Top 12 'Arrow' Episodes

Arrow had a triumphant eight year run. It was responsible for multiple spin-offs and even helped to engineer the TV adaptation of the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline. Oliver Queen certainly saved his city more times than we could count.

But, of those eight years, what were the best moments for Oliver Queen and the rest of Team Arrow?

Let's count down my top 12 moments from the show's run.

12. "Fundamentals" - 6x18

Oliver Queen almost heading back to his dark roots. It was always going to be popular.

The sixth season may have been a turbulent one, but it pushed Oliver to the brink. Team Arrow broke apart. He was close to losing his title as mayor. Even felicity and his own son were slipping away from him.

With thanks from the villainous Ricardo Diaz and some mirakuru, our hero was beginning to lose his mind as he experienced negative hallucinations, coming face to face with Adrian Chase aka Prometheus once again.

With how the season had pushed Oliver to boiling point, it was cool to see how the character dealt with the situation solo and almost crossed a major line. Plus, it was cool to see season one Oliver Queen back on screen.

This was definitely one of Stephen Amell's finest performances on the show.

11. "Eleven-Fifty-Nine" - 4x18

When we finally found out who was in the grave.

"Eleven-Fifty-Nine" centred mainly on the evil Damien Darhk's escape from prison, but it was the final act that really got this episode pumping.

Not only did Darhk escape and regain his powerful abilities, but he also put an arrow in the gut of Laurel Lance aka The Black Canary. At first we were led to believe that this was yet another red herring as to who was in that grave that had been teased in flash forwards since the season four premiere. But alas, with a bit of a criss cross, it was indeed Laurel who perished.

Everything about the last section of this episode was powerful. Oliver racing Laurel to the hospital. His final conversation with her. Everyone's reactions in those final moments. Especially Quentin's.

It's an adrenaline filled episode as the team try to stop Damien, but it turns into a major tearjerker for all Arrow fans.

10. "Starling City" - 8x1

What a way to kick off the show's final season.

The season eight premiere began the season's tradition of honouring each of the show's past seasons. In this case, We watched Oliver being saved from Lian Yu once again, this time much later, as he poses as the Oliver Queen of Earth-2.

This started the final season in style. Revisiting our favourite moments from the first season but with a twist. Especially the "Tommy Meryln is The Dark Archer" switcheroo.

It not only begins Oliver's work for The Monitor, but it does a grand job of saluting the debut season. Damn, it made us miss the old days.

9. "Invasion!" - 5x8

It's time to celebrate 100 episodes of Arrow.

With the show's major milestone coinciding with the Arrowverse crossover, Arrow's part in the "Invasion!" storyline had to try and carry the story along whilst still being able to tip the hat to show's history.

The episode saw Oliver and other Arrow characters abducted by aliens and put into a simulation that had them living in a world where Oliver and his father, Robert, never got on the Queen's Gambit. Therefore, never kickstarting the chain of events that led to Oliver becoming a vigilante.

It was a fun episode that still includes elements of the crossover, but mainly focuses on the show honoring it's previous 99 episodes.

8. "What We Leave Behind" - 5x9

Prometheus finally meant business here.

The fifth season brought in the terrifying Prometheus as the big bad, with him being publicised as a villain tied to Oliver's past sins as a vigilante. Well, this is where things start to stack up.

It was in this mid-season finale that Promethus began to show his hand to Team Arrow, with it being revealed that he is linked to one of Oliver's victims from season one. We got to see how formidable the villain was in this episode, and it left things messy as Felicity's new beau was caught in the crossfire and it had Team Arrow in desperate times.

Oh, there was also that cliffhanger of Laurel "returning", but that was very much overshadowed by the events of the episode and being predictable on the whole.

7. "The Scientist" - 2x8

Enter Barry Allen.

As the story of Arrow's second season continued to unfold slightly in it's first half, we got to meet a certain someone just before the mid-season finale hit. Yep, this is where Grant Gustin's Barry Allen first made an appearance, long before he began donning his red speedster suit.

