The day I went missing Was the day I died.

Five years in hell forged me into a weapon, which I use to honor a vow I made to my father, who sacrificed his life for mine.

In his final moments, he told me the truth That our family's wealth had been built on the suffering of others.

That he failed our city, and that it was up to me to save it and right his wrongs.

But to do that without endangering the people closest to me, I have to be something else.

Who's that? Where'd he come from? What's going on here? Get the chopper back now.

Who's is guy? Whoa, whoa! Easy, wait, wait! No, please Marcus Redman, you failed this city.

Please, don't! Please! Don't! Cell phone, inside pocket, call your partner.

Tell him to give those pensioners back their money.

Do it now.

Okay.

Over the past 15 years, Mr.

Redman has withdrawn more than $30 million from the plan's account.

Mr.

redman claims refunding the halcyon pension plan has always been his intent.

But sources say redman was coerced by the vigilante.

This guy gets more air-time than the Kardashians, right? Five years on an island and you still know who they are.

I've been catching up.

It's nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away.

But the city used to be different.

People used to feel safe.

Aw, what's the matter, mom? Afraid we're gonna be next? Do you have any questions about today, Oliver? It's a simple proof-of-life declaration.

Just read out a brief, prepared statement to the judge, and then your death-in-absentia judgment will be voided.

It's fine, Walter, I've been in a courtroom before.

Four times by my estimate.

You know, there was the dui, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi, which was just awesome, by the way, and who could forget peeing on the cop? I wish everyone would.

I'd hang, but we're headed to court.

I know, that's why I'm here.

My best friend is getting legally resurrected, I wouldn't miss this for the world.

Right.

Okay.

What about you? Oh, I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me.

Fair enough.

Mrs.

Queen? Car's ready.

Walter.

Are you going to testify as to what happened when the yacht sank? Are you going to talk about the boat crash? Mr.

Queen, did you see Sarah Lance die? Sarah! There was a storm.

The boat went down.

I was the only survivor.

She's not there! Sarah! My father didn't make it.

No! I almost died, I I thought that I had, because I spent so many days on that life raft before I saw land.

When I reached it, I knew I knew that I was gonna have to live for both of us.

And in those five years, it was that one thought that kept me going.

Your honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea aboard the Queen's gamut five years ago.

Unfortunately we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded.

The Queen family is only entitled to one miracle, I'm afraid.

Now, onto the offices.

Everyone is waiting to meet you there.

Uh, mom, that was a little bit heavier than I was expecting it to be.

Can we do that tomorrow? Please? Of course.

Thank you.

Last week, you couldn't wait to get to the company.

Tommy, I'd just spent five years away from civilization.

I wasn't exactly thinking straight.

I hi.

What are you doing here? Oh, they were bringing me back from the dead.

Legally speaking.

What are you doing here? My job.

Right.

More like the D.

A.

'S.

Hi, Oliver Queen.

Emily Nocenti.

Oliver just got back from five years on an uncharted island.

Before that, he was cheating on me with my sister.

He was with her when she died.

And last week, he told me to stay away from him.

It was really good advice.

Excuse me.

It was nice to meet you.

Yeah.

Let's go.

Come on, buddy, shake it off.

Let's go.

Mr.

Somers! Mr.

Somers! What do you have to say about the accusations made by Laurel Lance? I don't know what I've done to earn this witch-hunt from miss Lance and her bosses at the CNRI.

But I can tell you this.

I am an honest businessman, and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath.

That's all I have to say, thank you.

Oh, there's Mr.

Queen Mr.

Queen, do you want to follow up? What happened in there, sir? Tell us what happened inside, Mr.

Queen Step back everybody, please.

Can you give us a couple comments about the island, Mr.

Queen? Before you go, sir, please.

Couple of comments about the island, sir.

What happened in there? Everybody, step back.

Hey man, I'll make you swallow that nikon.

Back! This happens to you a lot, doesn't it? How much is a life worth? A life of a man, a good man, a stevedore on the docks of the city in which we live.

A father.

A man with a daughter.

