History Recap / ArrowS5E23LianYu

** Captain Boomerang. Many assumed that since all the other Suicide Squad related characters like Waller and Deadshot were killed off because of the [[Film/SuicideSquad2016 film]] that he'd never be back again. And it turns out he is only BackForTheDead, so the assumption wasn't that off.

** Unlike the rest of Oliver's new teammates who join up out of past friendship/alliance and/or having a personal stake in their mission ([[PapaWolf Malcolm's desire to save Thea,]] [[CainAndAbel Nyssa's resentment towards Talia]], and [[TheAtoner Slade Wilson's reaffirmed friendship with Oliver]]), Digger Harkness is just a BoxedCrook who has no such history with Oliver. Naturally, Oliver trusts him the least out of all his new allies and is proven correct when Harkness turns on them at the first possible opportunity.

** Unlike the rest of Oliver's new teammates who join up out of past friendship/alliance and/or having a personal stake in their mission ([[PapaWolf Malcolm's desire to save Thea,]] [[CainAndAbel Nyssa's resentment towards Talia]], and [[TheAtoner Slade Wilson wanting to make peace with Oliver]]), Digger Harkness is just a BoxedCrook who has no such history with Oliver. Naturally, Oliver trusts him the least out of all his new allies and is proven correct when Harkness turns on them at the first possible opportunity.

** Unlike the rest of Oliver's new teammates who join up out of past friendship/alliance and/or having a personal stake in their mission ([[PapaWolf Malcolm's desire to save Thea,]] [[CainAndAbel Nyssa's resentment towards Talia]], and [[The Atoner Slade Wilson wanting to make peace with Oliver]]), Digger Harkness is just a BoxedCrook who has no such history with Oliver. Naturally, Oliver trusts him the least out of all his new allies and is proven correct when Harkness turns on them at the first possible opportunity.

** Unlike the rest of Oliver's new teammates who join up out of past friendship/alliance and/or having a personal stake in their mission ([[PapaWolf Malcolm's desire to save Thea,]] [[CainAndAbel Nyssa's resentment towards Talia]]), Digger Harkness is just a BoxedCrook who has no such history with Oliver. Naturally, Oliver trusts him the least out of all his new allies and is proven correct when Harkness turns on them at the first possible opportunity.

* XanatosGambit: Prometheus set explosives all over the island to be triggered by a DeadMansSwitch. If Oliver kills him they go off and all of his friends and family on the island die. If Oliver refuses to kill him Chase will snap William's neck. Even when Oliver TakesAThirdOption and incapacitates Prometheus the villain still gets the last laugh by killing himself thus activating the switch.

** Oliver stops an arrow by Talia the exact same way Chase stopped one of his in the mid-season finale: By cutting it in half with a throwing star.

** Whatever Helix is up to since they left Star City after Felicity helped freed their leader from ARGUS custody.
** There are still pissed off Bratva members in Star City who are eager to get their revenge on Oliver for betraying the Brotherhood.

* PsychoticSmirk: Malcolm sports one, just before he steps off the land-mine and takes out Boomerang and some goons. Doubles as GoOutWithASmile.

* HolyGround: It's revealed in this episode that Lian Yu was a Chinese holy ground before it was turned into a prison. The place where Rene and Dinah and imprisoned, and where the climax battle takes place, was previously a temple.

* BackForTheFinale: Samantha (William's mother) and Talia (well, [[FakeShemp Lexa Doig]]). Also Moira Queen via flashbacks.

* ReverseMole: Slade seemingly betrays Oliver, and offers him up for Prometheus, but it was all a ruse; Slade taking Oliver captive was a way for the latter to give Dinah an "upgrade" to her powers Curtis planned to give her earlier, and Slade never betrayed the heroes at all.

* InsultBackfire: Invoked with Nyssa, rgarding Talia's tirade.

* MeaningfulEcho: One that goes all the way back to Slade's first lesson to Oliver in "[[Recap/ArrowS1E14TheOdyssey The Odyssey]]". When pretending to switch sides Slade tells Oliver, "There's no giving up to these guys". Oliver then uses the disarming technique that Slade taught him.

