It wasn’t that hard to see coming, was it?
But that didn’t make it any easier to handle.
About halfway through Arrow Season 3 Episode 12, Tatsu issued a warning to a departing Oliver. It went as follows:
“To defeat a man like this Ra’s al Ghul, you must be willing not just to die but to live knowing what you have to sacrifice in order to beat him… whatever you hold most precious.”
What did that mean? Before revealing the loss, let’s focus on a win:
Team Arrow rallied Ted Grant, Sin and many other Starling City residents to join them in the fight against Brick’s rule of The Glades.
During the fracas, Ted (aka Wildcat) got in some blows against Brick… only to them get beaten up within an inch of his life.
However, in Dark Archer attire, Malcolm swooped in to take on Brick, who he learned had been responsible for killing his wife (Tommy’s mother) two decades ago.
Before Malcolm could go for the kill, though, Oliver showed back up. Don’t do it, he argued, if only for the sake of Thea, who would never forgive him.
The speech worked. Brick was taken into custody and Oliver vowed to the townsfolk that he would never "fail" them again.
Back at his headquarters, though, Felicity wasn’t happy that Oliver was aligning himself with Malcolm in order to defeat Ra’s al Ghul.
She believes that Oliver would do things differently upon returning from the dead, especially when it came to them. He said he loved her, didn’t he?
But then he returns and says he’s teaming up with the same monster who turned Thea into a killer? And who killed a woman he loves? Considering Oliver’s insistence that this was necessary, Felicity walked away.
"I don’t want to be a woman that you love," she told him.
OUCH. React to her bold statement and decision when you watch Arrow online to relive all that went down this week.