Fanboys Anonymous

The mid-season finale of Arrow, entitled "Three Ghosts," did not disappoint. I think you'll all agree that it was a complete and utter showstopper jam-packed with twists and action.

The episode got into somewhat of a Christmas vibe with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) being haunted by three ghosts from his past, which included Shado (Celina Jade), Slade (Manu Bennett), and Tommy (Collin Donnell). He felt responsible for all of their deaths, which got in the way of his acceptance of being a hero.

Stephen Amell as the Green Arrow.

Later on in the episode we learn that Slade is not dead. There's a simple camera shot of the back of his head, and all of a sudden we hear that iconic voice. I can assure you that it chilled every single Arrow fan to the bone. He is then seen donning his classic look—an eye patch and hair slicked with grey—showing that he'd fully made his transition to Deathstroke.

He then speaks of destroying everything Oliver loves, which is obviously a reference to him blaming Oliver for his beloved Shado's death. This brings up the question, though: what happened next on the island? Earlier in the season, Oliver made a reference to killing someone who'd been on Mirakuru, the Japanese super soldier serum, before. Maybe everything kicks off with Oliver and he ends up shooting Slade through the eye with an arrow, which leads him to believe that he is dead? But clearly he's just been gathering his allies and plotting his revenge ever since.

Slade reveals his true identity as Deathstroke.

The episode climaxed with Oliver receiving his classic Green Arrow mask (much better than that tacky eye make-up he plastered around, which smudged off half the time). This tells us that he's accepted his identity as a hero and fully transitioned into the Green Arrow.

Oliver Queen dons his new mask.

But that wasn't the only transition we witnessed in this episode. We saw Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) become the famous speedster, the Flash, when his lab was struck by lightning which shattered a case of chemicals and spilled all over him.

Barry Allen transitions into The Flash.

They discuss Roy Harper's new found super-powers:

"One of the things you'll find as we go along is that it's a deep-seeded anger inside of you that lets you survive the Mirakuru transformation, which is something Slade had, which is why he lived, and it's why Roy lived. One of the fun things that will be happening the back half of the year is his relationship with the Arrow and how that changes and how the Arrow basically makes it his mission to not let Roy go down the Slade path and that's going to take some twists and turns that will hopefully surprise people and they'll enjoy."

On the decision to have Tommy Merlin make a cameo appearance:

"When we were breaking the story [Berlanti and I] literally had the same idea at the same time. Colin is such a friend of the show and was so important to the success of season 1. And so much of this season is based around that character and his loss and what a hole he left in the show. So it really fit with this season's arc of Oliver's journey from going to vigilante to hero. And the person that he feels like he failed."

They even tease about Slade's role in the season:

"I would say [he's] very much the drive of the second half of the season. Last year, we had Malcolm as sort of a single bad guy and twisting and turning that. This year, we've got a two-pronged approach to the bad guy." And Oliver's knowledge about only one of those bad guys, he says, "helps us change the rhythms of the back half of the year from what we would have done last year."

Personally, what I'd really love to see in this season of Arrow is for Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) to assume his superhero identity as Red Arrow, which is a highly possible development for the character since he's been increasingly becoming more and more interested in the vigilante as the season goes on. In the teaser below, we see that he's become super strong due to the Mirakuru transformation.

As some of us know in the comic books, Green Arrow has two teenage sidekicks; so maybe this means that Thea Queen (Willa Holland) will become Speedy? Maybe learning that she is the product of an affair with a man who tried to destroy the city will push her over the edge and towards the vigilante.

Who knows? Maybe an appearance from Ra's al Ghul is on the cards? Now that he has connections to Moira, Michael, and Sarah, he's bound to make an appearance sooner or later. I doubt it'll be this season, though, as it's already jam-packed with bad guys.

Arrow returns January 15th, but until then, watch a teaser for the next episode below: