Arrow just returned last night after it’s Winter hiatus with its 10th episode of the fourth season titled Blood Debts. Since the beginning of the season, there has been an ongoing mystery that we learned of via a flash forward, and now upon its return we see a return to that future, with some very vital information being revealed.
Before continuing, this article is going to have major spoilers about Arrow’s fourth season, including last night’s new episode. As a result, make sure you watch that episode before reading this, as there is a major spoiler from the very end of the episode within this article.
The fourth season has certainly seem a major improvement in quality over the polarizing third season, largely helped by the ongoing mystery that we saw established in the season premiere during a flash forward of six months later, where Oliver is standing over a fresh gravesite as The Flash’s Barry speeds in. Oliver vows to kill the man responsible for this, leaving us to wonder just who it could be.
Blood Debts continues directly after the events of the midseason finale from back in December that saw Oliver reveal to the public that Damian Darhk was the man behind the Ghosts that have plagued their city. Upon engaging to Felicity at a public ceremony, Oliver and Felicity are being driven in a limo as they are surrounding and the limo is shot up. Oliver stops this gunfight, but finds Felicity has been shot with blood coming from her mouth, leaving her fate in question as the episode ends. This was even followed by a promo directly after that seemed to hint that Felicity was the one who dies, complete with them showing her in surgery and then showing Oliver putting his hand on the grave in the flash forward.
However, rather than being killed as a result of her injuries, Felicity has permanent spinal cord damage and is said to never be able to walk again, essentially seeming like she will be the Arrow version of Oracle, though not in name. This was somewhat leaked through an Australian promo in the last few weeks, but we still didn’t know if it was possible she would die later.
While we didn’t know that coming into the episode, we did learn something very important that has eliminated a character completely. Near the end of the episode, Oliver and Felicity have a very touching moment where the two are in the hospital as Oliver says he still wants to marry her, as he will love her for better or worse.
After this, we return to the flash forward once again that now says “four months from now”, where Oliver returns to the limo. Inside this limo we find Felicity inside, noticeably without her engagement ring that Oliver had just returned to her in the present. She seems upset and distant from Oliver, but says “You know what you have to do right? You have to kill the son of a bitch.”
This seems to be talking about Darhk, but the showrunners are keeping quiet about if there could be a twist there on this one. With Felicity now confirmed not to be the one in the grave, just who could it be that would have both Oliver and Felicity this shaken? One theory could be that it would be Oliver’s son he found out about, though some talk was that the death would be someone that’s been around since the first season. If that is truly the case, that would also take Felicity’s mom out of the possibilities, though she would be a good candidate if not based on their reactions.
The other options seemingly would be Diggle, Thea, Laurel, or Captain Lance. I would assume Laurel would be safe based on her being Black Canary and the journey they’ve made of her taking over for Sara, not to mention her being a major comic character. The last couple seasons would feel like a big waste if they did in fact kill her off, especially since she is one of the voices of reason for Oliver as of late.
Diggle is a major fan favorite that could very well be in there with him getting closer to his brother again, as seen in tonight’s episode, but he is the one I really hope doesn’t die. The brotherly relationship he has with Oliver is special, and I think a big piece of this show would be missing without him.
Thea is a prime candidate, especially after a recent promo showed her in a hospital bed. However, that would almost make it seem too obvious, like with Felicity. However, the ongoing fight with the bloodlust could come back to bite her and lead to her being killed by Darhk as he sees her as the only person that could stop him, due to their previous confrontation.
The final option that it would seem could be in there is Captain Lance, who has really rebounded from being so unlikable in season three. Him and Oliver have gotten closer, with some fantastic interactions earlier this season between the two. With him right in the middle of the fight with his Darhk connection, he would seem like an obvious target. Out of the characters available, I’d say Lance would probably be the one that would be easiest to kill off without losing a lot, but any one of these characters would be a shame to lose.
Who do you think will be in the grave in four months time? Make sure to let us know in the comments below. It will be interesting to see if they give us more clues or another big reveal like tonight in that time before, so I’m sure we’ll be revisiting this topic in the future.
