Arrow's Marc Guggenheim: "The Promise" Makes Last Year's Finale Look Like a Student Film From the '80s

A new producer's preview has been released for next weeks episode of Arrow, titled "The Promise." Billed as one of the biggest, and Stephen Amell's favorite, episodes of the year, "The Promise" will reportedly take place in basically realtime in the "present day" storyline while the island flashbacks cover a lot of ground. At the end, it will seemingly lay the groundwork for major confrontations between Oliver Queen and Slade Wilson on both fronts. "This episode is the biggest episode we've ever done on the show. It makes the season finale last year look like a student film from the 1980s," Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim says in the video embedded below. "Our incredible stunt department went all out; our equally incredible production design department did an amazing job recreating the entire deck and bridge of the freighter just for this episode." "This episode, apart from just being massive, features two iconic moments in the life of our series: it's the first time Oliver Queen puts on the green hood and it's the first time that we see Slade Wilson put on the Deathstroke mask," Guggenheim added. "This is the beginning of the relationship that will define the end of Season Two."

THE TURNING POINT — Oliver (Stephen Amell) is shocked when he learns that Slade (Manu Bennett) has come to Starling City. Back on the island, as Oliver, Slade and Sara (Caity Lotz) prepare to take over the freighter from Ivo (guest star Dylan Neal), Sara pulls Oliver aside and tells him he needs to kill Ivo to prevent him from telling Slade what happened with Shado. Oliver feels immense guilt over the situation but realizes Slade's growing rage from the Mirakuru makes him unpredictable and he could turn on his friends if he thinks Oliver is to blame. Oliver agrees to kill Ivo and the battle begins. Glen Winter directed the episode written by Jake Coburn & Ben Sokolowski.