Warning: major spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of Arrow Season 4.
Arrow’s seventh episode of Season 4 – entitled “Brotherhood” – saw family reunited and friendships reaffirmed, but it ended on one hell of an ominous note as supervillain Damien Darhk stood in the daylight of Star City and set his sights on a decidedly non-green Oliver Queen. Darhk had upped the ante on his threat to Quentin earlier in the episode on the mere suspicion that Quentin is acting as a double agent; there’s no doubt that he’s willing to enact his own brand of evil on the life and loves of the new mayoral candidate who refuses to play ball.
Ever since Oliver decided to run for mayor of Star City based upon a platform of hope and unity, fans have been waiting for the danger that scared all of the qualified candidates away from even running to be aimed at Oliver. Damien Darhk showing up at a black tie fundraiser to try to sway Oliver into aligning his interests with those of HIVE was the first taste.
Possibly the scariest thing about Damien Darhk is how terrifyingly close he comes to passing for a normal, unassuming businessman. If Oliver hadn’t already known that Darhk is a supervillain with so much disregard for human life that he kills with impugnity, and so much disdain for fashion that he’d deliberately wear a black shirt to a black tie affair, Darhk’s plan to use Oliver has a puppet candidate for H.I.V.E. might have even worked to a certain extent. Instead, Oliver’s refusal to fall in line makes him an inconvenience for Darhk that will need to be dealt with. Things are about to get very messy for Oliver Queen and the people in his life.
Of course, things were already plenty messy with regard to Damien Darhk for the Green Arrow. Their first encounter saw Oliver soundly beaten, and the second saw Oliver only escaping thanks to an overly long villainous monologue that gave him time to regroup. Darhk has clearly singled out the Green Arrow as his masked nemesis of choice, and the other members of the current Team Arrow run the risk of becoming collateral damage. Granted, there has always been risk to the mission to save the city, but Damien Darhk is an entirely new breed of bad guy that none of the good guys yet know how to really fight.
Now, considering that Oliver doesn’t have the biggest circle of friends, there’s a lot of social overlap between the personas of mayoral candidate Oliver Queen and archer extraordinaire Green Arrow, and breadcrumbs are already being dropped to connect Oliver’s friends with the Green Arrow’s associates. Laurel is probably safest of the members of Team Arrow to be targeted because of Oliver, but John as Oliver’s bodyguard and as brother to the ghost who just so happens to have gone missing doesn’t provide much cover. Thea is already a prime target as Oliver’s sister who has been visible at each of his major events so far, and her role as the smallest member of Team Arrow may well mark her as the easiest to take down.
The person really in danger now that Oliver has defied Darhk, however, is Felicity Smoak. She was present at the gala either on Oliver’s arm or gazing lovingly up at him as he gave his speech. She has already been identified as the person to whom Ray had been appealing for help during his captivity with Darhk. She is least able to defend herself if she is taken unawares outside of the lair. Felicity Smoak is practically begging to be used as collateral to seize control of Oliver Queen, and she has already been flagged as a possible target for her off-the-book heroics. Nobody is safe in Oliver’s life right now on either front, but Felicity is almost certainly the one in the most trouble.
Oliver may have decided in “Brotherhood” that he intends to fight Darhk in the light of day, but no amount of good intentions will be able to save those he loves if Darhk decides to stop the villainous monologuing and take somebody down.
Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. Let us know what you think about Oliver's loved ones below.
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