Arrow Episode Recap, Season 3 Episode 12: Uprising

Episode Recap of Arrow, Season 3 Episode 12: Uprising

This episode of Arrow begins with Oliver trying to sneak out of the cabin – but Tatsu catches him. He says she can come with him, but she declines. He leaves to return to Starling City.

At this point, The Glades has been without police protection for a week. Brick’s thugs try to collect some money from a diner, but Arsenal steps in, and Canary helps him. They work together to knock out the thugs. As they leave to go to another location, Sin sees Canary get on the motorcycle with Arsenal and thinks that it’s Sara.

Merlyn and Thea practice fighting, and Merlyn reminds her that to protect herself from people who want to kill her, she must kill them first. He recalls the first time he killed someone. He says he did it because the man he killed murdered his wife.

In a flashback to 21 years ago, Merlyn tucks Tommy in bed just as the police come to his door to give him the bad news about his wife.

Arsenal meets up with Captain Lance to collect a file on Brickwell. Lance has already figured out that Roy is Arsenal. Lance asks Roy to watch Sara’s back.

Back at the Arrow Cave, Roy patches Laurel up, while Diggle and Felicity go through the file on Brick. Felicity discovers that the gun used in the Alderman shooting was the same gun used in the murder of Malcolm Merlyn’s wife. Meanwhile, Merlyn is spying on the Arrow Cave through a hidden camera, and hears that Brick was his wife’s murderer.

Tatsu catches up with Oliver in the woods. He tries to enlist her help against Ra’s al Ghul. She tells him that Maseo is his only hope, and that only the student has hope of beating the master.

Merlyn tells Thea that he has just found out that the man he killed was not his wife’s murderer, and that the real murderer is still out there. He wants to set things right.

In another flashback, young Oliver talks to young Tommy after his mother’s funeral. A man approaches Merlyn and tells him that there’s a person of interest in his wife’s case, and leaves a picture of the man.

Laurel remembers that Brick’s men were communicating via walkie talkies at the diner. Felicity uses the radio signals to triangulate the location of Brick’s men – the Glades police precinct.

Felicity cuts the power to the precinct while Arsenal and Canary sneak in and pick off Brick’s men one by one. Then Brick shoots some flares at them, and the place starts to catch on fire. Brick is just about to shoot them with his handgun, when Malcolm Merlyn shows up and shoots Brick in the arm with an arrow.

Merlyn returns with the others to the Arrow Cave and explains his interest in Brickwell. He proposes working together against Brickwell, then leaves them to discuss their options.

Roy and Thea have a chat at Verdant about Merlyn. She tells Roy that Merlyn saved her life during the siege, and defends him, saying that he cares about people, and wants to help them.

Roy returns to the Arrow Cave, where Laurel has been trying to convince Felicity and Diggle to use Merlyn. Roy also tries to convince the others that they need Merlyn. However, Felicity is adamant against it.

Diggle goes into the alley and meets with Merlyn to inform him that they don’t want to work with him.

Continuing the flashback, Merlyn meets up with the man he believes to be his wife’s killer in an alley. Merlyn pulls a gun on the man, who doesn’t think Merlyn will shoot him. He knocks the gun out of his hand, and begins beating up Merlyn, then walks away. However, Merlyn grabs the gun lying nearby, and shoots him in the back.

Tatsu and Oliver part ways as Oliver hitches a ride in the cab of a truck. Tatsu gives him some advice: that in order to defeat Ra’s al Ghul, he has to not only be willing to die, but also to know what he is willing to sacrifice in order to beat him. It will be whatever he holds most precious.

Thea goes to Merlyn’s office and confesses that she told Roy about how he saved her. Marlyn tells her that he knows she wants to believe there’s more to him than a killer, but he says there’s not, and that man died with his wife.

Back to the flashback, Merlyn cleans himself up after he killed the suspected killer, Kendrick Weller, and packs his things. His cop friend comes by and guesses what he’s done. He tries to convince him to stay, and says they can cover this up. However, Merlyn says goodbye to Tommy, and goes to a place where he can learn to make sure no one will ever hurt them again.

Team Arrow discusses where else they can get help from – they realize they can get help from the town. Laurel goes to talk to her trainer, Ted, who criticizes her for going ahead and fighting as Canary although he told her she wasn’t ready yet, while Roy goes to talk to Sin.

Arsenal and Canary show up outside of the Glades Precinct to confront Brick and his men. They’ve brought reinforcements with them, thanks to Sin. Fighting breaks out between the two groups. A man gets severely beaten, and Canary removes his ski mask to find that it’s Ted. Merlyn finds Brick and confronts him at gunpoint in an alley. Brick remembers killing Merlyn’s wife, saying that he was his first kill, and was his initiation into a gang. Just then, Arrow shows up and stops Merlyn from killing Brick, telling him that he should start giving Thea reasons to forgive him.

Captain Lance shows up at the scene, where he sees that Brickwell has been captured, and Arrow is giving a speech, saying he promises he will not fail the city by leaving it again. The scene is being televised on live TV. Captain Lance has brought the police force with him. Sin tells Lance that the woman in the black mask wasn’t Sara.

Merlyn stops by Thea’s place to tell her that he didn’t kill Brick. Just then, Oliver drops in, and Thea runs to him and gives him a hug. He covers by saying he ran into an old friend and spent the last few weeks in jail. Oliver and Merlyn amiably shake hands. While Thea makes tea, Malcolm tells Oliver that he sees Thea as his chance for redemption. Oliver knows that Ra’s al Ghul will come for him, and he says he will kill him – because this time, he’ll have Merlyn training him. Merlyn echoes the same words Tatsu said: only the student has hope of beating the master.

In one final flashback, we see Merlyn arrive at his destination and meet a young Nyssa. He pulls a coin from behind her ear, and she nicknames him The Magician.

Oliver returns to the Arrow Cave. Felicity runs to him and hugs him. He congratulates them on saving the Glades. They point out Ra’s al Ghul’s sword that Merlyn brought back. Oliver tells them that he’s working with Merlyn in order to learn how to protect Thea. Felicity gets upset about this, and goes outside for air. Oliver follows her. She is harsh on him about letting them believe he was dead for the past few weeks, and now for working with Merlyn. Given his track record with women he loves, she tells him that she doesn’t want to be a woman that he loves.