Violet recaps Season 3 Episode 16 of Arrow, titled The Offer, where Oliver considers Ra’s al Ghul’s offer! Following the recap, both Violet and Josh share their thoughts about the episode.
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Episode Recap of Arrow, Season 3 Episode 16: The Offer
This episode begins where the previous episode left off, with Ra’s al Ghul telling Oliver that he wants him to take his place. Ra’s al Ghul takes Oliver for a look around Nanda Parbat, and Ra’s explains that the people who have come to him have pledged themselves to die for him. Ra’s also recognizes that neither of Oliver’s identities, Oliver Queen or the Arrow, are giving Oliver what he craves. Ra’s al Ghul predicts that the city will turn on him, and that his allies at the police department will scorn him, after which he will die alone in his crusade.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Thea releases Nyssa from her cell, and tells her that she’s the one who killed Sara. Thea tries to convince Nyssa to kill her, but Nyssa says the blood debt has been paid. Just then, Roy and Laurel return. Roy fights Nyssa and is able to shoot a tranquilizer dart into her. Thea pretends that Nyssa got out on her own.
Ra’s al Ghul shows Oliver his Lazarus pit. Ra’s says that he can give Oliver a whole world to save, rather than just a city, and he would command a numerous, loyal army. Oliver is still not convinced. Ra’s al Ghul allows him to leave with Diggle and Merlyn as a gesture of good will, as well as all debts forgiven.
Oliver brings Merlyn to heal up at Thea’s place. She isn’t very happy about it.
At Verdant, Diggle questions Oliver about why Ra’s al Ghul let them go, but Oliver isn’t very forthcoming. Down in the Arrow Cave, Felicity is upset at Oliver for bringing back Merlyn alive. Oliver lets Nyssa go. She, too, is confused as to how they’re all still alive if no bargain was struck. Laurel tries to ask why Ra’s let them go, but Oliver changes the subject.
Oliver wants to get back to saving Starling City, so he has Felicity look up any crimes in progress. She finds a robbery in progress, and Oliver tells them to suit up.
Some robbers arrive at a warehouse and attack the drivers of an armored car, looking for the Katoka shipment. The drivers don’t know anything, so they get shot and killed. The men begin to check crates in the warehouse for the Katoka manifest, when the Arrow Team shows up and starts shooting arrows at the robbers. The men fire guns at the Arrow Team, and is able to get away in their van with a crate of diamonds. Laurel almost gets hit by the van, but Arrow saves her at the last second.
Arrow stops by the police station alley to tell Captain Lance about the robbery, and to try to get some info. But Lance is hostile toward Arrow for keeping Sara’s death from him. He no longer trusts the Arrow, and says he’s done with him.
Oliver stops by Palmer Technologies to see Felicity, and walks in on them being cozy with each other. He asks to speak with Felicity privately, and asks her to look up the name of the guy from the crew last night who had his lips sewn shut. She quickly finds out that his name is Michael Amar, street name Murmur. He tells her about Lance’s reaction when he brought Amar’s men to him. She can tell there’s something else wrong, but he says he’s fine.
Laurel stops by Thea’s place, and Thea welcomes her inside to kill Merlyn. But Laurel says she’s worried about Thea. Thea vents to Laurel about Merlyn, saying she wishes she’d never learned he was her father. Malcolm wakes up, and Laurel leaves. Thea approaches Merlyn, who is laying on the couch, letting her anger out. Although he wasn’t able to see it, he calls her out for having a knife, and tells her to swiftly stab him in the neck. He also tells her he loves her and wants what’s best for her. She doesn’t go through with killing him, but is still angry at him.
Nyssa returns to Nanda Parbat, and demands to know why Malcolm Merlyn is still alive. Ra’s al Ghul tells her about his offer. Nyssa is upset that her father selected an outsider to be his heir, and blames it on his attitude toward her relationship with Sara. She swings her sword at him, which he catches with his hand. She leaves angry. He heals his cut hand in the Lazarus pit.
