Arrow Recap With Spoilers: Heir to the Demon

The episode begins with a shot of the skyline, and then the airport. Waiting in line at customs, Nyssa Raatko says she's traveling for personal reasons before the TSA Agent tells her that his computers froze; in fact, she was identified as an A.R.G.U.S. security threat. When a handful of armed agents come out to try to take her into custody, she disarms and knocks out all of them  quickly and brutally. At Queen Consolidated, Marc Francis is setting a stage for Moira's campaign strategy. Felicity approaches Walter after a brief strategy session, and tells him that her old "Tempest" accounts had been used to wire money to Starling National Bank in the last few days. Francis tells Ollie that he'll have to end his support for Sebastian Blood, and Oliver tells him he understands, then gets a call from Quentin Lance and leaves to go see Laurel in the hospital. When Oliver and Dinah (who's there to see Laurel) leave, Laurel tells Quentin that she's sure she saw Sara standing over her before she passed out. He doesn't tell her that Sara is alive.

Back at the Foundry, Sara thanks Oliver for his help keeping Laurel safe, and then prepares to leave. Oliver tells him that her family needs her, and so does he, then asks Felicity to dig up a copy of Laurel's bloodwork from the hospital. Lance calls and demands to talk to Sara. The flashback takes us to the Lance family, on the day before the Queen's Gambit left with Oliver and Sara. Sara comes home from college to see her family over a three-day weekend and arrives just in time for dinner--and to get a text from Oliver. Sara meets Lance at a restaurant, telling him she only has a minute and asking how Laurel is. He tells her that Laurel saw her, and that it's time the family started helping her to face the League of Assassins, because they can't live with her popping in and out of existence on a whim. She hugs him and leaves. Outside, Oliver is waiting for her as Arrow--and Nyssa descends from above in full League regalia. She approaches Sara and kisses her passionately, to Oliver's surprise. He looks on as they kiss enthusiastically, and then pull apart suddenly. Nyssa admits that she didn't know what she was going to do, holstering a knife she's been carrying. Sara tells her they should talk, but Nyssa knew Oliver was there and wheels on him, telling him that it's time for Sara to return to the League. Oliver tells her that's not going to happen. Sara asks for a moment with Oliver, and Nyssa says of course--that goodbyes are never easy, and is that why she never got one? At Queen Manor, Felicity approaches Moira about Tempest, saying that she knew Walter wouldn't have talked to Moira about it because he is (and British people are) bad liars. She tells Moira that she doesn't trust her. She tells Moira that she saw the payoff to Dr. Gill and that she figured out Thea is Merlyn's child. Moira tells her that she won't tell Oliver about it, and that Oliver will hate her for being the one to tear his world apart. Felicity leaves silently. Sara explains to Nyssa that she had to check on her family after the earthquake. Nyssa tells Sara that she promised her father that she would bring her back or kill her.

