Arrow Gives Roy a Major Comic-Accurate Update in “Purgatory”

“Crisis on Infinite Earths” is officially coming for The CW’s Arrowverse, and each of the network’s solo shows are dealing with it in wildly specific ways. For Arrow – which is more than halfway done with its ten-episode final season – that took on an epic notion. Tonight’s episode saw essentially all of the show’s ensemble making a trek to Lian Yu, in a last-ditch mission from The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) for the coming crisis. The episode had some pretty monumental moments — and in the case of one long-running character on the series, Roy Harper/Arsenal (Colton Haynes), things took a surprising turn. Spoilers for this week’s episode of Arrow, “Purgatory”, below! Only look if you want to know!

The episode opened with much of the team being transported to Lian Yu by The Monitor, but missing a key component in their final plan — plutonium. Because of this, Roy, Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy), and Rene Ramirez (Rick Gonzalez) piloted a plane full of plutonium to the island, only for it to get shot down by a random missile. Dinah and Rene were eventually found in the island, and Roy was found later on in much dire straights. Roy was found with his right arm crushed under part of the plane, with Team Arrow struggling to figure out how to free him. Connor Hawke (Joseph David Jones) eventually suggested that they amputate the arm, which Roy soon agreed to. Connor took a machete to Roy’s arm, allowing him to break free.

Yep, that’s right. Roy Harper is officially missing his right arm.

In the comics, Roy’s arm was amputated in an epic fight against Prometheus in Justice League: The Rise of Arsenal #1, which also led to him being put in a coma and his daughter Lian being killed. Roy recovered and developed an addition to his pain medication, and was ultimately given a cybernetic arm by Cyborg.

Some Arrow fans had already speculated that Roy could be losing his arm, after Haynes tweeted that something in the episode would “make all [the] incredible comic book fans freak out”.

And while it’s certainly a gristly scene, it does bring a memorable part of his comic history to life — just in time for Arrow‘s final episodes.

What do you think of Roy Harper losing his arm on Arrow? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Arrow airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.