The plaintiff will prove by a preponderance of evidence that Victor Nocenti learned that his boss, that man sitting right there, Martin Somers, was taking bribes from the Chinese triads to smuggle drugs into our city.

And when Victor Nocenti threatened to tell the police, Martin Somers had him killed.

Mr.

Somers is very well-connected, and has friends in the district attorney's office.

Which is why, if Emily Nocenti is to get justice for her father's death, if Martin Somers is to get justice for his crimes, then someone is going to have to do it for them.

Martin Somers.

Laurel's targeted the worst of starling city, so it's no surprise his name is on my father's list.

The city's police and the D.

A.

Can't stop him Or won't.

Laurel thinks she's the only one willing to bring him to justice.

She's wrong.

You, listen up.

The longer this goes on, the more likely the media is gonna crucify me.

You shut this trial down, do you understand me? What the hell? Martin Somers Who the hell are you? You've failed this city.

No! No, no, no, no, no! You're gonna testify in that trial.

You're gonna confess to having Victor Nocenti killed.

There won't be a second warning.

I hired you to protect my son.

Now, I'm not a professional bodyguard, but it seems to me that the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you're hired to protect.

With all due respect, ma'am, I never had a client who didn't want my protection.

I hired you.

That makes me the client.

Now where do you think my son is going on these chaperone-less excursions? Ma'am, I truly do not know.

And he truly doesn't.

Then perhaps you'd like to share with me you know, where it is you run off to.

I've been alone for five years.

I know that, Oliver.

Mom Alone.

I see.

I promise to introduce her if it ever gets to the exchanging first names stage No, I'd rather you promise to take Mr.

Diggle with you on your next rendezvous.

It's not safe, you've already been abducted once.

There is a maniac out there, hunting the wealthy.

That maniac saved my life.

This isn't a game.

I lost you once.

And I am not going through that again.

Okay.

Digg's my guy.

Thank you.

Sorry to give you so much grief.

I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr.

Queen.

You don't even come close to my definition of grief.

But I tell you what You ditch me one more time, no one will have to fire me.

Where you going? Uh somewhere loud and smoky.

And don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time, because I'm gonna go get drunk instead.

Thea, do you think this is what dad would want for you? Dead people don't want anything.

It's one of the benefits of being dead.

I was dead.

And I wanted a lot.

Except for your family.

You've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, and judge me.

Don't wait up.

Well, I owe you an apology, Mr.

Somers.

We come all the way down to your docks, and it turns out, you don't need the police after all.

Which is exactly what I've been saying.

Yeah.

So I guess that 9-1-1 call we got last night from your stevedore, saying that you were getting attacked by a guy in a green hood and a bow and arrow I guess well, was that a practical joke? These guys like to fool around.

Yeah.

Well, you know, I'd be very much inclined to believe an honest, upstanding businessman like yourself, except, well, one of my men found this at your docks.

You see, there's this vigilante running around.

He thinks he's some kind of Robin hood.

He's robbing the rich, he's trying to teach them a lesson I guess.

I don't know, I don't know.

But the point is, the man's a killer.

And nothing, and no one, is going to stop me from bringing him down.

But like you said Hmm! Clearly, nothing happened here last night.

Isn't this a conflict of interest, detective? After all, your daughter is suing me.

I'm pretty good at keeping my emotions in check.

I'm not.

You and your daughter don't want to find out what I'm capable of when I get emotional.

As you can see, Oliver, we've modernized quite a bit.

Hi.

Are you enjoying yourself? Yes, I am.

I remember when your father used to bring you here when you were a boy.

You always were so excited.

Dad let me drink soda in the office.

Ah! So that's why you enjoyed coming.

The Queen consolidated's success of late is a result of its targeted diversification.

We have been making impressive inroads in cutting-edge fields like bio-tech and clean energy.

That's neat.

Excuse me? Can I get a sparkling water, or something cold, please? Sweetheart, Oliver, Walter and I have something to discuss with you.

Come, please sit.

Mom, it makes me nervous when you ask me to sit down.

The company's about to break ground on a new site for the applied sciences division, and we would like to honor your father by dedicating the building in his name.

Nice.

