[attr="class","official-title"]plot

[attr="class","official-header"]In Starling city

[attr="class","official-content"]Five years...That's how long Oliver Queen was missing, presumed dead by those around him...until the day he suddenly reappeared, but he's not the Oliver everyone knew. This new Oliver is more different than they know as he spends his nights hunting down and sometimes killing wealthy criminals as a hooded vigilante. He uncovers a conspiracy to destroy "The Glades" a poorer section of the city that has become overridden with crime.
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Oliver soon finds that in order to protect his city, he needs some help, though he is reluctant at first to accept this. John Diggle and Felicity Smoak are not ones to take no for an answer when they believe strongly in his cause. While Team Arrow are able to do many great deeds around the city, they are not able to stop the destruction caused by Merlyn in the Glades, causing the death of many, including Oliver's childhood best friend, Tommy. After the earthquake in the Glades, Oliver vows to stop crime without killing criminals.
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Oliver soon grows to accept aspiring vigilante Roy Harper as his protégé, begins to receive assistance from Officer Quentin Lance, and reunites with a female vigilante, who is eventually revealed to be Sara Lance, who had survived her ordeal at sea years prior. Oliver must contend with outside forces attempting to take over Queen Consolidated, guilt from decisions he made in the past, and secrets harbored by his family and friends.
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Another reminder of his time on the island comes in the form of Slade Wilson, a man from Oliver's time on the island who resurfaces with a vendetta against him. It seems that Slade is making good on his promise to make him suffer the loss of those he loves before killing him. Oliver is forced to go to Amanda Waller for help, revealing he has interacted with her before. At first not believing that Slade is alive, Waller tells him that A.R.G.U.S. has been tracking a new mercenary they call "Deathstroke", whom the pair realize is actually Slade. With the help of A.R.G.U.S. and the League of Assassins, Team Arrow is able to successfully cure all of Slade's men. Slade is locked away in an underground A.R.G.U.S. prison on the island and Sara rejoins the League as payment for helping the city.
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Following Slade's defeat, Queen Consolidated is sold to wealthy businessman, scientist, and aspiring hero, Ray Palmer, while Oliver struggles to bring his family back together. During this time, the Arrow is embraced as a hero by the people of Starling City, and newly-promoted Captain Lance calls off the anti-vigilante task-force. Unfortunately, there seems to be an unknown archer in town racking up their victim count, which includes Sara Lance. Laurel asks to join in the hunt to find her sister's killer, but initially Oliver refuses, prompting Laurel to see training from Ted Grant, eventually donning her sister's Canary persona.
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Now the death of Sara has put Oliver's attempts at mending the relationship with Thea at risk as he is being forced to break his promise of no secrets in order to keep the truth of her involvement in Sara's death from her.

[attr="class","official-header"]In Central City

[attr="class","official-content"]After witnessing his mother's supernatural murder and his father's wrongful conviction for the crime, Barry Allen is taken in by Detective Joe West and his family. Allen becomes a brilliant but socially awkward crime scene investigator for the Central City Police Department. His obsession with his tragic past causes him to become an outcast among his peers; he investigates cold cases, paranormal occurrences, and cutting-edge scientific advancements that may shed light on his mother's murder. No one believes his description of the crime—that a ball of lightning with the face of a man invaded their home that night—and Allen is fiercely driven to vindicate himself and to clear his father's name.
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Fourteen years after his mother's death, an advanced particle accelerator malfunctions during its public unveiling, bathing the city center with a previously unknown form of radiation and creating a severe thunderstorm. Allen is struck by lightning from the storm and doused with chemicals in his lab. Awakening after a nine-month coma, he discovers he has the ability to move at superhuman speeds.
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Dr. Harrison Wells, the disgraced designer of the failed particle accelerator, describes Barry's special nature as metahuman; Allen soon discovers that he is not the only one who was changed by the radiation. Allen vows to use his gifts to protect Central City from the escalating violence of metahuman criminals. He is aided by a few close friends and associates who guard his secrets.
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With the recent revelation of metahumans, Joe has begun to assist Barry in his search for his mother's killer.