Nyssa tells her that the only reason she's alive today is because Nyssa saved her; Sara tells her that she wasn't with her because she saved her, but because she loved her. Sara asks Nyssa to convince Ra's to release her like he did Merlyn. Nyssa doesn't want to, but when Sara tells her to "do what you have to," Nyssa can't, and flees. At the foundry, Oliver is working out with a sledge hammer while Felicity sits silently at her desk. Sara comes in and tells everyone that she has to leave to keep her family safe, but Diggle comes in and announces that it won't work--that Laurel was poisoned by the League to draw Sara out and didn't OD like everyone thought. In the flashback, Sara is texting with Oliver when Laurel comes in and says that she and Oliver are plannign on moving in together. After a brief argument about whether Ollie is the type to settle down, Sara leaves, deciding to meet Oliver at the docks. While Dinah is visiting Laurel at the hospital, she's taken hostage by the man who poisoned Laurel's drink at the bar last night. Cut to Arrow and Canary on the motorcycle, chasing a van with Nyssa in it and the man driving. Canary leaps onto the van while Nyssa repeatedly fires off arrows, then finally kicks her off the moving vehicle. Cut to Sara, explaining to her father why her mother was taken and her relationship with Nyssa. Nyssa calls, telling her that she has one day to make a decision or she'll kill Dinah. In the flashback, Laurel is frustrated with the apartment hunt; Quentin jokes that maybe she shouldn't move in with a fratboy like Oliver, but before they can follow that line of logic too far, they see on the news that the Queen's Gambit is lost at sea. In the cave, Felicity has figured out a line on the rental car that was used to steal the snake venom that poisoned Laurel. Oliver tells Sara to call Lance, while he receives his own call from Sebastian--who's waiting at Queen Consolidated, where Ollie has stood him up. He tells Oliver he understands why Ollie has to pull his support and it won't affect their friendship--but when Moira bumps into him, he tells her to get out of the race or he'll destroy her. She tells him not to underestimate her and they part ways. At the site where they're to meet up with Arrow and track the League, Lance finds Sara. The two briefly talk about her relationship with Nyssa; Sara is at first uneasy but Lance tells her he's just glad that during the hardest times of her life, she had someone who cared about her. Arrow shows up, so does an assassin, but before they can get anything out of him, he poisons himself and falls dead. At Moira's announcement ceremony, Felicity and the family are there. Oliver picks up an icy vibe between she and Moira, and asks her why. After some cajoling, she tells Oliver that her father abandoned him as a small child, and she only remembers how much it hurt when he left. She tells him she's scared to lose someone that important again. Oliver tells her that she won't lose him, and she tells him that it's about his family. Sara gets the call from Nyssa while standing over her own grave; she tells Nyssa that she'll return to Nanda Parbat if they let Dinah go. Nyssa tells her she's doing the right thing; when they hang up, Sara is holding a vial of poison. At Laurel's apartment, Lance is about to tell Laurel about Sara when he gets a call: Sara wants him to meet her at the docks, and not to bring Arrow. He leaves, and Laurel seems ready to follow him. Oliver is shocked and dismayed just before he's introduced to bring his mother on stage. He takes the microphone and seems lost, but makes the introduction, if somewhat half-heartedly. Moira immediately knows that Ollie knows and looks upset. He recovers by the end of the introduction, but before he leaves the stage, he whispers to her. At the Foundry, Felicity has figured out that Sara is planning to poison Nyssa. Oliver decides to go after her and stop her; when Diggle objects, Oliver tells him that if they kill the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, he will make them all pay. At the building where Nyssa has been holding Dinah, Sara and Quentin show up to get her. There's a brief, tearful reunion when Dinah realizes Sara is alive, but Sara tells her she has to go and Quentin tears her away while she panics. As soon as they leave, Sara collapses, having poisoned herself. Nyssa is devastated. Sara tells her that she can't go back to the League, so this needs to end. Lance hears it and comes to try and save her, but Nyssa kicks the crap out of him and knocks him out. Arrow shows up and disarms her from behind, but the two fight (long distance, with bows, then in closer quarters) to a standstill. When he finally gets an advantage on her, Sara begs him not to kill her. He goes to her, begging her to stay with him and giving her an antidote. When she wakes back up, she tells Nyssa she can't take anymore killing. Nyssa releases her in the name of Ra's al Ghul, then vanishes when Lance and Dinah show up with backup from the local police...and Laurel.

At Queen Manor, Oliver confronts Moira, telling her that he'll play nice for the cameras and he won't tell Thea, but otherwise they have no relationship. She claims she only lied about Thea to protect her from Malcolm, but he tells her that's what she does and who she is. At the Lance's house, Laurel comes in to see her family celebrating and rains on the parade. She tells her that ever since she got on the boat with her boyfriend, everything bad that has happened to the family is Sara's fault. She kicks her out, and Sara goes straight to the Foundry. In flashback, Moira comes to the Lance's door. Laurel begs her to tell them that Ollie is okay, but instead she tells them that Sara was on the boat. Slade watches the news of Moira's campaign announcement, and when Blood asks him what he wants him to do, he says nothing--he'll take care of it. When she arrives and meets up with Oliver, they commiserate over family problems briefly and then head to bed together.