Oliver returns to the Arrow Cave and tells Diggle and Roy what he found out from Felicity. Roy offers to go talk to some fences he used to know to find out where Amar is trying to move the diamonds. After he leaves, Oliver tells Diggle about Ra’s al Ghul’s prediction that the city would turn on him and he would die alone, which seems like it’s coming true. He also tells Diggle about Ra’s al Ghul’s offer. Diggle can’t believe that Oliver is actually considering the offer. Oliver doesn’t think that they’ve accomplished anything, and that the Arrow isn’t making a difference. Oliver thinks that if he can’t just be himself, and the Arrow isn’t enough, then maybe he should be Ra’s al Ghul.
Oliver goes to see Thea, and apologizes for having to bring Merlyn there. She says the only reason she hasn’t killed Merlyn is because of what their mother would think of her for being a killer. Thea thinks there is something broken inside of her, just like there’s something broken inside of Merlyn. She leaves to buy Merlyn some soup, leaving Oliver and Merlyn alone to talk. Oliver tells him about Ra’s al Ghul’s offer, but Merlyn is not surprised, and reveals a prophecy: the man who doesn’t perish at the blade of Ra’s al Ghul will become Ra’s al Ghul. Merlyn also tells Oliver that it’s not an offer, it’s an order, and that Oliver doesn’t actually have a choice. Oliver gets a text from Roy, and heads out.
When Oliver gets to the Arrow Cave, only Felicity is there, and she berates him for even considering Ra’s al Ghul’s offer, which Diggle told her about. He tries to explain himself, but Felicity fires back. He says he doesn’t know why he’s doing this anymore, and she tells him that when they all thought he was dead, they all had to ask themselves the same question, and now it’s his turn. Roy and Diggle return just then and tell the others that Amar is after low grade diamonds in order to make diamond-tipped bullets, which can easily go through body armor. Roy thinks Amar is going to get payback against the police who beat the false confession out of him. Oliver and Roy suit up, while Diggle is assigned to secure the perimeter, and Felicity tries to call Captain Lance to warn him.
At the police station, Lance’s phone rings, but when he sees that it’s Felicity, he doesn’t answer it. Laurel goes into his office and tries to make peace with her father. However, he says he doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to forgive her. Just then, they hear gunfire break out. Amar and his men advance into the station, and shoot the officers. Lance and Laurel hide behind Lance’s desk. He tries to provide cover while Laurel runs. She is about to be shot, when Nyssa shows up and saves her. Amar gets to Lance and begins to strangle him, but the Arrow and Arsenal show up, and Arrow shoots an arrow into Amar, saving Lance. Amar runs outside, but Arrow catches him. Arrow takes a few punches, but then beats Amar with his bow, then knocks him out cold. Lance comes outside and sees the Arrow, commenting, “What, are you waiting around for a thank you?” to which Arrow replies, “That’s not why I do this,” then leaves.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver thanks Felicity and tells her she was right, and that he never thought about why he did this until she asked him to. He says that at the precinct, all he could think about was the police officers and how their families were counting on the Arrow Team to get them home safe — and that’s why he’s doing this. He’s not ready to give up on what they’re doing. Felicity says that as long as Oliver’s in her life, she’ll be happy. But then she gets a call from Ray, and excuses herself.
As Laurel leaves the police station, Nyssa is waiting for her. She wanted something to remind her of Sara, and offers to talk about the problems Laurel is having with her father. Laurel and Nyssa head out to dinner together. Nyssa also offers to train Laurel to fight.
Oliver meets with Maseo and reports that he’s not accepting Ra’s al Ghul’s offer. However, Maseo says the choice has already been made, and that there will be consequences if Oliver continues on this path of resistance.
Thea stops by Roy’s place, saying that she doesn’t know who she is anymore, and asks to stay with him. He agrees, and they share a kiss.
Some guys are playing pool, boasting about still having more rounds of armor piercing diamond bullets. Then a hooded man shoots one through the neck with an arrow, and shoots two other guys in the chest. We see that it’s Ra’s al Ghul who’s dressed as the Arrow. He tells the lone survivor to tell everyone what he’s seen. The guy runs away.
