Arrow Season 6 episode 2, "Tribute," spoilers ahead.
John Diggle Is The Green Arrow. Yes, you heard that right. Oliver Queen quit so he can focus on protecting his son, William. We can’t blame Oliver for wanting to be a better parent, but he also didn’t take too much consideration for Dig, who also has a child, wife and is currently suffering from degenerative nerve damage.
This is a huge twist nobody saw coming. The prospect of only seeing Oliver in a business suit is sad, but at least it’s going to be Dig taking his place. This probably won’t sit well with Black Canary, who noticed Dig’s nerve damage was affecting his ability to fight. When escaping from Lian Yu with Felicity, Dig got hit with shrapnel but didn’t want to tell Oliver because of the seriousness of Thea’s injury. If Dig can’t steadily shoot a gun, how is he going to shoot an arrow? He’s on a lot of pain medication already.
Next week’s episode shows Dig all suited up in the Green Arrow costume, so this transition will be very fast. A new character, FBI special Agent Amanda Watson, is still pursuing the Green Arrow identity allegations even though the photo on Channel 52 news proved to be fake. Oliver giving up his alter ego is the only way to prevent William from having to lie when being questioned by the agent and it’s also the only way to keep the identities of the rest of Team Arrow a secret. But there are a number of reasons why this probably won’t end well for Diggle.
First of all, he has a very serious injury that prevent him from protecting himself and others at full capacity. Second, I can’t imagine Lyla being okay with this, especially since Dig did not ask her before he agreed. Thirdly, Diggle putting himself at risk does make the post-Flashpoint 2046 future more of a reality.
Diggle becoming sick and putting himself in more danger just complicates the timeline of Star City’s dismal future even more. If Diggle dies, John Diggle Jr blames himself, declares himself a new name - Connor Hawke-- and becomes Green Arrow after Oliver is defeated by Deathstroke. This version of Deathstroke is Grant Wilson, Slade Wilson’s son who we have never met. Although Slade Wilson will be meeting up with his son Joe on Arrow this season. Maybe Joe goes by Grant or Slade has two sons, as he does in the comics. In 2046, we also know Felicity owns a company called Smoak Tech. Tonight in “Tribute,” Felicity asks Curtis to start a programming company together. The events of 2046 are starting to play out, and that's bad news for OIiver because when we find him in the future, he's also quit being Green Arrow and only has one hand.
While Diggle takes over the saving the city duties, Oliver will be focusing on developing a relationship with his son William. The scenes between Stephen Amell and Jack Moore were the highlight of the episode. The conversations had a lot of depth and felt very real and mature. William expressed how he fears Oliver will never come back, just like his mother. Oliver realized it’s important for him to give William a stronger sense of security. It will be very interesting to see which themes the Arrow writers discuss through this new single-father/son storyline.
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