Arrow (Episode 3x22) Recap

"This is you sword." The penultimate episode of season 3. Team Arrow went to Nanda Parbat, Katana made her debut, and Thea went to visit Roy. It's hard to believe that we're already on episode 22, it feels like I was watching the season premiere a week ago. Leading up to the finale, tonight's episode was great, though it did leave two questions unanswered.

Things were very tense with Team Arrow, especially in terms of Oliver. I liked seeing Diggle back out in the field with Laurel. For Dig, it became a way for him to take out his anger. Felicity wasn't happy about that at all. She felt he was keeping it all in, but he was vocal about it. He was pissed at Oliver. Felicity was sure that it wasn't actually him committing the actions, but Laurel and Diggle were less likely to believe that.

While Thea went to visit Roy, Malcolm had some plans of his own. After Oliver went to take a walk in order to get away from the Nyssa and Ra's disagreement, he found Malcolm not too far away from the Ra's al Ghul residence. This is the scene where we finally saw Oliver as himself. He was pretending, which I actually wrote about this past Saturday. I was so happy to finally see him as himself, although Al Sah-Him is pretty badass. Malcolm and him devised this plan for a while, but Oliver was concerned that he wasn't going to be able to keep it going for much longer. Ra's didn't suspect him now, but he may start to soon, especially if he expects him to bring death onto Starling City. They needed help from his friends, but Malcolm was all too sure that they would believe that he was pretending. Oliver wasn't sure they would believe him, so instead, he sent someone that they would trust, a friend of his.

Oliver was right that the Team wouldn't trust Malcolm. They wouldn't believe one word he said, and they particularly weren't thrilled that Oliver had kept this from him. I understand why he did. In order for it to work, they couldn't know. They needed to believe it, too, because if there was any slight indication that they didn't, Ra's would become aware of it. They may not have believed Malcolm, but they sure would trust Tatsu, Maseo's wife. She's also known as Katana, which is what i'll be referring to her by. They were still very hesitant to listen to her, but once Tatsu told them her story and the events she's been through with Oliver, they were going to go with her because there's the possibility of a danger in the city. Felicity was very against going, especially after what they did to Oliver, but she did go along.

Oliver found out more regarding how Maseo became part of the League during their talk around the fire. He traded the Alpha/Omega virus for a spot, and even though Oliver said he would free him when he becomes Ra's, he wouldn't truly be free. The League wasn't his prison. The virus storyline corresponded with the flashbacks in this episode and this was, sadly, the episode we saw Akio die in the flashbacks.

Ray had Felicity sign some papers, which she didn't read in the beginning of the episode, but we didn't find out what those actually were for, so maybe next week we'll find out. I, along with a lot of other people, think they're the papers that grant her ownership to the company, but we'll see if that's what they are.

I loved the Thea and Roy scenes. Getting to see them back together made me so happy. Roy's living a normal life, although he's bored, working as a car mechanic. I'm so happy she brought him the Arsenal suit. That brought such a smile to my face because even though he's not using it anymore, it's a part of him. And of course, they also had a nice kissing scene. She spoke to Roy about everything going on and he said that he only wants what's going to make her happy. He wouldn't let her live on the run with him and the letter he wrote her was so sweet. I love that he gave her the suit saying that red is more her color, but I'm upset that he's gone again.

Katana's scene with Felicity was such a great one. She related what she did with Maseo, how she believed that darkness took over him entirely, that she didn't try to push through that barrier. She encouraged Felicity to do that because she still does love him and she needs to go with them because she loves him. She needs to fight for him.

Malcolm gave Katana the mask and sword before they headed to Nanda Parbat, ready to make their move. Felicity was in charge of shutting the place down while the rest of the Team, along with Malcolm, Ray, and Katana, fought the Assassins. Maseo and Katana had a fight scene during this episode that was very well done. I really enjoyed watch their sword fight. Maseo was actually going to kill her, and I was surprised at that, but Katana killed him instead, releasing him from his prison. I wasn't expecting this to happen at all. I'm upset that it did. Katana was absolutely heartbroken that it had to happen that way. He died in her arms as she sang the same lullaby she sang to their son while he passed in her arms. Akio's death in the flashbacks and Maseo's death in current times all in one episode. Sad moments.

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Oliver called for the Team's surrender or they'd die. Again, playing the role in the game he's playing in the public eye. When they were in an area alone, he told them that if any of them speak they'd all die, but he didn't go further than that. He just needs them to trust him. When they wedding was announced to them, the look on Felicity's face killed me. The stare she had towards him hurt a lot to see, and I'm sure it hurt him a lot to see her with that stare. The Diggle scene with Oliver also hurt a lot. Oliver's going to have to regain his trust again, his friendship, his respect. This is my favorite friendship and I hope they can rebuild it soon.

Malcolm is such a little jerk, I can't even actually describe him without using a bunch of expletives. He's a liar, a manipulative little liar, that they trust because he has power behind him. He told Ra's that Oliver was deceiving him and when Oliver was called to the scene, Ra's certainly wasn't going to make it easy for Oliver to prove his loyalty even further. The way it was tests was through the breaking of the Alpha/Omega virus vile in the prison cell they were in. Watching Oliver look at them yelling at him to do something and turn his back was tough to watch.

The wedding scene was not one I was looking forward to at all. Seeing Oliver's friends on the floor and him about to be married off to Nyssa was brutal. Felicity and Diggle thinking they were going to die in that room and saying they were glad to have known each other, I didn't know how this scene was going to end. The union between Nyssa and Oliver was sealed, which means the wedding did have an end. That's one way to leave everyone hanging.

Okay, I don't know what to say about that last scene with all of Oliver's friends on the floor. I just don't know what to really think of it. I don't think it was actually the virus. I think it was another part to the game Oliver's been playing. They're fine, obviously, since they were fine in the promo and back in Starling City, but what that vile had in it whether it was the virus or a fake is questionable. I really enjoyed tonight's episode. It creates good buildup for the finale. The promo for the finale looks fantastic. The Flash was be making an appearance and the "My name is Oliver Queen" that Oliver says to Ra's sounds so great. Looks intense, but awesome. I'm so excited for the finale.

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