Ellie Bishop: Honestly, the only reason why Oliver kept letting Malcolm live was because of Malcolm's plot armor. If Malcolm had not been a main character, Oliver would have killed him after he kidnapped William and especially after Laurel died. And after season three, the reasons for Oliver letting Malcolm live just kept getting more ridiculous. Thea's not going to have it easy, but it's going to be a lot easier for her without Malcolm around.

Guest 1: Why thank you. I was open to Malcolm redemption at first, but Malcolm kept going back and forth so many times that it got really old. And Malcolm's speech about only wanting to protect Thea falls very flat because we know Malcolm has used and manipulated Thea for his own gain multiple times. I'm someone that believes almost anyone can get redemption, but Malcolm's redemption falls very flat because he proves time and time again that he doesn't actually want to be redeemed. Malcolm's sacrifice is supposed to be seen as heroic, but it's not because Malcolm has done so much to the main characters that he had death a long time coming. Well, I hope I don't disappoint. Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for the cliffhanger, because I saw it for what it was, a publicity stunt for viewers, and the writers managed to somehow disappoint even them. Prometheus killing himself was utterly pointless because only Samantha died and the writers were eager to forget about her in order to make William into an Olicity kid. There were no last ramifications from the death of one of Oliver's greatest enemies, which is just another issue I have with Prometheus.

Guest 2: Huh, very interesting analysis. I'm gonna change one thing though. Rather than Prometheus, the Dark Archer is what Oliver would be if he turned evil.

Queen Consolidated, Applied Sciences

Night

"Hey, where you been?" Diggle said as Oliver entered the Applied Science building.

"I had to take care of something," Oliver said as they walked over to Felicity and Barry. "You found something?"

"We found something," Felicity corrected.

"There were trace amounts of sucrose and a spec of dirt the killer dragged in here on his boot," Barry explained.

"Which got me thinking, there is a sugar refinery two miles from here. The land around it is suffused in waste sugar. So I checked. They had a delivery truck stolen a few days ago," Felicity explained.

"Their truck matches the make and model of the truck the thief used to steal the centrifuge," Barry added.

"Can you track it?" Oliver asked.

"We've been trying," Felicity started but a beep from her computer cut her off.

"What was that?" Oliver inquired as Felicity checked.

"You're not going to believe this," Felicity said in disbelief. "The truck, it was just used to rob a blood bank."

"A blood bank? You're sure?" Oliver asked as he paled.

"Yeah, our guy just made off with thirty-thousand CC's of O-Negative," Felicity said.

"What, he has super strength, likes blood? Please don't tell me we suddenly believe in vampires," Diggle deadpanned.

"We should get this information to the local police." Barry said.

"I'll take care of it," Oliver said quickly, silently appraising the younger man. "Did you say that you were working a similar case in Central City?"

"Oh, yeah, um… Yeah, you know, it's similar. Has similar elements. A lot of similarities. Right. Yeah," Barry said lamely.

"Right," Oliver said blankly.

Silently, Oliver led Diggle away as Felicity and Barry went back to work.

"I want you to look into this Allen kid. There's more to him than meets the eye," Oliver ordered.

"I think his intentions seem pretty clear to me," Diggle said with a smirk, glancing over at Felicity and Barry.

It took only a moment for Oliver to understand what Diggle was implying. Once it did, he felt a surge of annoyance.

"I don't know where you got it in your head that I'm jealous John. Felicity can do whatever she wants with whoever she wants; I don't care what she does outside the work we do. Barry can't give us a straight answer and I want to know what he's hiding. It is still your job to follow orders, isn't it?" Oliver asked irritated.

"Yes sir," Diggle said in a clipped voice, looking properly abashed.

"Good, then do it," Oliver said annoyed before walking off.

Starling City

Not long after

A sugar refinery truck was driving down the highway. It was missing the driver's side door as the masked man who had attacked Queen Consolidated drove. Oliver drove up behind him on his motorcycle and, spotting him through the rearview mirror, the masked man tried to drive him off the road by swerving wildly. Oliver shot an arrow, shattering the mirror. Oliver drove up to the driver's side before jumping onto the roof and swinging through the empty door. Oliver and the man scuffled, Oliver throwing a barrage of punches at the man but he was unaffected, to Oliver's shock.

The man punched him and Oliver was sent flying out. At the last second, Oliver grabbed the edge of the doorway and swung himself onto the hood, hanging on for dear life. The windshield shattered as the man reached through, grabbing Oliver and yanking him back inside. Desperately, Oliver pulled out a flechette and tried to stab the man in the leg. However, to Oliver's alarm, the arrowhead was flattered upon contact, like it had struck a steel wall. Angrily, the man struck Oliver and he flew into the passenger door, which then flew off the car. It landed on the pavement, sliding Oliver into some trash bags. The car drove away as, dazed, Oliver pulled himself up, staring down at the arrowhead.

