“City of Blood” is episode twenty-one of season two of Arrow.
In the previous episode, “Seeing Red”, Moira had told Oliver that she knew what he did, and that she was proud of him. Later, after Moira’s rally – Oliver having convinced her to stay with her campaign – Moira was about to tell Thea and Oliver something about Malcolm Merlyn when their car was rammed. Oliver came around to find Slade had the three of them, and was telling Oliver to choose which could live, just as he had with Shado and Sara in “Three Ghosts”.
Oliver refused but Moira stood up and said that both her children would live. Slade stated she possessed true courage – then ran her through with his sword. As Slade left, he told Oliver that there was only one more person who had to die before this could end.
This episode opens, cutting between Moira’s funeral – and Oliver isn’t there – and Sebastian Blood’s swearing-in as mayor. With his rival, who was winning, now dead, Blood became mayor with no trouble. At the reception at the mansion following the funeral, Laurel approaches Thea and speaks to her. Then Blood arrives and offers his sincere condolences on Thea’s loss. Thea is grateful; Laurel looks doubtful. Blood would like to speak to Oliver; Thea tells Blood that if he sees Oliver to let him know he missed his own mother’s funeral. Laurel tells Blood that no-one has seen Oliver for a few days. He replies that grief affects people in different ways; the loss of a parent changes you. Sebastian probably killed both his parents.
Felicity is crying and she tells Diggle she doesn’t know why. She didn’t even like Moira, which is a terrible thing to say, but Moira wasn’t nice. Diabolical, in fact. Dig tells her she’s crying for Oliver. She asks where he is and how he cannot be here. Isabel Rochev interrupts, saying that if Oliver is smart, he’s run back to the island to hide. Maybe Oliver will attend their funerals. Given that Dig killed Isabel in “The Man Under the Hood”, seeing her alive is a bit of a surprise to them both.
Walter is looking at a photo of Moira and himself when Thea enters. She is upset, because Moira died thinking Thea hated her mother. All they ever needed was the truth; a lie killed her. Slade Wilson was on the island with Oliver and despises him for some reason. If Oliver had only warned them there was a psycho in their lives. Walter reassures Thea that Oliver loves her.
Lance is at SCPD when Laurel arrives. She asks about Sara; all she got was a message saying she needed a change of scenery. Sara has decided she was too dangerous to have around and left. Laurel is concerned about Sebastian Blood; something about him doesn’t seem right. Yes, Laurel has accused Blood before, but just because Laurel had problems at the time doesn’t mean she was wrong. She saw Blood at the reception and realised that the only reason Blood is mayor is because Moira was killed. She thinks that Blood is connected to Slade. Lance always told her that a cop is only as good as their gut; Laurel may not be a cop but she’s the daughter of one. Blood is not the man Lance thinks he is. When Laurel was a drunk, her father was right not to trust her, but he needs to trust her now. Blood himself is signing legislation when he gets a call from his ‘father’ – Slade. Who tells Blood he has a lot of business to attend to and get to work.
Roy is till unconscious. Which reminds Felicity of Barry which reminds her of S.T.A.R. Labs which reminds her of the Mirakuru cure S.T.A.R. Labs is working on that they really need. Dig is sure that Isabel has also been injected with the drug; that’s the only way she can be up and walking around. He sent a message to Oliver, but no reply. Felicity has not managed to track Oliver either. She is concerned that he might be dead; Dig tells her that Isabel would have rubbed it in their faces. Dig has an idea of someone who might help – Amanda Waller. Who tells him he is out of favours after the “Suicide Squad” incident. The favour isn’t for him, but for Starling City. Slade has an army of men like him, enough to lay waste to the city.
Laurel arrives at Blood’s office to, apparently, ask for a favour. She actually plants something. Back at SCPD, this is used to gain access to Blood’s computer. Laurel wants to know if there is anything incriminating. And spots a press release, written commiserating for the loss of Moira Queen. Written before Moira was killed. That’s incriminating.
Felicity is drooling over the A.R.G.U.S. equipment when Waller says they have found Oliver. The lair from which he conducts his operations. The other one. Oliver is there, dressed in black. He intended to go to the funeral. Originally, this was a secondary facility to be used if the foundry was compromised. It became somewhere to go to be alone. Five years ago, Oliver could have prevented this. Now it ends. Oliver is going to turn himself over to Slade. Slade planned to take everything away from Oliver. He did. He wins.
The contents of the Queen mansion have been packed away and Walter is trying to convince Thea to stay. She says she is a jobless homeless orphan; Isabel turned up at Verdant and told Thea to vacate the premises as the club and the foundry are assets of Queen Consolidated. Oliver arrives and talks to Thea privately; he thinks her leaving Starling City is a good idea. Afterwards, he calls Isabel and says he will be at the pier alone.
On the island, Sara, Oliver, Anatoly and Peter are on the Japanese sub. Oliver wants to get it up and running again. Anatoly was in the navy; he can fix it. Anatoly was in the Russian navy; he was taught how to sink Japanese subs, not pilot them. Getting it operational will mean they can blow Slade and the Mirakuru up and leave the island. The sub turns out to be stuck. There are torpedoes, but they require piloting. By someone inside them. Which is fatal.
Oliver’s plan to end thinks by handing himself over to Slade seems flawed. Slade, and Blood, have an army; are they going to not use it simply because Oliver is dead? Others are not so willing for Oliver to do this and Felicity shows her own version of torture when questioning someone. Things are heating up on both the island and in Starling City.