Arrow season 6 episode 6 debate: Could Slade Wilson actually die?

Could Slade Wilson die

Arrow season 6 episode 6 is entitled “Promises Kept,” and going into it we should make a confession: We’re extremely worried about Slade Wilson.

Why is that? Within this CarterMatt article we will boil it down to the reasons that are the most apparent and obvious.

1. The history of DC Films characters on these shows – We’ve already lost Amanda Waller and Floyd Lawton. Meanwhile, Harley Quinn was really written out before she got to do anything other than a tiny cameo. For some reason, (other than maybe The Flash) DC thinks that it’s better to have movie characters get their own time in the spotlight. We do like to think that the rules have loosened a little bit over time — we have had references to both Wonder Woman and Bruce Wayne in the Arrow-verse this year — but they’re still very selective about what they like to show. There are plans for Deathstroke within the larger DC movie canon, even with all of the turmoil that we’ve seen transpire there.

2. What’s going on with Slade at the moment – He’s outgunned. It’s really as simple as that. To make matters worse, he’s also realized that his son Joe is leading the group of people who he thought had captured him. He’s a much more dangerous man than he first thought and he may not want his father around.

3. Availability – Manu Bennett is a busy guy with a lot of different projects, so it may not be altogether easy to get him back on the show. Killing off Slade helps to explain this to a certain extent — though, for the record, we do think that Bennett loves this character and seems more than happy to come back and play him.

4. The episode’s title – “Promises Kept” is a title that has its roots back in the second season, when Slade made a promise that he would destroy Oliver Queen’s life. That is something he in part did by murdering Moira Queen right in front of him near the end of that season.

Why will Slade live?

Well, Arrow does recognize the popularity of the character and to go along with that, Bennett has promoted on many occasions the idea of a Deathstroke spin-off show. It’d be very anticlimactic for there to be all of that hype just for it to be rendered impossible by the story on this show. The more likely scenario to us is that Slade just goes away for a while — maybe he turns up again down the road and becomes important to the story with Black Siren, the show’s version of Richard Dragon, or some of the other characters we’re going to see.

Do you think Slade is in danger on Arrow tonight? Share below and head over here to see a larger preview for “Promises Kept.”

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