Arrow Recap With Spoilers: Corto Maltese

The episode opens six months ago, as Thea got into the limousine with Merlyn at the end of Season Two. She asks where they're going, and he says wherever she wants. She tells him that she knows he wants out of Starling because the police and the Arrow would hunt him if they knew he was alive. He says it would be unfortunate for both of them, and asks why she reached out to him.

She tells him that she's tired of being hurt, and that Merlyn seems like someone who can help her learn not to.

Cut to the present day, and Arrow is chasing a suspect through traffic, bouncing off cars and scowling. He catches the man with a bolo arrow and demands to know what he saw the night of Sara's murder. The man doesn't know anything.

Back in the Foundry, Felicity is frustrated because it took her so long trying to track the fingerprint; Oliver is just frustrated the trail has gone cold.

Felicity has tracked Thea to Corto Maltese; Roy says that he wasn't supposed to look for her, but Oliver says that was for Roy, not for him. Roy decides to come anyway, saying that he owes both Oliver and Thea to make things right.

At home, Diggle is standing over Baby Sara when Lyla comes in; he tells her that he plans on taking some quality time with them while Oliver is gone to Corto Maltese. Lyla asks Diggle to go on a mission for A.R.G.U.S. to find Mark Shaw, who's gone dark. He's an old friend and she wants to find him quietly rather than get him in trouble with Waller.

At Wildcat's Gym, Ted Grant is sparring when Laurel comes to see him, asking about Tom Bronson, who was seen at the scene of a break-in last night. He says Bronson was with him the whole time. She accuses him of lying to the district attorney and he refuses to deny it, but tells her she looks angry and that she should come in and work out some of her aggression, and hands her a flier.

In Corto Maltese, Oliver, Diggle and Roy have an address to talk to Thea; Oliver goes alone at first, wanting to talk to her before anyone else interrupts. He knocks at the door, calling her name, but inside there's someone pointing an arrow at the door.

It's Merlyn, who never fires off the arrow because a gardener leads Oliver to a coffee shop where he says "Mia" works.

Cut back to when Thea and Merlyn first came to Corto Maltese; he tells her that when he started training, he was angry and devastated by the death of his wife. He pours boiling water over his hand to illustrate a point, saying that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. He takes her hand and despite her protests pours the water onto her forearm.

Oliver finds Thea at the coffee shop, they embrace and sit to talk. She apologizes for lying and telling him that she went to Italy. He tells her that he wants her to come back. She tells him that she misses him and she loves him but she's not coming back.

Cut to the flashback, as she puts her hands in ice water after the boiling water. She apologizes, telling Merlyn that she's not like him and can't do this.

In the present day, Felicity joins Ray Palmer, who is overcaffeinated and rambling. Felicity cuts him off, introducing her executive assistant (Gerry Conway), who he asks to get her a coffee. Palmer wants to rebuild applied sciences and brings Felicity a data server that got caught in last year's explosion to try and recover the data. He leaves to get work done, leaving her to the realization that he's given her a huge office.

In Corto, Diggle and Oliver find Mark Shaw -- who almost immediate tries to stab Diggle, paranoid that he's lying about being from Lyla. He brings Diggle elsewhere to tell him that "The Actual," a list of agents' real names, their families and more, has been stolen and is about to be sold.

At her AA meeting, Laurel admits that she doesn't want a drink anymore after a recent crisis but that she's filled with rage and doesn't know what to do with it.

Another woman, Erica, admits that her boyfriend has been hitting her. She can't bring herself to leave him. Laurel knows who the boyfriend is and wants to do something about it, but Lance says he can't, becuase bringing a badge in would scare away people who need help.

Shaw and Diggle work their way up a dirt road; this is where the buy is going to take place. Diggle quickly figures out it's bogus, and his gun is empty; Shaw hits him with a stun gun. Turns out the chip Lyla gave Diggle to confirm his identity to Shaw was a necessary key to decrypting the Actual. He steals it and drives off while Oliver swoops in to check on Dig.

Thea is taking out the trash at the cafe when the bag bursts, and Roy comes up to offer her help. She asks why he's there and he says that he wants to convince her to come back. She tells him that she didn't just leave because of him, but because EVERYONE lied to her in Starling. She tells him that she's happy here, and Roy apologizes for hurting her. He says that if she's happy in Corto, she should stay, and turns to go. She calls him back, asking if he's okay. He says he hasn't been sleeping much.

