Oliver arrives at the mayor's office, and Quentin tells him that Judge Balderama granted retrials on all the cases that Adrian prosecuted when he was DA. Now they have 36 violent felons walking on the streets. As Oliver admits that they have no idea where Adrian is, a SWAT officer comes in and tells Oliver that a large crate came into Oliver's office. The sender is Simon Morrison. Oliver insists on checking it out and Quentin goes with him. When they get there, Oliver ignores the officer's warning and opens up the crate. Inside is a skeleton in concrete.
Later, Dinah runs the skeleton's dental records and confirms that he was Henry Goodwin, a councilman in the Glades back in '02. Oliver has no idea who he is, and Dinah hasn't found any connection between him and Adrian. Goodwin went missing in '02 and was declared dead in '03. Oliver and Quentin tell Dinah to see if she can find a connection to Adrian's father.
At the bunker, Oliver tells the team what happened. Diggle warns that they're already spread thin keeping an eye on the released felons. Felicity pinpoints the most dangerous of the felons, Derek Sampson. Once they're alone, Oliver asks Felicity how it's going with William. She admits that she's having trouble finding him, and Oliver figures that Adrian will have trouble as well.
Five Years Ago
Oliver and Anatoly fly to Lian Yu and Oliver has Anatoly watch a video of his father so that he'll understand why he has to go back to the island.
Now
Dinah tells Quentin that the concrete is owned by a specific construction company, and the killer's DNA is under Goodwin's fingernails. She shows Quentin a file on the suspect, and he stares at it in shock.
As Oliver meets with the council, Thea comes in. Oliver clears the room and then he and Thea hug. She says that she heard that Adrian is Prometheus and came back to protect him. Oliver warns that Adrian is dangerous, and Thea admits that she has been a hot mess. Quentin and Dinah come in and when they see Thea, suggest that they come back later. Oliver asks who the suspect is, and Dinah says that it's Robert.
Oliver figure that Adrian is framing Robert, and Quentin warns that the forensics went through a lot of labs and it will eventually go public. Dinah says that a few pieces of evidence can go missing when she takes them to Felicity, and Oliver says that he's holding a press conference to get ahold of the situation. Once they're alone, Thea warns that Adrian might be manipulating Oliver again, forcing him to ruin Robert as he ruined Green Arrow. Oliver figures that Adrian is trying to convince him that Robert was a killer, but insists that their father wasn't a cold-blooded killer.
Five Years Ago
Once Oliver lands the plane, Oliver and Anatoly take Oliver's trunk ashore and Oliver says that it will be easy to keep his cover when he returns home if no one asks any question about his time on the island. He finds Deathstroke's mask washed up on the shore and drives an arrow into it, and then takes Anatoly to show him why he's doing what he's doing,
Now
Rene goes to Quentin's office and tells him that he has a court date to get expedited custody of Zoe. He asks Quentin to show up for moral support, and Quentin tells him that it would be an honor.
At the bunker, Felicity tells Diggle that the concrete was mixed with soil with high levels of copper. Running a computer check, Felicity figures that she knows where Goodwin was killed. They figure Adrian is sending a message, and Diggle tells her to send the address to him and Oliver while Mr. Terrific and Dinah stake out Derek.
The two vigilantes watch Derek as he buys black assault rifles. Mr. Terrific figures that they have to wait and watch him since they don't know if the guns are illegal.
Spartan and Oliver go to a former Queen Consolidated site that has been abandoned for a month due to a supposed toxic gas leak. They go in and Overwatch tells them that she's only reading their heat signatures. The floor blows open beneath them and a panel closes over the whole. Concrete pours in through a vent and Overwatch calls Mr. Terrific and Dinah as Derek starts moving out. They have no choice but to abandon the felon and head for the site.
Oliver and Spartan hear Mr. Terrific tapping out to get clear in Morse code. He burns through the ceiling with a drone, making an escape route. The team goes to the bunker and Diggle figures that Adrian staged the whole thing as a distraction and he's working with Derek. Derek and his men broke into a lab and stole chemicals, but they have no street value. Oliver recognizes the chemicals as two of the three components that Justin was using to weaponized tuberculosis. They figure Adrian is trying to live out his father's plan,. Quentin and Rene arrive and say that the last man Goodwin saw before he disappeared was Darren Coffman. Coffman was Goodwin's lawyer and also represented Justin.
Back at the mayor's office, Oliver and Thea call Coffman in. Coffman knows what is happening to Robert's reputation, and Oliver points out that Coffman was the last man seen with Goodwin. The lawyer hands them a flash drive and says that Adrian asked him to give it to them. Coffman admits that Adrian knew that Oliver would seek Coffman out, and the data on the flash drive proves what kind of man Robert truly was. The lawyer cites attorney-client confidential, and Thea threatens him.
Five Years Ago
Oliver takes Anatoly to Robert's cairn and says that he has to go back to Starling City to fulfill his father's wish. Anatoly warns Oliver that he's naïve, and says that the people close to him will pay for his sins. He asks Oliver who will pay for his sins.
Now
Once Coffman leaves, Oliver tells Thea that he's going to destroy the flash drive without seeing the contents. Felicity calls and says that Derek is at a military contractor who sold the third chemical to the U.S. government. Thea refuses to go with the team and stays in the office looking at the flash drive after Oliver leaves.
