Oliver Queen Quits As Green Arrow, Names His Replacement

In the comics, DC has a long history of “legacy heroes” — identities that live on past the first person to wear the costume or carry the name. Tonight on Arrow, Oliver Queen decided that it may be time for Green Arrow to go that route.

There is a practical reason — he is, after all, the mayor of a major American city and while the first attempt at outing him as the Green Arrow turned out to be a really impressive Photoshop job, there will be no shortages of chances for the perpetrators to retry again in the future.

There is also a personal reason: his son, William, is now living with Oliver for the first time after the death of Oliver’s mother, Samantha Clayton, who was killed in the blast on Lian Yu at the end of season 5.

It was with both of those concerns in mind that Oliver asked his longtime friend, bodyguard, and partner John Diggle to don the hood of the Green Arrow in the closing moments of tonight’s episode.

Diggle and Oliver shake hands, the deal seemingly sealed — and while recent set photos and a poster for November’s crossover seem to confirm that Oliver will be back in the costume sooner than later, the decision to make Diggle the new Green Arrow is one that may impact the series for quite some time.

This is not the first time Diggle has stepped in for Oliver — he famously suited up as “The Hood” in season 1 in order to get Oliver acquitted of charges related to being the vigilante. That episode was referenced more than once in tonight’s — but only in the context of a temporary replacement not, as Oliver eventually asked, as a full-time gig.

In the comics, Oliver was briefly replaced by his son — a young character named Connor Hawke, who appeared in an episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow during a story set in the future. In Legends, they revealed that Connor — who was a person of color in the comics — was not Oliver’s son but Diggle’s.

There is a lot to be explored here, including the fact that Diggle seemingly accepts this responsibility without thought to how it might impact his wife and his own child. That will likely be unpacked in upcoming episodes.

Arrow airs on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW — no matter what other sites might have you believe.