The rest of Team Arrow wakes up as well, much to Ray Palmer’s surprise. Malcolm Merlyn explains that the gassing and his apparent betrayal were both part of the larger plan to make Ra’s trust Ollie, and that he was able to secretly vaccinate all of them against the Alpha/Omega. Unfortunately, Felicity Smoak points out that they’re still chained up. Malcolm says all they need to do is wait —for the thunder.
Actually, make that the lightning, in the form of the Flash. The Fastest Man Alive makes short work of the guards, frees Katana and vibrates open the dungeon door. Felicity asks him for help, but he’s got an overdue conversation with Harrison Wells coming. Barry thinks that Oliver can handle the rest, and when Diggle expresses his doubts, the Flash says that Oliver still needs all of them, even if he doesn’t realize it. They head for a plane to return to Starling, but Tatsu isn’t coming, explaining that she needs to return to her life of solitude.
Now about that other plane … Ra’s immediately blames Nyssa for sabotaging its engines. The time for ruses is up, as Oliver tosses a sword to Nyssa and openly defies the Demon’s Head. In the ensuing battle, the back door of the transport plane opens, and Ra’s promises to keep coming for him until the end of time before taking the only parachute and leaving with a vial that is probably the Alpha/Omega. Ollie gets Nyssa’s help, and together, they manage an emergency (read: crash) landing. Back at the new Arrow Lair, Malcolm starts barking out orders to be the backup plan. Diggle tells the other they should follow Merlyn’s lead for now, but Oliver and Nyssa show up, and there’s some serious tension that erupts when Diggle punches Ollie. Everyone leaves so Oliver can talk to Felicity and Diggle, and he attempts to explain that the whole thing needed to be an inside job — just him and Malcolm to keep the circle as close as possible. Felicity asks how he was planning on escaping the sabotaged plane and is upset when she realizes he expected it to be a suicide mission.
At least he can apologize now, and while that doesn’t go over well, Diggle points out they have bigger problems than hurt feelings and broken trust. Alas, no one can find Ra’s al Ghul or figure out how he’s planning on releasing the virus. What they do find is that Damien Darhk, Ra’s al Ghul’s old rival, is occupying the top floor of a downtown hotel. Maybe they can trade Darhk for the virus? Malcolm calls that plan ruthless and cold-blooded, so naturally, he loves it.
As Team Arrow stakes out the hotel and takes out Darhk’s guards, Oliver moves in for a confrontation. It’s not Darhk, though, but a minion, one who soon ends up dead at the hands of a sniper. Ra’s al Ghul taunts Oliver by phone, boasting that he set the plan to disperse the Alpha/Omega into motion 10 minutes ago, and he doubts Oliver’s friends can find and stop all four vessels.
Laurel Lance asks her dad for the help of the police but finds that he’s drinking again. Maybe some shame can get his assistance and stop him from hitting the bottle? Time for Felicity and Oliver to have a heart-to-heart. He tells her about a recurring dream he’s been having, where she begs him not to go to Nanda Parbat. Sometimes he still ends up dead, but most of the time, they end up driving away together. Felicity says that neither Oliver Queen nor the Arrow can defeat Ra’s, but it’s okay because Ollie has become something else. Despite his best efforts, he’s allowed himself to feel something, and that’s his key. Don’t fight to die, fight to live. A call ends the talk, but not before Oliver says thank you.
Lance has the cops playing ball, and Team Arrow reports to the four locations. Oliver is surprised when an unarmed Leaguer approaches him with an offer for another duel with Ra’s al Ghul. Meanwhile, Diggle sees a man with a briefcase, and while his fight with the guy goes poorly, Thea arrives in the Arsenal costume and shoots him with three arrows. Bad news though: the briefcase is empty, and the man’s bleeding mouth means he was the carrier for the virus. At the same time, Oliver heads to the top of the dam for his second showdown with Ra’s, who taunts him again.
The virus is spreading, though Team Arrow is working to lessen its effect. Oliver and Ra’s begin their swordfight too. Macolm takes out one of the virus carriers, and Black Canary and Nyssa get another. Ray is working on a way to innoculate people via airborne nanites, but he needs more time. There’s also another problem: the cops see the fight on the dam and tell Lance they have orders to shoot the winner. Lance relays that info to Felicity, who begs Ray to use the Atom suit to rescue Oliver. But he points out it’s one life against many, asking what Oliver would do under those circumstances.
