Arrow Season 7 Premiere: 6 Ups & 2 Downs From ‘Inmate 4587’

1. That Jaw-Dropping Ending

There were undoubtedly a lot of the show's anti-flashback fans that let out a groan when the season premiere randomly transitioned into a flashback narrative. That is, until we found out that it wasn't actually a flashback. It was a flash-forward.

These scenes revolved around a mysterious stranger who sailed off to Lian Yu, knowing that he would encounter an archer on the island. That archer turned out to be none other than Roy Harper (the returning Colton Haynes), who questioned the intruder.

While that was surprising enough, the episode's final scene threw things into complete disarray as the young man revealed that he was actually William (Oliver's son), showing off the arrowhead that Felicity had given the younger version of him earlier in the episode. Then, as Roy walked into the light, viewers discovered that he was much older, confirming that these weren't glimpses of the past... they were glimpses of the future.

Utilising the flashback format to tell a story that is set in the future is undoubtedly a stroke of genius on the creative team's part. How this storyline is even possible yet, we don't know, but the premiere has single-handedly set up what might be the most compelling arc that the show has ever tackled, and it leaves with a lot of questions. Questions that we need answers to very soon.