After he leaves, Merlyn comes around the corner. He flashes back again, where he's telling her that he needs to train her as he was trained, and begins hitting her. He says the only way to forge steel is to temper it with fire and when she holds a sword on him, he's happy.

Lyla tells Diggle that there's a wet team that's being dispatched to his position, btu he says that they won't make it in time; he and Oliver are going to do it.

Diggle calls Felicity as she's walking Palmer through the destroyed server; he wants her help tracking someone in Corto Maltese. She tells him that he's a hacker, with a faint trail, but that she'll e-mail him when she has something. Laurel also calls looking for someone, wanting Felicity to ping his GPS. Palmer asks if this is a normal day for her and she says it's better than most.

Oliver wants to go tell Thea the truth about the five years he was away and the Arrow; he wants to win her back by telling her the truth. Diggle tells him that he's in too deep; that he'll lose her forever if he admits he's been lying to her for two years.

Laurel goes after the abusive boyfriend wearing a ski mask and hits him a few times with a pipe, but he gets the better of her and drives off while she's on the ground.

Lance goes to visit her in the hospital, asking her what she's thinking. She tells him that she has some things she has to work out. He tells her that he wants to know what's going on, and that she can tell him anything. He begs her to talk to him, but she still won't tell him about Sara's murder. He tells her that she's not The Arrow, or her sister, and makes her promise she won't do anything like this again.

Oliver goes to see Thea, telling her that he needs to talk to her. He tells her that he's seen the note she left Roy, and that he's ready to come clean, but that he's scared of losing her forever if he does. She tells him that nothing he tells her will change the way she sees him; that she's still mad at him for lying about her father. Oliver says that their father wasn't the man they thought, that he was better but she kept something from her because he never wanted her to know that their father made it off the Gambit. He tells her that their father killed himself to save Ollie. He tells her that she needs he to realize that their parents sacrificed everything for them and that he needs her.

At Shaw's drop point, Oliver, Roy and Diggle are present, watching the buy go down. Shaw says he was expecting Armitage, but the buyers say Corto Maltese isn't worthy of Armitage. They start the buy and Team Arrow stocks up with home-made bows and arrows Oliver fashioned out of the hotel furniture. A wet team shows up, but Oliver says it isn't A.R.G.U.S.

Pinned between the two groups of gunmen, Oliver and company start firing off arrows and bullets into bad guys. The second group of killers were hired by Shaw in case of A.R.G.U.S. interference. Oliver and Diggle shoot down most of the mercenaries after the arrows are gone, and Oliver takes out more, as well as someo f the buyers and their tires, while Diggle beats on Shaw. Finally, Oliver recovers The Actual.

Shaw tells Diggle this payday was his way out of A.R.G.U.S., that he had no choice because of the way Waller treats her agents and the people it turns them into. He asks Diggle to free him by telling Waller that he put a bullet in him. Diggle punches Shaw out, saying, "If only."

Thea tells Merlyn that she wants to go home to Oliver. She's disappointed, saying maybe she hasn't come as far as he thought. She tells him she'll prove it, and the two swordfight briefly. He disarms her eventually but then she slips his sword out of his hand and holds it to his throat. He tells her she can go home, and she starts to leave, then asks if he let her win. He says he'll see her soon.

At the airport, Diggle and Team Arrow share coffee. Oliver is convinced Thea isn't coming and is upset, but then she arrives. A man spills hot coffee on her hand and eveyrone is put off when she doesn't really respond.

When Oliver returns to the Foundry, Laurel is waiting for him. She tells him that she wants to do what Sara had done -- she wears the jacket and is compelled. Oliver tells her that he won't train her because he can't imagine what would happen to Lance if she got hurt. He says Sara would never forgive him if he did.

Back at home, Diggle comes in to see Lyla putting the baby down. She has to go into the office, joking that she does whatever Waller asks. He tells her to hurry back.

At the police station, Erica's boyfriend has been pulled in on his outstanding warrants in Coast City via an anonymous tip.

Laurel heads to Wildcat's gym, telling Ted she's ready to start.

At Queen Consolidated, Palmer is praising Felicity for managing to recover the data on the server. She asks for a few days off, saying she wants to go see her friend who was struck by lightning. He hesitates, but gives her the time off. She leaves and he sighs, then begins going through the QC files on advanced weaponry, and looking sinister.

At the Foundry, Oliver praises Roy's performance in Corto. He asks if Thea seems different to him. Roy doesn't really know.

The episode ends with Nyssa coming intot he Foundry, holding a bow on Oliver and asking for Sara.