Not every finale managed to hit the target!
Arrow was a show known for its finales, and rightfully so. They were action-packed and filled with suspense, as Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow sought to stop whatever villain was trying to level Star City that season. Over the show’s eight-season run, Star City saw its far show of baddies, from the Dark Archer of season 1 to Ricardo Diaz and the Ninth Circle.
Whenever the end of a season of Arrow came around, viewers knew to expect epic stakes, high-quality production and very well-choreographed fight sequences, chills, thrills, and plenty of drama – all as Oliver and company fought for truth and justice.
No matter how high the stakes, Arrow was great at bringing the stories back to family and how our friends and those we love are the reason that Oliver is fighting so hard to save his city.
However, Arrow was known for having the highest of highs and the lowest of lows when it came to season finales. While the Emerald Archer himself was known never to miss his target, the same could not be said for the show’s writers. So, let’s take a look at Arrow: Every season finale ranked worst to best.
Season 4 – Schism
At the bottom of this list (and rightfully so) is the much-maligned finale to season 4. Season 4 of Arrow was seen as a semi-reboot of the show. The fourth-year started well, with Oliver delving into the occult and supernatural to combat Damien Darhk, a villain with magical powers.
As season 3 had ended with a ‘happily ever after moment. The finale sees Oliver and Darhk face-off. Sadly, what should have been an epic and scary battle devolved into a street brawl between Darhk’s minions and the citizens of Star City. It turns out that the Master Bowman must use the “Magic of Hope” to neutralize his rival’s powers – this magic of hope is seemingly received when the citizens “believe in” Green Arrow.
As silly as this was, it got worse as the viewer was shown Oliver and Damien slugging it out in a boxing dual in the streets. Overall it was a lackluster end to what had started off as a good season and showed that Oliver is best dealing with villains who are not of the magical world.
Season 8 – Fadeout
The finale of season 8 is far from the worst of the Arrow season endings, so why is it so far down the list? Primarily because of the lack of Arrow’s main star Oliver Queen.
Season 8 of Arrow had the odd job of being both a lead-up and lead-out to the crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths. Thus, The Emerald Archer dies heroically saving the universe in that crossover and leaving Fadeout to be a weird sort of series finale for a show that already felt like it ended in Arrow’s seventh season, which saw all the major threads from the show resolved.
The episode did give us an interesting flashback to one of Oliver’s first villains and shows us that, due to Ollie letting him live, this rogue has now returned to kidnap William. An impressive action scene is staged that showed us why Arrow was well known for its stunt work and epic finales.
The episode also brings together almost everyone of note from the Arrowverse to say goodbye to Oliver. It was nice seeing the new universe Queen created and lots of old friends back, but it felt strangely empty without the show’s main star leading it.
Season 6 – Life Sentence
By season 6, Arrow was starting to show some cracks in its storytelling and villains. With lots of repeated drama. The finale of season 6 saw the end of the civil war plaguing Team Arrow and saw Oliver finally take on his nemesis Ricardo Diaz.
The episode delivered the death of Arrow regular Quentin Lance, who dies at the hands of Ricardo Diaz, it was an emotional sendoff to a beloved character who had been with the show since its pilot episode.
While the finale delivers on a very well choreographed fight between The Master Bowman and The Dragon. The episode falls into the trap of many finales before too much melodrama and McGuffin chasing. The episode also fails at being a closing chapter to the season. Ending on a cliffhanger with the villain escaping and a tease of a much larger story to come. This is fine; however, a series must give closure to the current story being told and not just leave it wide open.
“Life Sentence” is not a bad episode or even a bad season finale for that matter, it simply was not a great one, and did not live fully up to the tension that had built up over the season.
Season 7 – You Have Saved This City
“You Have Saved This City” will forever be remembered as “The real finale” of Arrow. Even the stars and showrunners all look at it this way. We see Star City’s Protector finally redeem his long-lost half-sister Emiko who has led the villainous Ninth Circle. This finale brings to a close the 7-year journey of Oliver Queen by taking him back to where it all started, redemption and family.
This finale gives Oliver a tragic send-off as he finally does what he sought to save his city. However, it costs him the life of his sister. This was a sad and mostly satisfying conclusion to the series before it headed off to the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. However, knowing that The Green Arrow’s story was not finished dampened the whole thing.
