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Arrow: 7 huge questions we have about the flashforwards

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

From Digital Spy

Things don't look so good for Oliver Queen on Arrow right now. Since he was imprisoned in the season-six finale, both his fellow prisoners and the guards alike have had it out for him, and now a sinister psychiatrist is pushing the former vigilante to breaking point too.

However, if the flash-forwards are anything to go by, then the struggles that Team Arrow face in the present day are nothing compared to what's in store for them later down the line.

Replacing the flashbacks that once characterised earlier seasons of Arrow, these glimpses of the future are reportedly here to stay, at least for the remainder of season seven, so join us here at Digital Spy as we try to answer seven of the biggest questions that the flash forwards have raised so far.

1. Is William Clayton the new Green Arrow?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

While Oliver is stuck fending off other men in the prison showers – no, really – there's a new Green Arrow in Star City and no one knows who he is. Various fan theories are suggesting that the man under the hood could be anyone from Roy Harper to John Diggle, but there's a growing consensus online that the new vigilante could in fact be Oliver's son from the future.

Although adult William has already mentioned that his father never taught him archery while growing up, he is now in possession of the Green Arrow's bow, suggesting that he could train alongside the likes of future Roy later down the line.

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

This was also foreshadowed during the season seven episode 'Level Two', where it was revealed that Oliver's greatest fear is how William might one day follow in his footsteps and become a killer like him.

Time travel is often par for the course in Arrowverse shows like The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow, but showrunner Beth Schwartz has put a potential roadblock on this theory by explaining to TVLine that Arrow will be "sticking to the grounded storytelling."

If that's true, then this theory might be way off target, but either way, it still seems likely that the flash forwards will continue to play around with themes of legacy regardless.

2. What happened to Thea and Roy?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

When William meets Roy on the island of Lian Yu, he mentions that he hasn't seen Oliver's former protege since he and Thea left Star City together back in season six. Clearly, Roy is living in exile for a reason and it might have something to do with Thea, as he's rather touchy when her name is mentioned.

Although they're no longer together as a couple, this doesn't mean that Thea is dead. However, it does seem rather strange that she hasn't visited William once since she first left him behind in Star City as a teenager.

3. What happened to Star City?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

All we know so far is that by 2038, Star City has been walled off completely from the outside world and vigilantes are officially banned by the government. Although these dystopian flash-forwards bear a striking resemblance to the Arrow 2046 timeline once glimpsed on Legends of Tomorrow, showrunner Beth Schwartz assures fans that they're actually set in a completely separate future.

Despite this, Screen Rant have suggested that the flash forwards could have something to do with the timeline that Zari Tomaz hails from instead. When her character was first introduced in Legends of Tomorrow season three, it was revealed that the American government had not only outlawed vigilantes in the future, but also meta-humans and even religion too.

While the team behind Arrow seem to keen to keep the flash forwards separate from any future glimpsed before on the various Arrowverse shows, it's hard to deny that Star City 2038 also shares a lot in common with Zari's timeline too.

4. Has Dinah lost her canary cry?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

When future Dinah showed up in the flash forwards, her appearance raised a number of questions: Namely, how does she still look so good in this dystopian future? Twenty years have passed and yet Dinah's clearly found time still to scavenge for hair products while on the run.

Saying that though, it's clear that the intervening years haven't been easy on her. Not once does she use her canary cry during her fight with the guards and a scar on Dinah's throat hints that she might have lost her powers completely somehow, perhaps through injury or even surgery. Maybe the government of the future deliberately removed her powers to make Dinah more compliant.

5. Where's the rest of Team Arrow?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

Dinah might not be as strong as she once was, but at least she's not the only Canary fighting the good fight in Star City's future. Rene Ramirez's daughter shows up as another vigilante in the latest flash forwards, something which was probably kick-started when Dinah gave present-day Zoe a canary-themed piece of jewellery.

What's still not clear though is the whereabouts of Rene himself, who apparently wouldn't "be caught dead in Star City". Maybe the reason that's keeping him away is also what's keeping John Diggle, Lyla Michaels, and Curtis Holt at a distance too.

6. Who's guiding William with the puzzles?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

For most of the time that Arrow's spent in the future so far, William and audiences alike assumed that his step-mother, Felicity Smoak, was the one guiding his quest. After all, some of the puzzles incorporated personal details from their relationship that only they could have known and besides, who are we to question a protagonist?

Well, at the end of 'Level Two', Dinah revealed that Felicity had in fact died, but things ended on a cliffhanger, so no more information was forthcoming. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time that Arrow has tried to convince us that someone is 'dead', only for them to return via a Lazarus Pit or various other means.

Saying that though, if Felicity really is dead, then someone else must be guiding William instead. Could it be one of Oliver's sworn enemies seeking revenge on the archer's son. Maybe it's actually someone closer to home...

7. Where is Oliver Queen?

Photo credit: The CW
Photo credit: The CW

Assuming that he's not still in prison or training on his salmon ladder in some random cave, the whereabouts of Oliver Queen are yet to be revealed in this future timeline. No one's mentioned that he's dead yet, so if we're to assume that he's alive, then perhaps the Green Arrow is the one guiding William.

While he's hardly a tech expert, who knows what tricks he might have picked up in the past twenty years and who else but Oliver would be privy to the kind of information shared by Felicity and William?

Wherever Oliver is, we just hope that he's picked up a new bow along the way because William is currently in possession of his old weapons that were left buried on Lian Yu.

Arrow season 7 airs on The CW in the US. The series airs on Sky One and NOW TV in the UK.


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