Though I’m currently digging Legends of Tomorrow much more than I did during its earlier days, I must confess that season 1’s “Star City 2046” may very well be my favorite episode to date. In that, the Waverider crew visited the Emerald Archer’s stomping grounds in a dystopian future where Connor Hawke AKA John Diggle Jr. inherited the mantle, with Oliver Queen himself being a one-armed recluse. On top of that, Slade Wilson’s son, Grant, held dominion as the second Deathstroke. Yes, it was pretty cool.
Well, if you’ve been following Arrow this season, then you’re aware of how it’s played host to flash forwards taking place twenty years down the road, therefore presumably being in 2038. And while there, Ollie’s son, William, meets a grizzled Roy Harper now calling Lian Yu home.
Interestingly enough, last night’s episode left off with William unearthing a trove containing some of his father’s old gear, prompting Roy to say they must return to Star City. What’ll happen when they arrive should prove most exciting, and I can’t wait to learn what’s behind the various mysteries surrounding the flash forwards.
Something we really need to consider is the future of “Star City 2046” coming to fruition, or at least something comparable. Over on Legends, they’ve been clear of how time is malleable, so the ruined metropolis we visited during its freshman year isn’t guaranteed to come into being. But in the case of Arrow, the flash forwards absolutely are set in stone.
That said, some groundwork had been laid after the events of “Flashpoint” because, as you may recall, John Diggle’s daughter, Sara, had been wiped from the timeline following Barry Allen’s shenanigans and replaced by baby John Jr. This could just be a nod to what Legends did prior, sure, but don’t tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing after the fateful switch had been made.
Be sure to keep watching Arrow on Monday nights on The CW – and this space, for that matter – as the situation unfolds.