s01e02 : “Honor thy Father”
Oliver’s off screen voice: The day I went missing… was the day I died. Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine. In his final moments, he told me the truth… That our family’s wealth had been built on the suffering of others. That he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be someone else, I have to be something else.
On the roof of a building
Several men are having what appears to be a secret meeting. The Arrow suddenly appears and starts fighting with two of those men.
Man 1: Who’s that? Where’d he come from?
After putting down the two men, he shoots arrows into the other men.
Man 2: What’s going on here? Get the chopper back now!
Man 3: Who is this guy?
There’s only one man (Marcus Redman) left unarmed.
Marcus Redman: Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please…
The Arrow punches him and puts his face close to the turning helix of the ventilation system.
The Arrow: Marcus Redman, you failed this city.
Marcus: Please, don’t! Please, don’t!
The Arrow: Cell phone, inside pocket, call your partner. Tell him to give those pensioners back their money. Do it, now.
Marcus: Okay!
The Queens House
Oliver enters in the living room. Moira, Thea and Walter are watching the news.
Presenter: Over the past 15 years, Mr. Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan’s account. Mr. Redman claims refunding the Halcyon pension plan has always been his intent. But sources say Redman was coerced by the vigilante.
Oliver: This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right?
Thea: Five years on an island and you still know who they are.
Oliver: I’ve been catching up. It’s nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away. (Walter smiles)
Moira: But the city used to be different. People used to feel safe.
Thea: Aw, what’s the matter, mom? Afraid we’re gonna be next?
Walter: Do you have any questions about today, Oliver? It’s a simple proof-of-life declaration. Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided.
Oliver: It’s fine, Walter, I’ve been in a courtroom before.
Tommy: (coming in) Four times, by my estimate. You know, there was the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop?
Moira: I wish everyone would.
Oliver: (to Tommy) I’d hang, but we’re heading to court.
Tommy: I know, that’s why I’m here. My best friend is getting legally resurrected, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.
Oliver: Right. Okay. (Turning to Thea) What about you?
Thea: (leaving the room) Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me.
Oliver: Fair enough.
Diggle: (coming in) Mrs. Queen? Car’s ready.
In front of the courthouse
Oliver, Moira, Walter, Tommy and Diggle try to go through the crowd of journalists who are trying to ask questions to Oliver (“Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank?”; “Are you going to talk about the boat crash?”; “Did you see Sara Lance die?”). While they’re asking those questions, Oliver has flashbacks of the night the boat sank.
In the courtroom
Oliver: There was a storm. The boat went down. I was the only survivor.
He remembers being on the lifeboat with his dad and another man and calling for Sara.
Oliver: My father didn’t make it.
He remembers his father shooting himself.
Oliver: I almost died, I… I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw island. When I reached it, I knew… I knew that I was gonna have to live for the both of us. And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going.
Oliver’s lawyer: Your Honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver’s disappearance at sea aboard the Queen’s Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner’s father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I’m afraid.
Outside the courtroom
Moira: Now, onto the offices. Everyone is waiting to meet you there.
Oliver: Uh, mom… That was… a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be. Can we do that tomorrow? Please?
Moira: Of course.
Oliver: Thank you.
Moira and Walter leave.
Tommy: Last week, you couldn’t wait to get to the company.
Oliver: Tommy, I’d just spent five years away from civilization. I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. I… (They run into Laurel, Joanna and another woman) Hi.
Laurel: What are you doing here?
Oliver: Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead. Legally speaking. What are you doing here?
Laurel: My job.
Oliver: Right.
Joanna: More like the D.A. ‘s.
Oliver: (to the other woman) Hi, Oliver Queen.
The woman: Emily Nocenti.
Laurel: (to Emily) Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island. Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister. He was with her when she died. And last week, he told me to stay away from him. It was really good advice. Excuse me. (She leaves)
Emily: (to Oliver) It was nice meeting you.
Joanna: (to Emily) Yeah, let’s go.
They leave too.
Tommy: Come on, buddy, shake it off. Let’s go.
Outside the courthouse
When they go out, Oliver and Tommy see a man, Mr. Somers, answering journalists’ questions.
Journalist: Mr. Somers! What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance?
