History Arrow / SeasonFive

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Although Thea is no longer a part of Team Arrow, she is still her brother's secretary in the mayoral office, and thus still present in every episode in the earlier part of the season...[[AbsenteeActor but not so much the later part of the season]]. This is because Willa Holland is only contracted for 14 out of 23 episodes in the season.

* FiveManBand: The new Team Arrow this season:
** TheLeader: Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
** TheLancer: Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog and John Diggle/Spartan
** TheSmartGuy: Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific and Felicity Smoak/Overwatch
** TheBigGuy: Rory Regan/Ragman and Dinah Drake/Black Canary II
** TheChick: Felicity Smoak/Overwatch and Evelyn Sharpe/Artemis
** SixthRangerTraitor: Evelyn who joins Prometheus after finding out about Oliver's kill list phase from Season 1.

* RealityEnsues: A lot of people on the list Oliver killed off were JerkAss CorruptCorporateExecutive characters who were never meant to be sympathized with. However, just like in real life, even those people have their loved ones, be they wives or children, who ''will'' want revenge on you for killing their relatives. It was practically inevitable that Oliver would create a Prometheus sooner or later through his actions in the first season because chances are, not every person on the list that Oliver removed would be a lone miser whom nobody would miss.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler: In the comics, Adrian Chase is Vigilante, a violent and ruthless Punisher-esque vigilante, but still a crime-fighter. On the show however, he is a RedHerring for Vigilante before turning out to be the season's BigBad Prometheus.]]

* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler: This appears to be Prometheus' motivation as revealed in "What We Leave Behind" - he is the son of a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO whom Oliver killed during Season 1.]]
** [[spoiler: In "Checkmate", this is revealed to be Talia's motivation in allying herself with Prometheus - she wishes to avenge the death of Ra's al Ghul at Oliver's hands back in Season 3.]]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: "What We Leave Behind" [[spoiler: strongly implies that the BigBad Prometheus is the illegitimate son of Justin Claybourne, a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO whom Oliver killed years ago as the Hood. This was later confirmed]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Arguably the darkest season in the history of the show, which, considering that this is ''Arrow'', is saying a lot. One episode, "Kapushion", has almost all its present-day scenes centered on ''torture'', as well as a flashback scene in which Oliver [[spoiler: skins a prisoner alive]].
%%* FiveManBand: The new Team Arrow this season:
%%** TheLeader: Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
%%** TheLancer: Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog and John Diggle/Spartan
%%** TheSmartGuy: Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific and Felicity Smoak/Overwatch
%%** TheBigGuy: Rory Regan/Ragman and [[spoiler:Dinah Drake/Black Canary II]]
%%** TheChick: Felicity Smoak/Overwatch and Evelyn Sharpe/Artemis
%%** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler:Evelyn who joins Prometheus after finding out about Oliver's kill list phase from Season 1.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: [[spoiler: The flashback narrative this season will end with Oliver being rescued from Lian Yu, as seen in the opening moments of the pilot - ready to return to Starling City and begin his crusade as the Hood.]]
* GondorCallsForAid: After [[spoiler:Prometheus kidnaps Oliver's son]], Oliver recruits in many past characters to help him fight, which includes allies and former enemies. They include Malcolm Merlyn, Nyssa al-Ghul, Slade Wilson, and Captain Boomerang.
* LegacyCharacter: The season premiere reveals that [[spoiler: Laurel's dying wish to Oliver was that he pass on the Black Canary mantle to someone else.]] This leads Oliver to eventually seek out [[spoiler: a successor to the Black Canary mantle in the form of Tina Bolland AKA Dinah Drake.]]

* PresentAbsence: Though she was KilledOffForReal in Season 4, [[spoiler:Earth-1]] Laurel's impact is still strongly felt throughout this season. The lingering grief/guilt he has over her death is what drives his decision to regress on his ThouShaltNotKill stance. [[spoiler:It is only after a confrontation with Black Siren, Laurel's Earth-2 counterpart, that he finds the strength to fulfill her dying wish and find her a successor to carry on her legacy]].

