With just a few episodes left in Arrow Season 4, fans are already looking ahead to Season 5. It’s already been revealed Arrow’s getting a new villainous characte r, but there’s also going to be a familiar face joining Team Arrow for a few episodes: Colton Haynes’ Arsenal.
“I get to come back on a few episodes of Arrow next year,” Haynes told Heroic Hollywood.
Roy Harper has been hiding out from the police in Hub City for most of Season 4 until he was discovered by Felicity’s father, The Calculator. In Season 4 episode 12, “Unchained,” Team Arrow tracks a burglar to Palmer Tech and when Oliver gets a closer look, he realizes it's actually his old sidekick, The Arsenal. Felicity is able to remove a piece of coercive tech The Calculator embedded in Roy’s eye, but Roy tells his old team his identity is at risk.
Roy suits up and shows off his old skills, detonating Calculator’s nuke and escaping from an exploding building via zipline in the knick of time. Roy also takes time to visit Thea, who was dying from bloodlust at the time. The two confess their love for each other, but Roy leaves the next day.
Before Arsenal’s Season 4 cameo, Thea paid him an emotional visit in Season 3’s “This is Your Sword.” We find out he’s been posing as a mechanic named Jason. However, Colton Haynes’ official departure from Arrow came in Season 3 episode 19, “Broken Arrow.” In the episode prior, Oliver’s hooded identity is exposed. Ollie turns himself into the police, but Roy is determined to take the blame. He dresses as the Green Arrow and attacks Oliver’s prison transport van. Roy insists he’s been the real Arrow all along, relinquishing Oliver’s involvement. With the help of ARGUS, he fakes his own death, escapes prison, and leaves Star City.
TV Guide caught up with Arrow showrunner Wendy Mericle, who revealed Thea has a big decision to make in the Season 4 finale:
“Thea had bloodlust earlier in the season and since then has been questioning her place on the team, and questioning whether or not she is Speedy, which goes back to her character’s struggle with whether she’s more of a Queen or a Merlyn. She’s going to answer that question in [the finale] and come up with, what we hope, is a pretty surprising answer.”
If Thea is no longer Speedy, this leaves an open spot on team Arrow. Roy could become the Red Arrow once and for all. Are you excited to see Colton Haynes? Sound off in the comments below!
