Check out Violet’s recap of Season 4 Episode 12 of Arrow, titled Unchained, where Felicity battles it out with another hacker, and an old friend returns to Star City! Following the recap, both Josh and Violet share their thoughts about the episode.
Don’t need the Arrow episode recap for Unchained? Click here to jump directly to Violet’s thoughts on the episode!
To see Josh’s thoughts on this week’s Arrow episode, Unchained, click here to get directly there!
Episode Recap of Arrow, Season 4 Episode 12: Unchained
This episode begins in Nanda Parbat, with Nyssa being brought some food — with a dagger hidden inside. She uses it to take out some members of the League of Assassins who were guarding her, with the help of the woman who brought her the dagger, and a couple of other supporters.
Back in Star City, Felicity delights in the Arrow Team using her new code name, “Overwatch,” as she directs the team to catch a thief. Just as Speedy draws her bow and arrow at their target, she faints and almost falls of the ledge. Green Arrow catches her just in time, and the thief gets away. Upon returning to the Arrow Cave, the Arrow Team discusses that this could be as a result of Thea not indulging her bloodlust.
At Palmer Technologies, Felicity practices a big presentation in front of Curtis and one of the board members. However, she has a little trouble moving around in the wheelchair. The board member asks Curtis to leave the room, and tells Felicity it might be better to let someone else do the presentation in order to ensure a perfect launch.
Oliver visits Thea, and sees that Malcolm Merlyn is sitting with her. Merlyn explains that if Thea does not indulge her bloodlust, the bloodlust will kill her. Thea tells Oliver about her run in with Damien Darhk. Oliver says they need to find Darhk and make whatever he did permanent. Just then, Oliver gets a phone call from Laurel and Diggle about the thief from earlier.
Oliver is near the thief’s location, so he heads out in plainclothes and chases down the thief. Oliver catches the thief, and when he pulls off the thief’s mask, he is surprised to see that it’s Roy. Roy takes the opportunity to punch Oliver, and runs away.
Oliver returns to the Arrow Cave and reports that the thief is Roy. He gets a text from Alex, his campaign manager, so he goes upstairs to talk to him. Alex tells Oliver that he has a new opponent – Ruve Adams. We see that it is Damien Darhk’s wife, though Oliver pretends not to know who she is.
Green Arrow confronts Ruve Adams and demands to meet with her husband the next night.
Felicity analyzes the tech that has been stolen, and tells Diggle and Laurel that it could be pieced together to create a web nuke, which can destroy the internet. She says it needs a significant power source to work — and realizes that Palmer Tech has just created a next generation revolutionary battery. She calls Curtis to warn him, but Roy gets there first. Roy attacks Curtis, who actually holds his own pretty well for awhile until Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Diggle show up to confront Roy. Roy throws the battery out the window, and it is caught by a drone. Felicity notices there is something off about Roy, and gives Oliver some instructions. Oliver shoots Roy in the chest with an arrow, and Roy collapses to the floor.
The team brings Roy back to the Arrow Cave. Roy is still passed out from the tranquilizer arrow. Felicity removes a tech contact from Roy’s eye. Roy wakes up and explains to the team that he got made. He got an email from someone that was going to expose him as Roy Harper. Roy couldn’t come to them sooner because there’s a camera in the tech contact, and didn’t want to expose the team. Felicity works on backtracing the contact to find out where it was broadcasting.
Back with Nyssa, she has traveled to Japan to retrieve the Lotus. It turns out that Tatsu is guarding it. They swordfight. Nyssa mentions that the matter involves Oliver Queen.
At the Arrow Cave, Oliver and Roy talk. Roy then goes to visit Thea, who is very happy to see him. However, Thea begins having a coughing fit. Merlyn and Laurel rush in and see that the wound from Ra’s al Ghul is reappearing. Merlyn tells her to give it a minute for it to pass, and it does.
