Arrow Arrow 3.22 This is Your Sword

[Kar]

So if Ollie was faking it, does that mean he's given up his vow of killing? Remember the Diggle hallucination he killed?

I'm torn with this episode. I enjoyed the action (favorite part of the whole episode was Laurel whooping serious ass). But a lot of things felt off. I'm still confused about Maseo's character with the League. He's been back and forth between Oliver's side and Ra's side. Sad to see him go though. I like how the flashback scenes are coming to the main idea now. Still trying to see how it will end and where it takes Ollie.

 

[Bathead]

So if Ollie was faking it, does that mean he's given up his vow of killing? Remember the Diggle hallucination he killed?

I'm torn with this episode. I enjoyed the action (favorite part of the whole episode was Laurel whooping serious ass). But a lot of things felt off. I'm still confused about Maseo's character with the League. He's been back and forth between Oliver's side and Ra's side. Sad to see him go though. I like how the flashback scenes are coming to the main idea now. Still trying to see how it will end and where it takes Ollie.

Well, he was drugged at the time.

 

[Kar]

Well, he was drugged at the time.

Ah yeah you're right

 

[Fallen Angel]

Where was my invite to the wedding man?

 

[Gu3ree]

Also wanted to note that the Atom sequence was ptetty amazing and I am impressed by how real it looked, I couldn't believe it. How did they do that for a TV budget? Because I got to say sometimes The Flash's super-speed effect looks a little off. I can't stand how when the Flash is supposedly running at super speed but looks like he's jogging like a regular human, but the background behind him is moving fast, it's out of focus and you can see Barry's arms. Moreover, it's simply just Grant Gutsin running at normal speed in the shot with the blur and background added behind him, and he doesn't look like he's moving as fast as the speed looks in the background. Point is his arms should look like they are moving so fast.

The Atom flying sequence looked great and to me close enough to be a movie, which makes me a bit upset due to the irony. Man of Steel's flying doesn't look that real, moreover it looks more CGI, that cape is so cartoony, come on.

But these effects in this episode of Arrow of the Atom flying was spot on.

 

[Slade W]

Very good episode. I cannot wait until the finale next week. I got such a surprise when I seen Malcolm meet up with Oliver but it was a good surprise. I wonder what Malcolm was trying to achieve when he told Ra's that Oliver was lying to him. Was he trying to save his own skin or was it part of Oliver's plan? He really is a sneaky b**tard so it is hard to tell with him. It is sad to see Maseo go. He was a good character and I liked him and I felt sorry for him. He obviously could not deal with the loss of his son so him joining the league was his way of running away from it and to escape from his pain and to erase as much of his former life as possible. But despite all of that, there were still parts of the good Maseo that remained. He helped Oliver survive after his battle with Ra's and he tried to help Oliver's friends to escape Nanda Parbat. Deep down he was a good person who loved his son just too damn much and his loss devastated and broke him to the point that he could not cope and had to escape his suffering. His way of coping was not the best way by any means but deep down I think he was a good person with a weak spot (his son) and in the end he got what he wanted, a way out and an escape from his life and his pain (or his "prison" as he put it).

 

[SpideyVille]

I gotta say, I'm not a fan of the Roy/Thea relationship being postposed on screen through a note again. I know it's just the second time, but for some reason it feels like its happened a lot more often.

 

[b_boy]

Katana and Maseo was a highlight of the episode for me. Their final scene together was great.

Loved the action scenes, Diggle and Laurel taking on that gang, the fight at Nanda Parbat (all of them kicking ass) and the Atom vrs Plane was also awesome.

I also prefer that Oliver was faking instead of really being brainwashed as it makes TA surviving more plausible. As for the wedding, I just can't with it, can't wait to see Nyssa free from the wedding running the league and probably taking on her father...

 

[Hunter Rider]

Really good episode, it's tough watching the strain on Ollie's relationships with Digg and Felicity but it's building to a satisfying climax IMO. The battle on Nanda Parbat was awesome and I loved Ray taking down the jet.

