Tonight marks the conclusion of Arrow Season 3 with the episode “My Name Is Oliver Queen.” After pretending to accept Ra’s al Ghul’s offer to be his successor, Oliver will have his climactic showdown with the League of Assassins to prevent him from unleashing the Alpha and Omega bioweapon on Starling City. It’s to be expected that an episode like this will be filled with fighting and action, but as we’ve now learned, not everyone will make it out of this intense finale alive.
EW capped off an extensive interview about the Arrow season finale with executive producer Marc Guggenheim by asking if we can expect any deaths by the end. This was his response:
There will be one death in the finale. It will definitely stick.
With the departure of Roy Harper in Episode 19 (though he did pop up again in Episode 22), it’s unlikely that the show will take away another member of the main cast. This isn’t Game of Thrones, and if someone like Diggle or Felicity were to be offed, there would be an outcry from fans… actually, if Felicity were killed off, certain portions of her fanbase would probably riot. Other recurring characters are either already dead (like Maseo Yamashiro) or already have their futures mapped out (like Ray Palmer), which doesn’t leave many options left over.
Keeping that in mind, here's our prediction about what is about to happen. It’s the second part of Guggenheim’s statement that leads me to believe that Malcolm Merlyn will be the one biting the dust. Longtime fans of the show will remember that Malcolm appeared to die during his battle with Oliver in the Season 1 finale, only to reappear in Season 2, seemingly all better. Although he’s not too regretful of his past transgressions (like setting off an earthquake device in the Glades), Season 3 has been somewhat of a redemptive arc for Malcolm. Over the past 22 episodes, we’ve seen him try to be a better father to Thea (aside from the whole brainwashing her to kill Sara thing) and help Team Arrow on several missions. His personal journey has gone longer than most of us might have expected, so don’t be surprised if Malcolm meet his end, and this time stays dead, hence the “definitely stick” comment.
Another possibility is that Ra’s al Ghul will be this episode’s victim. After centuries of walking the Earth, how ironic would if be if he finally fell in battle against the one individual who he selected to succeed him? Given Oliver’s no-kill rule (which he follows most of the time), it’s doubtful he’d be the one to kill Ra’s, but it would be fitting if Nyssa were to deliver the final blow to her father. After he gave away her inheritance to another and forced her to marry against her will, it would be understandable if she wanted to put a sword/arrow/other type of weapon into him.
Update: Spoilers if you haven't caught last night's Season 3 finale of Arrow. It did actually end up being Ra's al Ghul who bit the dust. Check out our full analysis here.