At Derek and his men are sealing the third chemical. Some of it spills on Derek's hand, but he no longer feels pain and doesn't notice. Oliver and the team break in and take out Derek's outside team. They attack the inside men and Spartan confronts Derek. He shoots Derek in the leg but he shrugs it off, and Derek throws a barrel of chemicals at him. Spartan is forced to shoot it, and Derek escapes. As Mr. Terrific takes a sample of the chemical, felicity tells Oliver that Thea called and said that she has something important to show him.
Oliver returns to the mayor's office and Thea says that he has to see the security footage from 2002. She doesn't see how it can be fake, and Oliver watches it. It shows Robert confronting Goodwin and throwing him into a vat of concrete.
Oliver tells Thea that Robert told him that he said that he's not the man Oliver believed him to be. Thea figures that she's a monster after Robert and Moira raised her, and Oliver insists that she and Robert are no monsters. He figures that it was an accident, and Thea points out that Robert covered it up. She wonders if their parents making them like them was their worst sin. Felicity texts Oliver to tell him that she knows what Adrian is planning, and he asks if Thea is going to be okay. She says she always is.
Five Years Ago
Anatoly says that he'll find a fishing boat nearby and bribe them to sail to Lian Yu. Oliver will get their attention with a bonfire and take him back to civilization. As Anatoly leaves, they say their goodbyes and hug. The Russian assures Oliver that he will always be his brother.
Now
At the bunker, Curtis says that the chemicals Derek stole are more refined and could produce a biological agent a thousand times more powerful. It's aerosolized and gives off trackable emissions. When Oliver wonders where Rene is, Dinah tells him that he's with Quentin and it's personal.
Rene tells Quentin that the judge wants him to testify. He figures that Zoe will be traumatized having to relive it, and Quentin tells him that Zoe will spend the rest of her life thinking Rene doesn't want her. Quentin tells Rene that if he doesn't testify then Zoe will have new memories and Rene has to decide how his daughter will remember him.
Oliver watches the video of Robert asking Oliver to right his wrongs. Felicity overhears it and Oliver says that Robert left Thea a video but he never showed it to her because Robert asked her to watch over Oliver, and Oliver didn't want to burden him with that. He says that he's watching the video to try and figure out how he missed that Robert was a murderer. Felicity figure that Adrian wants Oliver to have doubts, and Oliver points out that his entire quest has been about honoring Robert's wishes. She tells him that Robert inspired Oliver and there's no point now in caring wise. Felicity says that her life is better because Oliver became Arrow, and tells Oliver to stop living for his father and live for himself. A trace comes in on the chemical emissions: from the Robert Queen Applied Sciences Center.
The team goes to the center and Oliver dons his Arrow costume. Wild Dog and Dinah find Derek and his gang on the roof with the chemicals. The others head up and a Prometheus drops a flash-bang on them. Arrow tells Spartan and Mr. Terrific to get to the roof and he takes on Prometheus.
When Spartan and Mr. Terrific arrive on the roof, they attack Derek and his men. Wild Dog and Dinah join in. Mr. Terrific moves in to disarm the aerosol device while the others cover him.
Prometheus knocks Arrow down the stairs.
Wild Dog shoots at Derek, who ignores the bullets and chokes him.
Prometheus moves in on Arrow, drawing his sword.
Dinah uses her sonic scream on Derek, blasting him back. Spartan shoots him with a bola, entangling him.
Adrian removes his mask and reminds Oliver that they were trained by the same teacher. He says that both of their fathers were horrible man, and Oliver insists that he's his own man. Adrian promises that Oliver will die because of his father's legacy, and Oliver says that it's funny.
Spartan and Dinah check with Mr. Terrific, who manages to defuse the device.
Oliver tells Adrian that Justin asked Coffman to disown Adrian because he knew his son was insane. He admits that Robert wasn't perfect, but knows he'd never have given up on him. After a moment, Adrian kneels down and puts his sword on the floor. He tells Oliver to kill him, but Oliver refuses to kill him and punches him unconscious.
Later at the bunker, Thea meets the team and Curtis tells her that Adrian is in a cell at ARGUS. Oliver tells them that they should enjoy the win and Diggle takes the others out for drinks. Oliver gives Thea Robert's video and admits that he should have given it to her earlier. However, he felt that it would feel like a burden to her. Oliver says that she needs to live her own life by leaving the past I the past.
Five Years Ago
As Oliver makes the bonfire, someone shoots him in the neck with a tranq dart. As he passes out, he sees Konstantin approach him with two men. Konstantin punches Oliver unconscious.
At the hearing, Rene doesn't show up. Quentin texts him and asks the judge to give Rene a few more minutes, but the judge denies Rene's rights to get his daughter back.
Thea plays Robert's video. He figures that if she's watching then he's dead, and tells her that he loves her. Robert admits that he's done some things in his life that he's not proud of, but he's proud of Thea. He says that she's stronger than Oliver. Oliver comes in as Robert says that Oliver can get through anything if he has Thea's support. Thea turns off the video and they admit that they miss their parents. Oliver tells Thea that their parents were complicated, and they have to leave the past in the past and live their own lives. He figures that their parents would want that for both of them.
Later, Oliver calls a press conference and says that the allegations made against Robert are true. He says that ten years ago Robert sacrificed himself so that he might live so that he could return and serve the city. Thea watches from the back. Oliver says that Prometheus is behind bars.
In his cell at ARGUS, Adrian watches the broadcast as Oliver says that they need to make Star City a better place for their children... and smiles.
Written by Gadfly on May 11, 2017