* RecycledPlot: Prometheus' origins as implied by "What We Leave Behind" - [[spoiler: someone who wants revenge against Oliver because he blames him for the death of a loved one, and so begins a campaign of terror against him that involves targeting those closest to him one by one]]. In other words, [[Slade Wilson from Season 2]].
** The reveal of Prometheus' identity in "Fighting Fire With Fire" also evokes this - [[spoiler: Prometheus is revealed to be Adrian Chase, the District Attorney who's been working closely with Oliver at City Hall and has become friends with him. This is similar to how, in Season 2, Alderman Sebastian Blood also worked with Oliver on initiatives to help Starling City and became friends with him, while secretly being the villainous Brother Blood.]]

* {{Retcon}}: This season very subtly does this to Season 1. [[spoiler: Once Prometheus' connection to the List from Season 1 is established, it is stated that the List in Season 1 was a 'kill-list', a fact which is accepted by all the characters, including Oliver. However, in the actual Season 1, the List wasn't used by Oliver as a 'kill-list' at all - Oliver's primary goal was to extort his targets to make amends to their victims and/or surrender themselves, failing which he would seek to expose them himself. He's only ever depicted as killing two individuals on the List on-screen, in the heat of combat. Though it should be noted that in Oliver's first meeting with Claybourne, he did give Claybourne a chance to put an end to his dirty dealings just like he did with a lot of Season 1 targets. It's ''only'' when Claybourne refuses that Oliver finally goes after him a second time and kills him for good.]]
* RevisitingTheRoots: After three seasons of increasingly fantastical elements and higher stakes (culminating in a Season Four that culminated in a a ''literal attempt'' to destroy the world), this season is heavily invested in returning the show to the gritty crime drama it was in the first season, with Oliver's primary focus once more being saving Star City from the criminal and the corrupt. Moreover, this season has a direct narrative link to Season 1 with the reveal that [[spoiler: the BigBad Prometheus is connected to one of Oliver's targets from the List in Season 1]].
** In addition, there's also the fact that the five-year flashback narrative is reaching its end this season which means that the Oliver in the flashbacks is ''very'' close to being the character from Season 1. [[spoiler: The List from Season 1 is repeatedly mentioned in the flashbacks and indeed a major sub-plot in the flashbacks is Oliver grappling with the decision of whether or not to return home to Starling City and begin the crusade his father left him. Staring with "Second Chances", Oliver has adopted the identity of 'the Hood' and has begun to operate in Russia in a manner similar to how he will do so in Starling City during Season 1.]]
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The final trailer for Season 5 reveals that [[spoiler: that Slade Wilson will come back. The press release reveals he'll be back for the finale.]]

** [[spoiler: It was eventually revealed that the end of season 5 will feature Creator/ManuBennett reprising his role as [[ComicBook/{{Deathstroke}} Slade Wilson]], something long thought would ''never'' happen again due to Bennett's [[CreatorBacklash very public backlash]] against the show's direction on Twitter]].
** [[spoiler: Digger Harkness - aka Captain Boomerang will also be back for the finale. Many assumed that he'd never be back due to ''Film/SuicideSquad2016''.]]

* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Part of why Oliver is unable to let go of Laurel. While he did get to say "goodbye", he didn't get the chance to say everything that he wanted to say to her before she died: that he loved her, that he wasn't the man she loved, and that she always deserved better than him. He's only able to do so when he meets "Laurel" again in the Dominators' LotusEaterMachine.

* PresentAbsence: Though she was KilledOffForReal in Season 4, [[spoiler:Earth-1]] Laurel's impact is still strongly felt throughout this season. The lingering grief/guilt he has over her death is what drives his decision to regress on his ThouShaltNotKill stance. [[spoiler:It is only after a confrontation with Black Siren, Laurel's Earth-2 counterpart, that he finds rhe strength to fulfill her dying wish and find her a successor to carry on her legacy]].

* PresentAbsence: Though she was KilledOffForReal in Season 4, [[spoiler:Earth-1]] Laurel's impact is still strongly felt throughout this season. It becomes clear that, despite whatever Laurel believed on her deathbed, Oliver was still in love with her, and would always love her, for as long as he lived. The lingering grief he has over her death is what drives his decision to regress on his ThouShaltNotKill stance, and stems from the fact that he was never able tell Laurel everything he wanted to say to her before she passed. Oliver is only able to truly move on when [[spoiler:he says all the things he wanted to say to his Laurel to "Laurel" from the LotusEaterMachine in the "Invasion!" crossover]]. Even then, [[spoiler:it's only after a confrontation with Black Siren, Laurel's Earth-2 counterpart, that he finds rhe strength to fulfill her dying wish and find her a successor to carry on her legacy]].