Felicity figures out how to open a backdoor to the Calculator’s main computer system. The Calculator and Felicity speak to each other with disguised voices. Felicity gets him to admit that his plan is not to take down the internet, but to take down the city. Then he cuts her off. Felicity realizes that the Calculator could manipulate the power grid, shut down hospitals, and more, to kill everyone in the city.
Felicity tries to figure out where the web nuke would do the most damage. She suddenly remembers that Ray had made a “battering ram” that could crash through cyber security. Felicity goes to Palmer Tech and asks Curtis if he’s seen the battering ram. However, she quickly finds it herself. Curtis notices Felicity’s newfound confidence, and tells her that the company needs her.
Oliver stops by to see Thea and tells her that he has arranged a meeting with Damien Darhk. Thea tries to talk him out of it, but Oliver says that he won’t let her die. However, she says this is her choice, that it’s her life. Merlyn talks to Oliver and agrees with Thea, that this is her decision.
Felicity uses the battering ram and locates the Calculator’s device at Flint Hill. She texts the location to Oliver, who is getting ready to meet with Damien Darhk.
The Calculator’s guys begin to install the device, when the Calculator detects that Felicity has infiltrated his system. Black Canary, Diggle, and Arsenal attack the Calculator’s guys. The Calculator and Felicity taunt each other, while the Calculator’s mercenaries point their guns at the Arrow Team. However, Green Arrow shows up and takes out the mercenaries. He explains that there was a meeting he decided not to go to. The Calculator tries to execute his device, but it does not work. Felicity tells the Arrow Team that she needs them to blow the device up. Roy volunteers to set off the C4. The other three run outside to wait for Roy, who shoots an arrow into the C4, then runs and ziplines to safety just in time.
The team returns to the Arrow Cave, where Roy says he enjoyed his brief time back with the team, but he’ll have to go underground again. Felicity says that she installed a virus on the Calculator’s system that wiped out all the info he had on Roy. Roy says his goodbyes.
Felicity gives a great presentation at Palmer Tech on their power cell, which she points out is powering the entire building. Oliver is in attendance, and we see that he is sitting next to the Calculator.
Roy makes one last stop at Thea’s before he leaves town. He says he thought about staying for her, but she tells him to go live a normal life. They tell each other that they love each other, and exchange a tearful goodbye.
In the elevator lobby, after Oliver leaves, the Calculator comes up to Felicity — and it turns out he is her dad!
Oliver runs into Merlyn in the hallway when he goes to see Thea. He tells Merlyn that he didn’t meet with Darhk after all, and thanks Merlyn for all he’s done for Thea. Just then, Laurel comes out and tells Oliver that something’s wrong with Thea.
Cut to the hospital, and we see Thea in a hospital bed in a coma. The doctor tells Oliver that the prognosis isn’t good. As Oliver sits by her bedside, Nyssa shows up and tells him about an elixir called Lotus, which is capable of countering the effects of the Lazarus Pit. She tells him she’ll give it to him on one condition: she wants him to kill Malcolm Merlyn.
In the flashback, Reiter chains Oliver up and repeatedly shocks him, asking where he got the maps, and about his tattoos. Then Reiter gets shot and killed with arrows — shot from Shado. But when Shado comes down to talk to Oliver, she explains that he is having a vision as a result of his injuries.
She tells him that he needs to forgive himself for what he’s done, and encourages him to go back to his family. She says that the only way out is through his own darkness. He replies that he doesn’t know how to let it go, so she says she will teach him. They meditate, and she talks about Oliver’s guilt. She mentions Oliver’s “love,” Taiana. However, he says that he’s not in love with Taiana. Shado points out that all that Taiana has received from Oliver in return for her help is a lie. Shado tells Oliver to open his eyes. When he does, he finds a stone with writing on it in the palm of his hand. He asks Shado what it is, but she is gone.
