It’s perfect weather for a funeral in Star City, and we think it’s for the dearly departed Laurel but in fact we’re seeing a flashback to May 2013 and Tommy Merlyn’s funeral. Oliver was supposed to deliver the eulogy, but Laurel steps in to finish the job. Back in the present, we pick up where Captain Lance sees Laurel’s body and a mysterious young woman wanders the hall. The doctor hands Oliver Laurel’s things in a bag. He takes them back to the Arrow Cave and stares at the mannequin for her costume. Diggle is still blaming himself for what happened, and despite Oliver’s attempts to convince him otherwise, he exits in a huff. Meanwhile across town, some arms dealer tries to sell some guns when the Black Canary emerges and takes his stash of weapons.
Later, Felicity and Thea join Oliver and Diggle in the Arrow Cave, where Oliver laments he doesn’t know to stop Darhk now that his magic is back. Captain Lance materializes and slams a newspaper on the table, pointing to an article about the Black Canary busting up the arms deal. Lance is convinced she’s back, somehow, but no one else buys it. Oliver checks the bag from the hospital and finds the Soic Device, built solely for Laurel, is missing. Quentin remains convinced Laurel is alive, prompting a trip to the morgue where they see her body. Oliver talks to the doctor, who knows exactly who he is at this point, and reveals something was missing from Laurel’s gear. The doctor references a “frequent flier” patient, citing perhaps it was her. All right, sure, why not?
We flashback again, where Oliver arrives at Laurel’s apartment after the funeral. He tells her Tommy would have liked what she said, but might have liked it more if he said something. Ollie utters his catchphrase, saying he failed Tommy. In the present, Felicity claims to have a lead on the “frequent flier” but is sidetracked by broody Diggle, who continues to blame himself for what happened. Across town, Thea goes out with Alex to get her mind off of everything and just as he’s almost given some character development, the Fake Canary arrives and prepares to execute him. Thea fights her off but the girl escapes. She calls Oliver, who tracks the woman down an alley. Once he confronts her she tells Oliver that he abandoned them at Reddington and that he failed the city. Lots of that going around.
In the Arrow Cave, Oliver ponders what she meant and remembers that Reddington Industrial is the place Darhk took the team after kidnapping them. They cross reference missing persons around Christmas time and find the Sharp family, the mother and father of whom died and the daughter who is missing. At Captain Lance’s apartment, Nyssa al Ghul arrives. Lance packs a bag and asks what else he needs for when they revive Laurel with the Lazarus Pitt. It was destroyed though, there’s no way to bring her back. Lance doesn’t want to believe it, however, and vows to find a way. Back in the cave, they can’t find the young Evelyn Sharp and Felicity and Oliver have a heart to heart, their first in weeks. Felicity mentions her talk with John and how she let him continue to blame himself. She goes on to blame HERself for Laurel’s death, citing that she should have been there. They get an alert from Thea that Lyla called about John, who was supposed to be checking on her…
Across town, Ruve Davis rides in her limo only for it to stop in the street as John blocks their path. He pulls her out of the car and prepares to execute her, but Oliver manages to knock his gun out of the way. Diggle throws a temper tantrum, saying he has to find his brother. Oliver reminds him that he can’t forget who he is though, and he can’t sink to their level by killing people. The team continues to try and find Evelyn as Ruve Davis goes on TV to announce arrest warrants for all of the vigilantes, especially the Black Canary. She promises to dedicate their arrest and prosecution in Laurel’s memory, as a giant middle finger to Team Arrow. Oliver gets a call from Nyssa, who tells him Lance is losing it. In typical Oliver fashion, he promises to do something about it. We flashback again where Laurel and Oliver reminisce, and she tells him they can fix the city together before kissing.
Oliver meets Captain Lance outside the League of Assassin’s Star City-base, which is empty and has no Lazarus Pit or even a Lazarus Wading Pool. Lance won’t hear it though and starts a shouting match with Oliver over their grief. Laurel was his rock in the world, and this might be the last straw for Quentin. At the Arrow Cave, Felicity apologizes to John by telling him what he needs to hear, it wasn’t your fault. An alarm goes off about Evelyn Sharp entering the Star City Plaza Hotel, where Ruve Davis happens to be hosting a talk. Team Arrow and the Anti-Vigilante task force are all on site, and Oliver finds Black Canary (after she kills two innocent people) and tries to stop her from going through with her plan. She doesn’t listen and enters the main hall. Ollie follows and tries again, but she shoots him in the shoulder and points her gun at Ruve Davis’ head. In a fit of irony, Oliver Queen tells her not to kill, and asks what she knew about the Black Canary. She saw what she did that night at Reddington Industrial, she was a hero. What Would Black Canary Do? Evelyn lowers her gun and leaves, and Oliver has an anti-climactic exit as well.
The team puts Laurel’s costume on display in the cave, but Thea is upset that this rando has ruined Laurel’s memory. Ollie stops her and says he won’t let that happen. The next day, Quentin and Dinah meet at Laurel’s burial, where Oliver finally gets the chance to speak. He tells the crowd (as Evelyn watches) how he loved Laurel and how her being a lawyer wasn’t enough to help the city. He then does the unthinkable and reveals to the crowd Laurel was the Black Canary, unsullying her memory from the last few days.
In a final flashback, Laurel finds a note from Oliver slid under her door. He talks about how she’s going to help the city but she’ll do it without him, all while we see him flying back to Lian-Yu. Oliver writes that she should never doubt his love and includes the old photo of her he kept on the island. Back at the grave, Oliver and Barry meet up (exactly the scene from the first episode of the season) and Oliver vows to kill Damien Darhk. Barry magically has his powers again and runs back to his own TV show as Oliver enters the limo with Felicity. She echoes his sentiments and tells him to kill Darhk, but he’s encountered this dark (huhu) magic before and doesn’t know how to stop it. Felicity reminds him that if Darhk wins, Laurel died for nothing. Find a way.
You can watch a preview for next week’s episode, titled “Genesis,” using the player below.
