My name is Oliver Queen.
After five years on a hellish island...
I have come home with only one goal:
To save my city.
But to do so, I can't be the killer I once was.
To honor my friend's memory, I must be someone else.
I must be something else.
Previously on Arrow:
Slade.
I need someone qualified to fix this boat.
I sure hope a Mr. Hendrick is there with you.
There's no way in hell I'm going back there.
Please, put the gun down.
You cannot die until you have known complete despair.
And you will, I promise.
Stay away from Thea.
She's not safe when she's around you.
You love her, and that's why you're gonna do what I'm asking.
It's a dangerous city.
Mr. Wilson?
Call me Slade.
Your mascara is running.
Thank you.
Are you all right?
I don't know.
It's my boyfriend.
Ex-boyfriend now.
He just, completely out of nowhere, decides to end things.
Heartbreak is something I know all too well.
It's not an easy thing to recover from.
And sometimes you never do.
Um... We're not, uh...
This isn't my home.
You're not going home, Thea.
Get out.
Get out!
Hello, Thea.
It's a pleasure to meet you.
About time.
You letting the bad guys stay alive this year has filled the jails up to capacity.
Yep.
Ready?
Well, I've been working with Sara, but I'm not exactly a natural.
Neither was I.
Okay, we have some work to do.
Sorry. I'm just having a hard time keeping my head in the game today.
- Thea? - I just can't stop thinking...
what's the worst that could happen if I just told her the truth.
Well, I told a guy the truth and he got struck by lightning.
To be fair, probably won't happen again, statistically.
Telling Thea the truth won't make her safer, just the opposite.
What we're doing, Roy, it's dangerous.
And anyone that is even in our orbit can get hurt.
Try again.
This time...
aim.
What are those?
Better month's worth of phone messages from Queen Consolidated.
Toss them.
That's what I did with last month's messages.
With Slade out there, I don't have time for the company.
Well, you have to make time, Oliver, at least three hours.
- The annual board meeting. - Ugh.
There's absolutely zero way that the CEO can avoid being there.
And I know it's been a while, so in case you've forgotten, that's you.
Do you remember where you put your business suit?
Or do you keep it in a cool glass case too?
I'm gonna kill all of you.
This is not personal.
Well, maybe a little.
It's not. This is about survival.
"Survival." What a noble word for murder.
Slade gave us no option.
Hendrick for Oliver.
And what gives any of us the right to decide one's life is more valuable than another?
He is tied up. We are not.
Once he gets the boat working, Slade will have no more need for him.
So let's not kid ourselves. Doing this is effectively sentencing Hendrick to death.
He would do the same thing to any of us in heartbeat.
This is only option.
What if it's also an opportunity?
To do what?
Well, to kill Slade.
I know that I haven't been here in a while,
but you don't look like the entire board of directors.
The meeting doesn't start for another half-hour.
Really?
I routinely bump all appointments 30 minutes in anticipation of you being late.
That's good policy.
But thank you for coming out of hibernation for this.
Whether you recognize it or not, it's your name on the building.
No matter how many meetings you miss...
you're still the public face of this company.
Isabel, I realize I have been distracted.
Thank you for picking up the slack.
Ours is an unconventional partnership, but it's a partnership.
And it's working.
Indeed, it is.
Oliver?
Your mother's here.
Family squabble?
And how is Miss Rochev these days?
Still angry that Dorothy dropped a house on her sister?
What are you doing here?
- Have you heard from Thea? - No.
You haven't returned any of my phone calls,
so I'm left to resort to checking in person...
as to whether you're attending the debate tonight.
I told you that I would publicly support your campaign.
Anything else?
It would be embarrassing for us both if you
couldn't at least appear to be my son tonight.
I have gotten pretty good at pretending to be someone I'm not.
I learned it from you.
Excuse me. Have you seen Thea Queen?
Okay.
Speedy, it's Ollie. And I'm at the debate, where I thought you would be.
Listen, I know that you're upset about Roy, but Mom needs both of us here...
so please just call me back.
You do not look happy. Is everything all right?
Yes, my sister's just a little late.
I'm afraid that's my fault.
SCPD insisted that I arrive with a motorcade. We tied up traffic all over the city.
I'm sure Thea's probably just fallen victim to gridlock.
Well, I should probably try her again.
Good luck tonight, Sebastian.
Thank you, sir.
I thought backstage was supposed to be restricted access.
