Arrow Talk Podcast - ARROWTALK

Green Arrow recruits Rene, Evelyn Sharp, and Curtis and begins training them using an extreme exercise from his Bratva initiation, revealed through flashbacks. As mayor, Oliver arranges to have AmerTek provide free medical care for Star City's disenfranchised at a special clinic. A new metahuman, "Ragman", appears and starts attacking AmerTek executives. The recruits leave Green Arrow because they do not trust him. Thea discovers that AmerTek CEO Janet Carroll is working with Church and Felicity learns that it was AmerTek's nuclear missiles that Damien Darhk used to try and destroy the world. Ragman and Green Arrow stop an arms buy between Carroll and Church. Ragman later reveals that he was the only survivor of the Haven Rock bombing. Green Arrow convinces him to put aside vengeance and join his team. Later, Oliver reveals his identity to the other recruits as a sign of trust and they agree to rejoin the team. Thea decides to appoint Quentin as Deputy Mayor. Church is attacked by another archer calling himself "Prometheus", who wants to personally kill Green Arrow. Meanwhile, Diggle, back in the Army and on a covert operation, is ambushed by his superior, who plans to sell a nuclear trigger and frame Diggle.

Five months after the death of Damien Darhk, Oliver is distracted from his new duties as mayor due to continuing as Green Arrow alone, his old team members having gone their separate ways. He is encouraged by Felicity to build a new team by recruiting the amateur vigilantes now working in Star City, like Rene Ramirez.[101] A new criminal crew appears, headed by Tobias Church, and kidnaps Mayor Queen in a bid to draw out and kill the Green Arrow, thereby taking over the city. He is rescued by Speedy, but she permanently quits the team after seeing that Oliver is again willing to kill. Church escapes from the Green Arrow and a team of several police officers, then later unites all the organized crime cartels and street gangs under his leadership. Oliver finally agrees to form a new team and includes Curtis at the latter's request. Elsewhere, a mysterious hooded figure in black attacks a policeman. In a flashback, Oliver encounters his old friend Anatoli Knyazev in Russia. Anatoli agrees to help him kill Konstantin Kovar, the tyrant running Taiana's village, by initiating him to the Bratva, the only group that can possibly defeat Kovar.

Darhk steals the laptop keeping him locked out of "Rubicon" and launches over 15,000 nuclear missiles, giving the team two hours to prevent worldwide annihilation. With Star City citizens rioting, Oliver addresses everyone directly, inspiring hope in them to stay strong, while Felicity and Curtis divert the missile aimed at Star City. Oliver goes after Darhk, while Felicity, Merlyn, and Thea track down "Rubicon". Felicity is able convince Cooper to stop helping Darhk, and Curtis devises a means to stop the missiles. Oliver is able to nullify Darhk's powers with the hope he inspired throughout the city. While the citizens of Star City take on Darhk's remaining men, Oliver and Darhk physically battle, with Oliver killing Darhk. Afterward, Lance, Thea, and Diggle leave the team for new lives, and Oliver is appointed Mayor. In flashbacks, Reiter and Taiana fight; Taiana is able to drain Reiter's life force enough for Oliver to kill him. After, Oliver is forced to kill Taiana, at her request, when she is unable to escape the darkness within. Oliver radios Amanda Waller to rescue the rest of the prisoners and keep the idol safe.

His power grown exponentially, Darhk attempts to reactivate "Rubicon" with the help of Felicity's former boyfriend, Cooper, and launch the remaining missiles. However, Noah, Felicity, and Curtis successfully shut down "Rubicon" for good.

Darhk begins taking control over the world's nuclear missles. The team seeks out Felicity's father, Noah, to help disable the "Rubicon" program. Darhk sends Danny Brickwell and Michael Amar to find and kill Noah, but Oliver and his team are able to rescue him from Darhk's men. Noah agrees to help, but requires a high-powered processor from Palmer Tech. Felicity learns she has been fired as CEO and is unable to get the processor, forcing the team to break in and steal it. H.I.V.E. locates the team when Noah hacks into "Rubicon". As H.I.V.E. attacks, Felicity and her father shut down "Rubicon" and stop all missiles but one, which launches and heads to Monument Point. Felicity can only redirect it to a less populated town, where it detonates. Oliver and Diggle find Darhk in a nexus chamber, gathering more power from all the deaths caused by the explosion. In flashbacks, Reiter escapes the caves, but Oliver and Taiana steal the idol again. The idol soon begins to affect Taiana.