I hope Katana continues into next season, Rila is good in the role and she looked great in the costume. The sword fight between her and Maseo was beautifully done and surprisingly emotional given the relationship is not one we have had a lot of time to grow invested in.

I thought the epilogue to Roy and Thea's story was nicely done and suitably bittersweet, loved him going under the name Jason and handing off his costume to her.

This was my favourite moment.

 

[Mikelus]

Review from tv.com:

The way that Oliver went about executing this plan was pretty classic Oliver. He kept a bunch of secrets from people, claimed it was for their protection and to preserve the integrity of the plan, and then everything pretty much collapsed around him anyway. At least when Batman did this sort of thing—and he did it all the time—the last part of this scenario didn't always happen. The fallout of the secrets and lying played out for Batman as it had started to play out for Oliver here when Diggle told his former best friend that he lost all trust and respect for the hooded archer, but the difference was that Batman really didn't dwell too much on those things. All Oliver has dwelled on this season was whether or not he could lead two lives and at what cost. The cost of bringing down the League was, apparently, worth sacrificing the idea that Oliver might ever be Oliver Queen again.

Like the whole temptation of running the League of Assassins and the possibility to actually do something meaningful with his life, this decision fit in firmly with Oliver's existential dilemma that he can't be both Oliver Queen and the Arrow, so he had to give up everybody in his life, even if that meant letting them (apparently) be killed. Also like that temptation, it's still a bunch of nonsense that didn't have a great deal of foundation to make the sacrifice feel like it meant anything. And given how everything was planned out, it continued to make Oliver look very horrible at this whole thing. He barely seemed able to protect Starling City, but he thought he could take down a centuries-old organization led by an immortal without telling anyone except a guy whose only priority has been himself? Truly, a cunning plan indeed, Oliver.

As we head into the finale, there are at least glimmers of life starting to show in Ra's. It's too late for him to suddenly feel like a legitimate evil presence as opposed to just an obstacle preventing Oliver from achieving... whatever the show thinks Oliver is looking to achieve, but at least he's showing some menace now. I don't like that it's coming at Nyssa's expense, but his cruelty toward her has really been his more abhorrent quality, and the character—and Matt Nable—comes to life when he's being a controlling jackass of a father.

It'd be nice if any of that venom would be carried over into Ra's dealings with anyone else on the show, but it also reminded me that Arrow's Ra's remains generally uninteresting. His entire agenda all season has—unless we get one last little reveal next week—been about securing his legacy through a handpicked heir who will marry his practically disowned daughter, and then produce a grandson through that union, presumably who would go on to become Ra's after Al Sah-him. I'm watching another heir story play out on Wolf Hall right now, and it's way more interesting than it is on Arrow. But there's just nothing else to this Ra's. It's hating his daughter and wanting an heir. To be fair, Ra's is always looking for an heir in the comics, but he still has other irons in the fire. This Ra's seems to have nothing else going on in his very long life, and that makes for a pretty dull villain.

http://www.tv.com/shows/arrow/commu...de-22-this-is-your-sword-review-143076568140/

I agree, and this episode showed everything wrong with Arrow this season:

- Nonsensical plots, so now Oliver is also... psychic man! Laurel and Diggle stopping him from killing Nyssa, then Thea stopping him from killing Diggle was also part of his plan, yeah right, whatever Arrow...

- The LOA is now LOL (league of losers), anyone can beat them now.

- Felicity's melodramatics, made worse by Emily Bett Rickards' overacting making her too whiney.

- Nyssa says she would rather die than marry Oliver, but then does nothing effective, making her weak in the process and ruining the character even more.

- They have also ruined Ra's Al Ghul, worst version of the character by far, outsmarted by a mediocre Oliver Queen, ouch!

- Ray transferring his company to Felicity because... he's leaving the show for the spinoff, not because it makes real sense.

Well, at least Thea is finally becoming the Speedy she was destined to be, so that's a big positive.

