Warning: minor spoilers ahead for the second episode of Arrow Season 6, "Tribute."
The end of Season 5 of Arrow marked the end of an era for the show, and fans have known for a while that there were bound to be major differences in Season 6. That said, the Season 6 premiere didn't operate all that differently from episodes of the first five seasons, and there were even still flashbacks. As it turns out, Arrow was saving some of the biggest changes for the next episode, as we saw when the new title cards whooshed across the screen. The single arrow that served as the title card for Seasons 1-5 has been changed to flash through the emblems of all six current members of Team Arrow.
The title cards flew by very quickly, so here's what happened if you missed it: the first emblem to appear on the screen was that of Black Canary, which was quickly followed by Wild Dog, and then Mr. Terrific. The symbols of the original members of Team Arrow were next. The Overwatch emblem flashed across the screen, then was replaced by the Spartan symbol. Last but certainly not least, we saw Oliver's green arrow.
Where once we had a single title card consisting of a green arrow, as befit a series about Oliver Queen called Arrow, we now have six quick title cards with the emblems of a handful of additional heroes as well. The cards were apparently ordered by longevity, as they started with newbie Dinah as Black Canary and built up to Felicity as Overwatch, Diggle as Spartan, and Oliver as Green Arrow. All things considered, the new title sequence seems much more similar to that of Legends of Tomorrow than The Flash, Supergirl, and Arrow's own first five seasons.
Given that Legends of Tomorrow is fundamentally an ensemble series, that title sequence flashing through a whole bunch of superhero emblems always made sense. Arrow has aways been about the guy in green with the bow who, you know, fires arrows. The update to add the symbols of the other members of Team Arrow probably means that Arrow is going to feel like much more of an ensemble in Season 6 than ever before. It was likely that the side characters would begin to get more time on screen as soon as Oliver's flashbacks ended, but I don't think many fans expected Arrow to go all the way of adding Black Canary, Wild Dog, Mr. Terrific, Overwatch, and Spartan to the title cards.
The new title cards will undoubtedly be great for fans who have been hoping for characters other than Oliver to get a lot of screentime, but those who have been watching Arrow primarily for Oliver's journey and dynamics might be disappointed by the implication of an ensemble. For better or worse, we didn't sign on for an ensemble. None of us should necessarily start celebrating/griping just yet, as we don't know for sure if Arrow really will be more ensemble in Season 6, but it's a very real possibility worth thinking about.
Now that Oliver has given up his claim to the Green Arrow title, we can bet that the vigilante scene will be very different for a while. He'll almost certainly return to it, but there may be something of a game of musical chairs with regard to the spot of leader of Team Arrow in the coming weeks. Only time will tell if Oliver's new plan is as doomed to fail as it seems. You can catch new episodes of Arrow on Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.
