Arrow: Heir to the Demon Easter Eggs and DC Comics References

Tonight was a key piece of Arrow history, as a handful fo characters all got new status quos.As a [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Heir to the Demon

Tonight was a key piece of Arrow history, as a handful fo characters all got new status quos. As a result, there weren't a crazy number of DC Comics references or Easter Eggs--because the show was pretty pressed for time. In fact, during our recent Q&A with Arrow executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg, they revealed that Roy Harper--who doesn't appear in this episode--was actually scripted to appear in a scene this week where he fought with Nyssa, but ultimately it was cut for time because it was wasn't propelling the story forward. Besides, we got to see her kick butt and take names a few different times, so even though Roy has super-strength, the sequence was arguably fairly redundant. In any event, here's what we spotted. Let us know in the comments whether we missed anything!

Heir to the Demon

Nyssa Raatko This is, as we find out in the episode, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul. And, no, contrary to what many people assumed, it's not just a way to have Talia in the episode without calling her Talia. Nyssa has only appeared in a handful of comics, but she's got her own persona and identity--as the black sheep of Ra's al Ghul's clan. Could that be where we're headed, after she speaks on her father's behalf without his authorization? The relationship While obviously Batman is not a woman, Talia al Ghul's earliest motivations were always about getting him to sire an heir for Ra's with her. As a result, the characterization given to Nyssa here--that she's torn between her loyalty to her father and her feelings for or loyalty to "her beloved"--is something we've seen before, even if it was with a different hero and a different villain.

Heir to the Demon

Tempest  Mrs. Queen's offshore accounts were referenced last year, but every so often if we missed something last year or weren't around to point it out, we like to give a wink and a nod. And, yeah, here's such an example. Tempest is, in DC Comics, the name of Aquaman's sidekick, and a member of the Teen Titans who fought Slade Wilson/Deathstroke alongside Roy Harper. A little biographical information Here's a thing: the backstory given to Felicity Smoak in this episode doesn't actually sync up with anything we know of in the comics, but it's worth mentioning  that she's finally giving us something. We've been teased that of the few things she revealed this week, we'll see follow-up on some of them by the end of the season. Of course, in the comics, the Felicity we knew was in fact the stepmother of the young superhero Firestorm. Nyssa al Ghul

Heir to the Demon

...Wait, so she's on the list twice? No, not exactly. Here's the thing: while the network and most of the press have been referring to her as Nyssa al Ghul for weeks, her actual name is Raatko. Why? Well, "al Ghul" is a title, not an actual surname. And when she introduces herself as "Heir to the Demon," integrates Ra's al Ghul's name/title into her introduction. So, basically, they took a common and somewhat annoying mistake and made it at least a little bit of a logical jump to make. Kudos for that.

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