The show that started it all. While incomparable in scale and budget, the first season of ?Arrow did for TV what ?Iron Man did for the movies: it spawned an entire shared universe of superhero stories, intricately woven together through references, shared guest stars and highly anticipated crossovers. After 7.5 seasons, however, Arrow is coming to an end late this year. This of course, leads to a lot of speculation. Where will our beloved characters go next? Will some die? Will some stories continue on another show like The Flash or ?Legends of Tomorrow?
Adding to this discussion is a particular scene in the final part of the ?Elseworlds crossover event from last December. This trilogy of episodes saw the Green Arrow, Flash and Supergirl team up to defend the earth from an interdimensional threat. A glimpse of the future saw Flash and Supergirl both die while saving the world. In one pivotal scene near the end, Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) spoke to the Monitor to bargain for Flash and Supergirls lives. In order to change the future, he had to sacrifice something, and given he was bargaining for two lives, it wouldnt have been something small. Unfortunately, we, the viewers, were not informed what Oliver had traded away. We just saw Flash and Supergirl live to save another day. This has led many fans to speculate that Oliver Queen will die in next years crossover, titled ?Crisis on Infinity Earths, which will also be one of the final episodes of Arrow.
Now this is where I would like to introduce my theory.
As we have seen in earlier seasons, Oliver was never shy to put his life on the line in order to save friends, family or his city. For example, in season 3s ?The Climb, Oliver challenged Ras al Ghul, the most dangerous man on the planet, to a duel. He did so with full knowledge that he may well die. Why? To save his sister Thea from a similar fate. Had it not been for the cold snow and an unexpected ally, Oliver would indeed have bitten the dust.
As it seems, trading his life for that of his friends may not be the greatest sacrifice he can make. What is?
Over the course of almost 7 full seasons now, we have seen Oliver go through substantial character development and personal growth. Not only during the series real time, but also during the flashbacks that spanned seasons 1-5 and covered the 5 years that Oliver was on Lian Yu, in Hong Kong and in Russia (and a little trip to Coast City). Starting out as a cheating, paparazzi beating rich kid, Oliver soon had to learn courage and determination through his hardships away from home. We witnessed Olivers transition from billionaire playboy to cunning survivor to absolute beast mode, and then, after returning home, taking up his bow to fight for a good cause. After letting others into his life as a vigilante, Oliver chose to refrain from killing and learned to accept other opinions and be more accountable towards others. In season four, Oliver suddenly found himself a father and that relationship has been explored ever since, adding another layer of growth. After some time as Star Citys mayor, Oliver opened up about being the Green Arrow and after some months in prison, Oliver shows responsibility towards his newfound sister and is trying his very best to be transparent and law abiding. His ultimate goal is to be a hero, both in actions and in morals, and that heroism is what defines him in the eyes of William in the season 7 flash forwards.
Now, what if Olivers sacrifice was giving up his heroism. Everything he has worked for since the day he washed up on Lian Yu. Not giving up Yao Fei, who had shot him with an arrow not long before, was his first sign of heroism, and that was only his first few weeks on the island. What if all Olivers growth was undone. Speaking concretely, what if the Queens Gambit never went down? Or, even further back, so as to clear the Queen family from any ill tidings, what if Danny Brickwell never shot Rebecca Merlyn, thus never sending Malcolm to the League and sparing Starling City and the Queens from the Undertaking?
Oliver would have continued cheating on Laurel for some time more, eventually it would have been exposed, Oliver would not really care, because thats just how pre-Lian Yu Oliver rolled. Oliver would have continued to live like this for a few more years, crashing expensive cars with Tommy Merlyn and starting fights with club owners. Eventually, he would have taken over Queen Consolidated and went on with life as a CEO, blissfully unaware of any Assassins, Mirakuru or A.R.G.U.S.
Now, I know 2 questions may come to mind.
1: Didnt we see this scenario play out in 2017s ?Invasion!? In this world, Oliver wasnt a cheating playboy at all anymore and almost married Laurel, so what are you saying?
While we saw a version of reality in which the Gambit never sank, do keep in mind that this world was tailored by the Dominators to appeal to their victims deepest wishes and desires, which is always better than reality. It would seem unlikely that, without any life changing experience, Oliver would be the balanced, loyal and respected person we witness in the Invasion! dream sequence.
2: Wouldnt Olivers not becoming a hero mean that Flash and Legends never happened as well? And wouldnt everyone be dead three times over without the Green Arrow?
There are two ways to approach this. Lets assume that in this theorised alternate reality, Brickwell never shot Rebecca Merlyn, as stayed earlier. Lets examine the chain of events which would then never have happened.
Malcolm wouldnt have joined the League. Malcolm wouldnt have sabotaged the Gambit. Sara Lance wouldnt have ?died. Oliver wouldnt have met Slade Wilson nor Anthony Ivo. Oliver wouldnt have become the Arrow and Malcolm wouldnt have levelled the Glades. Malcolm wouldnt have a blood debt with Ras al Ghul and wouldnt have told Thea he was her father, since Robert Queen would be alive and well. Therefore, the events of season 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6a would not have happened.
Which in turn means that Sara would not have become the White Canary and Ray would not have become the Atom. So this alternate timeline would also have a profound effect on the Legends. So while no one would fall victim to the Undertaking, Slade Wilsons army, the League of Assassins, Prometheus or Cayden James, there would still be Damien Darhk, Vandal Savage and so on without a Green Arrow, White Canary or Atom to stop them. Do keep in mind that Rip Hunter, Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Snart and Rory and Firestorm are not connected to Oliver, and without Oliver, Eobard Thawne would still have blown up STAR Labs, resulting in the creation of metahumans, so there would probably still be a team of Legends and Flash to stop these villains, but the world would not be free from danger.
Now, this is where the second way to approach this comes in. The Monitor is not a time altering being, he is a reality altering being. Comparable to Thanoss actions with the Reality Stone, the Monitor can use his book to reshape reality any way he sees fit. He can, therefore, create a reality where there is no Green Arrow, but the other heroes for exist. Or a reality in which all the heroes that followed Oliver Queen do not exist as such, but neither do villains such as Darhk. The possibilities are endless.
So this is my theory. Olivers ultimate sacrifice is not his life, but his heroism, and the ending of ?Crisis (and that of Arrow at the same time) may see Oliver revert to a regular, self centred rich guy without any knowledge of the heights he once achieved. Whats worse? Living in a world you know is wrong (Invasion!) or living in a world without knowing how wrong it is? Heartbreaking, right?
Anyway. This is just a theory. I encourage you to have your own thoughts about this and Id love to hear your thoughts, ideas and theories in the comments.
Cheers!
?Crisis on Infinite Earths*, not Infinity. I see autocorrect prefers Marvel haha...
So far no other theories... Id really like to hear your thoughts on this one guys
