S04.E23: Schism

[dtissagirl]

5 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

Oooh the shot of them at the end inside the big ring. Someone mentioned it being a possible sign in the other thread.  Does anyone think it is? Or is it a random shot?

Or is it designed to tease us?

There's definitely symbolism in it, because the entire scene is filled with symbolism. Felicity making her stand to stay, Oliver and Felicity standing ~apart but together~, being the only two people who stayed in town in the end, and they're gonna still be fighting to save the city... the ring around them can be read as all of that.

I don't think they're teasing anyone by making the ring into some ~foreshadowing of marriage~ because it was already representing much more than that. But fandom is gonna fandom.

[TrueMyth]

The ring smacks of a directorial or photography choice.  It is a nice way to frame them.  I'd be surprised if it was scripted. I don't 100% buy that the connection between it and the engagement ring was intended, but it is one of those audience reads that makes total sense in hindsight.

[TimetravellingBW]

16 hours ago, bijoux said:

It's really hard for me to begrudge Oliver getting some recognition after giving away his life to the city for years and practically getting nothing but grief. Who was it giving him a thumbs up for the speech, Lance, Dig and Curtis? Like @apinknightmare, my memory of the episode isn't that fresh. Narratively, they all made sense. Oliver's relationship with Lance has been nothing if not turbulent, Dig was struggling and hopeless, and Curtis was the one who sort of spurred Oliver on earlier in the episode. Also, didn't Curtis also praise Felicity on the roof? 

In no way am I trying to diminish Felicity's contribution. Without it, we'd either have no show or have it be a vastly different one come fall. However, Oliver's contribution as Oliver is valid as well. 

^ This. I think Oliver in general accomplishes a lot without recognition from either his team or the city. They don't need to sing his praises every episode, but this was one occasion when he earned it. And S4 has been all about fighting in the light, so finishing the season with him inspiring the city with a speech as Oliver Queen and becoming Mayor was a good way to end it. In general I feel Felicity does ok with praise, Team Arrow frequently comment or make it clear that none of them could do what she does. (Compared to the first beginning of S4 with Laurel - and sometimes Diggle/Thea - telling Oliver he wasn't needed and wasn't good enough to lead the team anymore. Despite all evidence to the contrary).

[tv echo]

I agree that Oliver does deserve more credit than he gets both in show and outside the show (especially in comparison to Barry).  As others have mentioned, Oliver has saved his city numerous times and he has also inspired others to take up the fight. He is not just a vigilante and a hero, he is also a leader.

At the same time, I read yet another review this morning complaining about Felicity's magical, unrealistic computer skills diverting credit away from Oliver and that Oliver needs more solo victories.  Like, Barry never gets help from his team, right?  Or a shared universe with real magic, superpowers, alternate universes and time travel is so realistic.

Edited June 6, 2016 by tv echo

[kismet]

Oliver needs more solo victories. But that was neither the time or the place for them. Those should be in another part of the season. Finale episodes generally need to be group efforts.

[apinknightmare]

I just went back and watched it (yay me). 

When Felicity and Curtis walk back into the lair after diverting the nuke, Thea says, "Whatever you guys just did was incredible." Hey, recognition!

When Oliver walked into the lair, Malcolm sarcastically said, "That was quite a speech, Oliver. Made me long for a voting booth." 

Oliver mentions that he's going to go to city hall. Diggle says he wants to go with him as back up. Oliver says that he needs Diggle to back the city up in case things go bad. Diggle replies, "Oliver, things aren't going to go bad. Your speech, it inspired all of us, too." 

 

So, Felicity and Curtis did get some kudos, and Oliver just kind of got a "You inspired us!" 

[looptab]

That line, "Someone close to me told me that I'm ready for this" or whatever it was, who was it about? I  watched it just once and I don't remember at all :)

[tv echo]

It was Felicity who told Oliver that he was conflicted...