And we'd like to make an announcement at the dedication that you will be taking a leadership position in the company.

No.

No, your Your company.

No, I don't want to lead anything.

Besides, Walter is doing a very good job here.

You said that you wanted to be a different person.

And you are Robert Queen's son.

I don't need to be reminded of that.

Well, obviously you do.

Everyone here understands that this transition is really difficult for you.

Thank you, Walter.

Which part, though? Everyone fantasizing that I got my MBA while I was on the island? Or the fact that my father's CFO now sleeps down the hall from me? You know, five years ago, your irresponsibility was somewhat charming.

It is a lot less so now.

There he is! The driver will be here in a minute.

Okay.

You know, I spent the first 27 years of my life in starling city, and the next five in Afghanistan.

You want to know what I learned? There's no place like home? No, just the opposite.

Home is a battlefield.

Back home, they're all trying to get you.

Get you to open up, be somebody you're not sure you are anymore.

Or I could be wrong.

Maybe after five years alone, you're not as messed up in the head as you have every right to be.

Hey! Hey, get away! Hey! Dad? Hey! Hey, stay away from him! Well, we anticipate that Somers' attorney will try and paint you as blinded by grief or looking to make a buck.

This isn't about the money.

I just want justice for my father.

Emily, there are a lot of people who don't want this trial to proceed.

Dangerous people.

My mother died when I was a baby, and my father has been the only family I've ever known and they slit his throat.

They are going to have to kill me if they want me to give this up.

Well let's hope it doesn't come to that.

And it won't.

What's going on? What's going on is that the three of you are getting around-the-clock police protection.

Okay? Get used to their faces, because they're going with you everywhere you go, no arguments.

I'm a lawyer.

I live to argue.

I'm your father.

I live to keep you safe.

Um, Emily, let's go grab a cup of coffee, okay? Yes, why not do that? Thank you.

Please, go with them.

Stay there.

Protective custody? I seem to recall you trying that once I discovered boys also.

Didn't work then either.

This isn't a joke, Laurel.

Martin Somers got attacked last night.

What? Yeah.

By who? It doesn't matter.

Point is, you have whipped up a storm with these guys, and until the dust settles you'll be protected, okay? End of discussion.

That might have worked when I was eight.

But it's not gonna work anymore.

End of discussion, Laurel! You're insistent on doing your job, that's great.

But this is me doing mine, okay? And not just as a father, but as a cop.

These people, they are more dangerous than you are willing to admit.

And you've made them angry.

Thank you for coming.

Anything for a friend.

We're not friends.

You smuggle drugs, I let you use my port.

For which you're paid a lot of money.

I don't get paid enough to have arrows shot at me.

You need to take this guy seriously.

He is a bigger threat to your operation than Nocenti ever was.

Except now it's Nocenti's daughter who's the problem.

Unlike your friend with the hood, we know where to find her.

Don't be an idiot.

You take out Emily Nocenti, and Laurel Lance will never let this go.

She won't stop until she burns you, me, and then the entire triad to the ground.

Then we kill miss Lance.

Attorney for shipping magnate, Martin Somers, has confirmed his client has no intention of testifying, maintaining his innocence in the wrongful death of Victor Nocenti.

Nocenti's body was found four weeks ago.

We'll keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Wait, how did you get those? Don't you knock? No, wait mom said that there were scars, but I'm Oliver, what happened to you out there? I don't want to talk about it.

Of course you don't.

You never want to talk to me about anything.

Except for my social life.

Wait! Where are you going? Why should I tell you? I'm sorry, thea.

I need to get better at talking about what happened to me there.

But I'm not ready yet.

Okay? Do you have a second? Yeah.

Good.

I wanna show you something out back.

Sometimes, when I felt whatever I'd come here.

About a month after the funerals, mom stopped going out.

Pretty soon, she stopped talking altogether.

The house got so quiet, so I'd come here.

To talk to you.

I mean, stupid stuff.

Like what I was doing that day, what boy I had a crush on And then sometimes, I'd ask you, beg you, to find your way home to me.

Now, here you are.

And the truth is, I felt closer to you when you were dead.

Look, I know it was hell where you were.

