Arrow (Episode 3x09) | Midseason Finale

*(Spoilers Ahead)*

I have to say out of all of the midseason finales this week, this was the one I was looking forward to most. I've really enjoyed this season of Arrow so far and am only more excited about what's to come in the second half. The League of Assassin's sure does know how to make an entrance and outnumber the Arrow, along with Maseo Yamashiro being a part of them. Team Arrow was running against the clock to find out who killed Sara, to settle things once and for all.

From around 10 minutes into the episode I had formed my own guess as to who killed Sara. It wasn't long till Felicity and Diggle shared that same suspicion. I wish it didn't take me this long to figure out that it was Thea who killed her, doing what Malcolm Merlyn wanted. Let's get one thing straight. Malcolm Merlyn is evil. It's been consistent in the show, and he truly is an evil person. It was clear that Sara recognized the person, but even after them showing so many clips of Thea training, it never crossed my mind that it would be her. She was manipulated, and does that make what she did okay? Absolutely not, but does it provide a way to understand it? Yes, it does. She, herself, is not  an evil person, at the moment at least.

Oliver found out that Thea knew that Malcolm was alive before he had said anything to her due to him seeing the security footage of her flying with him, which definitely caused some tension in their relationship. Not only that, but she was lying to him. He refused to originally believe that it could possible be, but after approaching Thea as the Arrow, and seeing her ability to kick ass, that was definitely changed. It was something he didn't expect to happen at all. It was something he refused to believe could happen, to see his sister become a killer, to lose that innocence that she had. She wasn't supposed to enter the world of killers, he felt that he was supposed to protect her from that world.

The scene between Oliver and Felicity was one of my favorite scenes. Their conversation and her telling him that he needs to not allow him to take advantage of his humanity, that he must kill him. But even more than that, the forehead kiss, and him saying he loves her. Her being the last person he sees before he dies. That hit hard.

Ra's al Ghul has got some dedication to making sure that when he goes after the Arrow, he'll win the fight and kill him. He had to have something to fight for, and that something to fight for was Thea. The fight between Ra's and Oliver was such a great scene, I was literally screaming at my TV rooting for Oliver, in the midst of tears because of the Olicity scene. The final scene only brought about more tears as Ra's beat Oliver, killing him and sending him over the edge of the cliff. His last thought before dying was his kiss with Felicity, which made everything so much more emotional, more than it already was. I've seen some speculation and I agree with those who think that Oliver is going to be brought to the Lazarus Pit, and I think it's going to be Maseo who brings him, raising him back to life. He wouldn't let his friend die.

That episode brought about so many tears, so many emotions, but it was so incredibly good. I was looking forward to this midseason finale the most and it was definitely the most satisfying. That. Is how you write a midseason finale. That is how you leave a major cliffhanger. Bravo writers and bravo actors & actresses. This episode is definitely one of my favorite all-time Arrow episodes, and boy am I excited for January 21st.