Arrow: 8 Big Questions After Season 7 Episode 6, “Due Process”

FoxJuliedde Haziran 03, 2021

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Arrow season 7 episode 6, "Due Process", saw Felicity "Overwatch" Smoak continuing to develop a new vigilante group to bring Ricardo Diaz to justice. Felicity joined both Rene "Wild Dog" Ramirez and Diaz's former ally Black Siren in the field in a bid to follow up on a lead to Diaz's whereabouts. At the same time, Black Siren made good on her promise in the last episode to pursue a legal case to get Oliver Queen out of prison.

Meanwhile, in Slabside Penitentiary, Oliver Queen had new problems to worry about. While he had been freed from the prison's secret second level, where a number of illegal and unethical medical experiments were being conducted, the murder of a guard threw the whole of the prison into sharp relief. Stanley, the one friend Oliver had made while in prison, was accused of the crime, leading Oliver to investigate rumors that Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner was the real killer.

Though much was laid bare in the latest episode of Arrow season 7, there are still some questions left in the wake of "Due Process." Here are the biggest topics that fans are discussing now that the episode is over.

8. When Will We Find Out Who The New Green Arrow Is?

The new Green Arrow made an appearance as Ricardo Diaz and the Longbow Hunters attempted to burn Star City by setting off two bombs inside a natural gas plant. All of the former members of Team Arrow were present for the battle, confirming that none of them has taken up Oliver Queen's mantle. The only member of the regular cast not present for the battle, Black Siren, was visiting Oliver in prison at the time and appeared to be surprised when Felicity texted her to inform her that Diaz had been captured. This suggests a new character is running around in Green Arrow's leather armor, though there's still no hint as to their identity under the hood.

7. How Was Black Siren's Appeal Plan Supposed To Work?

In Arrow's previous episode, Black Siren said that she could use the evidence of illegal medical experiments being conducted on the inmates of Slabside Penitentiary as a way to free Oliver Queen. It was unclear how this was possible and the events of "Due Process" did little to clarify matters. Her chief argument - that Oliver deserved to be freed for his apparent heroism in exposing the experiments - ignored that Oliver was guilty of the crimes for which he had sent to prison. It would have been far more effective for her to try and secure a new trial or a pardon for Oliver, rather than arguing that he should be released because the FBI didn't uphold their end of his plea-bargain. Particularly when, as was pointed out several times in the Arrow season 6 finale, Oliver agreed to plead guilty in exchange for the FBI's help in bringing down Ricardo Diaz's criminal empire - not capturing Diaz himself.

Ignoring the weak argument, Black Siren also banked heavily on the fact that having a District Attorney arguing that Oliver Queen should have his convictions appealed would be sure to win the judge over. This ignored that said District Attorney was, in the eyes of the world at large, Oliver Queen's ex-fiancee and the original Black Canary. Realistically no judge would have allowed the real Laurel Lance anywhere near Oliver Queen's case, due to the many conflicts of interest involved.

6. What Will Oliver Do About Stanley?

The subplot of Arrow season 7 episode 6 centered upon Oliver saw the former Green Arrow trying to prove that Stanley - the weaselly inmate who attached himself to Oliver shortly after his arrival in Slabside Penitentiary - was innocent of stabbing a guard to death. The investigation began shortly after Oliver questioned Stanley while he was locked in solitary confinement and Stanley told him that he heard the guard had been attacked with a knife in the showers but nobody knew where the murder weapon was. This led to Oliver discovering the blood-soaked knife hidden behind a loose tile in the shower belonging to his old enemy, Ben "Bronze Tiger" Turner.

It was only after Bronze Tiger was thrown into solitary in Stanley's place that Oliver realized the truth: how could Stanley have heard about how the guard died when he was thrown in The Hole immediately? Stanley claimed to have heard the news somewhere, but it's clear that Stanley lied, trusting in his new friend to protect him. Now, the big question becomes how Oliver will respond to having his faith broken.

5. Will The Longbow Hunters Try To Free Diaz?

Though the heroes of Star City were able to thwart Ricardo Diaz's plans to blow up a natural gas plant and capture the former crime-boss, his allies in The Longbow Hunters were able to escape. They seemed unwilling to risk their lives to rescue Diaz or to see his plan through to the end once the tide of the battle turned against them. Are the three legendary assassins waiting for a better opportunity to retrieve their client? Or are they ready to cut their losses and seek employment elsewhere?

Page 2 of 2: More Questions From Arrow Season 7 Episode 6

4. Who Killed Felicity In The Future?

The flashforward scenes in Arrow season 7 episode 4, "Level Two", ended with the shocking revelation that Felicity Smoak was dead in the future of Star City 2038. The latest episode revealed that Felicity's death was a recent event and that she had apparently been murdered several weeks earlier, at about the same time that William Clayton first started receiving strange signals through a GPS hidden inside the Queen Family Hozen. We are told by Dinah that Felicity had changed greatly over the years, falling in with a bad crowd and taking up her father's old alias as The Calculator. Though no clues have been revealed yet as to who is responsible for murdering Felicity, this mystery will doubtlessly be a major part of episodes yet to come.

3. What Is The Mark Of Four?

Roy Harper was reluctant to leave Lian Yu, only agreeing to accompany William Clayton back to Star City after he found a mysterious message hidden in a compartment in Oliver Queen's first bow, which he and William discovered in Arrow season 9 episode 2 , "The Longbow Hunters." Later, when Dinah asks him directly why he chose to return, Roy revealed that the message in the bow was something called "The Mark Of Four." What precisely The Mark of Four is remains unexplained, but Dinah clearly recognizes the term and asks how it is possible that wound up in Oliver's bow on Lian Yu. Roy Harper has no idea, but they agree to keep this news a secret from William Clayton and Zoe Ramirez, for some reason.

2. Is Future Felicity Part Of The Plan To Blow Up Star City?

Upon discovering Felicity's hidden lair, William is able to hack her computer and examine the last file she had open - a series of blueprints for major buildings around Star City as well schematics for a number of powerful bombs and the bank accounts needed to construct them. Dinah is quick to assume the worst and presume that Felicity was part of a group that wants to destroy Star City. William speculates that Felicity may have uncovered the terrorist plot and summoned him in order to get help stopping it. There is no hard evidence one way or the other so far, but viewers can bet that this will be addressed in the future.

1. Who Is Blackstar?

The final flashforward scene in this week's Arrow has William checking Felicity's phone records and determining that the last person she spoke to was labeled "Blackstar" in Felicity's contacts. Strangely enough, there are several DC Comics characters who use the name Blackstar, though their backgrounds vary wildly: Black Star, a crime boss who once fought Green Arrow and the other Seven Soldiers of Victory during the 1940's; Blackstarr, a Supergirl villain who was both a Nazi and an energy manipulator; Blackstar, a Firestorm villain from 2012 who claimed to be a living black hole; and Black Star; a sinister female spy from the Blackhawk comics.

It seems unlikely, however, that any of these characters are being adapted to appear in the far future of Arrow.