Darhk returns to H.I.V.E. and kills the remaining board members before renewing his plans for "Genesis". Oliver and Felicity meet an immortal shaman, Fortuna, who educates Oliver about dark magic. Fortuna explains that Darhk's idol channels darkness and death, feeding him more power, but there is an opposing force that channels light and hope. After a mystical ritual, Fortuna tells Oliver that the darkness inside him is too strong to channel the light. In Star City, Diggle locates Andy, but is captured after a brief shootout. Andy puts a tracking device on him, then allows Diggle to escape so that Darhk and his team can go after Diggle, Lyla, their daughter, and steal the "Rubicon" to the world's nuclear weapons. Oliver manages to stop Darhk by channeling the power of light, nullifying Darhk's powers and forcing him to retreat. Diggle and Andy battle again, with Diggle ultimately killing his brother. Thea is taken by H.I.V.E. to a secret underground city. The team realizes that Darhk plans to detonate nuclear weapons and build a new world over the ashes.

As the team mourns Laurel's death and tries to determine their next move against Darhk, there is a sighting of the Black Canary stopping an illegal weapons exchange. Oliver discovers that Laurel's sonic device is missing from her belongings from the hospital. The imposter turns out to be a H.I.V.E. prisoner named Evelyn Sharp whom Oliver left behind after he saved his team when they were kidnapped by Darhk, believing that she was with Darhk voluntarily. Captain Lance looks for a way to resurrect Laurel, even soliciting Nyssa al Ghul for help. Diggle, angry at being betrayed by Andy, goes after Darhk's wife, Ruvé Adams, but Oliver intervenes to prevent him from doing something he would regret. As a result, Ruvé uses her mayoral authority to issue arrest warrants for all vigilantes. Sharp goes after Ruvé publicly, but Oliver is able to talk her out of killing the Mayor. At Laurel's funeral, Oliver reveals Laurel as the Black Canary to preserve her image with the city. Afterwards, Oliver vows to kill Darhk. In flashbacks, Oliver and Laurel struggle to come to terms with Tommy Merlyn's death. In the end, Oliver leaves Laurel to cope on her own, and returns to the island of Lian Yu.

Andy Diggle tells his brother that he was approached by Malcolm about a plan to break Darhk out of prison. Oliver and Diggle foil H.I.V.E.'s plan, but it turns out to be a ruse designed to let Malcolm and League followers invade the bunker and steal Darhk's idol. The team attempts to locate Malcolm, with Andy providing intel. Malcolm delivers the idol to Darhk, but it will not work because it is incomplete. Diggle reveals to Andy that he personally hid the missing piece in another location. Oliver does not trust Andy and confronts him; Diggle interrupts the interrogation and sides with his brother. Darhk orchestrates a prison riot, and the team sets out to stop him, with Andy joining them. However, when the team reaches Darhk, Andy turns on them and gives Darhk the missing piece to his idol. With his powers restored, Darhk stabs Laurel as revenge upon Captain Lance before escaping with Malcolm, Andy, and several inmates. Laurel later dies at the hospital. In flashbacks, Oliver helps the island prisoners escape and sets off a bomb to bury Reiter and keep him from leaving the tunnels.

Malcolm joins Darhk, his wife Ruve Adams, and the other leaders of H.I.V.E. where it is revealed that they are on "Phase 5" of their plan. In order tie-up loose ends, Darhk sends a group of mercenaries, known as the Demolition Team, to take out Captain Lance. They fail, and Felicity is able to track them to their hideout. Oliver, Thea, Laurel, and Diggle go after them but are almost killed when the Demolition Team destroy their own building to escape. Meanwhile, Thea discovers that Oliver has a son, and supports his decision to keep it a secret. With Curtis' help, Felicity realizes that Demolition Team are planning to destroy the venue for the mayoral debate between Oliver and Ruve, leaving Ruve alive as a sympathetic survivor. Oliver and his team stop the mercenaries in time for Oliver to win the debate. After, Darhk kidnaps William. In flashbacks, Oliver kills Conklin to win the trust of the other prisoners as Reiter forces them to dig for an "ultimate power" hidden on the island.

Oliver refuses Nyssa's offer, instead he attempts to convince Malcolm to relinquish control of the League to Nyssa in exchange for the cure. Malcolm claims Nyssa is lying and refuses to go along, while Nyssa agrees but proclaims that if Malcolm backs out then everyone will be considered an enemy. Oliver convinces Nyssa to provide a sample to prove to Merlyn she is not lying. After witnessing Thea get better, Malcolm agrees to the deal. At the exchange, Malcolm double-crosses Nyssa and she is forced to retreat. Oliver convinces Malcolm to challenge Nyssa to a duel, with the winner remaining the leader of the League. Before they fight, Oliver uses ancient rules to trade places with Nyssa as her husband. Oliver bests Malcolm, but instead of killing him he cuts off the hand wearing the Demon's Head ring and knocks Malcolm unconscious. Oliver exchanges the ring for the cure. Realizing her mistake, Nyssa disbands the League and destroys the ring. Angered by Oliver's betrayal, Malcolm informs Darhk about Oliver's son. In flashbacks, Reiter takes a stone from Oliver that has the symbols he seeks.