The Arrow Season 7 premiere brought the biggest twist of the series in years: a future version of William and Roy Harper hiding out on Lian Yu. Not much was revealed about older William (played by Ben Lewis) and OId Man Roy in the first episode of the season, but after the second, there are enough facts to warrant a discussion. Spoilers for Arrow Season 7 ahead! This story has been updated to include the events of episode 6, "Due Process"
William clearly inherited the Queen-Smoak wealth at some point in the last 20 years. He paid that fisherman who dropped him of on Lian Yu thousands of dollars. He also mentioned spending a billion dollars developing "affordable magnetic levitation" (if we heard that right), which could also explain his disposable income.
William is in possession of the Hozen that's been passed down through the Queen family circle. It's a symbol that stands for reconnecting. Felicity gave William the Hozen in the Season 7 premiere right before Diaz attacked their bunker. William was sent to boarding school shortly after. The Hozen was originally his father's--Oliver found the special arrowhead on the neck of a corpse on Lian Yu--but It's been in the possession of Thea, Roy and Felicity over the course of the series. Each passing represented character growth and friendship.
William confirms the last time he was on Lian Yu was the day his mother died. He's referring to the Season 5 finale episode, where Adrian Chase sets off explosions across the island. That incident marks not only his mother's death, but the day he started living with Oliver. William also refers to an "ex-boyfriend" and says he has commitment issues because Felicity and Oliver "left him." This suggests Oliver and Felicity have been out of William's life for a decent amount of time, though the context and exact time frame is still unclear. William says, "Yeah I survived," which does imply some sort of tragedy as the reason for their abandonment.
"I thought it was bulls**t," William says, referring to the Hozen, "but three weeks ago it started to beep. I opened it up, and I found this: GPS coordinates for Lian Yu," William tells Roy. So the question is, why would Felicity send William to Lian Yu? This suggests Oliver and Felicity didn't just "leave" William like William said; there's more to this story. Roy actually suggests throwing the Hozen in the ocean and "never looking back," which confirms that whatever Felicity and Oliver are up to, he's not aware of, especially considering the next bit of dialogue.
William mentions that the first time he met Roy, he and Thea were "leaving somewhere." William is referring to the end of Arrow Season 6, when Thea and Roy leave Star City together in search of the remaining Lazarus Pits Malcolm Merlyn knew of before he died.
Then Roy says, "I came here to forget about all that," suggesting things went sideways with Thea and that mission...perhaps that's why he's on Lian Yu. After some convincing, Roy agrees to help William. "I know exactly what this is," he says with the Hozen in hand, leading William to what he believed to be a gravesite.
It's not a gravesite. It's actually where Oliver buried his bow and arrow. "I can't even shoot an arrow, why would Felicity want me to have this?" William asks Roy, who grabs the bow and opens a note in a secret compartment on the side. Roy gets a very concerning look on his face, closes his eyes, turns to William, burns the note and says, "Grab your stuff we are going back to Star City."
Roy and William are back in Star City after the rendezvous on Lian Yu. The coordinates in the Hozen are different, and lead the pair to the abandoned Smoak Tech headquarters. William cracks a code Felicity left for him within a Rubix Cube, and discovers a secret map of the Glades. But future Black Canary (Dinah Drake version) pops in. She clearly does not like Roy, and something definitely went down between he and Team Arrow. Roy mentions he "doesn't forgive so easily" and Dinah confirms the beef when she sasses him about why he returned.
Turns out, "Star City fell when The Glades rose." Apparently someone Black Canary only refers to as "they" built a wall and established borders. William inquires about Felicity's whereabouts since she sent these messages, but FELICITY IS DEAD (but probably not, let's be honest). Wild Dog's daughter Zoe is now a Black Canary too, a mentee of Dinah's so it seems. They are part of a vigilante resistance, one of the few left fighting to save Star City. No idea where the rest of Team Arrow is, but Zoe mentions her father wouldn't be "caught dead" in Star City these days.
Episode 6, "Due Process," appears to confirm the situation in the flashforwards is a direct result of what Ricardo Diaz is doing right now in present day. But his plan seems bigger than just taking down Oliver Queen—he wants to destroy everything Oliver loves, including his family and Star City itself. A map William has from the future is the same one Felicity has in present day.
The episode reveals Zoe (Rene's daughter) and William knew each other but didn't keep in touch after "everything" went down. Still unclear what "everything" means, but a conversation between Roy and Dinah suggests the Queen's could have more to do with the current state of Star City than previously thought.
Roy reveals he was only convinced to come back to Star City because inside Oliver's bow on Lian Yu, he found the "Mark of Four." Dinah is aware of the meaning of that symbol, and both she and Roy looked quite concerned by it. Dinah is unsure about whether to trust William. When Roy is confused, considering William is Oliver's son, Dinah says, "That's exactly what worries me." So what exactly did Oliver do to upset Dinah?
What happens to Oliver in the future remains uncertain, but William mentioned it was easier for him to "move on than hold on." Dinah reveals Felicity was only murdered a couple weeks ago. She apparently cut ties with Dinah and the crew a long time ago, going underground and calling herself The Calculator, the moniker of her father. She ran with "dangerous circles," in a scheme William, Roy, Dinah and Zoe find seems to show that Felicity wanted to blow up the Glades. Felicity's computer also shows a message from someone named Blackstar.
Do you have any theories on why Roy Harper was just chillin on Lian Yu in Arsenal uniform? Roy had a trap set up that ultimately captured William, which means he might have been anticipating company. And most importantly, why would Felicity and Oliver leave William? Sound off in the comments.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Autumn Noel Kelly started as a staff writer for Newsweek in 2015. She covers anything in the comic book world—TV ... Read more
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