The end of Arrow Season 5 is set to be filled with all kinds of familiar faces, and they won't all be on the same side. In fact, the season finale will feature a showdown that is both kind of shocking and kind of a long time coming. We'll finally see the al Ghul sisters facing off in what promises to be a pretty epic battle.
Actress Lexa Doig as Talia al Ghul has been a recurring player in Season 5, appearing as Oliver's teacher in the flashbacks and Oliver's enemy in the present. We now know that Katrina Law will reprise the role of Nyssa and up the ante on all things al Ghul. Law will appear in multiple episodes in the rest of Season 5, according to EW, in an arc that will end in the showdown between Nyssa and Talia.
All things considered, it sounds like we're in for a packed finale. We already knew that Katie Cassidy would be back as Black Siren and Manu Bennett would be back as Slade Wilson/Deathstroke; now, we can add Katrina Law as Nyssa and Lexa Doig as Talia to the list. Given showrunner Wendy Mericle's tease that Oliver will be making some alliances that "are going to be very surprising," we may be in for a few shocks when it comes to discovering who is and isn't on Team Arrow's side in the final fight against Prometheus.
At this point, I'm curious about what will happen to bring Nyssa back into the fold. She and Oliver parted on solid enough terms when last they met that I could believe he'd call her in as one the surprising allies to help take down Prometheus. Then again, she could drop by Star City simply because she heard that her sister was active once more. Whether that would be to try and connect with her in the wake of their father's death or to put a stop to her quest for vengeance on Oliver is hard to guess at this point, but I could see it go either way.
Katrina Law spoke with CinemaBlend earlier this year, and she was all for a reunion between the sisters that would have them fighting either "side by side" or "with each other." It sounds like we'll get the al Ghuls fighting with each other, but there's every chance that the tide of the battle could turn and they could end up on the same side. Stranger things have happened on Arrow. I was also able to speak with Lexa Doig about her work as Talia, and she told me this about her idea for an al Ghul sisterly reunion:
I think it'd be awesome. I'd love to do it. I think it'd be a ton of fun but... my mentality might not be in line with the Arrow mentality because mine is generally kind of absurdist and I think it would be funny if they were arguing about who left the milk out. Very mundane kind of family arguments.
Something tells me that the sisters might have more to argue about than just who left the perishables out on the counter, although it does seem like they haven't seen each other for a while. If they've been thinking back on a milk incident for years and years, who knows? I know how things can escalate when it comes to siblings.
In all seriousness, the Arrow Season 5 finale sounds like it could provide us with closure on the al Ghul family drama. Even Ra's' death didn't put an end to it; maybe Nyssa and Talia meeting once more will finally do the trick. We'll have to wait and see.
Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Check out our midseason TV premiere guide and our summer TV premiere schedule for a look at all your other viewing options, and be sure to take a look at my breakdown of 13 times Oliver's hair almost made me quit Arrow for a blast from the past.
