Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Oliver has left vigilantism behind and lives with Felicity in Ivy Town, but a new threat draws them back to Star City. Damien Darhk, a former League rival of Ra’s al Ghul who leads the secretive H.I.V.E., wields magic and is planning Genesis, a scheme to survive a nuclear apocalypse in an underground refuge. Oliver runs for mayor while trying to reunite Team Arrow, but his return deepens the rift with Diggle, who learns that his brother Andy is alive and working with H.I.V.E. Laurel and Thea resurrect Sara in the Lazarus Pit, but she returns feral.
The team discovers Darhk’s plans involve Rubicon, a system that can seize control of the world’s nuclear arsenal. Darhk’s power, a stolen mystical idol and his wife Ruvé’s political influence make him difficult to reach; Oliver’s campaign exposes him publicly, and Darhk retaliates by attacking the team. After Andy betrays Diggle, Darhk regains his power and stabs Laurel. She dies in hospital, and Oliver tells Star City that she was the Black Canary. The team mourns her while Oliver searches for a way to stop Genesis and Darhk’s escalating attacks.
Darhk launches the missiles, but Felicity, Curtis and allies disable Rubicon and divert the weapon aimed at Star City. Oliver’s public appeal gives the citizens hope, weakening Darhk’s magic enough for Oliver to defeat him in a street fight and kill him with an arrow. H.I.V.E.’s plan collapses, but the earlier missile strike on Havenrock has already cost many lives. Diggle, Thea and Quentin leave the team, and the city council appoints Oliver interim mayor. Flashbacks also resolve Oliver’s time on Lian Yu: he kills Reiter, then ends Taiana’s suffering when the idol’s darkness overwhelms her.