* AnalogyBackfire: Prometheus explains that he took his name from the story of the titan Prometheus, who, in his words, challenged the omnipotence of the gods and stole their powers. It's a fine enough comparisson, but he conveniently omits the part where the titan was captured and tortured by an eagle eating his liver.

* TheAtoner:

* AvengingTheVillain: [[spoiler: This appears to be Prometheus' motivation as revealed in the midseason finale "What We Leave Behind" - he is possibly the son of a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO whom Oliver killed during Season 1]].
** [[spoiler: In "Checkmate", this is revealed to be Talia's motivation in allying herself with Prometheus - she wishes to avenge the death of Ra's al Ghul at Oliver's hands in the Season 3 finale.]]

* CreateYourOwnVillain: The midseason finale "What We Leave Behind" [[spoiler: strongly implies that the BigBad Prometheus is the illegitimate son of Justin Claybourne, a corrupt pharmaceutical CEO whom Oliver killed years ago as the Hood. This was later confirmed]].

* PresentAbsence: Though she was KilledOffForReal in Season Four, [[spoiler:Earth-1]] Laurel's impact is still strongly felt throughout this season. It becomes clear that, despite whatever Laurel believed on her deathbed, Oliver was still in love with her, and would always love her, for as long as he lived. The lingering grief he has over her death is what drives his decision to regress on his ThouShaltNotKill stance, and stems from the fact that he was never able tell Laurel everything he wanted to say to her before she passed. Oliver is only able to truly move on when [[spoiler:he says all the things he wanted to say to his Laurel to "Laurel" from the LotusEaterMachine in the "Invasion!" crossover]]. Even then, [[spoiler:it's only after a confrontation with Black Siren, Laurel's Earth-2 counterpart, that he finds rhe strength to fulfill her dying wish and find her a successor to carry on her legacy]].

* RecycledPlot: Prometheus' origins as implied by the midseason finale - [[spoiler: Someone who wants revenge against Oliver because he blames him for the death of a loved one, and so begins a campaign of terror against him that involves targeting those closest to him one by one. In other words, Slade Wilson from Season 2]].
** The reveal of Prometheus' identity in "Fighting Fire with Fire" also evokes this - [[spoiler: Prometheus is revealed to be Adrian Chase, the District Attorney who's been working closely with Oliver at City Hall and has become friends with him. This is similar to how, in Season 2, Alderman Sebastian Blood also worked with Oliver on initiatives to help Starling City and became friends with him, while secretly being the villainous Brother Blood.]]

** In addition, there's also the fact that the five-year flashback narrative is reaching its end this season which means that the Oliver in the flashbacks is ''very'' close to being the character from Season 1. [[spoiler: The List from Season 1 is repeatedly mentioned in the flashbacks and indeed a major sub-plot in the flashbacks is Oliver grappling with the decision of whether or not to return home to Starling City and begin the crusade his father left him. Staring with 5x11, "Second Chances", Oliver has adopted the identity of 'the Hood' and has begun to operate in Russia in a manner similar to how he will in Starling City during Season 1.]]

** [[spoiler: Digger Harkness - aka Captain Boomerang will also be back for the finale. Many assumed that he'd never be back due to the Suicide Squad movie.]]

* FiveManBand: The new Team Arrow this season:
** TheLeader: Oliver Queen/Green Arrow
** TheLancer: Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog and John Diggle/Spartan
** TheSmartGuy: Curtis Holt/Mr. Terrific and Felicity Smoak/Overwatch
** TheBigGuy: Rory Regan/Ragman and [[spoiler:Dinah Drake/Black Canary II]]
** TheChick: Felicity Smoak/Overwatch and Evelyn Sharpe/Artemis
** SixthRanger: Thea Queen/Speedy
** SixthRangerTraitor: [[spoiler:Evelyn who joins Prometheus after finding out about Oliver's kill list phase from Season 1.]]