Somers: I don’t know what I’ve done to earn this witch-hunt from Miss Lance and her bosses at CNRI. But I can tell you this. I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That’s all I have to say, thank you.
He leaves.
Journalist: Oh, there’s Mr. Queen… Mr. Queen, do you want to follow up?
Journalist 2: What happened in there, sir?
Journalist 3: Tell us what happened inside, Mr. Queen.
Diggle tries to ease Oliver’s way to the car.
Diggle: Step back, everybody, please.
Journalist: Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr. Queen? Before you go, sir, please.
Journalist 2: Couple of comments about the island, sir.
Journalist 3: What happened in there?
Diggle: Everybody, step back!
Oliver manages to go into the car, as a journalist takes a picture of him.
Diggle: (to the journalist) Hey man, I’ll make you swallow that Nikon. Back!
Oliver leaves with the car, leaving Tommy and Diggle on the sidewalk.
Tommy: (to Diggle) This happens to you a lot, doesn’t it?
In the courtroom
Laurel: (pleading a case) How much is a life worth? A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live. (We see in a flash Victor Nocenti brought by two men to Somers). A father. A man with a daughter. The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there, Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese Triads to smuggle drugs into our city. And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed. (We see Nocenti getting his throat cut in front of Somers). Mr. Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the District Attorney’s office. Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father’s death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them.
In Oliver’s secret place
Oliver is training.
Oliver’s voice over: Martin Somers. Laurel’s targeted the worst of Starling City, so it’s no surprise his name is on my father’s list (we see the list). The city’s D.A. can’t stop him… or won’t. Laurel thinks she’s the only one willing to bring him to justice. She’s wrong.
In a warehouse
Martin Somers is here with some other men.
Somers: (to another man, with a threatening tone) You, listen up. The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me. You shut this trial down, do you understand me?
The lights suddenly go off. Somers hears fights around him. When he can finally see something, all of his men are down.
Somers: What the hell?
The Arrow hits him. When Somers opens his eyes, he’s outside, hung from his feet. He sees The Arrow.
The Arrow: Martin Somers…
Somers: Who the hell are you?
The Arrow: …you’ve failed this city.
The Arrow takes an arrow.
Somers: No, no no no no no!
The Arrow shoots it in the air next to Somers.
The Arrow: You’re gonna testify in that trial. You’re gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won’t be a second warning.
He shoots a second arrow and scratches his cheek.
OPENING CREDITS
In the Queen House
Moira and Diggle are in the living room.
Moira: I hired you to protect my son. Now, I’m not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you’re hired to protect.
Diggle: With all due respect, ma’am, I never had a client who didn’t want my protection.
Moira: I hired you. That makes me the client. Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions?
Diggle: Ma’am, I truly do not know.
Oliver: (coming in) And he truly doesn’t.
Moira: Then perhaps you’d like to share with me, you know, where it is you run off to.
Oliver: I’ve been alone for five years.
Moira: I know that, Oliver.
Oliver: Mom… Alone.
Moira: I see.
Oliver: I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage…
Moira: No, I’d rather you promise to take Mr. Diggle with you on your next rendezvous. It’s not safe, you’ve already been abducted once. There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy.
Oliver: That maniac saved my life.
Moira: This isn’t a game. I lost you once. And I am not going through that again.
Oliver: Okay. Dig’s my guy.
Moira: Thank you.
Moira leaves.
Oliver: (to Diggle) Sorry to give you so much grief.
Diggle: I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr.Queen. You don’t even come close to my definition of grief. But I tell you what… You ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me.
Diggle leaves. Thea comes in.
Oliver: (to Thea) Where are you going?
Thea: Uh… Somewhere loud and smoky. And don’t bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I’m gonna go get drunk instead.
Oliver: Thea, do you think this is what dad would want for you?
Thea: Dead people don’t want anything. It’s the one of the benefits of being dead.
Oliver: I was dead. And I wanted a lot.
Thea: Except for you family. You’ve been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me. Don’t wait up.
Somers’ office
Detective Lance: Well, I owe you an apology, Mr. Somers. We come all the way down to you docks, and it turns out, you don’t need the police after all.
Somers: Which is exactly what I’ve been saying.
