Arrow 4x18 Recap: "Eleven-Fifty-Nine"

Eleven-Fifty-Nine. 
Malcolm's making his move to break Darhk out of jail and when the Team learns this, they make their own plan to stop him. Andy is also involved in helping Darhk again, putting him and Diggle on opposing sides. The character death we've been told about since the very first episode of the season also occurs tonight, so the show will be losing one of its loved characters. Who is it? Keep reading to find out.

The Malcolm Merlyn-Damien Darhk Team Up. Andy tells Diggle that Damien Darhk is working with Malcolm Merlyn and Merlyn came after Andy. He tells hims that he asked him to help him bust Darhk out of prison. Now that the Team gets word of this, Diggle thinks that they need to keep Andy on the inside. He trusts him. Oliver also admits that he's seen the idol Darhk needs in order to use his magic before (when he was on the island).

While they're there, Merlyn shows up to the Arrow lair while Thea and Laurel are there and sends in some of his men to attack them. Turns out that Oliver and Dig trying to stop the missile was merely an easy distraction. The League Men are able to get in, get the idol, and get out being that there's only two out of the four members there.

The thing about the idol is that it's missing the specific stone that it's meant to have. Therefore, it's not complete and it won't work without it. If Merlyn doesn't complete the job, but his and Thea's lives are threatened.

Laurel Lance. Ruve Darhk wants Laurel to be the new DA when she becomes mayor. She believes she can do great things for the city and was very impressed by her trial. Quentin knows that if she takes this job, she'll be under protection and watch 24/7. By taking the job, she'll have to take off the mask.

Back to Laurel's lawyer job, she goes and speaks to Darhk and informs the guards that all of the cells must be searched to make sure that none of the other prisoners are hiding anything. He mentions her fathers past with alcoholism and other issues they've had, but she tells him that she'll see him in court and she's determined to take him down.

Laurel tells Oliver that she's going to turn down the job because she won't be able to be the Black Canary anymore, but Oliver tells her that the Black Canary was her way of grieving after Sara died. Sara's no longer dead and the city has plenty of masked heroes. Now she should pursue this because it's what she's always wanted and the city needs a hero that doesn't wear a mask. It needs her.

Oliver and Diggle's disagreement. Oliver's not sure if Andy can be trusted, while Dig trusts his brother completely now. After the missile job went too easy, Oliver thinks Andy shouldn't be involved anymore for his safety, but Diggle responds with the fact that he's already in a compromised position. Oliver is worried that Andy's playing them as a part of Darhk's plan and team. Laurel advises him to be careful of his accusations before him and Diggle have an argument that hurts their relationship.

Andy calls in that he found Merlyn and the whole Team shows up. After Oliver and Andy get split from Dig, Laurel, and Thea, they're in a room that's a trap of arrows and to stop Oliver from getting hurt, Andy takes an arrow for him. Andy's main concern is that now that they have the idol, everyone's in danger, especially Lyla and the baby. He tells him that there's a piece missing and that there's nothing to worry about. Oliver tells Diggle that that information needs to be kept hidden because if it's known that they have it, there's more danger.

While Dig and Andy go a different way, Oliver says he's going to look for Malcolm. That's when he shows up to Diggle's apartment and finds Andy snooping around looking for something. When Oliver walks in as the Arrow, he says that he's looking for surveillance, but Oliver doesn't believe him. When Dig walks in on Oliver with Andy pinned against the wall, he pulls a gun on him and their relationship's going to need some fixing once again.

Dig says that Oliver has no right and Oliver tells him all of the signs that he's seen as possibilities. He says that Dig has told him that he should make sure he doesn't have any blindspots when it comes to Andy, but Dig counters with Oliver having been the one to say that Andy deserves a second chance and that Dig should believe that he can come back from the darkness like Oliver did. But Oliver says that he never did come back, he tried and tried but he hasn't been able to. Dig says that some people change, grow, and evolve, and Oliver's stuck in his self pity and righteousness, which is why Felicity left him. Oh man, some harsh words between these two in this scene.

One last time. Despite the cells having supposedly be checked, the prisoners get weapons and are able to escape. For one last time, Laurel will wear the Black Canary mask and fight with the team. Diggle brings Andy because he trusts him and he wants to prove that he can be trusted to Oliver, as well.

Thea faces off against Malcolm as the rest fight against the other prisoners that are standing with Darhk. While Thea's fighting Malcolm, he says that she'll never be able to defeat him because she doesn't have the drive to kill. Meanwhile, Andy's being held at gun point if the rest of them don't drop their weapons. So, they drop their weapons, and guess who pulls out the missing piece of the idol? Andy. It turns out Oliver was right to be suspicious. I felt bad, especially for Dig, because he fully trusted him and put all of his trust in him only to be betrayed.

The idol's complete, but Thea swoops in and shoots Damien with two arrows that allows Dig and Oliver to break free and take down some of the other prisoners. Now that Damien's got his powers back, he can control everything and heal himself, so everyone's frozen in place and he's flinging people around the room, stops Oliver's attempt to shoot him, and then, staying true to his threat to Quentin that he would hurt Laurel if he had betrayed him, sticks an arrow in her side.

Oliver rushes her to the hospital and gets a doctor to help her right away. In the flashback scene (I know I never mention these because they're hard to keep up with) he shows a picture of Laurel to Tayana and says that Laurel was his home. Back to the present, Quentin gets word of the Black Canary having been hurt. Felicity also arrives to the hospital and greets Oliver with a hug. Everyone's in an emotional state. Laurel's life is in danger, Darhk's gone with a whole bunch of inmates and Andy, and Dig's upset that he didn't listen to Oliver's warning. The doctor tells them that Laurel's in recovery and she's going to be fine and that she's a very strong woman.

She's able to talk to them and tells them that that's not how she wanted her last night to go. She tells the rest of them that she was going to give up being the Black Canary, but going out there and fighting alongside them is what makes her feel alive inside and she loves them so much. Oliver's going to stay right by Laurel's side. And asks him to get her pouch for her and inside is the picture Oliver showed Tayana when he was gone. It's a reminder of when things were good for them, the way things used to be, and she tells him that she's really happy that he found Felicity and she hopes he finds his way back to her. Although she will never be the love of his life, he will always be the love of hers. She tells him this now because tonight reminded her that anything can happen. She makes him promise her something, but we don't hear what that promise is.

Laurel was fine one second, but then she begins seizing and they're unable to revive her. Time of death 11:59. Everyone's in tears. (I'm in tears). Quentin didn't make it in time.

On April 27, Arrow returns with Laurel's funeral. Great episode tonight, and a very emotional one at that. Laurel Lance brought so much to Arrow and it has been a joy to see her grow over the seasons, and personally, she's grown on me as a character. She took herself out of the dark depths of an addiction and became this strong woman, both as a vigilante and as a lawyer. Unfortunately, tonight we said goodbye, but her character will never be forgotten.

Arrow returns April 27 at 8/7c on The CW.