* GenreBlindness: When Ollie finds Kovar in the flashback, the older man is crouching, has one hand behind his back and one hand visible. Ollie assumes Kovar is wounded and walks into knife range, whereupon Kovar pulls out a knife and slashes him across the chest. This contrasts his present day [[CombatPragmatist savviness]].

*** In the pilot, it was said that Oliver had burns on his back and arms. In this episode, we see that Kovar had inflicted them literally right before Oliver sprinted out to the boat.

* RuleOfSymbolism: Season Five has a central theme of "letting go of the past". This is taken to its logical conclusion when Lian Yu explodes. Right when we run out of flashbacks, too.

* YoureNotMyType: In a variation on this trope, it's Malcolm who says this almost word for word to Captain Boomerang when the latter tries to hit on Nyssa. Her own response was a bit...[[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon colder]].

** Oliver brings an entire arsenal to the island, including a RPG, since in his own words he has "no intention of making this a fair fight".

* CommonalityConnection: Aside from his overall HeelRealization, the realization that Oliver is a father like him seems to be what cements Slade's HeelFaceTurn and shows that HesBack.

* BigDamnKiss: Felicity gives Oliver one after he rescues her noting that she doesn't want to regret not kissing him in case the worst happens.

* MeaningfulEcho: One that goes all the way back to Slade's first lesson to Oliver in "[[Recap/ArrowS1E14TheOdyssey The Odyssey]]". When pretending to switch sides Slade tells Oliver, "There's no giving up to these guys". Oliver then uses the disarming technique that Slade taught him back in Season One.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: Rene and John take down several sword-wielding Assassins without any gear and just using straight-up punching techniques and throws[[note]]Remember, both of them are ex-military, and Diggle is Ollie's sparring partner.[[/note]].

* BolivianArmyCliffhanger: The present day ends with Lian Yu blowing up from Chase's DeadManSwitch, with the fate of most of the main cast (except Oliver and William, who watch the blast in horror) uncertain.

* BoomHeadshot: Adrian delivers this to himself--[[CallBack echoing what Robert Queen once did]]--in order to trigger his DeadManSwitch and blow up everyone on the island.

-->'''Adrian:''' You have each other...[[FalseReassurance which is good, Oliver, that's good...]][[DeadManSwitch because it's gonna be lonely without mom, or Felicity.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: Prometheus goes out of his way to see that Oliver beating him is one of these. At the end of the episode, Oliver has his son back and proved once and for all that he's not the killer Prometheus considers him to be. Prometheus, however, has one last trick up his sleeve: committing suicide to set off the DeadManSwitch and trigger explosives that ravage Lian Yu, seemingly killing all of Oliver's friends.

* SadisticChoice: Adrian gives Oliver an exceptionally cruel one: If Oliver shoots Adrian, the island will blow up due to his DeadManSwitch; if not, Adrian will snap his son's neck. Oliver [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]] by shooting Adrian in the knee.

* XanatosGambit: Prometheus set explosives all over the island to be triggered by a deadman's switch. If Oliver kills him they go off and all of his friends and family on the island die. If Oliver refuses to kill him Chase will snap William's neck. Even when Oliver TakesAThirdOption and incapacitates Prometheus the villain still gets the last laugh by killing himself thus activating the DeadmanSwitch.

** Captain Boomerang. Many assumed that since all the other Suicide Squad related characters like Waller and Deadshot were killed off because of the [[Film/SuicideSquad film]] that he'd never be back again. And it turns out he is only BackForTheDead, so the assumption wasn't that off.

* DeadManSwitch: Chase rigged Lian Yu with enough explosives to completely destroy the island, and linked them to one of these, ensuring they go off it he dies.

** We don't know if Rory ever found a way to restore his rag's magic.

* GenreBlindness: When Ollie finds Kovar in the flashback, the older man is crouching, has one hand behind his back and one hand visible. Ollie assumes Kovar is wounded and walks into knife range, whereupon Kovar pulls out a knife and slashes him across the chest. This contrasts his present day GenreSavvy; see CombatPragmatist, above.