Arrow lair

Later

Oliver winced but managed not to cry out as Felicity patched him up.

"Sorry," Felicity apologized and he only gave a jerky nod as he put on his shirt.

"You were right to ask if I knew more than I was letting on," Oliver acknowledged as he looked over at Diggle. "I've seen men with abilities like that before."

"What? Where?" Felicity exclaimed shocked as she and Diggle gave Oliver their complete attention.

"On the island," Oliver admitted. "My second year marooned there, we- I came across the remains of a Japanese World War Two military project. It was a serum designed to create human weapons."

"Human weapons. What's next, aliens?" Diggle scoffed.

"This is real Diggle," Oliver snapped angrily. "Those five years that I was away, I came across things that just defy explanation. There's a doctor, his name is Ivo, and he came to the island to test the serum on people. The ones that survived, their endurance, reflexes and strength were all enhanced."

"And you think this Ivo's in Starling City?" Diggle asked.

"He's dead," Oliver said blankly, remembering shooting Ivo. "And so is everyone that he injected with the serum. The last of which I burned."

"You think someone found the recipe," Diggle realized.

"The centrifuge and a large supply of blood. I think someone wants to make more of it. A lot more," Oliver explained.

"Why couldn't you have been marooned on Aruba?" Felicity moaned but Oliver ignored her.

"There's a third component, a strong sedative," Oliver said before handing the flattened arrow to Felicity.

"I think I preferred it when you left these in people," Felicity said weakly as she took it.

"I need you to analyze the blood on the arrowhead," Oliver ordered. "If we can figure out which sedative they're using-"

"We can figure out where the next robbery will be," Diggle realized.

"Barry and I will get right on it," Felicity said before walking out.

"I think our Ms. Smoak is smitten," Diggle noted and Oliver noted he didn't seem pleased about it, a stark contrast to his amusement from earlier.

"What did you find?" Oliver demanded.

"You were right. Mr. Allen isn't who he says he is," Diggle admitted.

The Glades, next day

Morning

"So aren't we calling the vigilante? This seems like right up his alley," Sin said as she and Roy entered Max's apartment.

"When we know something, I'll get in touch with him. Right now, we don't have much," Roy said as he looked around.

It was like a lot of the apartments in The Glades, except it was full of paintings. They all had the same theme: a man in some kind of mask. It sent chills up Roy's spine.

"Interesting paintings," Roy muttered.

"Your girlfriend's collection is better," Sin admitted.

"Jade is not my girlfriend," Roy said absently as he looked around.

"I was talking about Thea; she showed me the family art collection when I was staying with her and Oliver. But interesting you thought immediately of Jade," Sin noted and Roy rolled his eyes.

"Nothing's going on there Sin," Roy insisted and she shrugged.

"Then you might want to tell her that, because the way she looks at you…well, I wish someone would look at me that way," Sin said and it was silent for a moment as Roy digested this. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"If I knew that, we'd already be out of here," Roy said, grimacing as he saw some old pizza in a box and closed the lid. "He hasn't been here in a week you said? Did he tell you where he was going?"

"No, just said he had to do something. But I never heard back from him," Sin said.

Roy nodded before he saw something. Walking over, he picked up a brochure to a blood drive for Sebastian Blood.

"This blood drive was a week ago. When did you say Max went missing?" Roy asked, staring at the brochure.

"That day. Do you think it means something?" Sin asked.

"I don't know," Roy admitted.

A little later, Roy and Sin exited the apartment building, unaware they were being watched. Across the street, Officer Daily watched in his cruiser before pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

"It's Daily. Someone's looking for Maxwell Stanton," he said into the phone.

"And they should find him."

"Yes Brother Blood," Daily said before hanging up.

Queen Consolidated

Same time

In Oliver's office, Barry was watching a news report on the Particle Accelerator as Felicity walked up next to him.

"Pretty cool, right?" Barry asked excitedly.

"You know, there's been a hundred percent increase in earthquakes since they've turned on the Large Hadron Collider," Felicity pointed out.

"That data is misleading," Barry laughed as Oliver walked in.

"You know about misleading, don't you?" Oliver asked, bringing the laughter to a stop.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity asked confused.

"He's not from CSI, he's an assistant," Oliver revealed. "Whose bosses don't know you're in Starling. And there is no similar case in Central City. So tell me Barry, what are you really doing here?"

Barry gulped as he saw the glare Oliver was giving him and Felicity's questioning look. Realizing he was caught, he knew he had to come clean.

"I told you my mother was murdered," Barry muttered as he looked over at Felicity.

"By your father," Oliver noted.

"He didn't do it!" Barry said forcibly as he walked up to Oliver.

"You said that the police didn't find the man who killed her," Felicity remembered.

"They think they did. My dad has been serving a life sentence. They didn't believe me," Barry sighed tiredly.