But it was hell here too.

You gotta let me in, Ollie.

You gotta let someone in.

Hi.

Are you okay? There are two cop cars outside.

How am I supposed to stay away from you if you won't stay away from me? I What are you doing here, Ollie? My sister took She pointed out to me that I have been distant since I got back and that It would probably be a good idea if I let somebody in.

So, you thought you'd start with the first person you pushed away.

I did that to protect you.

And then I saw you yesterday, and I realized that I hurt you.

Thank you.

Wow.

This place hasn't changed in five years.

I haven't really had time to redecorate.

I'm a jerk.

Before the island, I was a jerk, and now I'm just a I'm a damaged jerk.

What's in the bag? I thought about many things on the island, but there was one thing that I thought about every day.

I actually dreamed about it, and I promised myself that if I ever got a chance to do it again, I'd do it with you.

Eat ice cream.

This is as good as I remember.

My mother wants me to join the company.

Yeah.

Take my rightful place.

I can't exactly picture you as master of the universe.

You know, after five years, I have plans.

I have things that I have to do.

I can't do that if I'm I don't know Attending board meetings and stockholder briefings.

Oliver? Hmm? You're an adult.

You can say no.

Oh, I tried.

Didn't take.

Well, then don't tell her.

Show her.

Be the person that you want her to see you as.

Trust me.

I have plenty of experience with disapproving parents.

I have been on the receiving end of your father's disapproval.

He blames himself more than he blames you.

He thinks that, you know, maybe if he and Sarah were closer, she would have told him about the boat trip.

And he could have stopped her from going with you.

I am sorry.

You apologized already.

And it'll never be enough.

Did you hear that? What? There's someone on the fire escape.

Hey, come on.

.

What are Are you hurt? No.

Are you hurt, Mr.

Queen? No! No.

This is why it's a good idea to have a bodyguard.

You okay? Daddy! Oh, thank God.

Thank God.

Are you all right? I'm okay.

Those cops that you put on me They I went outside to ask for a light and they were both dead in the squad car.

Mr.

Diggle, thank you.

Feel free to run as many red lights in the city as you want.

I was just doing my job, sir.

No, your job is protecting him.

It seems like whenever you're with one of my daughters, people die.

You stay away from Laurel, or I swear the next time you disappear, it will be permanent.

Dad! No, Laurel It's okay.

I understand.

Yeah.

Here! I'd say thank you, but I don't think that would cover it.

Well, like I told your cop friend, I was just doing my job.

Besides, I think it should be you that I'm thanking.

What for? The knife.

The knife.

I got lucky.

That was a kitchen knife.

It wasn't even weighted properly, yet you threw it with accuracy across a 10-foot room.

Exactly.

I got lucky.

I'm not the kind of man you want to take for a fool, Mr.

Queen, you understand me? Yes.

And I think I'm just beginning to understand the kind of man you are.

Shouldn't take you very long.

I'm shallow.

And very tired, so Good night.

Good night, sir.

I wanted to give Martin Somers the chance to confess and face a court's justice, but he chose to go after someone I care about instead.

He's still going to face justice.

It'll just be a different kind.

Triad bitch screwed up the hit on Lance.

Now, the triad is gonna erase every ounce of evidence of their smuggling operation, including me.

Except that's not gonna happen.

Tell Wallace to get the boat ready.

I'm leaving tonight.

Wallace? Wallace, you copy? Wallace? Wallace isn't here.

But I am.

We need to move, now.

Move! Sir, we've got six men out there.

It's not enough.

Move it! You're gonna go back into that courtroom tomorrow and you're gonna recuse yourself from this case, all right? Or drop it.

Either way, you're done.

If you think I'm gonna abandon Emily Nocenti, then you don't know me all that well.

You don't know me well, young lady.

I will lock you in a cell if that's what it takes.

Well, I guess that's what it's gonna take then.

Damn it, Laurel! I thought after what happened with Sarah, you'd stop being just so reckless.

It's not about being reckless! It's just the opposite.

I'm trying to make this city safer, just like you.

Sweetie.

You're my only daughter, Laurel.

You're all I have left to live for.