Oliver: "And they're leaving because of their own personal darkness. I just can't help but think that maybe they were infected by mine."
Felicity: "Maybe. Like you said, maybe you can't become a hero without succumbing to the darkness even a little bit. But you were able to defeat Darhk by giving the city its hope back."
Oliver: "You're saying it's not black and white?"
Felicity: "I'm saying that there is a man who killed Darhk in cold blood. And that same man stood on top of a car and gave the city its hope back. What you're feeling isn't darkness. It's a schism. You're at war with two sides of yourself."

(Just before being sworn in as interim mayor.)
Thomas Kemp: "Are you sure about this? You look, well, conflicted."
Oliver: "Well, someone very close to me recently told me that I am... But I am ready for this."

Edited June 6, 2016 by tv echo

[looptab]

Ohh, so he was saying someone told him he was conflicted, not that someone told him he was ready. That makes more sense :) Must've misread what someone wrote upthread. Thank you :)

[EmilyBettFan]

Does he mean Felicity told him he's conflicted?

Am I getting that right?

Anyway, apart from the grave talk I really enjoyed that scene between Oliver and Felicity!

[Sunshine]

Yes, Felicity told him he was conflicted.

[kismet]

My memory of the finale is a little foggy. DS knows FS works for Arrow, right? But she still does not know that OQ is the Arrow?

So for the record, the only major character that is in the dark about the Arrow's identity is DS? Every other major character now knows.

[Thundercatmary]

To me the episode doesn't make it clear.  But I remember someone saying, maybe it was Charlotte Ross, that she finds out that episode.

So I think we're supposed to believe DS knows but the ep just did a poor job of showing us.

Course I  could also be remembering wrong lol.

[bijoux]

Felicity tells Donna she's been working with GA for years in 4x22. They never reveal Oliver's identity to Donna and I think I remember CR talking only about Donna learning of Felicity's involvement in interviews.

[SmallScreenDiva]

Although Damien told Oliver out loud he knows he doesn't live in the loft anymore but should still have a care for windows. I don't know that Donna was really paying attention; she was nearly choked to death, after all. I'm wondering if they're gonna make a reveal later ala Moira where Donna tells Felicity and Oliver she'd known since the night of the nuke attack when/if they come clean.

[looptab]

I still want a scene where Donna thinks Felicity cheated on Oliver with GA/he is the reason she broke off the engagement/she has something going with GA :D

[kismet]

Ok, so it seems my memory is not foggy, rather the show is unclear again. That makes me feel a little better. :)

1 hour ago, looptab said:

I still want a scene where Donna thinks Felicity cheated on Oliver with GA/he is the reason she broke off the engagement/she has something going with GA :D

I would have loved that scene before BMD. But I think it should be pretty clear to DS & the audience that the reason the engagement was broken off has everything to do with OQ's behavior and nothing to do with FS. To make it about the GA would somehow diminish the fact that OQ is responsible for the broken engagement. To make DS's theories about the break-up be about a potential FS/OQ/GA triangle may muddle the audience's understanding more than it already is.

However, perhaps in s5 it would be fun for DS to think that the reason FS/OQ are not getting back together is because of GA. It would also be very believable that FS might be hanging out too much with GA, with something going on romantically and that is keeping her from trying to repair her relationship with OQ. If I was DS, that's what I might think. It would be comedic gold and not undermine the break-up. Perhaps the writers are thinking that as well, since revealing OQ as the GA to DS removes the last of the secret ID fun they can have with DS. It was necessary to reveal FS's TA membership in the finale, but I think it was intentional that they kept OQ as the GA still an untold secret or at least an unclear plot point. I hope they use it more for comedy than melodrama, 1. because CR would knock it out of the park, 2. because mistaken ID confusion can be fun and not just a shocking OMG moment. It's been awhile since Arrow had fun with secret identities.

[bijoux]

But nothing on screen indicated that Donna had an inkling about the whole kid debacle. I took the pistachio comment in the bee episode as confirmation of that. So it wouldn't be Donna guessing about Oliver/Felicity/GA triangle when she's fully in the know about that whole disaster.

[kismet]

Even if DS knows nothing about the kid debacle, I would prefer she not connect the break-up to a possible O/F/GA triangle because I think it undermines the whole point of the break-up. Since I was forced to have to come to terms with the BMD & break-up, the writers should not be able to weasel out of it at this point because it makes a fun scene. Unless of course FS then uses the opportunity to enlighten DS about the truth - which we know will never happen with these writers, that's too much of FS's perspective for them. So DS should stay far away from theorizing about the break-up. I don't mind if she theorizes about the potential reconciliation, but the break-up should stay in s4 even if that means DS is forever clueless about why they broke up.

[Password]

I don't think Donna would be as graceful with Oliver if she knew about the baby mama drama. 

Or maybe that's wishful thinking. 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Password
Difference between do and don't is HUGE

[looptab]

I honestly don't see a comedic scene like that would undermine anything, since the audience knows that GA and Oliver are the same person? There might be doubts and differences of opinions about the breakup, but not about that.

Edited June 15, 2016 by looptab

[tv echo]

423 (Schism) – No Oliver Queen voiceover intro.

423 (Schism) – Darhk threatens Felicity, Donna and Curtis at the loft, but Oliver, Diggle and Thea arrive in time to stop him; Curtis is injured, and Darhk escapes with Felicity's laptop containing the anti-Rubicon program:
Donna: "Get the hell out of here."
Felicity: "Mom, stop. Oh, my God! (Curtis steps in front of them, and Darhk magically throws him across the room) Mom, get back!"
Darhk: "This is your mother? Oh, goodie. (He magically compels Donna forward and starts choking her) Persuading you to help me is going to be easier than I thought." 
Felicity: "Helping you do what? Your underground city's already been destroyed."
Darhk: "I'm still going forward."
Felicity: "So what, you kill my mother if I don't help you destroy the world? News flash - my mother lives in the world."
Darhk: "Dying instantaneously in nuclear fire, rather painless, and then there's having your life force slowly sucked out like this."
Felicity: "Mom!"
Darhk: "What's it going to be, Miss Smoak? 
(Oliver crashes through the window, and Diggle appears on the upper balcony.)
Darhk: "Look. I know you don't live here anymore, but those were nice windows. (Oliver shoots arrow but it's magically stopped in mid-air) So unoriginal. I am now powered by the deaths of tens of thousands of souls. There is nothing you can do to stop me... or should I say, 'us.'"
(Ghosts rush inside the loft, and a fight ensues.)
Thea (entering with Darhk's daughter): "Stop! You let them go, or I kill your daughter. Do you think I'm bluffing?"
Darhk: "Let my daughter go. (Thea releases his daughter, who runs to Darhk) It's okay, sweetheart. Everything's going to be all right." (He exits with his daughter amidst an explosion, leaving behind dead Ghosts.)
Felicity (to Donna): "Are you okay?"
Donna: "When did this become your life?"
Oliver (rushes over to unconscious Curtis on floor): "Oh, my God!"
Felicity: "Oh, my God, it's gone. He took it. It's gone."
Thea: "What's gone?"
Felicity: "The laptop with the anti-Rubicon program."
Diggle: "If Darhk has that -"
Diggle: "He can launch all of the world's nuclear missiles."
*  *  *
(Team Arrow enters the Arrow Bunker, carrying the injured Curtis.)
Diggle: "Looks like internal bleeding."
Oliver: "Possibly broken ribs."
Diggle: "Hemothorax. We have to relieve the pressure. Thea."
Oliver: "Felicity, we need you at your station. We have to stop Rubicon."
Thea: "Is he going to be okay?"

423 (Schism) – Team Arrow talk about the status on stopping Darhk, and Felicity tracks her laptop’s GPS:
Felicity: "How is he?"
Oliver: "Well, he's stable. John said the next 30 minutes should tell us -"
Felicity: "Whether or not he'll make it?"
Oliver: "Yeah."
Felicity: "Hey, can I ask you something? I know it might not be the best time. Back at our place - my place - the - the place - the loft -"
Oliver: "Yeah."
Felicity: "Darhk's magic, it worked on you. I thought -"
Oliver: "You thought I found a way to stop it.  That was before he grew so powerful. It was the - the hope you had in me was able to counteract his magic."
Felicity: "And now my hope's not enough."
Oliver: "So where are we?"
Felicity: "Um, good news, bad news time. Good news is that Darhk hasn't launched the nukes yet. I think his hacker's still trying to break our fail-safes."
Oliver: "Okay, and the bad news?"
Felicity: "Well, the bad news is that with Rubicon offline, there is nothing for me to hack into."
Oliver: "Right, but your laptop has to have a GPS -"
Felicity: "Yeah."
Oliver: "I'm sure that you've already started to try and do it."
Felicity: "Yeah."
Lyla (entering): "I thought you'd shut Rubicon down."
Oliver: "Felicity is working on locating the laptop."
Diggle (entering with Thea): "Where's Sara?"
Lyla: "She's fine. She's in an A.R.G.U.S. bunker in Coast City. With Darhk's anti-nuke bunker destroyed, why is he moving forward with Genesis?"
Oliver: "Machin killed his wife."
Felicity: "Well, his daughter still lives in this world. He must know that."
Oliver: "He knows, he just - he doesn't care. He's lost all hope."
Diggle: "Yeah, just like all of us."
Thea: "Wait. I thought he was the cynic."
Oliver: "It's not like John doesn't have a point, Thea."
Thea: "We are not finished yet."
Felicity: The key word being 'yet.' I got a 20 on the laptop. Downtown, abandoned office building."
Oliver: "Let's move."

423 (Schism) – Team Arrow tracks the laptop GPS to an empty room where computer wall screens show that Darhk has already launched over 15,000 nukes, with one nuke headed to Star City:
Oliver (over comms): "Overwatch, there's no one here."
Felicity (over comms): "That's impossible. You're right on top of the GPS signal."
Diggle (over comms): "She's right."
Thea (over comms): "Oh, my God."
Oliver (over comms): "Overwatch."
Felicity (over comms): "I see it. Just over 15,000 ballistic missiles, and they all just launched."
Oliver (over comms): "How much time do we have?"
Felicity (over comms): "Two hours. Maybe less."
*  *  *
Lyla (on phone): "Confirmed. 15,434 birds in the air. We need to set Defense Condition One and get the President down to the PEOC."
Oliver (entering with Thea and Diggle): "Felicity."
Felicity: "He's got me completely locked out."
Thea: "Okay, how many missiles are there?"
Lyla: "DOD's working on it, but the targets are worldwide."
Oliver: "You said that we have two hours."
Felicity: "The world has two hours, but I'm tracking a Minuteman ICBM heading straight for Star City. It just launched out of Warren Air Force Base in Colorado."
Thea: "Okay, well, that's close."
Felicity: "Which means we only have 45 minutes."

423 (Schism) – Team Arrow prepares for the end of the world, and Lyla sends an A.R.G.U.S. team to City Hall:
Quentin (entering the Arrow Bunker): "All right, where's the fire? (Felicity hands him a slip of paper) What's this?"
Felicity: "The safest place within 100 miles to survive a nuclear attack. Based on wind patterns –“
Quentin: "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. What are you talking about?"
Felicity: "The world is going to end in two hours. I need you to take my mother there. Can you do that?"
Quentin: "Yeah, I will."
Sara (on phone): "Bye, daddy. Bye, mama."
Lyla: "We'll see you soon, sweetie."
Diggle: "I love you, baby girl." (Hangs up phone)
Lyla: "A.R.G.U.S. has a chopper waiting to take us to Coast City, so at least we'll all be together. If we can't stop the -"
Diggle: "The end of the world."
Lyla: "In these situations, you're usually the one offering hope."
Diggle: "I'm fresh out, Lyla." 
Lyla: "Because of what happened with Andy? It was self-defense, John. It was a clean kill."
Oliver: "Lyla. Are you having A.R.G.U.S. move on City Hall?"
Lyla: "John told me the source of Darhk's power is there, that he might be looking to harness the deaths from the nuclear attacks."
Oliver: "No, he's already done that with the first attack. He will decimate your team. You should pull them back."
Lyla: "And what if his hacker's down there with him?"
Oliver: "Cooper Seldon is not going to be anywhere that we think to look. He'll be in a secure location. If your team goes down there, they will all die."
Lyla: "It's not your call, Oliver. It's mine."

423 (Schism) – Oliver and Felicity talk about hopelessness, but Curtis provides the pep talk that they need:
Female News Anchor on TV: "With Mayor Adams missing and presumed dead, Deputy Mayor Remz called for calm in the wake of unconfirmed reports that a nuclear attack on our city is imminent. Newly assigned Police Captain Frank Pike asks -"
Diggle: "Just when things couldn't get any worse."
Oliver: "Is everyone all right?"
Felicity: "I think 'all right' is a relative term."
Oliver: "How much time do we have?"
Felicity: "I think 27 minutes. It's kind of hard to tell now. I wonder what Laurel would have thought of all this."
Oliver: "Well, she probably would have said something about finding a solution no matter what."
Felicity: "Yeah. She's always stubborn like that. Too bad she would have been wrong this time."
Oliver: "Hey, come on. We can't just lose all hope here."
Felicity: "You have. I can see it in your eyes."
Oliver: "I just can't believe that I thought that I'd be the one to unite this city while Damien Darhk was trying to kill it. That was arrogant. It was the same arrogance that made me feel like I could be the Green Arrow without descending into darkness. Bottom line, it was foolish."
Felicity: "You don't believe that."
Oliver: "I didn't believe that... until Laurel died."
Felicity: "I thought you weren't blaming yourself for her death anymore."
Oliver: "We made a decision to come back here. I tried to do things differently, and for a time, I did. And now I am left here to wonder if I hadn't, would Laurel still be alive? (Sees Curtis stumbling into the room) Curtis. You shouldn't be up."
Curtis: "Tell me about it. Someone's got to provide a little optimism. Doesn't seem like anyone around here is in the head-space to do it."
Oliver?: "Then you know we've lost the city."
Curtis: "No. I know that you're running out of time to get it back. Look. Living in Star City requires a special kind of tenacity. A sane person wouldn't live here. It's a fact that Paul likes to remind me of weekly. We were this close to leaving Star City last October. After three terrorist attacks, we were done. But then the night before we were going to start packing, the Green Arrow popped up on our TV, and he reminded me that this city is worth saving, that my home -  that my home was worth fighting for. That guy gave me inspiration. He gave me hope. And if he could give me hope then, why can't he give it to others now?"

423 (Schism) - DELETED SCENE: Thea and Malcolm have a heart-to-heart conversation:
Oliver: "How much time do we have?"
Felicity: "I think 27 minutes. It's kind of hard to tell now."
Thea (off to the side with Malcolm): "So when did you switch sides?"
Malcolm: "I didn't. I've always been on only one side. Ours. Yours and mine."
Thea: "Last night I threatened to cut Nora Darhk's throat if Damien didn't back down."
Malcolm: "Clearly a winning gambit."
Thea: "It was not a gambit. I was gonna do it. I was gonna kill tha little girl."
Malcolm: "And you blame me?"
Thea: "And myself. You know, Laurel was like the sister that I never had."
Malcolm: "And I suppose I'm also to blame for her death."
Thea: "No, it's the same deal. I deserve some of the blame too. If I didn't hesitate, I would've killed you. Maybe she'd still be here."
Malcolm: "Well, let me spare you that. Because even missing a hand, there's no way you would ever be able to kill me." (Leaves)

423 (Schism) – Oliver gets up on top of a taxi, calms down the panicking citizens of Star City, and gives them an inspirational speech about hope and strength, while Team Arrow watches as his speech is broadcast on TV and radio:
Oliver: "Stop! Please. I know what you're feeling right now. I'm feeling it, too. The sense of - of helplessness, of hopelessness. I don't know how we even begin to process what might happen to us right now, but there are a few things that I do know. I know that this city has been through tough times before, and we have pulled through. We survived the Undertaking. We survived the siege. We survived the outbreak. And somehow, some way, we will survive this. A friend of mine told me that living in Star City, it takes a special kind of tenacity, but we do live here, because this is our home. This is our home! It is our friends, our family, our lives, and we will not - we will not throw those precious gifts away by descending into chaos. We will look to each other for hope. We will cling to each other for strength. And if we do that, no matter what happens, then we can all stand here united."

423 (Schism) – Felicity and Curtis disarm the nuke that is about to hit Star City, using a line-of-sight attack on the missile:
Thea: "Oh, my God. It's here."
Curtis: "That's terrifying... and also kind of great."
Malcolm: "I think you got hit on the head harder than you realize."
Felicity: "No, no, he's right. I can't hack this system."
Curtis: "But if the nuke gets close enough, which it is -"
Felicity: "We could use the line-of-sight attack on the missile itself and disarm it."
*  *  *
Felicity: "Still not getting a signal. Are you sure you're pointing that thing at the nuke?"
Curtis: "It's pretty hard to miss, Felicity."
Felicity: "Okay, okay, okay. I'm just going - oh! Whatever you changed, don't change it again. It's working. I got a signal."
Curtis: "I didn't change anything!"
Felicity: "Nukes are designed to detonate 100 feet above their actual target. I'm uploading a GPS spoof so it thinks it's already detonated."
Curtis: "Great... but, um, it's still heading straight for us."
Felicity: "Just keep pointing the IR receiver at the thingy."
Curtis: "You know, I have perfect confidence in your abilities."
Felicity: "Thank you."
Curtis: "But just in case, working with you and the rest of the team has been the highlight of my professional career and my entire life, and - and I can't think of any better way for it to end -"
Felicity: "Curtis! As sweet as this is, the talking's really not helping. (They watch as nuke swerves away from the city) Oh, my God. Oh, my God, it worked! Ohh!"
(Down on the street, Oliver and the crowd also watch and then they break out in cheers and applause.)

423 (Schism) – Felicity locates Cooper Seldon, and Oliver divvies up team assignments while he goes after Darhk:
Thea: "Whatever you guys just did was incredible."
Felicity: "We only took down one nuke. We still have 15,433 to go, give or take. (To Lyla) The code to the line-of-sight hack. Can you distro it to everybody?"
Lyla: "I'm on it."
Diggle: "All right, that's one. 1 nuke in 15,000. The chances of us getting them all is -"
Curtis: "1 in 375 million."
Malcolm: "Well, we need to find Darhk's hacker and shut down Rubicon at the source."
Felicity: "When we disarmed the nuke, we gained access to its onboard computer and cloned its hard drive remotely."
Curtis: "Then we ran a back trace to determine the source of the initial launch signal."
Felicity: "He's holed up in a warehouse on the corner of Cheswold and Crombie."
Oliver (entering): "Let's get after him."
Malcolm: "That was quite a speech, Oliver. It made me long for a voting booth."
Oliver: "You and Thea need to back up Curtis and Felicity while they deal with Seldon."
Thea: "Hey, what are you going to do?"
Oliver: "I'm going to City Hall."
Diggle: "Oliver, you yourself said going after Darhk is a suicide mission."
Oliver: "Well, John, I'm not going to die tonight."
Diggle: "Well, let me go with you, back you up."
Oliver: "If things go bad, I need you to back the city up."
Diggle: "Oliver, things aren't going to go bad. Your speech... inspired all of us, too."
Oliver: "Let's move."

423 (Schism) – Felicity and Curtis, backed up by Malcolm and Thea, find Cooper Seldon; Felicity convinces Cooper to sacrifice himself to save the world; and during the big fight between the Ghosts and Star City residents, Oliver defeats Darhk:
Curtis: "Oh, my God."
Felicity: "Cooper."
Cooper: "Hey, Felicity. How you doing?"
Felicity: "Who shot you?"
Cooper: "Guess. He's moving the bullet closer and closer to my spine. I said it hurt so bad, I'd do anything to make him stop."
Curtis: "Like blow up the planet?"
Cooper: "Sorry, I'm a selfish bastard, but she knew that already."
Felicity: "I need a moment alone with him."
Curtis: "Felicity, I don't think right -"
Felicity: "Now." (The others leave)
Cooper: "I'm sorry, Felicity. I know I should be strong enough to pull myself away from this keyboard, but I think we both know that I'm not."
Felicity: "You are."
Cooper: "He's powerful. He's so powerful. And if I stop Rubicon, he'll know and he'll kill me in the most painful way possible."
Felicity: "You're better than this, Cooper. You're stronger than this. You can still do the right thing. You can still be the man that I loved."
Cooper: "I haven't been that guy in a long time."
Felicity: "Remember what we wanted to do seven years ago in that cockroach-infested dorm room?"
Cooper: "Save the world."
Felicity: "Now's your chance." 
(Cooper pushes himself away from the keyboard. Cut to outside on the streets.)
Darhk: "Mr. Seldon, you weak-willed dust mite."
(Cooper screams and falls dead.)
Felicity: "I'm sorry, Cooper." (Sits down and starts working on the computer)
(Cut to outside streets where Darhk is fighting Oliver, while the crowd yells encouragement to the Green Arrow. Diggle and Lyla aproach with guns drawn.)
Darhk: "Ah. You brought friends. That's okay. So did I."
(Ghosts rush onto the streets behind Darhk.  The two sides run at each other and fight.)
Thea (entering with Malcolm and Curtis): "What the hell happened?"
Felicity: "Darhk. We have three minutes to take down 15,000 nukes."
Malcolm: "Why isn't this a simple matter of flicking off a switch?"
Felicity: "Rubicon has safeguards for their safeguards. I can't disarm a warhead."
Curtis: "Then don't."
Thea: "I don't think you understand how this works."
Curtis: "It's not the warheads. It's just the missile. If we invert their horizons -"
Felicity: "They'll explode in space."
(Cut to outside streets. Darhk shoots an arrow into Oliver's shoulder. Quentin helps Oliver up.)
Quentin: "Now you know how it feels."
Oliver: "Wait. I thought you and Donna -"
Quentin: "Don't worry, she's safe, but I had to come back to stand with my city, because this Oliver Queen guy gives a hell of a speech."
Oliver (to Diggle and Lyla): "You two were supposed to stay as backup."
Diggle: "I already lost one brother."
Oliver: "You two put down the Ghosts. (To Quentin) You keep people safe."
Lyla: "What about Darhk?"
Oliver: "Darhk's mine."
(Fight continues, and Oliver approaches Darhk and they fight again.)
Darhk: "What are you going to do now, Oliver? Stop the posturing. We both know that you can't do it. You spared the life of the man who killed your mother."
Oliver: "And you killed a friend of mine. You killed tens of thousands of innocent people. With Slade Wilson, I had a choice. This time, I don't." (Stabs Darhk in the heart with an arrow)

423 (Schism) – In the aftermath of the averted worldwide catastrophe, Team Arrow splits up:
Felicity: "It's going to take forever to clean this place up."
Quentin: "Well, I wish you guys the best of luck with that."
Felicity: "You going home to my mama?"
Quentin: "Uh, yeah, to pack. We're leaving town for a while."
Thea: "Wait, why?"
Quentin: "IAB reached out. My suspension is no longer a suspension, but, uh, it's funny, you know, because, you know, being a cop's all I ever wanted, but when I got that call, I didn't feel a thing. All I could think about was Laurel, you know? But then you got her justice, Oliver. And you got me some closure, and I am never going to forget that." (Leaves)
Thea: "Well, this is going to make me sound like I'm piling on -"
Felicity: "What do you mean?"
Thea: "Well, I - I jumped straight out of the Lazarus Pit right into this, into - to Speedy, but, um, I've just been wondering if this is even who I really am. And then I threatened to kill a little girl, and I - I realized I'm my father's daughter, so I - I thought about Laurel and - and what she'd say to me if she were here. I think she'd tell me to get out... before I lost too much of myself. I'm sorry, Ollie."
Oliver: "Hey. Come here. (Hugs her) You don't have to apologize to me, ever." (Thea leaves)
Felicity: "Well, it looks like it's just the three of us. Team Arrow? The Original Gangstas? Up top." (Slaps hands with Diggle and then leaves)
Oliver: "You okay?"
Diggle: "Not really. I told Lyla the truth about Andy."
Oliver: "What'd she say? 
Diggle: "She's a soldier. She understood. But I don't, and I don't think I ever will."
Oliver: "What are you going to do?"
Diggle: "Take some time away from this team, away from the city. To figure out where I went off track and how to get back on. "
Oliver: "John, I have never done this without you. You're the one who keeps me in line."
Diggle: "Oliver, I don't know if you've been watching lately, but it's been the other way around, man."
(They clasp hands.)

423 (Schism) – Felicity tells Oliver that what he's feeling isn't darkness but a schism; and Oliver accepts the job of Mayor:
Oliver (to Laurel's headstone): "I know you wouldn't approve of what I did. I mean, I know that it's not what... you would have wanted, me killing Darhk. But you were always better than me, Laurel. That is what I loved most about you."
Felicity (coming up): "You okay?"
Oliver: "No. (Sighs) It's Thea and John."
Felicity: "Them leaving has to be a blow."
Oliver: "And they're leaving because of their own personal darkness. I just can't help but think that maybe they were infected by mine."
Felicity: "Maybe. Like you said, maybe you can't become a hero without succumbing to the darkness even a little bit. But you were able to defeat Darhk by giving the city its hope back."
Oliver: "You're saying it's not black and white?"
Felicity: "I'm saying that there is a man who killed Darhk in cold blood. And that same man stood on top of a car and gave the city its hope back. What you're feeling isn't darkness. It's a schism. You're at war with two sides of yourself."
(Oliver's cell phone beeps.)
Oliver: "Hello."
Kemp (on phone): "Mr. Queen, this is Thomas Kemp. I chair the city council."
Oliver: "Yes, of course, Councilman. What can I help you with?"
Kemp (on phone): "That impromptu speech you gave during the city's latest crisis got a lot of people's attention, and there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
*  *  *
Kemp: "It's only an interim appointment. A proper election will be held in August, but given that you got 48% of the vote before as a write-in candidate, well, I think that's just a formality."
Oliver: "I appreciate the optimism."
Kemp: "Are you sure about this? You look, well, conflicted."
Oliver: "Well, someone very close to me recently told me that I am... but I am ready for this."
Kemp: "Good. Shall we?"
(They enter room where media and cameras wait.)
Kemp: "Put your left hand on the Bible. Raise your right hand and recite the oath."
Oliver: "I, Oliver Queen, do solemnly swear to support the charter and laws of Star City and to faithfully and impartially perform and discharge the duties of the office of mayor according to the law and to the very best of my ability."

423 (Schism) – Felicity tells Oliver that she's staying with him:
(Oliver enters the wrecked Arrow Bunker and goes to stand in front of the four glass cases containing the suits for Spartan, Green Arrow, Speedy and Black Canary. While he stares at them, Felicity comes up to stand by his side.)
Oliver: "I didn't know you'd be here."
Felicity: "You thought I was leaving, too? (They look at each other) Not a chance."
(Both turn back to look at the glass cases, while the camera slowly pans up and out.) 

Edited February 29, 2020 by tv echo

[tv echo]

423 deleted scene...

(Arrow Crossover)

Edited May 2, 2020 by tv echo