This week’s episode recap of Arrow we finally get to figure out who this mysterious heroine is! We also get to talk about the League of Assassins more, and we learn more about what is going on with Moira’s case. Josh provides this week’s Arrow summary, while Josh and Violet provide their thoughts on the episode. Let’s get into this week’s episode recap of Arrow, titled League of Assassins!
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Arrow, Season 2 Episode 5: League of Assassins Recap Overview
Need a quick Arrow episode recap of Season 2 Episode 5, titled League of Assassins? Here is a summary of events for the episode. Each event is linked to the more detailed Arrow episode recap for League of Assassins if you need more information!
- Sara has a nightmare about the night the boat sank with Oliver. Sara is staying with Oliver currently.
- Laurel shocks the Queen family when they learn she is on the prosecuting team. Oliver is upset. When Oliver heads home, a League of Assassins member attempts to kill them, but fails.
- Sara tells Oliver she is also an assassin, and on the run from the League. Moira wants to accept the plea bargain for life in prison. There is another face off between the League of Assassins and Oliver and Sara.
- Felicity tries to talk detective Lance into leaving town for safety but fails. Sara then goes and they have a heart to heart.
- There is another flashback of Sara’s past aboard the freighter that picked her and Oliver up. Oliver and Sara fight the League one more time at Sara’s hiding spot.
- The League defeated for now, Sara leaves town. Moira decides to fight her case rather than take the plea. The very end, in a flashback, we learn that Sara seemed to be a slave driver to Oliver on the freighter
Arrow Episode Recap: League of Assassins, the Details
Sara’s Dream
Season 2 Episode 5 of Arrow begins with the boat ride again, when Oliver became stranded. Sara is on the phone with her father, lying to him about her studying for school as Oliver watches her. Sara begins counting the lightning. They begin making out, and Sara tells Oliver how her sister will kill her for what they are doing, but Oliver insists she will not find out. The boat then capsizes, and Sara is washed out of the boat. Oliver screams for her from the boat, and then, back in the present, Sara wakes up from her nightmare.
We learn Sara is staying at a Oliver’s house. Oliver tells her that her family misses her, but Sara doesn’t think so. They talk about Oliver’s return as well.
Laurel is Prosecuting Moira
Laurel and the DA are talking to Moira’s lawyer and Moira, when Oliver comes in late. Oliver is shocked to learn that Laurel will be sitting second chair for the prosecution of Moira. They then offer a plea deal to Moira, life with the possibility of parole. Her lawyer argues against it, but the prosecution pushes. Thea is also in attendance and blasts Laurel. The meeting is done, with Moira considering the offer for a few days. Laurel walks out, and Oliver approaches her about helping the prosecution. Laurel says she doesn’t have the pull, and says she helped get the pleas deal anyway.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Sara looks at photos around the house, and we head into a flashback, with Sara floating on some wreckage. She spots a canary, which flies towards a passing ship. She tries to scream for help, but is too weak. Back in the present, Oliver comes home. Oliver questions why the secret, and she says it has to do with what happened after the island, that she isn’t proud of. Suddenly, someone in an outfit similar to Malcolm Merlyn’s jumps through a window, and Oliver assumes it is him. They fight, and Oliver is able to unmask the would-be assassin, who is not Merlyn. He says he is “a warrior”. The assassin then throws a knife, breaking a chandelier, causing enough of a commotion, that he is able to escape.
More Assassins
At the Arrow Cave, Oliver has brought Sara. He introduces Sara to Felicity and Diggle. Oliver tells the team about the new assassin. Sara then interrupts, and tells Oliver that the man was after her, and explains he is a member of the League of Assassins. Oliver then realizes that Sara is one of the League of Assassins. She explains that she swore allegiance to them after they saved her.
Oliver receives a text from Thea, and heads out to pay her a visit while the team looks into the League. Back at the prison, Moira has decided to take the plea deal. Thea and Oliver are mad because she will not fight the case. Thea storms off. Oliver stays and talks with his mother. Oliver tells Moira he knows that she is hiding something. Moira just asks Oliver to help Thea accept her choice.
Another flashback continues Sara’s story, aboard the freighter that she had spotted. The people holding her drag her to a cell and lock her up. She begs to be let go, but they simply walk away.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver has returned. Felicity found some pesticide traces on the weapon used by the assassin. She narrows down his base, and Oliver heads out to find the would-be assassin. Arrow finds the assassin, and Sara has come as well. Turns out the assassin did not come alone either. Fighting breaks out, and the assassin gives an ominous warning to their family if they do not surrender.
Sara Visits Her Father
Oliver and Sara flee, and Oliver is frustrated that Sara hasn’t told him what happened. Oliver says he will protect Laurel, and they have Felicity tell Officer Lance to get out of town for a couple days.
Back with the flashback again, a man comes for Sara in her cell. A man demands that Sara be unhanded, but we do not know who this guy is.
Meanwhile, Felicity finds Lance and tells him to get out of town. She warns him about the League of Assassins. Lance then asks what he did to piss them off, and Lance refuses to leave, since Felicity doesn’t have a good reason. In the meantime, Oliver visits Laurel, who assumes he is there to talk about his mother’s case, and Oliver insists he isn’t, and is just there to be a friend.
Back at the Arrow Cave, Sara decides to go protect her father since Felicity failed. Diggle says he is going too, but Sara refuses to let him go. Walking around outside, Sara approaches Detective Lance. He doesn’t believe his eyes at first, but then they hug. The two of them go get some Chinese food, while talking about the missing years. Sara gets a bit jumpy, worrying about the assassins, and Lance notices it. He puts together that Felicity was sent by Sara, and then learns she is the masked female vigilante. Sara tells her father to come with her, and we move back to a flashback.