"About what?" Felicity pressed.

"I was eleven. One night something just came into our house, like a tornado. A blur. Somewhere inside The Blur, I saw a person. My dad went to fight it. I tried to get them when suddenly-" Barry sighed. "I was twenty blocks away from our house. Nobody believed me. They thought I was trying to cover for my father. But what I saw that night was real. As real as the man that ripped down that metal door with his bare hands. That's why I look into cases like this. The ones nobody believes are possible. Maybe if I can just make sense of one, I might be able to find out who really killed my mother. And free my dad."

It was silent in the room as Oliver stared at Barry, realizing he was telling the truth. It took skill to fake that kind of emotion, and Barry didn't strike him as a skilled liar.

"I am sorry I lied to you," Barry said as he looked at Oliver apologetically. "I'm just gonna…go grab my stuff and get out of here."

Barry walked out as Oliver realized with guilt how he had misjudged Barry.

"He did lie about who he was," Oliver said as he noticed Felicity glaring at him angrily.

"And what do we do every day?" she asked emotionally.

"That is not the same thing and you know it," Oliver snapped, taking Felicity back. "I messed up, but Barry lied to us from the beginning. And it just as easily could have been something far worse. I was wrong about Barry, but I will not apologize for not taking things at face value. If you can't see why that is dangerous Felicity…maybe we need to rethink this arrangement."

Oliver then walked out, leaving Felicity alone.

The Glades

Late afternoon

Roy was restocking the shelves as he and Jade talked.

"So did you find Sin's friend?" Jade asked absently as she checked over some sheets of paper.

"No, not yet," Roy said as he looked over at her, his mind occupied by what Sin had said earlier.

Did Jade have feelings for him? Did he have feelings for Jade? It was making his head spin.

Roy almost jumped at the sound of his phone ringing. Pulling it out, he saw it was Sin and answered.

"Sin?" Roy answered.

"I found Max," Sin said and Roy could tell from the sound of her voice that it wasn't good news.

"Okay, where are you?" Roy asked.

"I'm on the edge of Kent and Queens," Sin said and Roy nodded.

"Okay, I'll be there," Ry said as he hung up.

"What's going on?" Jade asked as Roy hung up.

"Sin found her friend, from the sounds of it. I need to go," Roy said and she nodded in understand.

"Go, I'll cover for you," she promised and Roy nodded gratefully before heading out.

Queen Consolidated

Night

Barry was packing up his things when Oliver walked over.

"Hey," Oliver said awkwardly.

"Don't worry, I'm just packing up," Barry said glumly.

"I actually came here to apologize," Oliver said, making Barry look at him in surprise. "I was out of line."

"I did lie," Barry noted.

"Regardless, I should have handled it better. I'm not sure how much you know about me," Oliver started.

"You were stranded on a deserted island for five years," Barry said, smiling at the look of surprise that crossed Oliver's face. "You're not the only one who did their research."

"Well, what I don't tell people is that that island was not deserted," Oliver said, taking Barry back. "And the people there…I could never completely trust someone. And I don't always know when to turn that part of me off. And sometimes, I'm an ass to people who are just trying to help. I'm sorry Barry."

"Thanks, but I really do need to go," Barry said after a moment. "My boss found out I don't have food poisoning, so I need to head back to Central City if I still want to be employed, which I do." Barry grabbed is bag and threw it over his shoulder. "Tell the SCPD that the sedative in the thief's blood is Ketamine. It's a schedule three controlled substance. It shouldn't be too hard to track."

"Will do. Thank you for all your help Barry," Oliver said, holding out a hand to Barry, who took it in a handshake after a moment.

"It was nice meeting you, minus the part about you being a dick," Barry said as they dropped ands.

Oliver chuckled as Barry walked off. He liked Barry, he decided.

The Glades

Same time

Roy arrived to see Sin being manhandled by some police officers.

"Max! Get off, let go!" She was screaming as Roy rushed over.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Roy shouted as he rushed over.

The officers practically shoved her towards him and Roy caught her, steadying her on her feet as the officers turned away.

"Stupid cops," Sin sneered before turning to Roy. "They're saying Max OD'ed!"

"Was he using?" Roy asked.

"No! He made extra cash donating blood. You really think the hospital would let him be a donor if he was an addict?" Sin asked angrily.

It didn't make sense, Roy knew as he glanced towards the police. No one was paying attention to them. Getting an idea, Roy pulled out his phone and walked over to the body. That did not look like a normal OD, Roy noted as he saw the tears of blood. Roy took the picture before one of the officers noticed him.

"Hey, you can't be here," the officer said as Roy pocketed his phone.

"Was just leaving," Roy said as he walked back over to Sin.

"So what, we just leave?" Sin asked angrily as Roy started leading her away.

"Yeah, we leave. Because now, I have something," Roy said lowly.