 

[Jedi Arrow]

 

[Primal Slayer]

 

[Human Torch]

And he also raped her mother, unless there is any other way to take "You will have no more say in the matter than your mother." (Which makes his attempt at romanticising his relationship with Nyssa's mother all the more messed up when he is reminiscing at her in her room.)

But yeah, I'd love to hear how else you would classify non-consensual sex other than rape. Using the threat of violence is just as bad as using actual violence.

I guess you guys never heard of the concept of an arranged marriage before. It's not a marriage built around "love" per say. In some cases the two don't even meet before the wedding. I think that's what Ra's views this as.

 

[b_boy]

Nyssa's training did wonders to Laurel!

 

[Primal Slayer]

These past 2 episodes have been season lows ratings wise. 2.4/0.9

Nyssa's training did wonders to Laurel!

If only we ever got to see any of it

 

[vantheman77]

With so much emphasis on Oliver/ Felicity, they should have shown us Dinah Laurel's training with Nyssa and Thea's training to become Speedy. This season was not well-planned after coming off a great 2nd season.

The only positives of this season was seeing Dinah Laurel becoming Black Canary, Ray Palmer becoming Atom, Tatsu Yamashiro becoming Katana, and Thea becoming Speedy.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Well we saw Thea training with Merlyn at the beginning of the season.

 

[Mikelus]

Can't say how refreshing it was to see Black Canary fight with some technique! Of course her being able to handle the LOA was a bit of a stretch, but she already fought them 2 episodes ago so I don't mind that much, if at all honestly. Just chalk it up to her training with Nyssa really paying off within 1-2months.

They should've shown a couple of training sessions with Nyssa and Laurel this season, another wasted opportunity among many others.

Really hoping that they have a good way to explain TA surviving the "poison" since Al Sha-Him being a sham was a let down and the whole "we don't kill on weddings" or whatever was a bit of a stretch to have them survive as long as they did.

Oliver is a genius now! Everything was part of the plan, including Malcolm's betrayal or whatever they plan to do with him.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Your Tuesdays and Wednesdays must be really empty.

 

[Human Torch]

Your Tuesdays and Wednesdays must be really empty.

 

[bjavor]

I get the idea that's supposed to be part of Ollie's plan.

That's what I'm thinking as well.

 

[Seb]

I guess you guys never heard of the concept of an arranged marriage before. It's not a marriage built around "love" per say. In some cases the two don't even meet before the wedding. I think that's what Ra's views this as.

Arranged marriages are gross and often also super rapey. I don't see how Ra's' view of this makes it any more consensual. Rape is sex without consent from one or more parties, Ra's is demanding sex without consent, Ra's is demanding rape. How is there any other conclusion?

 

[Danielle13]

It was ok, would have been better if Felicty stopped her melodrama for a second, when she said "my Oliver" I wanted to puke, same when she had her crying moment in the dungeons, when are they going to realize that Emily is not that good at dramatic scenes? she is good at being awkward, like the scene when she threw her tablet, that was good, that is the Felicty people liked, not the crying mess they have created this season.

I liked that Ollie was lying, but it makes zero sense not to tell someone other than Malcom (like, oh, I don't know, Diggle for example) what he was planning. I know Oliver likes to keep things to himself but this is too much, is one thing not to talk about everything he went through those five years, is another thing not to tell your team your plan (seriously, what was he thinking?)

Best part of the episode was Katana, her fight with Maseo was well done and the ending broke my heart, something big considering I didn't really care about them as a couple during the flashbacks.

Arrow is better when it focuses on the action and the plots rather than the shipping.

 

[BattleCat]

Ray signing over his company to Felicity (i mean Oliver) sucked.

 

[Kar]

Am I the only one getting the idea that Laurel and Ollie will never get back together? It just seems as if she's not interested in him at all anymore. I don't blame her, but it feels weird having a Green Arrow with no Black Canary love interest (seeing as how Sara's dead)