Sara and Oliver Fight the League of Assassins Again
In the flashback, the man has given Sara a room to stay in. Sara is afraid and crying, and we learn the man’s name: Doctor Anthony Ivo. Sara asks about the people locked in the cells, and he says it is a part of his work, to save the human race. He then asks Sara for her help.
Back with Oliver and Laurel, Oliver notices that Laurel hasn’t had anything to drink, and sort of apologizes for getting on her case about drinking. Laurel has a mini breakdown, wondering why everyone leaves her–her sister, father, mother, and even Oliver. Oliver then sees a knife in the wall, and Oliver hides it quickly, and leaves.
Oliver assumes that Lance is in trouble, and has Felicity looks up his location. Sara takes Lance back to her hideout in the clock tower. The assassins then show up, and Lance and Sara prepare for battle. Sara had expected them to show up though, and has had some traps set up. They begin fighting, but Sara seems caught, until Arrow show up. Lance shoots one, Sara breaks the neck of another, and lets the other go to provide a warning to Ra’s al Ghul to leave her family alone. Sara says she has to go, and Lance wants to tell his ex-wife and Laurel that she is alive. Sara makes him promise to not tell for their protection. She then makes her exit and leaves. Arrow tells Lance that she is right–her secret must be kept, which Lance describes as the hardest thing he would ever have to do.
Sara Leaves
Moira gets a visit from Oliver and Thea, and both of the kids say that any secret Moira has would not make them love their mother any less. Moira concedes, and rejects the pleas deal.
Lance pays a visit to Laurel, and Lance tells her that he wants to make sure she is okay. Laurel is not sure, and is waiting for things to get better. Back at the Arrow Cave, Oliver tells Diggle that Sara has left. He has a special drink, that was to be drank when the time is right. Oliver admits he is not sure if this is the right time, but he say he, “needs a drink”. Oliver then decides to tell Diggle more about his past.
Back into another flashback, Oliver has seen Sara again on the boat. We learn that Sara is now a guard, telling Oliver that, “Prisoners do not speak”. The episode then ends with Sara walking away from Oliver, who is still sprawled out on the floor.
Josh’s Thoughts: Arrow, Season 2 Episode 5: League of Assassins
I liked this episode. What was a little disappointing was how quick that Sara has come and gone. I enjoyed her character, and when she and Oliver fought together, it actually was really cool, to my surprise. The choreography was really good, and I really enjoyed watching it.
I am curious to know if this is the end of the League of Assassins, or if there is more to be seen. I have a feeling we will be seeing more of both the League and Sara. I also wonder if we will be seeing a lot more of Sara in the flashbacks with the revelation that Sara seems to be one of the people that enslave Oliver on the ship.
I have to say, Detective Lance has been really growing on me this season. Even though his part has been pretty small in this episode, I thought he had a great scene when he was able to talk with his daughter after her being gone for such a long time. I thought their scene was very emotional and touching.
As for Laurel taking the prosecution against Moira, I was shocked to see this. I really do not understand her logic, even though she supposedly helped get the pleas deal for Moira. To me it seems more of a way for Laurel to boost her career than helping a friend’s mother.
What I would like to see more of this season is the overarching villain. I have a feeling this is Sebastian Blood, but we haven’t really delved into it much. I really would like to get a storyline going rather than so many unrelated, one-off episodes.
Violet’s Thoughts on Season 2 Episode 5 of Arrow: League of Assassins
Am I the only one that doesn’t like Sara? Other than the fact that her mouth that can’t close, which I brought up previously, now that we’ve heard her talk a lot more, I’ve realized that her voice annoys me as well (which is funny, because she brought up voices in this episode). Not only that, but her acting when she was on the boat with Oliver, and subsequently on the freighter, was horrible. It reminded me of Anna Faris in the Scary Movie franchise, which does not work for the tone of this show. The only time she doesn’t bother me is when she’s fighting, as her fighting technique is admittedly pretty cool. It is odd that she has come and gone from Oliver’s life so quickly, and I would say that I’m not sad to see her go, except that it’s apparent that she’s not entirely gone yet. Now that Oliver’s flashback has picked up from where it left off, we’re going to keep seeing Sara, and how things went with her and Oliver on that freighter in Oliver’s flashbacks. Oh, quick side note: they way Sara had traps set up in the clocktower reminded me of Home Alone.
As for Laurel, um, total conflict of interest. She says she didn’t choose to be put on the case, she was assigned. However, that doesn’t make any sense, because it seems like everyone in Starling City knows everything there is to know about the Queens, including who they associate with. They would know that Laurel and Oliver were an item. So yeah, that was dumb. I hope Moira’s lawyer does go ahead with the conflict of interest objection and gets Laurel taken off of the case. Besides, this is just another source of stress for Laurel on top of the burdens she’s already bearing. It can’t be good for her own mental health to be prosecuting the mother of someone she cares about.
I wonder what Moira’s secret is. She was willing to go down without a fight just to keep her secret hidden, and she didn’t think her kids would love her anymore when they found out about it, so it must be pretty huge. However, she seems to think that the duress defense will work, otherwise she wouldn’t be fighting back. So it can’t be much worse than having been forced to participate in the creation of the earthquake device that killed many people and devastated the Glades, can it?
Anyway, now that Black Canary is gone (or is she?), will we be getting back to the Alderman Blood story? That seemed like a pretty big cliffhanger at the end of last episode, but Blood was not brought up even once this episode.
Scenes from Arrow, Season 2 Episode 6: Keep Your Enemies Closer
Here are scenes from the next Arrow episode, titled Keep Your Enemies Closer:
Scenes from Arrow, Season 2 Episode 6: Keep Your Enemies Closer
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