The essential episodes of Arrow
Watch these 25 in order and you've got Arrow — each pick states its reason.
- 01
Presumed dead for five years before being discovered on a remote Pacific island, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen returns home a changed man.
- 02
Oliver is surprised when someone shoots and kills one of his targets. As his plan is to bring people to justice vs. outright killing them, Oliver doesn't appreciate the help and searches for the gunman. He soon learns that the man, Deadshot, is taking out businessmen who are scheduled to bid at an auction on an energy company and Walteris one of the bidders. Realizing he can't protect his family and stop Deadshot at the same time, Oliver enlists Detective Lance's help, but his plan has dire consequences. Meanwhile, Laurel and Tommy get caught in an awkward situation with Oliver.
- 03
After Detective Lance arrests Oliver for murder, Oliver tells Moira the only lawyer he'll allow to represent him is Laurel . Laurel takes the case which puts her at odds with her father. Oliver offers to take a polygraph in front Detective Lance but things get tense when Lance asks him if anyone else was on the island with him. Oliver flashes back to when he got his first scar, courtesy of Deathstroke.
- 04
After Oliver is shot, he turns to a surprising person for help - Felicity. Diggle is stunned when he sees Felicity walk through the front door of the lair dragging a dying Oliver behind her, and the two team up to save Oliver's life. As Oliver hovers between life and death, he flashes back to a seminal event on the island - a daring escape attempt with his new friend Slade Wilson.
- 05
Finding it difficult to mend fences with Tommy and Diggle Oliver instead focuses on crossing another name off the list. While digging through a crooked accountant's laptop, Felicity discovers a transaction that could help Oliver find Walter. To reconfirm the lead, Oliver gambles that Felicity can be counted on in the field for the first time. In a flashback, Malcolm reveals to Robert Queen and Frank Chen painful details surrounding his wife's murder, and how that shaped his plans for the Glades. Meanwhile, Tommy stuns Laurel with the truth.
- 06
With the Undertaking days away, Malcolm dons his black hood to conclude business with seismologist Dr. Brion Markov and his team. Oliver and Moira entertain a number of surprise - and mostly unwelcome - visitors. Hooded confrontations at home and the Meryln Global Group reveal dark secrets. Meanwhile, Roy and Thea are still looking out for a hero. Laurel makes a decision after Tommy's revelation. In a flashback to the island, Oliver, Slade and Shado struggle to prevent Fyers from shooting a Ferris Air jet out of the sky.
- 07
Oliver and Diggle race to stop the Dark Archer from unleashing his vengeance on The Glades. However, they run into a roadblock after Detective Lance picks up Felicity for questioning. Tommy and Oliver's already tumultuous relationship takes a turn for the worse after Oliver makes a confession about Laurel. After hearing of the danger in The Glades, Thea races to find Roy, inadvertently putting herself directly in the line of fire for Malcolm's devious plan. On the island, Oliver, Slade and Shado are locked in a life-or-death struggle against Fyers as his missiles lock on a full Ferris Air jetliner.
- 08
Seemingly impossible robbery at Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division brings Central City police scientist Barry Allen to town. Citing a similar case back home, Barry offers to help Oliver and team with the investigation. Oliver senses there is more to Barry than meets the eye, but he's distracted by the similarities between this current case and something that happened on the island. Meanwhile, Felicity takes a liking to Barry, which doesn't go unnoticed by Oliver. Sin asks Roy for help when a friend of hers goes missing. Roy is surprised when Thea not only encourages him to help, but joins the search. Unfortunately, Sin's friend is connected to Brother Blood, and their search ultimately gets one of them seriously injured.
- 09
After a fight with Cyrus Gold AKA the Acolyte, Oliver is drugged and left for dead. Determined to cure him, Felicity makes a risky decision. The cure causes Oliver to hallucinate, and what he sees forces him to confront his past. Meanwhile, Barry continues to help Felicity, and their connection grows stronger. The Arrow asks Lance to look into Gold, but when the stakeout on Gold goes bad, someone is killed. Roy is captured and tortured by Brother Blood.
- 10
Oliver, Canary, Diggle and Felicity return to the lair and find Slade waiting for them. An epic battle breaks out and one member of Team Arrow is sent to the hospital. Thea hits her breaking point, but just as Oliver is about to reach her, Slade intervenes and Oliver is faced with a choice - his battle with Slade or his family. Meanwhile, Laurel struggles with a new secret. Jesse
- 11
Nyssa returns to Starling City and tells Oliver that her father, Ra's al Ghul has given Oliver 48 hours to find Sara's killer or the League of Assassins will start killing the citizens of Starling City. Laurel is stunned when her father delivers a very special Christmas gift - her mother, Dinah. Meanwhile, Ray tries to make amends with Felicity and Oliver sets a meeting with Ra's al Ghul.
- 12
Sara goes on a killing spree, and Oliver realizes that when she was brought back, her soul didn't come back with her. As Sara stalks the person who killed her, Oliver turns to an old friend from Lian Yu for help: the sorcerer John Constantine.
- 13
After Prometheus attacks and nearly kills Curtis, the team discovers that he is connected to one of the businessman Oliver killed when he first returned to Star City. Now Prometheus sets out to prove that everyone close to Oliver dies... by killing someone he knows. Meanwhile, an old friend returns to the bunker.
- 14
Barry and Iris's wedding brings the gang together, but things go awry when villains from Earth-X attack the ceremony. Oliver and the others square off against their counterparts from Earth-X and discover that they're counterparts of Oliver and Kara... and Reverse-Flash, from before his death.
- 15
Oliver goes on trial for the murders that Arrow committed as well as violating the anti-vigilante act, and only the arrival of an old friend can save him.
- 16
In prison, Oliver tries to keep his head down and serve out his time so he can be reunited with his family. Felicity and William are in witness protection, Laurel is the city's new mayor, Rene is teaching boxing, Diggle and Curtis are working at ARGUS, and Dinah is the new police chief. While Dragon tracks down Oliver's loved one, a new vigilante calling himself Green Arrow fights the criminals of Star City.
- 17
Diaz enters Slabside and takes control of the place, releasing the inmates. Oliver must team up with an old enemy to stop him.
- 18
Oliver reaccustoms himself to life out of prison, while a killer posing as the new Green Arrow kills two men. Meanwhile, Diggle and Lyle discover a secret terrorist backer and turned to an unexpected ally.
- 19
Barry, Oliver, and Kara travel to Gotham City to try to find Deagan, and meet the city's new protector while discovering that Bruce Wayne has vanished. Meanwhile, a Flash from another world arrives to warn the heroes of what they face and who is responsible.
- 20
In 2040, the team discover that Galaxy One is a cover for Eden Corps and that the company plans to blow up Star City. William and Mia find Felicity, and Rene decides which side that he's on.
- 21
Oliver tries to save Star City and redeem Emiko. In the future, Mia and William set out to bring down Galaxy One with some help from their friends.
- 22
While helping the Monitor, Oliver finds himself in a twisted version of his own Earth where Tommy and Moira are alive, Moira is married to Malcolm... and Thea is dead. In 2040, the new vigilantes take on the Deathstrokes.
- 23
Present and future become one as Mia, William, and Connor meet the original Team Arrow. The two teams join forces to stop the newest Deathstroke from terrorizing Star City.
- 24
Oliver, his team, and his children, travel to Lian Yu for one last mission. They face ghosts from Oliver's past, including an old friend, and Diggle questions Lyla's decisions.
- 25
After eight seasons, and the launch of countless superheroes, the series wraps up the story of the Green Arrow.
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