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The CW’s Arrow certainly doesn’t keep Arrow’s secret identity close to the vest. Before the series had even gotten ten episodes into season 1, Oliver (Stephen Amell) had already revealed his identity to more characters than most superheroes do in three seasons of television (remember Smallville?). In fact, Ollie has always shown his willingness to take the hood off if the situation deemed it necessary.
Just recently even, Oliver revealed his identity to Thea (Willa Holland) – leaving just a few members of the cast left who don’t know Oliver is the Arrow. However, with season 3 already packed to the brim with twists and turns and the showrunners teasing some serious changes to the series coming, there may be more characters set to find out who Oliver Queen really is.
THR recently reported that during the Arrow PaleyFest panel, it was confirmed Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) and Captain Lance (Paul Blackthorne) would learn Oliver’s secret identity in a coming episode. The report also contained quotes from Stephen Amell teasing what to expect from the return episode this Wednesday titled “The Offer.” Amell revealed the reason Ra’s Al Ghul offered Oliver the opportunity to take his place in the first place: “Legend has it that the man who survives Ra’s’ blade will become Ra’s Al Ghul.”
He then explained that Al Ghul’s offer will make Oliver realize he hasn’t accomplished as much in Starling City as he’d hoped, which “makes the idea of being the person who commands the League of Assassins in any way that he sees fit really appealing. It’s an offer in name only. It’s not really an offer. It’s a demand. If Oliver says no, there will be incredibly dire consequences.”
The cast and crew of the show have repeatedly teased how much the events in this season will influence the rest of the series and lead directly into season 4, which is said to be completely different that what fans have seen previously. In fact, while appearing at the Kansas City Comic-Con this past weekend, Amell teased fans with the following:
“Without spoiling anything, I will say, I think the greatest moment in the history of the show will be the trailer that we show at Comic-Con this year. I really do, because after three seasons and 69 episodes, we are going to fundamentally change the show at the grassroots level. I think it’s going to be cool.”
In relation to more immediate matters and twists in the series, Amell commented on how Oliver and John Diggle’s (David Ramsey) relationship will change in the coming episodes:
“There are things happening in the episodes that we’re filming right now that are going to alter Oliver and Diggle’s relationship forever.”
He also jokingly added, “No, it’s not Diggle becoming Green Lantern,” in reference to some popular fan theories that John Diggle will actually end up becoming the John Stewart Green Lantern in the TV universe. (He won’t.)
Lastly – when asked at PaleyFest how Thea’s arc will continue for the rest of this season, Willa Holland cryptically responded with the following:
“I don’t see her coming back from that lightly. I don’t see it going well. Every time [Malcolm] comes into the room, I just might kill him! I don’t think she ever fathomed the idea of killing someone, [so] this is a huge weight on her shoulders.”
This isn’t news to many fans who have been paying attention to how Thea’s emotional response toward Malcolm (John Barrowman) has evolved over this season, but it does seem to be hinting at something bigger… just some food for thought.
It was already somewhat expected that Routh’s Ray Palmer would find out who the Arrow was, especially with his recent donning of the ATOM suit for the first time. But the news of Captain Lance’s discovery should prove to be an intriguing reveal to most fans and may give more credence to the theories that Lance is the rumored charactersaid to die near the end of this season.
It doesn’t sound like Diggle will be the one to get cut, especially considering how long-term Amell’s comments for him sound, but that could also be a red herring, though it’s possible Lyla could be the one saying goodbye soon. Then again, it’s interesting that there hasn’t been much mention of Roy’s (Colton Haynes) future this season, especially considering fan speculation that Roy would be the the character to die.
Fans know they’re going to get to see the Arrow and the ATOM face off in an upcoming episode, and it looks like Oliver’s relationships with his friends and enemies is going to continue to grow more and more complicated in the coming episodes. With Ra’s Al Ghul’s presence in Starling City growing larger with each day and tension building between the members of Team Arrow, fans look to be in for a very surprising second half of this season.
