ARROW Season 3 Episode 9
Episode Title: “The Climb”
Writers: Jake Coburn & Keto Shimizu
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Previously on “Arrow”:
Episode 3.08 “The Brave and the Bold”
It says a lot about Green Arrow’s comic book villains that “Arrow” has to borrow heavily from outside of his rogue’s gallery to find someone worthy of being the big bad of “Arrow” Seasons 2 and 3. Aside from Merlyn, Green Arrow doesn’t have many enemies who can rise to that level. Deathstroke was a Teen Titans villain. Ra’s al Ghul belongs to Batman’s circle of enemies… and he’s not even Batman’s greatest foe!
But on “Arrow,” Ra’s al Ghul is far beyond anyone else that Oliver Queen has faced up to this point. There isn’t any real personal animosity between them, but that doesn’t prevent them from fighting to the death in this episode. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t go well for Oliver.
Ultimatum
It’s Christmas time in Starling City, and Captain Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) just takes it in stride when he ducks out of a holiday party and finds a criminal tied up by the Arrow aka Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell). Lance even tells the Arrow that he’s the closest thing that he has to a partner as they thank each other for keeping the city safe.
Yep, it’s all coming up Arrow… right until the League of Assassins catches up to Oliver and forcefully takes him to Nyssa al Ghul (Katrina Law). By the order of Nyssa’s father, Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable), Oliver has 48 hours to find the killer of Sara Lance or else the League starts killing random people in Starling City.
That’s not all. Oliver discovers that Maseo Yamashiro (Karl Yune), his mentor from Hong Kong, is now a member of the League.
And The Murderer Is…
Back at the Arrow Cave, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) gets the DNA results from Caitlin Snow (from “The Flash”) and wishes her “Happy Holidays.” Really? Who actually says that in conversation?
Anyway, the tests come back and… the killer is Oliver! John Diggle (David Ramsey) and Oliver think that Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) set him up for Sara’s murder. Their theory is bolstered when they find security footage that places Merlyn in Starling City on the night of Sara’s murder. They also learn that Thea Queen (Willa Holland) came with him.
China White vs. Katana
In the Hong Kong flashbacks, Oliver tells Maseo what he learned from the man that he tortured. There’s a bioweapon that was stolen by China White (Kelly Hu), who used a drug to render one of the scientists susceptible to suggestion and without any memory of what he had done. Considering how much of this episode hinges upon this mind control drug, it probably should have been introduced earlier in the season.
While Oliver and Maseo chase a dead end, China White attacks their home. Maseo’s wife, Tatsu Yamashiro (Rila Fukushima) takes up a sword to defend her son against China, but she ends up being kidnapped. Incidentally, you can tell that the “Arrow” writers never planned this far ahead or else China White’s appearances in the first two seasons of “Arrow” would have alluded to Oliver’s past encounters with her.
Rise of The Atom
While Oliver attempts to find Merlyn, Felicity has to deal with Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh), and his nerdy sexual harassment. Although Ray’s romantic interest in her isn’t entirely one sided. Privately, Ray confesses to Felicity that he lost his fiancée the night that Deathstroke’s army attacked the city. That inspired him to become the hero that Starling City needs.
Ray shows Felicity the prototype designs for the A.T.O.M. armor and he asks for her help as he tries to become a hero. In a funny moment, Felicity asks why this is happening to her again. Meanwhile, in a plot that no one cares about, Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) tells her mom, Dinah (Alex Kingston) about Sara’s death and vows vengeance against her killer.
Merlyn’s Latest Trick
Oliver’s attempt to get Thea to open up to him about Merlyn doesn’t go anywhere because she lies to his face. At Diggle’s suggestion, he tries to interrogate her as the Arrow, Thea reveals that she’s been training with Merlyn and she easily escapes from Oliver. When Oliver confronts Merlyn, he discovers just how badly he’s been played.
Merlyn tells Oliver that he used that mind control drug on Thea to get her to kill Sara… and he’s got video evidence. Merlyn uses this as leverage against Oliver with a promise that the video will be sent to the League if anything happens to him. Without any other recourse, Oliver decides to turn himself over to the League. But before he goes, Oliver tells Felicity that he loves her.
Battle To The Death!
No one in the League of Assassins believes Oliver when he says that he killed Sara. But Ra’s al Ghul accepts Oliver’s request for a trial by combat. Ra’s hints at his immortality when he says that he hasn’t been challenged in 67 years.
Ra’s doesn’t even take a weapon for his duel with Oliver. Instead, he promises to take Oliver’s weapons from him… and he does. Oliver is so outmatched by Ra’s that he’s soundly beaten before Ra’s stabs him in the chest and kicks him off a cliff to his death.
Oh well… “Arrow” was a fun show while it lasted. Guess The CW is just gonna have to find a new DC hero.
Of course, Oliver isn’t actually dead. But it might be a while before he recovers from his injuries in this episode. For the midseason cliffhanger, it’s a really strong hook for the remaining episodes of “Arrow” Season 3. Ra’s needs more time to develop into a strong antagonist on this show, but it was refreshing to see how easily he defeated Oliver. Now that Merlyn has been unmasked as the real reason that Sara is dead, he’s just been elevated back to the same main event villain status that Ra’s has this season.
However, Thea is a problem for this show. Even with her training, Thea comes off as more of a plot device and love interest for Roy Harper (Colton Haynes) than a real character on her own. Considering how much time “Arrow” spends on Thea, that’s not an encouraging sign.
And then there’s Laurel, who the show is desperately trying to get the audience to buy into as a the new Black Canary. With Oliver out of the way, I wouldn’t be shocked if we get a few episodes of Laurel and Team Arrow defending the city without him.
That’s all for this year on “Arrow” Season 3. Share your thoughts about this episode in the comment section below!
