Arrow (TV Series) This Is Your Sword (2015) User Reviews

A season highlight, a SERIES highlight, that Season 3's end really needed.

[DarthTARDIS · 10/10 · 7 May 2015]

On whole, I've enjoyed season three, and think it gets a lot of unwarranted flak, but it has had its flaws, and I thought this season really needed, in this episode, to step up its game to season two level and hammer down with the awesome stuff fans were in desperate need of. It did.

One problem the Arrow writers will forever face is the sheer division of its fanbase. You have the "Olicity" group, then the group adamantly against them and think its soiling the show, then the Black Canary lovers and haters, and then comic fans, etc, etc. It's simply a matter of fact you can't please them all.

But I truly think "This is Your Sword" came pretty close, with a little something for everyone but not too much for those who didn't want it. What was brilliant above all was seeing Arrow return to its roots as a comic show, not the romance one it was slipping towards (romance is an important part of the comics, but it's never at the forefront). It was emotional, it felt real and human, the story was well written- there was some occasional spotty dialogue, from Felicity mainly, but she was definitely back at her game as the Felicity Smoak fans of her have missed, not the crying version she was sliding towards. And, above all, it was action packed- it felt like I was watching a superhero show. And that's what I tune in for and have loved this show for.

I feel like this week's amazing cliffhanger would have been that much more awesome if we went completely without a promo for next week, cruel as that would be, but you can't hold the writers/producers to that. The promos are done by an entirely different marketing department. The last scene was raw with emotion and wonderfully shot. The score was excellent, too. Roy and Thea wrapping up was a highlight as we saw the end to what I think was the best and most organic romance on the show (opinion, of course). The CGI was great, and the choreography was excellent. Also, finally, the flashbacks really showed some substance and gave us some needed explanations.

I'm excited to see the show move towards Green Arrow, now that the Arrow is dead, and Oliver Queen is a changed person. Great, enjoyable, edge-of-your-seat kind of episode which complimented and featured all of the cast fairly and finally gave us the superhero show we've missed back. Bring on the finale.

A good episode.

[gca_36 · 8/10 · 7 May 2015]

Well, I think this episode was solid. There were no major flaws in it, though the revelation of Oliver joining the league being a charade seemed to me a bit rushed. Anyway it was just a minor flaw and didn't have much of a negative "aftertaste". The suspicion of Ras about a traitor in the league and believing Tatsu when she said it was Maseo, wasn't very convincing to me. There were a few more small inconsistencies, but they didn't tick me of and despite of them I enjoyed this episode.

Likes: The action was quite good and I liked the sword fight between Maseo and Tatsu. The closure of the Roy-Thea romance was good and it gave us a glimpse into the character development of Thea in season 4, I guess. It would be great to replace Black Canary with Thea as new Arsenal in Team Arrow. Hope dies last, right?

Dislikes: Were there any dislikes? Yes, the usual. Black Canary was as usual annoying. I have to say, it is overdue to get rid of her, but I have doubts it will happen soon. Ray was back in this episode. Fortunately he didn't have much screen time.

After this episode I am curious how the season finale will be and what direction it will reveal for season 4.

This is Your Sword

[SpideyVerse23 · 9/10 · 26 January 2023]

This episode sets the stage for the finale with some awesome stuff. It is revealed that Oliver is not brainwashed and has a plan to destroy the League for which he needs the team's help. We get to see Tatsu return in the present day again. Even Ray gets to join in the fight and suit up as the ATOM in what was a very well done action sequence in Nanda Parbat.

Thea goes to meet Roy and gets to say goodbye to him while also finishing her development into a hero with a suit.

The flashbacks show how Oliver and Maseo desperately try to save Maseo's son but the they just don't resonate or interest me since it was already revealed what happens.

Decent episode, but with some issues.

[holyrhino1996 · 7/10 · 29 June 2015]

This was a good episode, I'm not going to deny that. However, the writing is certainly not on-par with Season One and Season Two.

Let's start with the highlights first.

1. The Music.

If this season has had one redeeming quality it has been the music. It is excellently done and implemented just as well.

2. A glimpse of the old Felicity.

Without question, this season has all-but destroyed Felicity's character by attempting to force this irritating "Olicity" nonsense that only a minority of fangirls actually want, yet the writers are going along with because they are very vocal fangirls.

However, in this episode we got a glimpse; if just for a moment, of the Season One/Two Felicity. I am, of course, referring to the "Oh, that makes more sense" line. That was genuinely funny, hardly redeems what they're done to her character but at least it's something.

3. The fight on the beach.

Okay, so I do also have some issues with this that I shall get onto later but I'll admit it; the beach scene was cool. Good action, the aforementioned Felicity line/great music, Tatsu and Ray joining in and general badassery from Malcolm.

4. Cliffhanger ending.

The episode ended on a good cliffhanger in preparation for the Season Finale.

Now for the issues.

1. "Thanks for the suit, but I always thought red was more your colour anyway."

I'm sorry Roy, but in what way did you always think red was Thea's colour? I can't remember her ever even wearing red but I can't think of a scene you've been in where you weren't wearing red except when you were in prison and when you were in bed this episode. How is red Thea's colour and not yours- Oh, right that was a contrived attempt to transfer your costume over to Thea so she can become Speedy. But what is going to happen to Roy now? I guess Arsenal is out of the series now, pity he was a really cool character. Maybe he'll return in season 4, but...

2. The League sucks now.

Is it me or has the League of Assassins had a major nerf this season? Before Season Two we had nothing to judge the league by other than Malcolm, but he was an extremely intimidating foe. Oliver lost to him twice and almost killed himself in order to win by the skin of his teeth the third time.

With Season Two we were given a better idea of their capabilities. One of their top assassins proved almost too much for both Oliver and Sara and even the "ordinary" assassins are a challenge. However, in season three Diggle and even Laurel (after a month's training) can easily take multiple assassins on in hand-to-hand combat.

Bear in mind that these are feats that Season Two Oliver could only barely perform after almost seven years of intense training. For Malcolm or Oliver to be able to take down multiple assassins at once I am fine with, they are the best of the best. However... Laurel (who was beaten up by a single junkie a few episodes beforehand)? And, as much as I love Diggle; "Dig, you may be a three tour Special Forces veteran but I was trained by the people who make the Special Forces look like Kindergarten class" . It seems that Sara was deceiving us with that line, it doesn't mean that the League are actually skilled, it just means that the Special Forces (other than Diggle) are pansies.

3. Terrible insurance plan.

So, if hypothetically you wanted to stop a plane that you believe to be carrying an extremely lethal airborne Bio-Weapon, in what way should you NOT go about doing this? Ah yes, blowing it up. That is a terrible, terrible idea. Granted, it was their insurance plan and they had originally intended to shut it down and detonating it there where it will only kill themselves and the League is better than letting it reach Starling City, but given their reactions I genuinely do not think they had even considered what would happen if the virus had been on that plane. Presumably they knew more about the fictional Bio- Weapon's chemistry than I do, maybe the heat of the igniting jet fuel during the explosion would have been enough to kill the virus and they did consider this possibility already, but it's unclear.

when did Luarel suddenly become a Master?

[mansursherrer · 1/10 · 2 June 2015]

Don't tell me that this episode skipped 8 seasons. How did Luarel go from getting beat my by random muggers to fighting of 3 league of assassins soldiers at the same time in a few weeks. I hope someone else noticed this.

I've always disliked Luarel's character but to transform a week woman into a master in a few weeks just goes against any kind of logic. Even Sponge-bob makes more sense.

I rated this episode a 1 because of Luarel. Diggle's performance saved the episode from being rated negative 10. I love the arrow series very must but sadly this girl is messing with my enjoyment of the show.

Diggle's performance=10

Luarel just being there=-20

to be clear the - means negative

Insurance

[ThomasDrufke · 7/10 · 6 May 2015]

I said last week that I was worried about where Arrow is headed, and that hasn't changed. Everything that I started to really buy into with the show, is gone. Sara is gone, Roy left, and Team Arrow was at it's peak. After tonight, I don't think any one of Oliver's friends can trust him again. Yes it was somehow all a plan, SOMEHOW. So sure, you would think Felicity, Diggle, Ray, and even Malcom will all forgive him for putting them through great lengths. And yes, it's likely that the gas at the end is some sort of sleeping substance, but everything about this episode pretty much ticked me off.

But I still have faith in everything the writers are doing. I still have hope that this episode will play a lot better once we have seen the end of season 3. But did you see the look on Felicity's face when she heard Oliver was marrying Nyssa? Or Diggle's face when he confronted him about kidnapping his wife? Those weren't forgiving faces, and if that's the case, Arrow will never be the same.

Going back to what the episode actually consisted of, we began with the flashbacks, which are beginning to feel really brief and rushed. Akio is now dead and the Yamashiro's and Oliver are captured. The boy's death was rough, but I felt like we didn't get to spend enough time with all of them to feel the impact the writers wanted. Onto present day, Malcom attempts to regain Team Arrow's trust by revealing Oliver & him had a plan all along. To me, it feels like a cop out to what we have been watching this season. Season 1 & 2 Oliver devised some sort of plan against his enemies and it worked. But the entire season 3 he has consistently told us that he has no plans for the league and has no idea how to fight them. All of a sudden he comes up with a plan? Nah. Then to hear Malcom pleading for his life by revealing Oliver's plan? It's just too many twists and turns. And oh by the way, Oliver straight up killed people for Ras. I would like to think with how far Oliver has come, he would find some other way. Stick to what you're good at, don't get lazy writers. According to them, it takes 10 minutes to get to Nanda Parbat with the amount of back and forths this episode had.

It was nice to see Katana and Ray join the team in combat this week. Ray provided his charm and comedic relief as usual, and it was definitely welcomed this week. Felicity also had some great moments with Malcom and her threat to him was pretty awesome, classic Felicity. Katana's fight and the ensuing tragic death of Maseo was also handled well. I definitely did not expect it, and it was also a twist that didn't seem far fetched or forced. After all of the Nanda Parbat chaos, the show brings up a few questions. Now that we have closure with Roy and Thea, which was nice to see, will Thea don the costume? It's unlikely, but will Roy ever return? It's a shame because I actually started to like Roy. So with Oliver being still with the league, how do they explain the fact that he shows up to HELP Flash next week? Also, where has Lance been? That makes 3 episodes that he has sat out of. So to me, this episode was probably the most disappointing of the season. It's strictly my opinion, and I don't blame people for really loving this storyline. But it's just not Arrow anymore to me.

+Felicity on top of her game

+Thea & Roy closure

+Ray & Katana fight with the team

+Diggle rage

-Cop out twists

-Team Arrow is seriously gone now. There's no going back

-How does Oliver help Flash now?

7.0/10