The benefits of having a district attorney's badge, I guess.
- You stopped by to wish Moira good luck? - I did.
But I'm really glad I ran into you.
I owe you an apology.
I accused you of really terrible things.
You were going through a very difficult time. I'm just happy you're on the mend.
Good luck tonight.
I'm not the one who's gonna need it.
Sebastian Blood is not the man you think he is.
He's not going to revive this city with social services.
He's going to bankrupt it with unfunded mandates.
Mrs. Queen's problem with my proposals is that they will be paid for by the 1 percent.
It's time the wealthiest people stop avoiding their responsibility.
It will limit their abilities to hire people.
All right, that's time.
And I will remind the candidates to please refrain from interrupting.
Now we have the next in our series of video
questions submitted by Starling City voters.
This one comes from...
"Thea Queen"?
Okay, there must be some mistake.
Help. Help.
Somebody help me, please.
He's...
Oh, my God.
We're gonna find her, Roy. We're gonna get her back.
She's a tough girl.
Is she gonna be alive when we find her?
You can't think like that.
I can't stop thinking like that.
- There he is. - Mr. Diggle.
Mr. Diggle. Sir, can we get a comment?
I think I might have found something, I'm working on it...
I am suspending my campaign...
and devoting its resources to the safe return of Thea Queen.
The video referenced a demand but no ransom...
which means this might not be about money.
We're gonna get her back, Moira. I promise you. Thea's coming home.
Can you think of anyone who might wanna get to you through Thea?
No one. Except for the families of the 503 people that died last year.
This isn't about the quake.
How can you be so sure?
You just need to find the man in the mask.
Look, we're working on it.
- We're running down every lead. - What are those leads?
Oh, God. Oh, God, how could I have let this happen?
Excuse me for a minute.
If I hear about one more invasive press inquiry being sent to Mr. Queen...
or to any member of the Queen family, I will hold you personally responsible.
You're very scary. Thank you.
My job's to take things off your plate, now more than ever.
To that end, you remember how at today's meeting the board nominated new officers?
Voting has to take place within 24 hours. It cannot be suspended. It's an SEC thing.
- I can't think about this right now. - I know and I'm sorry. But you have to.
You're the CEO. You have responsibilities.
Which you handle for me all the time.
A board vote is several orders of magnitude different from covering a missed meeting.
You could appoint someone CEO pro tern.
- That's not a good idea. - I'm appointing you.
What?
Congratulations, you are the temporary CEO.
I can't.
Please.
Thank you.
Have Thea thank me when she's back safe at home.
Mr. Queen? I need to talk to you. It's about Mr. Wilson.
Since the last place Thea was seen was Verdant, I used credit-card receipts...
compiled a list of customers last night,
pinged all their cell phones and hacked into their photos.
The NSA's right. It's a lot easier when you
don't need a warrant. I eyeballed every photo.
- Must've been thousands. - It's Thea.
I found this. Partial plate three blocks from the club.
Car is registered to a Slade Wilson, and it has GPS.
Where is it right now?
Parked outside a defunct bar on Roosevelt.
Okay, this doesn't seem easy to you?
Slade using a car registered in his name? The whole thing smells rotten.
Either Thea's there, or he is. Either way, we have to go.
I figured you'd say that, which is why I worked up these.
Tibetan pit-viper venom. The League of Assassins' poison of choice.
And the most powerful sedative that I've ever worked with.
That'll give us an advantage. You are gonna give us another.
- You sure you want me to go? - Are you angry?
Use that rage.
Well, you're just always telling me to hold back.
Not tonight.
Landmines?
What kind of island is this?
Can you remove the explosive?
Certainly.
Without it going off? Eh.
Less certain.
Ah, KGB...
you taught me many, many things.
Russian bomb...
Japanese bomb...
they both go boom.
Congratulations, we are not dead.
Now what?
Well, Slade takes Hendrick as we agreed. And then once they're far enough away...
What?
You want to rig Hendrick into bomb?
Peter was right. Handing Hendrick over to Slade is the same thing as killing him.
And you're right too, we don't have a choice.
At least this way, he can take out Slade, and then we can take the ship.
- What? - Just wondering...
When did you become so scary?
Where is she, Slade?
The man asked you a question.
Where is she?
What are you gonna do, kid? Kill me?
But then who would tell you...
where your beloved Thea is?