Lance: Yeah. So I guess that 911 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow… I guess… Well, was that a practical joke? (He sees the mark of an arrow on Somers wooden deck.
Somers: These guys like to fool around.
Lance: Yeah. Well, you know, I’d be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks. (He shows him an arrow). You see, there’s this vigilante running around. He thinks he’s some king of Robin Hood. He’s robbing the rich, he’s trying to teach them a lesson I guess. I don’t know, I don’t know. But the point is, the man’s a killer. And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down. But like you said… (He puts the arrow in the mark that is on the desk, and it perfectly fits). Hmm! Clearly, nothing happened here last night.
Somers: Isn’t this a conflict of interest, Detective? After all, your daughter is suing me.
Lance: I’m pretty good at keeping my emotions in check.
Somers: I’m not. You and your daughter don’t want to find out what I’m capable of when I get emotional.
Queen Consolidated
Walter: As you can see, Oliver, we’ve modernized quite a bit.
Oliver, next to his mother, sees a pretty woman.
Woman: (flirting) Hi.
Moira smiles.
Moira: Are you enjoying yourself?
Oliver: Yes, I am.
Walter: I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy. You always were so excited.
Oliver: Dad let me drink soda in the office.
Moira: Ah! So that’s why you enjoyed coming.
Walter: The Queen Consolidated’s success of late is a result of its targeted diversification. We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy.
Oliver: That’s neat. (To the secretary) Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please?
Moira: Sweetheart, Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you. Come, please sit.
Oliver: Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down.
Walter: The company’s about to break ground on a new site for the Applied Sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name.
Oliver: Nice.
Moira: And we’d like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company.
Oliver: No.
Moira: No, your… Your company.
Oliver: No, I don’t want to lead anything. Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here.
Moira: You said that you wanted to be a different person. And you are Robert Queen’s son.
Oliver: I don’t need to be reminded of that.
Moira: Well, obviously you do.
Walter: Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you.
Oliver: Thank you, Walter. Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father’s CFO now sleeps down the hall from me?
Moira: You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming. It is a lot less so now.
She leaves. Walter follows her.
Outside Queen Consolidated
Journalist: There he is!
Walter and Oliver go through the crowd of journalists and go into the car.
Diggle: The driver will be here in a minute.
Oliver: Okay.
Diggle: You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in Starling City, and the next five in Afghanistan. You want to know what I learned?
Oliver: There’s no place like home?
Diggle: No, just the opposite. Home is a battlefield. Back home, they’re all trying to get you. Get you to open up, be somebody you’re not sure you are anymore. Or I could be wrong. Maybe after five years alone, you’re not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be.
FLASHBACK
Oliver wakes up on the island and sees birds around the dead body of his father.
Oliver: Hey! Hey, get away! Hey! Dad? Hey! Hey, stay away from him!
He takes the body and starts walking.
CNRI
Joanna: Well, we anticipate that Somers’ attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck.
Emily: This isn’t about the money. I just want justice for my father.
Laurel: Emily, there are a lot of people who don’t want this trial to proceed. Dangerous people.
Emily: My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I’ve ever known and they slit his throat. They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up.
Laurel: Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Quentin: (coming in with three other police officers) And it won’t.
Laurel: What’s going on?
Quentin: What’s going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection. Okay? Get used to their faces, because they’re going with you everywhere you go, no arguments.
Laurel: I’m a lawyer. I live to argue.
Quentin: I’m your father. I live to keep you safe.
Joanna: Um, Emily, let’s go grab a cup of coffee, okay?
Quentin: Yes, why not do that? Thank you. (to the officers) Please, go with them.
Joanna, Emily and the police officers leave.
Laurel: Protective custody? I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys also. Didn’t work then either.
Quentin: This isn’t a joke, Laurel. Martin Somers got attacked last night.
Laurel: What?
Quentin: Yeah.
Laurel: By who?
Quentin: It doesn’t matter. Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you’ll be protected, okay? End of discussion.
Laurel: That might have worked when I was eight. But it’s not gonna work anymore.
Quentin: End of discussion, Laurel! You’re insistent on doing your job, that’s great. But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop. These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit. And you’ve made then angry.
He leaves.
Somers’ office
A woman (China White) comes to the room.
Somers: Thank you for coming.