Neither of them noticed Officer Daily watching them as they walked away.

Arrow lair

Later

"Ketamine is a common surgical anesthesia derived from hydrochloric salt," Felicity told Oliver and Diggle as she sat at the computers.

"Can you use it to track him?" Oliver inquired.

"With the current concentration ratio in the blood sample, there's only one possible location with a large enough quality of the sedative that correlates with the amount of blood the stolen centrifuge can process," Felicity said before pulling up an image on the screen.

It was of a warehouse but there was no sign, strangely, Oliver noted.

"What is it? There's no sign," Diggle noted.

"Argus doesn't like to advertise. It's a disaster bunker. Right on the edge of the Glades. Argus has them all over the country. They store relief supplies- food, clothing-"

"Medicine," Diggle noted and she nodded.

"I'm on my way," Oliver said as he grabbed his bow.

"Oliver," Felicity called out as she grabbed the flattened arrow, walking over to him. "I can't believe I'm actually saying this. The way this arrowhead is bent, it means our thief's muscle density is at least 120 pounds per cubic foot. That's almost the same density as common concrete. Your arrows may cut this guy, but they will not stop him."

"Well, I've beat someone like this before Felicity. I can do it again," Oliver said, honestly hoping that was true.

"What if you can't?" Felicity asked uncertainly.

"Oliver," Diggle called out, bringing their attention back to him.

On the screen, Oliver could see an image of the back alley of Verdant. The flechette was in the wall. Apparently, Roy wanted to talk.

Outside Verdant

Not long after

Roy was pacing the alley as Oliver arrived.

"What?" Oliver growled in annoyance.

"I need your help. A friend of mine's friend, well, the cops think he OD'ed, but we think he was murdered," Roy explained.

"Why?" Oliver inquired.

"Well, he wasn't an addict, for starters," Roy said before pulling up the photo he had taken of Max. "And this doesn't look any OD I've ever seen."

Oliver paled as he saw the picture. It was worse than he thought.

"Tell your friend to stay away from this, do whatever you have to, but throw them off the trail," Oliver ordered. "This, this is bigger than they can imagine. It's gonna be up to us to put a stop to it."

"Us," Roy noted and Oliver nodded.

"I made you my eyes and ears to see if I could trust you. You've proven I can. Now, your training starts. Enjoy the holidays, and then I'll come to you," Oliver promised him.

"I won't let you down," Roy promised and Oliver could see some of himself in Roy, back when he had first started training under Slade.

"I hope so," Oliver said before he turned and walked off.

Starling City

Later

Oliver walked through the warehouse, his bow gripped tightly in his hand. Hearing something from above, Oliver moved out of the way just in time as a crate fell just where he had been standing. Seeing the masked man on the shalves, Oliver fired three arrows, which the man dodged before jumping down, landing on his feet with inhuman grace. He tried to strike Oliver but Oliver jumped out of the way, firing another arrow. But this one exploded into an iron cable, which wrapped around the man's neck, binding him to a pillar.

"Who are you?" Oliver demanded.

"Merely a follower," the man said in a deep vice.

"Of who?!" Oliver demanded.

"My brother," he said vaguely, to Oliver's frustration.

"Did he give you the Mirakuru, did he inject you with it?!" Oliver demanded.

"No, he saved me with it," the man said.

The man then broke the cable with his bare hands before rushing Oliver. Oliver fired two arrows, one each hitting the man's feet, pinning him. The man did not seem to register the pain as he tried to strike Oliver but Oliver ducked, avoiding his fists. Oliver delivered several punches and struck him with his bow a few times but this had no effect. The man knocked the bow out of Oliver's hands before ripping one of the arrows out of his foot. Oliver dodged a punch and moved behind the man, delivering several punches to his back but they remained futile. The man ripped the other arrow out of his foot before backhanding Oliver, sending him flying across the room.

Oliver tried to get up but the man grabbed him and threw him into the air. Oliver hit his back on an air conditioning united before falling back to earth. Before he could hit the ground, the man punched him, sending him flying into some shelves. Oliver felt some prick him in the leg as he landed in the pile of destroyed boxes. He saw two syringes in his leg before he passed out.

Oliver is framed as being jealous of Barry in the show, but this makes little sense when you actually look at the situation. Oliver is shown to be suspicious of Barry from the moment he walks into the room, which makes sense, given that he was betrayed by two people he had trusted his whole life. Barry also could not give a straight answer, as Barry is a terrible liar. So, Oliver's reaction is not related to jealousy, but out of trust issues. This is supported by the fact that he has never before or since done anything like this with Tommy, Ray, or Billy.

And honestly, Barry being tied to the Olicity BS is what made it hard to get behind him as a character. It wasn't until the Pilot of Flash that I got on board with him. It also completely ruined the Barry/Felicity ship for me.