Call Detective Lance.
- Tell him to come down here. - What? Why?
To arrest Slade Wilson.
Any idea what this son of a bitch wants with Thea Queen?
No. We just need to make sure that Slade gives up where he's holding her.
Does Oliver know?
That you're working with the Arrow on this.
Oliver doesn't know anything about the Arrow.
Are you okay?
Yeah. It's just that look in Moira's eyes.
Terrified she's lost her daughter.
I couldn't go through that again, Sara.
Yeah.
Officer Lance? The Queen family's here.
- Mr. Lance, did he tell you where Thea is? - Mrs. Queen, thank you for coming.
This doesn't make any sense. Slade Wilson is a friend.
And he's been in Costa Rica for the past 72 hours.
He can provide flight manifests, phone records, even some videos...
so he couldn't have taken your daughter.
If he didn't, then why did you arrest him?
We didn't.
He was apprehended by the vigilante...
who then contacted Officer Lance.
- Lieutenant, I can explain... - No, I think I got a pretty clear picture.
God, you're a special kind of stupid. The whole reason you're wearing that uniform...
instead of a detective's shield is because you were working with the vigilante.
- A young girl's missing... - Now you arrest someone on his say-so?
You'll be lucky if the next uniform that puts you in isn't prison gray.
They're calling you Deathstroke.
It's a bit flamboyant. Heh.
I like it.
How'd you get off the island?
That is your first question?
Well, you've made it pretty clear that you're not
gonna tell me where my sister is, so yeah...
that's my first question.
I swam.
But it wasn't without its obstacles.
The rip current dragged me under.
The rocks and reef cut up my flesh to the bone.
But the Mirakuru...
it regenerated everything.
Except this.
You know, it's just the two of us in here...
so why don't we try being honest.
Why are you doing this?
You know why.
It was five years ago.
It was yesterday.
Oh, I tried to let go of the island...
but it's still got a hold on me.
And if that hood that you wear every night is any indication...
it's still got a hold of you, kid.
She never did anything to you. I did.
Shado is dead because of a choice that I made.
So punish me, blame me, but...
Thea...
You want me to beg?
Is that what this is all about? Because I'm begging.
You win.
Just please.
Please tell me where she is.
Hmm. That must've been hard for you to say.
Thea.
Well, Thea is...
Mr. Queen? Who the hell let you in here?
Mr. Wilson, you are free to go with the department's deepest apologies.
There's no need, lieutenant.
An innocent girl's life hangs in the balance. You need to follow every lead possible.
Still, you should know that Officer Lance is facing some very serious charges.
Don't pursue them on my behalf.
I'm not one to hold a grudge.
Mr. Wilson. Mr. Wilson. Are you involved with the case, Mr. Wilson?
I was in Costa Rica, but returned to Starling City
as soon as I heard the terrible news.
What did you tell them about Thea Queen's disappearance?
I'm offering every resource at my disposal plus a $5 million reward...
for any information that leads to Thea Queen's captors.
This is Dig. I've got the follow.
Tracker on his car is active.
Roy, he's coming up on your position.
Got him. He's turning up Warner.
I see him. Heading north.
Damn it, I lost him.
It's all right. I still have eyes on him.
Sara, cut right onto Downey.
Got it.
Negative. Negative, it's not him.
What?
Oh, my God.
He's cloned the tracker signal. Roy, you've gotta move.
Roy, you gotta pick him up on Fuller.
Roy, do you still have eyes on him?
Roy? Roy?
Leave us.
I'm sorry I was gone for so long.
Screw you.
I saw Oliver and your mother.
They're all quite worried about you.
If you hurt them, I swear I...
Please, go on.
Finish that sentence.
I'm curious to know what kind of threat a 19-year-old girl can make.
What do you want with me?
Well, that, Thea...
is a very long story.
Looks like I've got time.
Not at all.
You're free to go.
What?
I had to make a point.
And I made it.
The door is unlocked, so you can leave anytime you'd like.
Those guys who work for you will shoot me the second I walk out.
No, they won't.
Their instructions were to keep you here until I returned.
And I have. So...
you're free to go.
But if you do...
you may never know about your brother's secret.
- What? - Your brother has a secret, Thea.
Would you like to know what it is?
So...
what now?
Wait for Oliver. He'll figure out what our next move will be.
Wait for him to tell us, you mean.
We can't do anything without King Queen's permission.
