After a month and a half of wondering if Felicity survived Damien Darhk’s attack at the end of the Arrow midseason finale, last week’s episode revealed that she made it through the ordeal. Unfortunately, the shooting left her with permanent nerve damage from the waist down. Now confined to a wheelchair, Felicity is going to face new challenges for the rest of the season and possibly beyond. However, a week after losing the use of her legs, she’s finally getting something much deserved: her own superhero identity.
Hours before tonight’s episode “A.W.O.L.” is set to air, Arrow executive producer Marc Guggenheim revealed on Twitter that it will include an “Internet-suggested codename” for Felicity. He wouldn’t say what it is, though some mentioned by fans in the replies include Firewall and Overwatch. Needless to say, it will probably be computer or tech-based, given her particular skill set. This makes Felicity the last member of Team Arrow to get a codename, following behind John Diggle, who goes by Spartan when he’s wearing that ridiculous helmet.
There’s one option we can definitely take off the list: Oracle. Despite Felicity currently sharing similarities with Barbara Gordon's hero - namely their computer expertise and being in wheelchairs - executive producer Wendy Mericle confirmed two weeks ago that Felicity will not be using the moniker Barbara held for over 20 years after being shot by The Joker. Whatever the codename is, at least now Oliver and company now can keep her identity secret over the comm, as opposed to still calling her Felicity while they’re punching bad guys. The smarter villains could end up figuring out who she is and use her as leverage against Green Arrow.
Warning: spoilers for tonight’s Arrow episode are ahead!
The promos for “A.W.O.L.” show Felicity struggling with getting back into action with Team Arrow and doubting whether she’s still effective at helping her friends in their crusade against crime. Her self-doubts will also result in her hallucinating her goth self from college, last seen in Season 3’s “The Secret Origin of Felicity Smoak.” So even though she’s out of the hospital, her recovery, both physical and mental, is nowhere near finished.
It’s also still unclear whether Felicity’s paralysis is permanent (as in it won’t be fixed by a Lazarus Pit or high-tech treatment for the remainder of the series) or merely a temporary plot twist. Despite all this, we do know for certain that Felicity will be okay for the next couple months, as “Blood Debts” also showed that she’s not the one in the grave glimpsed from the flash forward.
You can see what Arrow has in store for Felicity tonight at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
