‘Arrow’ 3.15 Episode Recap and Review: Nanda Parbat

The League of Assassins now knows that Oliver survived his encounter with Ra’s al Ghul, and Nyssa is Not Amused. I have a feeling that this is going to be a theme for the rest of the season. Ra’s is a little more blasé about the whole thing, since he almost certainly already has a plan in mind.

Oliver, Thea, and Malcolm are still in training. Thea’s still ticked at her father, but is generally putting her feelings aside so that they’ll all be able to survive the coming weeks. She’s still struggling with her feelings about being his tool to kill Sara, though. Even Roy’s “no seriously, I’ve been literally right there” speech doesn’t do her much good. What does seem to help is spilling the beans to Laurel. Laurel tells her that she didn’t have a choice about killing Sara, but she can choose whether or not to work with the man who orchestrated the whole thing.

Laurel confronts Oliver about all the lies and his partnership with Merlyn. She’s justifiably ticked and tells Oliver that it’s hard to remember a time when she was in love with him. Ouch. When Oliver descends on Thea for fessing up to Laurel, she rather ominously tells him that she’s already found a better way to keep their loved ones safe.

That “better way” becomes apparent a little later. Laurel has suited up in her Black Canary gear to wreak some vengeance on Merlyn, but is interrupted by Nyssa and a whole passel of ninja-assassins. They scoop up Merlyn to take him back to Nanda Parbat to face justice. Pretty much everyone is okay with this development except Oliver. He says that if Merlyn dies in Nanda Parbat, Thea will feel the soul-crushing guilt of having sent her biological father to his death.

An attack on Nyssa’s helicopter ends with Merlyn still in the League’s clutches, but Nyssa left behind in a cell in the ArrowCave. She’s more than happy to tell Oliver where Nanda Parbat is, which seems a little suspect to, again, everyone except Oliver. Digg kisses his wife and daughter goodbye and suits up to accompany Oliver to the heart of the League of Assassins. Their ambush ends with Digg and Oliver chained to the floor in an old dungeon, so that worked out pretty much how everyone else thought it was going to. The boys have a nice little “while we’ve got time to kill” heart-to-heart in which Digg asks Oliver to be the best man at his and Lyla’s upcoming wedding.

Their bro moment is interrupted by a summons from Ra’s. As it turns out, R’as isn’t interested in killing Oliver again. Instead, he wants the Arrow to become the new Head of the Demon.

Back in Starling City, Thea’s finally feeling that aforementioned soul-crushing guilt. She decides to commit suicide-by-assassin, telling Nyssa that she was the one who killed Sara, then letting her out and giving her a dagger. This can only end in tears.

While all of this is going on back in the lair, Felicity has decided that she’s heartily sick of all the deals with the devil and other assorted drama. She heads to Palmer’s to make sure he’s still breathing, since her boss has been incommunicado for a few days. It turns out, he’s right on the verge of a breakthrough with the ATOM suit and has been pushing himself too hard. She locks him out of Palmer Technologies’ servers until he’s had food, sleep, and a shower. He actually listens to her, which not many vigilantes have been doing lately.

Ray exits his shower clad only in a towel and tells Felicity how much he values her and her opinions, which pretty much leads to a fade-to-black, we-know-what-happens-next kiss. A scene or two later, Ray has a post-coital breakthrough that allows him to finish the ATOM suit and take a nice little flight around the city.

This week’s flashback was quite short. Oliver has finished his debriefing and has been released on his own recognizance. He meets up with the Yamashiros at the docks with plans to accompany them to Japan, and from there head home to Starling City. They’re ambushed by Waller’s men and end up separated, with Oliver taking young Akio to safety as Maseo and Tatsu look on.

Alright, couple of things to get off my chest here. First and foremost, the issue of “Thea’s soul-crushing guilt.” I get it. I really do. And yes, maybe Thea would have had many, many issues with her role in the death of her biological father. On the other hand, Merlyn was directly responsible for the deaths of 503 people, plus he forced Thea to kill Sara Lance. I can see that angst showing up for Thea later. Much later. 30 minutes after the helicopter left, though? Not so much. That about-face happened way too quickly and seemed to exist solely so that Oliver would be justified in going to Nanda Parbat. Surely there was another way to make that happen that wasn’t quite so sloppy.

Second thing: Felicity and Ray Palmer. I’ve made no secret where my loyalties lie here. I’m all about the Olicity. That being said, Oliver has a lot of repairs to make before anything can happen on that front, and I’m more than fine with Felicity finding someone to appreciate her in the meantime. It’s pretty much a given that Ray won’t be on the show too much longer, anyway, as he’s in line for the Suicide Squad spinoff. If this is what it takes for Oliver to get his head out of his posterior, I’m all for it.

Don’t forget, Arrow is taking a break for a few weeks. We’ll be back on March 18^th, same Arrow-time, same Arrow-channel!

Best Quote:

Felicity: “This whole situation has gone from endearingly eccentric to creepily not okay.”

Things to Ponder:

• 1854? Yeah, Lazarus pits are totally a thing here.
• I can only imagine that Nyssa is going to be all kinds of unhappy when she finds out that Daddy is looking for a new Heir.
• Both Stephen Amell and Colton Haynes have been alluding to “saying goodbye” to someone very soon. Who do you think might not survive the rest of this season?