But what you want from me isn't living.

Having cops around, not being able to do my job.

Your job is not going after people like the triad or Somers.

My job is to use the law to fight for what is right.

Just like you taught me.

Well, that's dirty.

Using me against me.

You can't do that.

Well Maybe I picked that up along the way, too.

Lance.

I'll be right there.

I gotta go.

Something's going on at the docks.

Somers! Oh, God, no, no, no.

He can't help you.

I want the truth about Victor Nocenti.

I can't.

The triad will kill me.

The triad's not your concern right now.

All right, all right, all right.

It wasn't me that killed him.

It was the triad.

Acting on whose instructions? Whose? All right, all right.

It was mine.

It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me.

Put down your weapons or we will open fire.

I repeat, lay down your weapons.

Freeze! You twitch and you're dead.

Bow down, hands up.

All right, all right.

It was mine.

It was mine, all right? Nocenti said he was gonna testify against me.

You son of a bitch.

Laurel will be safe.

She was right.

I can't be the Oliver my mother wants me to be and still keep the promise I made to my father.

I have to be the person I need them to see me as.

Oh! Excuse me, ladies.

Okay, this is a surprise.

Did you show up here by mistake? By invitation.

Oliver invited me last night.

Last night? Is that surprise or jealousy I'm hearing? Look, I just don't want him to find out anything, okay? Oliver has been through a lot.

Tommy, we've all been through a lot.

Good afternoon.

And thank you all for coming.

Welcome to the future site of the Robert Queen memorial applied sciences center.

Now, this is a building that will stand as a monument to the man whose company and vision are his greatest legacies.

Whoa! Whoa! What about me? Right? I'm a legacy.

Hey! Thanks for warming them up, Walt.

All right.

Ow! Fine, fine shovel.

I got it.

Whoa! Ow! - He must be drunk.

I got it.

I got it.

Some of you may not know me.

My name is Oliver Queen.

Watch some television, read a newspaper, I'm kind of famous right now.

Mostly, though, I'm famous because I'm Robert Queen's son.

Uh, but as Walter, who's my new dad Huh? Who is sorry.

As Walter was saying, I'm not much of a legacy, per se.

Oliver, you don't have to do this.

No, sit.

Sit! Gosh.

See, I was supposed to come here today, and I'm supposed to take my rightful place at the company.

Prodigal son returns home and becomes the heir apparent.

But I'm not my father.

I'm not the man he was.

I'm not half the man he was.

I never will be.

So, please, stop asking me to be.

Martin Somers, the CEO of starling port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti.

He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes.

Well, we can pursue the civil suit if you want, but the D.

A.

Now has no choice, with Mr.

Somers' confession, to prosecute him.

He's going to jail, Emily.

For the rest of his life.

Thank you so much for fighting for us.

Well, thank you for being brave enough to let me.

Hey.

I thought I didn't need police protection anymore.

I thought I didn't need a reason to see my own daughter.

You don't.

Hmm.

You look tired.

Yeah, I was filling out reports on the shootout at the port last night and getting grilled about how I let that archer get away.

I have to admit, I'm kind of glad he did.

He brought down Martin Somers.

He hurt a bunch of people doing it, okay? He is no hero.

He is an anarchist.

Yeah, well, whoever he is, it seems like he's trying to help.

The city doesn't need that kind of help, okay? It's like I always told you, you don't need to go outside the law to find justice.

Now I believe that.

All right? And I promise you, when I catch this guy, he's gonna believe it, too.

Well, you saw for yourself.

My son knows nothing.

Robert didn't tell him anything that could hurt us.

And he has no idea that the yacht was sabotaged.

All that time on the island, plotting my return, I didn't realize how hard it would be.

To reconnect with mom, thea, Laurel.

Okay, I didn't I didn't know how painful it would be to keep my secrets.

You asked me to save the city.

To right your wrongs.

I will.

I swear.

But to do that, I can't be the Oliver that everyone wants me to be, which means that sometimes To honor your wishes I need to dishonor your memory.

I'm sorry.

Take it down.

Will you be going out tonight, sir? Definitely.

No, no