- You're out of line, Roy. - Let's all just calm down here.
Slade outplayed us. It happens.
It only happened because the police let Slade go.
After we turned him in, because Oliver told us to.
- What were we supposed to do? - You're Special Forces.
She's an international assassin. You'd think between the three of us...
we could've gotten answers out of Slade ourselves instead of turning him in.
Here's what's really sick.
We didn't even question him because he said it was the right thing to do.
Just like he said that I needed to break up with Thea one week after telling me...
- it wasn't safe to leave her alone. - Wait.
You think it's Oliver's fault that Slade took Thea?
I think it's his fault that I wasn't there to stop Slade.
And I think you're just blaming Oliver because you lost Slade.
Well, of course you'd take his side. You're screwing him.
Could you guys give us a minute, please?
You remember how she loved to color?
Your father would buy her boxes of crayons by the truckload.
She could never get enough.
She'd draw on the walls.
And I could never get angry because it was just so adorable.
You should try to get some sleep.
Is my baby still alive?
What?
Is my baby still alive?
Yes.
I woke up every day for five years, the mother who lost her son. I...
I can't...
I can't endure it again.
And now you hate me.
And you have every justification.
- Now is not the time. - Yes, it is.
It is exactly the time.
I've told you that these lies were to keep our family safe.
To keep us all together.
But that was the biggest lie of all.
And I told it to you, to Thea...
to myself.
Because I was too weak...
to face any kind of truth.
What's happening now isn't your fault.
From the moment your children are born...
you worry what the world might do to them.
But you never stop to think what you might do to them.
That we could be our own worst enemy.
Ollie.
What did you do to him?
Not enough.
And what did you do to him?
We just knocked him out. It's better that way.
He wasn't exactly a fan of the arrangement.
I'd imagine.
Hendrick's all yours.
I know.
Wait.
It's an incredible thing, this Mirakuru.
Not only does it gives you strength, it also heightens all of your senses.
TNT has a particular smell.
How long before it goes off?
Ninety seconds?
Sixty seconds?
You're probably thinking that the blast would kill me...
but I disagree.
Not that I could say the same for you lot.
I'm tempted to see this blow you to pieces.
But then again, maybe I'll just shoot you the same way that he shot Shado.
No.
Slade.
Hey, where you going?
Sitting around here isn't helping Thea, now is it?
Neither is you running off half-cocked, Roy.
I know that you think that this is the Mirakuru, but it's not.
I'm right, and you know that I am. So you better get the hell out of my way.
Roy, just calm down.
- That's what Thea would want us to do. - She's right, Roy.
Come on, let's throttle back...
Next one goes into your chest.
Let him go.
You'd honestly kill me because I dare to criticize the almighty Oliver Queen?
No, I'd kill you because you're hurting my friend.
Let him go.
Let him go!
- What the hell's going on down here? - I'm done.
That's what's going on.
Thea, she's out there, hurt or worse, because of one person.
And that is not Slade Wilson.
Roy.
I believed in you.
There's nothing left for me here.
Oh, my God. Oliver.
Now what?
Publicity has drafted a rather compelling statement...
and I will be doing the talk-show rounds to control the spin.
I'm sorry, Miss Rochev, but he was very...
insistent.
Can you give us the room, please?
- Isabel, what have you done? - Me?
Very little.
You're the one who made this possible when you made me CEO.
I know it was only temporary...
but it gave me the authority I needed to call an emergency board meeting.
As of 30 minutes ago...
your company belongs to me.
The directors unanimously made my appointment permanent.
I'd say they lost faith in your leadership, but that would imply there was any.
Maybe you should've focused a little less on your...
evening activities.
Slade.
You're working for him.
With.
He knew planting me in your family's business would draw you back to Starling City.
Truth be told, I was skeptical, but...
Why are you doing this?
I think it's sad you don't know.
"The sins of the father are the sins of the son."
You are gonna tell me where my sister is...
or I am going to kill you.
Where is she?
He's holding her at a storage depot just outside the city limits.
Tosca Cartage.
How do I know you're not lying?
It's cute how you think this isn't all playing out exactly how he wants it to.
And he wants you to come alone.
If he even smells your partners, he will gut sweet little Thea like a trout.
It was a pleasure doing business with you, Oliver.
- At least let us surround the perimeter. - No, Isabel was very clear.
I come alone, or Thea dies.