Oliver wakes up in the cell with Taiana. He confesses that he lied to her, that Conklin didn’t kill her brother, that he did. Taiana breaks down crying. Oliver looks down and sees the stone he had in his hand in his vision.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 4 Episode 12 of Arrow: Unchained
Last episode, it did seem a bit quick for Felicity to have gotten over her self-doubt, but in this episode, it turns out that that wasn’t quite the case, and that she was still struggling to adapt and adjust her paralysis. However, once again, she was able to overcome those obstacles and become confident by the end of the episode. Felicity really shined this episode, taking on the Calculator, taking pride in her hacking skills. Unfortunately, we find out at the end that all along she has been facing off with her father. I wonder how long it is until they figure out who the other is, and when the Calculator will attempt to continue his plan to bring down the city. What is his excuse for being in town and seeing Felicity after all this time anyway?
It was nice to have Roy back again, even if it was only for a little while. It looks like it might be for good this time, judging by the goodbye that he and Thea exchanged. But then, if Thea is the one who ends up in the grave, that could have been for the audience’s sake, to have one last good goodbye between the two… Anyway, was it just me, or did Roy seem a bit, I dunno, smilier than usual? In general, he seemed to have a happier demeanor than I remembered him having. I seem to remember him being more brooding and solemn most of the time.
At the end of the episode, when Oliver shook Malcolm Merlyn’s hand and thanked him, that moment just seemed wrong for some reason. So of course, the next scene had to be Nyssa giving Oliver the ultimatum to kill Merlyn for the Lotus elixir. We couldn’t have Oliver getting to cozy with the new leader of the League of Assassins for too long, now could we? Something tells me this offer is too good for Oliver to pass up, though I doubt that Merlyn will actually end up dead.
Oh, one thing that bothered me was the explanation given about Sara’s bloodlust. Yes, originally I had assumed that when Constantine performed his ritual on Sara, bringing her back to life, that she would not have the bloodlust problem that Thea had. However, as we saw in Season 4 Episode 6, Lost Souls, Sara did in fact have the bloodlust, which is why she decided to leave Star City, so that she could go off on her own and figure out what to do about her problem. Indeed, the very next day after this episode of Arrow aired, Sara’s bloodlust came up in spin-off show Legends of Tomorrow. So the whole discussion between Oliver and Merlyn about Sara not having the bloodlust problem due to Constantine “making her whole” was inaccurate. The Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash writers really should coordinate on these bits of important information. I mean, unless this misunderstanding is going to somehow come into play later on.
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 4 Episode 12: Unchained
I had a feeling this masked person was Roy. I had thought it was going to be another episode of him being mind controlled, as he was doing some pretty hard hitting when he was being confronted in the beginning. Then when Thea seemed hurt, he didn’t seem to care too much, so I thought for sure he was mind controlled. But it was explained pretty well–he was being watched like “Big Brother” so he didn’t have many options in terms of what he could do. I have to say, I liked seeing Roy back, and was disappointed to see that he was leaving so soon. Hopefully we get to see Arsenal some more in the future.
As for this new villain–it looks like Felicity is going to eventually have some daddy issues. What I am curious to know, is if Felicity’s dad realizes that he is facing off with her. From the episode, I would say he doesn’t, as I think the reason the show writers wanted Felicity to mask her voice, was to make sure there was no way that the “Calculator” would know this was Felicity. I am curious to see how he works in this world though–is he working with Darhk, or is he a separate faction we will be taking on for the time being?
Speaking of, it seems Darhk is going into hiding, with the exception of this new mayoral candidate. I am curious to see where this leads, as Oliver seems like he might be willing to give up his election for Thea. He seemed to change his mind on this move though, so we might actually see the throw-down election between these two. But speaking of Thea, it looks like Nyssa has a solution for Oliver, but Oliver is going to have to take down his new found tenuous friend–Malcolm Merlyn. Based on the previews from next week, we will at least see them fight. Whether this is a rouse to get Thea fixed or they actually are fighting to the death remains to be seen, but I look forward to seeing what happens here!
Scenes from Arrow, Season 4 Episode 13: Sins of the Father
Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled Sins of the Father:
I really wish Roy could’ve stayed, love his dynamic with the team.