China: Anything for a friend.
Somers: We’re not friends. You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port.
China: For which you’re paid a lot of money.
Somers: I don’t get paid enough to have arrows shot at me. You need to take this guy seriously. He is bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was.
China: Except now it’s Nocenti’s daughter who’s the problem. Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her.
Somers: Don’t be an idiot. You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go. She won’t stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire Triad to the ground.
China: Then we kill Miss Lance.
Oliver’s bedroom
Oliver, in a towel, watches the TV.
Presenter: Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti. Nocenti’s body was found four weeks ago. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
Thea walks into the room and sees the injuries on Oliver’s body.
Thea: Wait, how did you get those?
Oliver: (upset) Don’t you knock?
Thea: No, wait… Mom said that there were scars, but… I’m… Oliver, what happened to you out there?
Oliver: I don’t want to talk about it.
Thea: Of course you don’t. You never want to talk to me about anything. Except for my social life.
She starts leaving.
Oliver: Wait! Where are you going?
Thea: Why should I tell you?
Oliver: I’m sorry, Thea. I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there. But I’m not ready yet. Okay?
Thea: Do you have a second?
Oliver: Yeah.
Thea: Good. I wanna show you something out back.
Behind the house
Thea: Sometimes, when I felt… Whatever… I’d come here.
She shows him the tombs of their dad and himself.
Thea: About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out. Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether. The house got so quiet, so I’d come here. To talk to you. I mean, stupid stuff. Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on… And then sometimes, I’d ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me. Now, here you are. And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead. Look, I know it was hell where you were. But it was hell here too. You gotta let me in, Ollie. You gotta let someone in.
Laurel’s apartment
Someone knocks at the door. Laurel suspiciously opens it.
Oliver: Hi. Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside.
Laurel: How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won’t stay away from me?
Oliver: I…
Laurel: What are you doing here, Ollie?
Oliver: My sister took… She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that… It would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in.
Laurel: So you thought you’d start with the first person you pushed away.
Oliver: I did that to protect you. And then I saw you, yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you.
She steps aside to let him in.
Oliver: Thank you. Wow, this place hasn’t changed in five years.
Laurel: I haven’t really had time to redecorate.
Oliver: I’m a jerk. Before the island, I was a jerk, and now I’m just a… I’m a damaged jerk.
Laurel looks at the bag he’s holding.
Laurel: What’s in the bag?
Oliver: I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day. I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I’d do it with you. (He takes out ice cream of the bag) Eat ice cream. (Laurel smiles).
Later in Laurel’s apartment
Oliver: (eating ice cream) This is as good as I remember. (Laurel doesn’t answer). My mother wants me to join the company. Yeah. Take my rightful place.
Laurel: I can’t exactly picture you as master of the universe.
Oliver: You know, after five years, I have plans. I have things that I have to do. I can’t do that if I’m… I don’t know… Attending board meetings and stockholder briefings.
Laurel: Oliver?
Oliver: Hmm?
Laurel: You’re an adult. You can say no.
Oliver: Oh, I tried. Didn’t take.
Laurel: Well, then don’t tell her. Show her. Be the person that you want her to see you as. Trust me. I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents.
Oliver: I have been on the receiving end of your father’s disapproval.
Laurel: He blames himself more than he blames you. He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sara were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip. And he could have stopped her from going with you.
Oliver: I am sorry.
Laurel: You apologized already.
Oliver: And it’ll never be enough.
Oliver hears something.
Oliver: Did you hear that?
Laurel: What?
Oliver: There’s someone on the fire escape. He takes a knife, stands up, takes Laurel’s hand and start running. Hey, come on…
Laurel: What are…
Some men break the door and come into the apartment. They start shooting at Laurel and Oliver. China is here. Diggle comes in and shoots a man with a knife. He fights with China and is saved by Oliver, who throws a knife at her when she’s about to stab him. China runs away and Laurel runs into Oliver’s arms.
Diggle: Are you hurt?
Oliver: No.
Diggle: Are you hurt, Mr. Queen?
Oliver: No! No.
Diggle: This is why it’s a good idea to have a bodyguard.
Laurel’s apartment
The police is here. Quentin comes in and takes Laurel into his arms.
Quentin: You okay?
Laurel: Daddy!
Quentin: Oh, thank God. Thank God. Are you alright?
Laurel: I’m okay. Those cops that you put me on…
Quentin: They…
Diggle: I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car.
Laurel is shocked.
Quentin: Mr. Diggle, thank you. Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want.
Diggle: I was just doing my job, sir.
Quentin: (pointing at Oliver) No, your job is protecting him. (to Oliver) It seems like whenever you’re with one of my daughters, people die. You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent.
Laurel: Dad!
Quentin: No, Laurel…
Oliver: It’s okay. I understand.
Quentin: Yeah.
Queens House
Diggle has hurt his hand during the fight. Oliver gives him ice.
Oliver: I’d say thank you, but I don’t think that would cover it.
Diggle: Well, I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job. Besides, I think it should be you that I’m thanking.
Oliver: What for?
Diggle: The knife.
Oliver: The knife. I got lucky.
Diggle: That was a kitchen knife. It wasn’t even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room.
Oliver: Exactly. I got lucky.
Diggle: I’m not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr. Queen, you understand me?
Oliver: Yes.
Diggle: And I think I’m just beginning to understand the kind of man you are.
Oliver: Shouldn’t take you very long. I’m shallow. And very tired, so… He starts leaving. Good night.
Diggle: Good night, sir.
Oliver’s lair
Oliver suits up.
Oliver’s voice-over: I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court’s justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead. He’s still going to face justice. It’ll be just a different kind. Everyone wants to know what kind of man I am. Martin Somers is about to find out.
Somers’ office
Somers: (to his bodyguard) Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance. Now, the Triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me. Except that’s not gonna happen. Tell Wallace to get the boat ready. I’m leaving tonight.
Bodyguard: (In his walkie-talkie) Wallace? No one’s answering Wallace, you copy? Wallace?
The Arrow: Wallace isn’t here. But I am.
Somers: We need to move, now! Move!
Bodyguard: Sir, we’ve got six men out there.
Somers: It’s not enough. Move it!
Laurel’s apartment
Quentin: You’re gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you’re gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right? Or drop it. Either way, you’re done.
Laurel: If you think I’m gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don’t know me all that well.
Quentin: You don’t know me well, young lady. I will lock you in a cell if that’s what it takes.
Laurel: Well, I guess that’s what it’s gonna take then.
Quentin: Damn it, Laurel! I thought after what happened with Sara, you’d stop being so reckless.
Laurel: It’s not about being reckless! It’s just the opposite. I’m trying to make this city safer, just like you.
Quentin: Sweetie. You’re my only daughter, Laurel. You’re all I have left to live for.
Laurel: But what you want from me isn’t living. Having cops around, not being able to do my job.
Quentin: Your job is not going after people like the Triad or Somers.
Laurel: My job is to use the law to fight for what is right. Just like you taught me.
Quentin: Well, that’s dirty. Using me against me. You can’t do that.
Laurel: Well… Maybe I picked that up along the way, too.
Quentin’s phone rings.
Quentin: (answering the phone) Lance. I’ll be right there. (to Laurel) I gotta go. Something’s going on at the docks.
At the docks
Oliver manages to fight Somers’ bodyguards and finally get to him.
The Arrow: Somers!
He scares him by throwing arrows next to him.
Somers: Oh, God, no, no, no.
The Arrow: He can’t help you. I want the truth about Victor Nocenti.
Somers: I can’t. The Triad will kill me.
The Arrow: The Triad’s not your concern right now.
Somers: All right, all right, all right. It wasn’t me that killed him. It was the Triad.
The Arrow: Acting on whose instructions? Whose?
Somers: All right, all right. It was mine. It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me.
China comes in.
China: (to Oliver, in Chinese) Move away from him.
Oliver: (in Chinese) Make me.
They start fighting, but the police arrives.
Policeman: Put down your weapons or we will open fire. I repeat, lay down your weapons.
Oliver starts to run but Quentin appears in front of him. He points his gun at him.
Quentin: Freeze! You twitch and you’re dead. Bow down, hands up.
Oliver throws something at Quentin, which distracts him. Oliver manages to escape. Quentin looks at what he was thrown at. It’s a recording of Nocenti’s confession.
Quentin: Son of a bitch.
Oliver’s lair
Oliver’s voice-over: Laurel was right. I can’t be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father. I have to be the person I need them to see me as.
In front of the Robert Queen memorial
A crowd is gathered. Journalists are here. Tommy sees Laurel.
Tommy: Okay, this is a surprise. Did you show up here by mistake?
Laurel: By invitation. Oliver invited me last night.
Tommy: Last night?
Laurel: Is that surprise or jealousy I’m hearing?
Tommy: Look, I just don’t want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot.
Laurel: Tommy, we’ve all been through a lot.
Walter: (on the stage, with a golden shovel in the hand) Good afternoon. And thank you all for coming. Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen Memorial Applied Sciences Center. Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company and vision are his greatest legacies.
Oliver: (showing up drunk with two women) Whoa! Whoa! What about me? Right? I’m a legacy. (He comes up to the stage) Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt. All right. (he takes the shovel from Walter’s hands but almost drops it). Ow! Fine, fine shovel. I got it. Some of you may not know me. My name is Oliver Queen. (nobody answers) Watch some television, read a newspaper, I’m kind of famous right now. Mostly, though, I’m famous because I’m Robert Queen’s son. Uh, but as Walter, who’s my new dad… Huh? Who is… Sorry, as Walter was saying, I’m not much of a legacy, per se.
Walter: (whispering) Oliver, you don’t have to do this.
Oliver: No, sit. Sit! Gosh. See, I was supposed to come here today, and I’m supposed to take my rightful place at the company. Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent. But I’m not my father. I’m not the man he was. I’m not half the man he was. I never will be. So, please, stop asking me to be.
He leaves.
CNRI
Joanna, Emily and Laurel are watching the news, smiling.
Presenter: Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling Port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes.
Joanna: (to Emily, after turning the TV off) Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.A. now has no choice, with Mr. Somers’ confession, to prosecute him.
Laurel: He’s going to jail, Emily. For the rest of his life.
Emily: Thank you so much for fighting for us.
Laurel: Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me.
Emily leaves, Quentin arrives.
Quentin: Hey.
Laurel: I thought I didn’t need police protection anymore.
Quentin: I thought I didn’t need a reason to see my own daughter.
Laurel: You don’t. Hmm. You look tired.
Quentin: Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night and getting grilled about how I let that archer get away.
Laurel: I have to admit, I’m kind of glad he did. He brought down Martin Somers.
Quentin: He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay? He is no hero. He is an anarchist.
Laurel: Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he’s trying to help.
Quentin: The city doesn’t need that kind of help, okay? It’s like I was always told you, you don’t need to go outside the law to find justice. Now I believe that. All right? And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he’s gonna believe it, too.
Oliver’s bedroom
Oliver opens his father’s notebook and scratches out Martin Somers’ name.
FLASHBACK
Oliver, exhausted, puts his father’s body on a rock. He then discovers the notebook in his pocket. Except it’s completely empty, the pages are blank. There is only a logo on the first page.
SOMEWHERE IN STARLING CITY
Moira is in her car, waiting for someone. Another car arrives, in which she gets in. She starts talking to someone.
Moira: Well, you saw for yourself. My son knows nothing. Robert didn’t tell him anything that could hurt us. And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged.
The man Moira is talking to has a book in his hand, on which appears the same logo as the one in Robert’s notebook.
Robert Queen’s grave
Oliver goes on his father’s grave with the notebook in his hands.
Oliver: All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn’t realize how hard it would be. To reconnect with mom, Thea, Laurel. Okay, I didn’t… I didn’t know how painful it would be to keep my secrets. You asked me to save the city. To right your wrongs. I will. I swear. But to do that, I can’t be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be, which means that sometimes… To honor your wishes… I need to dishonor your memory. I’m sorry. (He starts leaving and talks to two men who are waiting). Take it down. (The men start taking down Oliver’s grave).
Diggle: Will you be going out tonight, sir?
Oliver: (getting in the car) Definitely.
FLASHBACK
On the island, Oliver buries his father. Once he’s done, he’s shot with an arrow. He starts screaming from pain, turns around and sees an archer.
Oliver: No, no…
He passes out.