Oliver seems defeated anyway, on his knees with Ra’s al Ghul’s sword at his neck. Yet in a truly badass move, he catches the sword blade in his hands, disarms Ra’s and runs him through with his own blade. As he bleeds, the Demon’s Head says he knew he chose well, and he hands his ring over to Oliver. No time to ponder that, though, as the snipers open fire, wounding Oliver and knocking him off the dam. Well, it was a fun show while it lasted!
Don’t be silly, that’s not how it ends. The Atom swoops down and catches Oliver, but when they land, it’s actually Felicity at the controls. Super-powered #Olicity, yeah?
The whole group returns to Palmer’s lab, where Nyssa says she wanted to be the one to kill her father. Oliver gives a nice speech talking about his instincts to go it alone when he first started his crusade, and that it never would have succeeded if it wasn’t for all of them. Starling City now has multiple heroes, which is why Ollie doesn’t want to be one any more. Instead, he’d like to investigate the new person he’s become … if Felicity will come with him. She’s overjoyed, but Diggle storms out. As Ollie leaves to talk to him, Felicity tells Ray he’ll have to find a new vice president and that she hopes he’ll find someone who makes him happy. Maybe on Legends of Tomorrow. I added that last part.
Oliver tells Diggle that for three years, he’s been the city’s rock and his rock. John says he may never get over what happened between them, but they do shake hands. Before Diggle leaves, Oliver suggests that if he’s going to keep going, he might want to think about a way to conceal his identity in the field.
At the Queen siblings’ loft, Malcolm tells Thea he;s leaving Starling as well. She’s not terribly upset, but does admit that her dad lived up to his promise to make her strong. Oliver hugs his sister, who reveals that she’s considering calling herself Red Arrow. Ollie says he already told the others to call her Speedy.
Ah, and now we see the missing piece. Oliver gives Malcolm the ring of leadership, and while Merlyn says he was glad they got to work together, Oliver replies that he’ll never forgive what Maclolm did to Sara or his sister. Are they enemies again? Oliver simply says that it depends what Malcolm does with his end of the bargain.
Ever tinkering, Ray is testing out the miniaturization process on the Atom suit. The first attempt does nothing, and the second … well, that seems to blow up the top floor of Palmer Technologies. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. Probably.
We head to Nanda Parbat, where Merlyn is now the new Ra’s al Ghul. Nyssa asks if that was his plan all along, and while he denies it, she is considering challenging his leadership. Malcolm says she is welcome to try, but for now, she should kneel. She does, eventually, along with the rest of the League.
Last but not least, we see Oliver and Felicity cruising in a convertible somewhere sunny. He asks if he can say something strange: “I’m happy.” And … scene.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong: Remember that standoff with General Shrieve from last week? Yeah, that’s still going on. Oliver beats him up, and when his men arrive, Maseo and Ollie are able to take them out.
Three days later, Tatsu and Maseo receive Akio’s ashes, and Tatsu says a short prayer. Oliver receives an urn as well, but he’s clearly full of rage, and he heads inside a nearby building to torture the general.
When Tatsu sees what he’s done, she condemns Oliver’s actions. Maseo finds the general still alive but passed out from the pain (he’s got arrows sticking out of him all over), and he shoots Shrieve to put him out of his misery.
Maseo and Tatsu have a talk, and while she pleads with him to stay, he only can think of how he wasn’t strong enough to save his son, and therefore is unworthy of her love. As Maseo leaves, Oliver asks where he is going, and Tatsu simply replies that it is somewhere they can’t follow.
Later, Tatsu says she is going to a monastery. And Oliver? Despite his dad’s wish that he save Starling City, Oliver says he needs to go somewhere he can be alone, as he’s not the man for the job. So I guess these flashbacks are going to continue in Season 4.
Favorite Moment: It’s not often than Captain Lance gets the line of the night, but when Laurel tells him about the bioweapon, he quips, “The city’s under attack, it must be May!” That’s funny on multiple levels.
Final Thought: Did we just get the happiest possible ending? No major characters died, the city was saved, Oliver and Felicity are together, and there are plenty of juicy threads for next season. It’s going to take one heck of a threat to get the team back together, but I have faith in Marc Guggenheim and company. Nicely done.