‘Arrow’ season 3, episode 18 video: Oliver’s choice becomes far more complicated
Oliver Queen may not want to become the new Ra’s al Ghul, but the more previews we are seeing for Wednesday night’s new episode of “Arrow,” the more we are starting to think that he really may not have a whole lot of a choice. (We figured that we’d attach the shirtless duel photo again for this article. You’re welcome.)
Here’s the thing: Oliver wants no part of being the head of the League of Assassins, but it’s not like being the Arrow right now is much better. Captain Lance is out for justice, which to him means mostly that he wants to have some sort of validation that Sara did not die in vain. What he fails to realize here is that nothing he does here will fill that void; Lance is searching for something that cannot be fulfilled. It’s a part of his addictive personality; when he was an alcoholic, he would often try to use this to mask whatever pain he is going for. He is not going down the same road, but substituting revenge for the bottle.
Ra’s clearly knows that the Starling City Police will not stop thanks in part to his own actions to turn the city against the Arrow, which is why he tells Oliver in the video below that he can either accept his destiny, or spend the rest of his life in a cell. He does not quite care if he lives or dies, given that it holds no real consequence to what happens to Oliver in the end.
It is watching clips like this that leave us so excited about the direction of this story. While we realize that some out there may either groan or try to compare this directly to Batman stories, we do not see it that same way. Oliver is not Bruce Wayne, and what Ra’s represents to him is a foe that cannot be fully conquered. He is also operating with motives that go far beyond the standard tropes of a hero or a villain.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y9IBIkDM1s