In the flashback to Hong Kong, Oliver is walking with Maseo’s son, Akio, through the marketplace. Akio sees something and runs off. Oliver frantically looks for him. Then they find each other. Akio thought he saw his father, but it wasn’t him. Akio says they should go to the Botanical Gardens, where his parents told him to go if they ever got separated. At the Botanical Gardens, Oliver notices that people are looking for them, and they run. They get back to the marketplace and Oliver is surprised to run into Shado!
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 3 Episode 16 of Arrow: The Offer
It was interesting that Oliver did actually seriously consider accepting Ra’s al Ghul’s offer for a little while this episode. After all, Ra’s al Ghul did make some compelling arguments, which seemed to resonate with Oliver, who seemed lost for the majority of the episode. However, by the end, Oliver was able to find himself and make the decision not to become Ra’s al Ghul. Unfortunately, it looks like it’s not actually a choice that Oliver is at liberty to make, and that he is supposed to become Ra’s al Ghul regardless of whether he wants to or not, because of the prophecy. It seems Ra’s al Ghul had expected Oliver to resist, as he “predicted” what would soon happen to Oliver. Of course, Ra’s al Ghul is helping his prediction come to fruition, dressing up as the Arrow and killing people, which will therefore make the city and the police force turn against him, if they think he’s the murdering vigilante that he started out to be. I also wouldn’t put it past him to kill completely innocent people, rather than just criminals, and pin it on the Arrow.
Poor Oliver, finding out about Felicity and Ray that way. Why did he go there anyway, couldn’t he have just called or texted? Seems kinda weird of him to stop by her work. But drama is needed, of course.
As for Thea and Roy, that was inevitable. Especially now that all the secrets are out.
Once again, Laurel gets in the way due to her lack of training. Lucky for her, Oliver was able to save her before she got hit by the van though. Unfortunately, the time he wasted on saving her was time that could have been spent trying to disable the van and catch the bad guys, but anyway. Laurel really does not have any business going out with the team. But it looks like Nyssa is going to train her now. That’s good. Maybe she and Laurel can go away somewhere for awhile and train, then Laurel can come back as a competent fighter. That would be a much more plausible scenario than Laurel continuing to act as Canary despite her inexperience.
So, um, what’s up with Oliver seeing Shado?? Or is he hallucinating again? Or is this her twin sister? Or just some girl that happens to somewhat look like her? Or did Shado really not die? Definitely curious as to the answer!
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 3 Episode 16: The Offer
So, my first question this episode is asking what are Ra’s Al Ghul’s motives for transferring his title to Oliver? He claims that the healing powers of the pools are weakening, but we see him use them just fine to heal a wound on his hand. Is he lying? Are we just not seeing the weakening yet? I am not sure. I also don’t understand why he cares if Oliver takes over. It seems to be about legacy for Ra’s Al Ghul, maybe wanting his name to live on through Oliver, but I still don’t understand why Ra’s thinks Oliver is the best candidate.
From Oliver’s point of a view, it seems like a pretty good deal, if what is on the surface is the actual deal. Assuming Ra’s is not lying, Oliver could use these assassins for his own will, but maybe the moral of the story is that this power would eventually “corrupt” Oliver and turn him into a person more like Ra’s? It is hard to say.
Regardless, I don’t expect Oliver to take the deal. I am not sure what Ra’s will have to say about that. We are seeing the repercussions already though—Ra’s is going to try to tarnish the name that Oliver is making for himself as a hero. I guess that combined with Oliver’s already sense of feeling alone might be enough to push Oliver into Ra’s deal, or if Oliver rises above, he will be how Spiderman is in a lot of situations—reviled by the public, but actually doing good.
It is disappointing that Detective Lance has flipped on his view of Oliver. I can’t blame him though—Oliver did lie, and does often keep information to himself that other people should know.
Also, Ray looks to be facing off with Oliver soon. He is probably going to hear about Ra’s Al Ghul’s gallivanting as Arrow, and assume it is Oliver causing the trouble. I have been having a hard time really understanding character motivations lately. This episode has cleared that up some, and I am interested to see what happens next.
Scenes from Arrow, Season 3 Episode 17: Suicidal Tendencies
Here are scenes from the next episode of Arrow, titled Suicidal Tendencies:
