The end of Arrow Season 5 is approaching quickly, and Oliver is in a pretty bad place at the moment thanks to new supervillain Prometheus, who has had an edge on Team Arrow from the very beginning. Now that Prometheus' identity as Adrian Chase has been exposed, he really has nothing left to lose, and he was last seen murdering his way out of custody and merrily returning to Star City. Co-showrunner Wendy Mericle just teased how the season finale is going to end, saying this:
The alliances are going to be very surprising. You're not going to believe who Oliver is working with to defeat Prometheus. It's going to be really emotional. It's going to be all about Oliver's family, but not the family we're thinking of right now. It's going to end in a giant explosion, but not where we think it's going to end, and the emotional punch is going to be bigger than the actual physical part of the bombs going off.
Given that Prometheus is a big bad unlike any other Arrow big bads that have come before, it makes sense that Oliver will have to go in some surprising directions to take him down. Prometheus has basically become the Arrow version of the Joker, and Oliver is going to need to go to some extreme measures to take him out. Wendy Mericle's reveal that Oliver will make some unexpected alliances in the finale indicates that we'll see him go all-out to defeat Prometheus.
Wendy Mericle was vague when speaking with EW about the explosion that will rock Oliver's world, but she did reveal earlier this year that the finale would not put Star City in jeopardy. Prometheus' endgame isn't another Undertaking or magical mayhem or even carefully-orchestrated citywide assault a la Slade Wilson. He's going after Oliver, not Star City, and it sounds like that will affect Oliver's family in a bigger way as the season progresses.
A big question is who Oliver will work with to defeat Prometheus. Wendy Mericle's comments indicate that we'll be pretty surprised, so I'm guessing that we'll see a team-up of some pretty unlikely characters. We already know that Katie Cassidy will return as Black Siren by the end of Season 5, and Oliver has quite a gallery of rogues who might be convinced to join him in taking out Prometheus if properly motivated. The Suicide Squad helped Team Arrow way back in Season 2; maybe we're in for something on an even larger scale in Season 5. Maybe even Vigilante could get in on the action!
The reference to Oliver's family could be interpreted a number of different ways. Oliver has a blood relative with him in Star City with Thea, and he also has the extended family of Felicity and Diggle. Another possibility is that Samantha and William could somehow be brought back into the mix to mess with Oliver. Who knows? Maybe all my dreams will come true and Roy will finally be back with his Team Arrow family once more. After all, Colton Haynes was originally slated to appear in Season 5.
We'll have to wait and see. Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Be sure to drop by our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule to see all your other viewing options now and in the coming weeks. If you're in the mood for a blast from the past, check out my list of 13 times Oliver Queen's hair almost made me stop watching Arrow.
