‘Arrow’ Season 4: Five Important Points

Arrow Season 4 premiers on Wednesday, October 7, on the CW, and fans everywhere of the hooded vigilante have questions about their beloved characters from Starling City. In the final episode of Season 3 entitled “My Name Is Oliver Queen,” Oliver (Stephen Amell) defeated Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) and saved the city from a deadly virus. In defeating Ra’s al Ghul, Oliver was supposed to become the leader of the League of Assassins. Instead, he handed the title over to his nemesis, Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), also known as the Dark Archer, as a thank you for helping him save the city.

As Season 3 ended, Oliver decided to take a break from fighting crime, and left the city with Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) to start a simpler life. As you can imagine, Oliver is drawn back to Starling City in Season 4. With Episode 1 of Season 4 entitled “Green Arrow” premiering, let’s take a look at five of the most important points for this season.

1. Oliver Will Face A Truly Evil Enemy

While the enemies in the first three seasons were formidable and dangerous, Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) is paying Oliver and his friends in Starling City a visit for Season 4. Referenced by Ra’s al Ghul in Season 3, Darhk is apparently pure evil, with no goal other than chaos and destruction. At Comic-Con in an interview that appeared on MTV, executive producer Marc Guggenheim discussed the new Arrow villain.

“With Deathstroke and with Ra’s and Malcolm [Merlyn], those were always guys who were the heroes of their own story. They were guys who were doing the wrong thing for what they thought were the right reasons. This year, we wanted to do something different. We wanted a villain who was truly villainous; who didn’t care about morality in the way that the previous three big bads did. Damian is pure evil. He’s the heart of darkness.”

2. Oliver’s Identity Crisis Is Somewhat Solved

While Oliver will always have demons from the things that he has done in the past, he apparently is more at peace with who he is. According to IGN, Oliver will embrace being the Green Arrow, as opposed to the constant back and forth between Oliver Queen and the Arrow. The city, and particularly Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne), should also find a common ground with a vigilante in their city.

3. Thea’s Role As Speedy Will Evolve

After being trained by her father Malcolm in Season 3, we caught a glimpse of her new ability as the hero known as Speedy. In the latter part of Arrow Season 3, Ra’s al Ghul killed her in her apartment. In exchange for Oliver’s compliance in joining the League of Assassins, Ra’s agreed to bring her back to life via the Lazarus Pit. Malcolm explained that anytime someone enters the pit, they come back as a changed person. While this did not come into play in Season 3, it is going to be explored in Season 4.

4. Oliver Will Finally Let Felicity In

Over the first three seasons, there was always chemistry between Oliver and Felicity. Because of his time on the island and his duty to the city, Oliver felt as though he was unworthy of love and having a real relationship. After leaving the city with Felicity at the end of Season 3, Oliver will continue his relationship with Felicity in Season 4. Since they are closer than ever, it will be interesting to see how this affects their working relationship.

5. Malcolm Merlyn Will Still Be A Complicated Villain

As the villain in Arrow Season 1 and a reluctant ally in Season 3, Malcolm is now the head of the League of Assassins. While him and Oliver had somewhat of an understanding at the end of last season, Malcolm is apparently going to behave closer to the evil Season 1 version. Since he still deeply and genuinely cares for this daughter Thea, Malcolm will have to decide how he handles his issues with Oliver.

Arrow Season 4 is set to premiere October 7 at 8:00 p.m.

[Images via Frederick M. Brown, Chris Frawley/WBTV/Getty Images]