Adding to that, the episode strangely allows the new leaders of the Ninth Circle to escape, leaving the episode feeling unfinished somehow. It was nice to see Queen accomplish his goal of saving his city and redeeming his sister.
Still, escaping the villains and the looming crossover event leave this finale feeling hollow and unfinished, as it simultaneously opens up new stories in the future world of Star City.
Season 3 – My Name Is Oliver Queen
Season 3 of Arrow is a mixed bag, so it’s only fitting that its finale is also somewhat of a mixed bag. Queen and Team Arrow find out that Ra’s intends to release a bioweapon in Star City, because hey, why not! The finale concludes the epic story of the conflict between Oliver Queen and Ra’s al Ghul and gives viewers more than they wished for with “Olicity.”
As Team Arrow seeks to find Ra’s “Four Horsemen,” who are releasing the bioweapon, the Hood duels Ra’s for the city’s fate. After Oliver fatally stabs Ra’s and saves the town, he turns over the League of Assassins’ rule to Malcolm in return for his help. The episode was both epic and cheesy as it gives us both scenes of great combat, then shows the viewer Felicity seemingly knowing how to pilot Palmers Atom suit, despite never having used it before.
This season finale was not terrible and oddly had more of a series finale feel, which begs the question if the showrunners were unsure of being renewed. However, it did deliver on the thrills, but overall its major sin was being the follow-up to the steller S2. The episode ends with the former Green Arrow and Felicity driving into the literal sunset to live happily ever after.
Season 5 – Lian Yu
Lian Yu was undoubtedly one of Arrow’s best finales; in it, we see Oliver Queen pushed to his absolute limits, as he calls on the likes of Deathstroke, Malcolm Merlyn, and Nyssa Al Ghul to defeat the monstrous evil of Adrian Chase, aka Prometheus. The episode sees a vengeful Chase bringing Ollie’s loved ones to the island that he has rigged with explosives and the conclusion of the flashbacks to the Master Bowman’s five years missing.
The finale delivers in emotional payoffs, great action, and bringing back old heroes and villains in an epic clash between Team Arrow and Team Prometheus. This episode was also great because it brought home the consequences of Queen’s actions and asked if what he did was worth it?
Seeing Star City’s protector be put through the wringer and his friends, allies, and family were now being targeted due to his actions was a sobering thing that the show did not always look at. The finale also ends so viewers were left with absolutely no idea what would happen in season 6. For the first time in a long while, Arrow felt fresh again.
Season 1 – Sacrifice
The first season of Arrow promised us many things in the finale, and for the most part, delivered in giving an emotional and action-packed conclusion to the season-long twists and turns. The Hood does battle with the Dark Archer, aka Malcolm Merlyn, who tries to destroy the glades; Ollie and his mother also get a chance to have a heart-to-heart.
While also bringing to a head the conflict between Oliver and Tommy. This finale set the tone for the rest of the show, with huge stakes, deviously villains, and fantastic action. Never before had a superhero TV show had this scale and cinematic quality (for the time).
This finale also gave the much-anticipated showdown between Malcolm Merlyn and Oliver Queen, in a thrilling rooftop dual that was very satisfying to watch. Lastly, it showed the end of the first-year Stephen Amell’s character spent on Lian Yu, as he teams up with Deathstroke and Shado to take down the villainous Fyers.
This finale packed a significant punch as it gave the viewer the very unexpected death of Oliver’s friend Tommy, which would be a powerful motivator for Green Arrow in S2 and throughout the rest of the show.
Season 2 – Unthinkable
Widely viewed as one of the series best seasons, the season 2 finale brought to a head the simmering rivalry between Deathstroke and Oliver Queen. It delivers in the action as we see an army of mirakuru enhanced mercs trying to take over Starling City, but it shows the emotional fallout of these two former friends who are now bitter enemies.
One of the great things about this finale is its perfect blend of flashbacks, as the viewer sees the final fight with Deathstroke in the present intercut with the fight he and Oliver had back on the island years before. While also giving a great hint to season 3 by showing that Malcolm Merlyn has survived the events of season 1.
He has returned to Star City intending to train his daughter. It’s not an altogether shocking reveal, but one that was executed well. It’s an exciting finale and sees Team Arrow and The League of Assassins ally themselves in order to take on Deathstroke’s army. This finale was a payoff to two seasons of the story and saw Oliver pushed to his absolute limits; in short, this finale does everything a season finale should do!
