The question isn’t who died in the Arrow Season 5 finale, it’s who didn’t? Adrian Chase lures Oliver out to a boat heading off Lian Yu to deliver him yet another tough choice. Chase reveals William, puts Oliver's son in a chokehold and says, “Kill me or William dies.” Oliver thinks he can get out of making a decision, so he suavely pretends to lower his bow as he shoots Chase and saves William. But Chase isn’t dead and he's not done yet. Since Oliver won’t kill him, Chase kills himself, which activates hundreds of explosives that detonate all over Lian Yu bursting the island into flames. The only two people we know for sure aren’t dead are Oliver and William.
The last scene was only one of multiple jaw-dropping moments. The first was Oliver recruiting Deathstroke and giving him a flash drive to help find Slade’s son, Joe. Apparently, the Miraku wore off years ago and Deathstroke is a good guy now? But not for long, the writers tricked us into believing Deathstroke was only pretending to work with Oliver, and was getting dirt for Prometheus all along. But wait, no, Oliver and Deathstroke were actually the ones tricking Adrian Chase. Slade meets back up with the team and breaks up a battle between the ladies of the show.
Not only did we get to see Black Siren vs. Black Canary, but also Talia al Ghul vs Nyssa al Ghul. It was revealed Talia believed her father would never pass on leadership of the League of Assasins to a woman, which is why she left and carved her own path. But Nyssa feels some type of way because Talia left her all alone. If both of them don't end up dead, this would be a very interesting storyline to continue in Arrow Season 6.
The flashbacks also came full circle with the first episode of Season 1, where we find out Oliver was wearing a fake beard and flags down a fishing boat. The flashbacks show the moment when he first calls his mother to let her know he’s still alive. Oliver nearly missed the boat because he was busy snapping Kovar's neck. The action shots in the flashbacks were weaving perfectly into present day, nearly in sync with one another as Oliver was fighting Chase.
And last but not least, Olicity seems to be back together again. Felicity and Oliver shared a long kiss before they got separated and Oliver ended up back on a boat, the same place the series started. Samantha, William's mother and Oliver's ex-girfriend, even approves of the relationship. Not that it even matters, considering everyone may be dead.
Since Prometheus won even if Team Arrow survived, there is no happy ending. There’s really only one question here, how is anyone still alive? So to make things easier, here’s a rundown of all the potential deaths.
DEFINITELY DEAD
Adrian Chase- As mentioned above, Chase commits suicide. The ending pretty much solidified what we already knew: Prometheus didn’t have a clear motive and he needed serious help. For a second, it looked like Arrow was going to reveal Kovar as Chase’s true father, but that didn’t happen. Chase ended up killing himself on the boat the same way Oliver’s father did in the pilot episode. He killed himself, and possibly all of team Arrow and Co. The only people we know for sure lived are Oliver and William.
Kovar- In the flashbacks, Oliver snaps Kovar’s neck and kills all his men. In present day, we actually see a shot of his bones and leather jacket on the ground.
Malcolm Merlyn-Thea steps on a landmine. Malcolm takes her place and tells her to get off the island. As Thea and some of team Arrow are walking away, a group of Talia Al Ghul’s men are approaching and we hear a loud explosion. Knowing Malcolm, and the fact we didn’t actually see him die, there’s a small chance he could be alive. He’s known to be very crafty, but considering John Barrowman isn’t returning for Season 6 and what happened at the very end of the episode, it seems unlikely.
**UPDATE: John Barrowman announced he is not returning for Season 6 in a Facebook video after the show aired.
PROBABLY DEAD
Captain Boomerang-Boomerang was one of the people attacking Malcolm Merlyn. Unbeknownst to him and Talia al Ghul’s men, Merlyn was stepping on a landmine. Since Boomerang was in such close proximity, it’s likely at least one of them died.
Artemis - Last we saw Artemis, she was locked in the cage that Chase was originally holding Felicity, Thea and Curtis. Artemis barley appeared in the season, even though when she was introduced, she seemed like a core member of Team Arrow. Considering her role in the last half of Arrow Season 5 was minimal, it wouldn't be out of the question that we won't see her again.
MAYBE DEAD
Black Siren - Earth-2 was knocked out bly Captain Lance after a fight with Dinah. Katie Cassidy has been confirmed to appear in Season 6, but it's unclear if she'll return as Black Siren or just in flashbacks, which will likely continue on with other characters.
Talia al Ghul - Nyssa decided not to kill Talia after winning the fight, but Talia was last seen unconscious at her hideout on Lian Yu. It's quite possible Talia died right alongside the rest of her followers.
MIA
Dig, Felicity, Curtis, Wild Dog, Dinah, Captain Lance. Nyssa, Samantha, Thea, Deathstroke were all left trying to figure out how to fix the plane when the island exploded. Oliver told Slade of another ARGUS plane before Chase died and blew up the island, but Slade said it was all the way on the other side of the island, implying they could not reach it in time. It’s possible Slade, who seemed to have a hunch Chase wasn’t lying about destroying the entire island, may have brought team Arrow to a secret bunker (such as the ARGUS prison) to survive the blast.
It's going to be a long summer. Let us know how you think Team Arrow survives in the comments below.
