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Dinah is not happy with Laurel constantly overstepping her bounds as a DA and acting in an illegal fashion, compromising their entire work.
- Woman Scorned: Emiko's mom is furious when Robert not only walks out on her and Emiko but also forces them out of their apartment and leaves them with no money, to spare himself Moira's wrath.
- Would Hurt a Child: In a flashback, after she steals his watch, Dante compliments Emiko on her slight-of-hand... then threatens to cut her throat if she ever steals from him again.