Gustin's Barry was a fun opposite to Oliver and it was interesting to see him having a bit of a romantic relationship with Felicity. And the episode just got better as we got into the closing moments with the future speedster being pulled in by Team Arrow to save Oliver's life.

A great villain of the week episode and a perfect intro for one of the Arrowverse's staple characters.

By the by, if you are a fan of where Barry's story continued, check out our Top 12 Episodes of The Flash.

6. "Kapiushon" - 5x17

Time to see Oliver at his most broken.

Having been taken captive by Adrian Chase at the end of the previous episode, we now watched as the villain tried to chip away at Oliver's soul, trying to get him to "confess".

This was a truly compelling episode as we watched Oliver break down more and more as the episode played out. We got the perfect links to Oliver's flashbacks in Russia as he began to embrace his Hood identity, which had Oliver in the present finally confessing how much he enjoyed embracing his dark side over the years.

Another fine example of Stephen Amell's acting ability and it worked perfectly as almost a two-hander.

5. "Public Enemy" - 3x18

"Oliver Queen is The Arrow".

The third season had Oliver tussling with Ra's al Ghul, to the point where the League of Assassins leader actually wanted the vigilante to take his place. He was even going as far as ruining The Arrow's image to force his hand into doing so.

It was in "Public Enemy" that Ra's and his League really started to bring in the big guns to force Oliver to Nanda Parbat. Not only had they continued to ruin his image, but they even outed his identity. This created a cat and mouse situation for Oliver, and just when we thought he was caught, we got that brilliant cliffhanger of Roy Harker aka Arsenal, confessing to being The Arrow instead.

A real nail-biting episode that leaves you wanting much more.

4. "Lian Yu" - 5x23

The end of an era.

The fifth season drew to a close in "Lian Yu", with Prometheus dragging Oliver's nearest and dearest to the island where Oliver's journey to heroism began. It became a big battle of good versus evil as Oliver even pulled his old buddy turned enemy, Slade Wilson, into the fight to help him.

The episode perfectly ended the show's signature flashbacks by leading into the show's first scene, but it also saw Oliver defeating Chase at a price. With the season's bid bad taking his own life, the closing moments saw Lian Yu explode, with a whole lot of characters still on, leaving us wondering who would live and who would die.

This was definitely one of the toughest waits for a new season.

3. "The Climb" - 3x9

The plot twist to end all plot twists.

"The Climb" saw the reveal of who killed Sara. A question that had plagued season three up to this point. The answer was Oliver's sister, Thea, under the influence of Malcolm Meryln.

This led Oliver to doing what he had to do in order to save his sister. With that came the iconic, shirtless battle with Ra's al Ghul. We all thought the episode could go a couple of ways, but NEVER did we think Oliver would be stabbed and then fall to his death.

This was a mid-season cliffhanger that shook the fandom, with many speculating if the show would now have a new series lead.

2. "The Promise" - 2x15

Oliver and Slade finally reunite. Unfortunately.

By this point in season two, we weren't exactly sure what had happened between Oliver and Slade in the past to cause this level of hostility, but we finally got answers.

The previous episode saw the pair clasping eyes on each for the first time in years in the final moments, and this episode had Oliver trying to keep his cool as he watched Slade smartly infiltrate the Queen household as a business associate of his mother's.

This was a very tense episode that saw revelations of how Slade and Oliver became enemies in the flashbacks, with Slade's plan in the present becoming clearer and clearer.

1. "Unthinkable" - 2x23

Here at the top spot, we have that remarkable season finale of the second season.

"Unthinkable" brought about the end of Oliver's battle with Slade Wilson, and it did it in a very exciting way. We got Roy Harper donning his first Arsenal outfit. We got the first real hints at Oliver and Felicity getting romantic. We got cool twists and turns that led to Oliver being able to defeat Slade (by doing the UNTHINKABLE). More than anything, how could we forget that amazing montage of Oliver and Slade fighting both in the past and present. Beautifully done.

We also couldn't help but be amazed by the revelation that Oliver hadn't spent all of his 5 years in hell JUST on the island. "Welcome to Hong Kong". Still gives me chills.

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Agree with my choices for Arrow's top 12 episodes? Maybe you disagree? Let me know your thoughts!