Ollie, this is another one of Slade's games.
- And unless... - No, what I can't do, Sara, is nothing.
What would you do if it were Laurel or your father or your mother?
I will not get dragged into the same debate over and over again.
Go.
Go get Thea.
Stop Slade.
Do whatever it takes.
End this once and for all.
Stop. Stop.
Halloween was six months ago, ass-hat.
Now, get off the road or get put down.
You hear me?
I have a proposal for you men.
- Go. - Oliver, are you okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine. But Thea's not here. - You did it.
- Did what? - Thea's fine. She's fine.
She walked into the precinct five minutes ago.
Safe and sound.
Oliver, did you hear me?
Thea?
She's fine. No injuries. He didn't touch her.
He wasn't there. He had a lot of men, hired guns. But he wasn't there.
Because he was busy elsewhere.
Iron Heights reopened a wing damaged in the quake.
There was a prisoner transfer. Slade hijacked it.
- Soldiers for his army. - Abducting Thea was all a diversion.
Oliver.
- Oh, thank God. - Oh, my baby.
Oh, my baby.
What?
He told me.
Mr. Wilson...
he told me your secret.
How you've been lying to me for years.
How could you not tell me Malcolm Merlyn was my father?
I believed in you.
We were trying to keep you safe.
You have any idea who you sound like?
You sound like her.
Slade...
death is too good for them.
This island should be their punishment.
Death is too good for you. This island should be your punishment.
Their prison for the rest of their days.
Your prison for the rest of your days.
Get him out of here.
Slade.
Get back.
I can help you.
You can live or you can die. You choose.
Would you like to send a message to your family?
Because as soon as this boat is fixed, I'm paying them a visit.
Hell of a night.
Quentin Lance, master of the understatement.
A word, officer?
Hold on, sweetheart.
Yeah.
I've spoken to DA Spencer about your situation.
She doesn't wanna press charges...
if you cooperate.
Tell us who the vigilante is.
Heh. I'd love to, but I don't know.
- Well, that's unfortunate. - Yeah, it looks like.
Quentin Larry Lance...
you are under arrest for conspiracy and aiding multiple felonies.
What? Are you out of your mind?
What are you doing? Wilson did it. I collared the right guy. What are you...?
- Pike. - You have the right to remain silent.
- What are you doing? - You have the right to an attorney.
Dad?
Riding what pundits are calling a "sympathy bump"
Moira Queen pulled far ahead of Sebastian Blood...
in the latest polls conducted in the last 24 hours by channel...
This whole thing just blew up in our face.
How the hell do I get elected now?
- I think you intended a different tone. - You said I'd be mayor.
And you just delivered this election for Moira Queen. And for what?
What is this obsession you have with the Queen family?
- You haven't told him? Heh. - Shh.
You promised me.
I promised you this city.
I promised you an army with which to take it.
What is our status?
Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division is now fully dedicated...
to replicating a serum based on your blood sample.
You see?
Everything is proceeding as planned.
Where are you going now?
To service my obsession.
Oliver Queen needs one more distraction.
What are you two doing here?
Thought this is where you would go.
You're predictable. That, and you've been sleeping on the cot at night.
What are you doing here?
Where else would we be?
Roy was right.
At every turn, I have made the wrong decision.
With him. With...
the company.
And with Thea.
I was so focused on what Slade might do to me...
that it never even occurred to me what I could do to myself.
I am my own worst enemy.
That's Slade talking, Oliver. Don't let him in your head.
I can't keep him out of my head, Diggle. I can't...
- I can't stop him from doing anything. - Yes, you can.
What makes you so sure?
Because you're not alone, man.
Now what, boss?
Now we fight back.
Police have issued a warrant for Slade Wilson...
after Thea Queen named him as the mastermind of her kidnapping yesterday.
This in the wake of Wilson's arrest and subsequent release by the SCPD...
hours before Miss Queen was released.
In a statement to the press, SCPD Lieutenant Franklin Pike...
reiterated his support for his department despite what appears to be a serious blunder.
He went on to say the SCPD is committed...
to making sure any arrest they make is a legal one.
Don't worry.
I am not here to harm you.
Go to hell.
All in good time, I'm sure.
But before then...
I have come to Starling City to see Oliver Queen suffer.
Oliver...? What? Why?
Because he's not the man you think he is.
And how would you know that?
Because I know Oliver Queen is...
the Arrow.