ARROW: Marc Guggenheim on Slade vs. Oliver, Thea, and More

ARROW has a lot of storylines up in the air, but most immediately, Slade has Thea, and there’s no way Oliver is going to handle that well.

ARROW boss Marc Guggenheim recently spoke with reporters about what’s to come with Thea, Slade vs. Oliver, Oliver’s secret, and more…

On Thea:

Now that Thea (accidentally) walked straight into harm’s way by taking a ride from Slade at the end of episode 17, she won’t be great shape when the show picks up in episode 18.

“I think she’s in physical danger and emotional danger,” Guggenheim previewed. “And the Sword of Damocles that being held over her in episode 18 is a double-edged sword: it’s both physical and emotional. And I can guarantee, by the end of 18, one of those blades is going to cut her.”

And the fallout from that, Guggenheim teased, could impact one of the most important relationships in Thea’s life.

“Thea learns something pretty massive in episode 18,” he teased. “And it will cause a tectonic shift in her relationship with Oliver.”

On Slade vs. Oliver:

Oliver and Slade have been circling each other — sometimes knowingly, other times, not — for much of the season, and that won’t lessen as the season heads towards its end point.

“You will definitely see a series of showdowns, that are not repetitive,” Guggenheim shared. “Their confrontation in episode 19 is a very unexpected one; the way it unfolds is very unexpected. But this whole season has been about Oliver versus Slade…so I don’t think it’ll be a surprise to say the conclusion of their story won’t happen until the final episode of the season.”

On Slade:

While there’s no question Slade isn’t all there, mentally, Guggenheim balked at calling him outright insane.

“We try to not use the ‘i’ word as it were,” he said. “He’s clearly not in his right mind. And I think episode 18 will give you a lot of insight to what’s going on in his head. Episode 18 is called ‘Deathstroke’ because we really do get a feel for his agenda, where he’s coming from, but also what’s going on in his head. But hopefully episode 18 will at the very least give you a big insight [into him].”

On people knowing Oliver’s secret:

The ARROW writers are aware some fans think too many people know Oliver’s secret, but Guggenheim teased that additional people will learn what’s going on before the season ends.

“I would say it’s going to go up,” Guggenheim said. “By the finale, more people will know. We talk about this a lot in the writers’ room: are there too many characters that just know, and does it diminish the secret identity. What we’ve come from is the philosophy that when people know, when members of our cast of characters know, it draws them into Oliver’s world, and it draws them into the show more. So we tend to get more story out of people knowing versus people not knowing.”

“And you can say too many people know, but we kind of use THE DARK KNIGHT trilogy as our gold star or gold compass: a lot of people knew, particularly by the third movie, that Bruce Wayne was Batman,” he continued. “And it doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of watching those stories unfold. Obviously different philosophies and different points of view. I know I wrote that line in episode 12, ‘How many people know? Too many people.’ as a nod to all the fans who have been complaining, even since episode 16 of last year when Tommy [was told the truth] as a nod to those fans who do feel like it’s too many. But for us as writers, I think we’ve proven this, we always go for what gives us more stories and interesting story. And for now at least, certain people knowing is more interesting than certain people not knowing.”

On Malcolm:

Malcolm popped up earlier this season — and Oliver and Moira are still keeping Thea’s true paternity from her — but Guggenheim was coy about whether John Barrowman (Malcolm) would play a part in the rest of the season.

“The secret that Moira and now Oliver have been keeping from Thea will cast a long shadow over the rest of the season,” Guggenheim allowed. “That will play a pretty big role up until the finale.”

On Sara and Oliver:

Oliver may be personally happier than he has seemed in a bit, but don’t expect the temporarily smooth sailing for his romance with Sara to stick.

“I don’t think anyone is ever in a good place for too long on ARROW,” Guggenheim pointed out. “I will say, where they are right now is not where they will end up by the end of the year — either personally or professionally.”

On what happens next:

A lot of stuff has gone down on ARROW recently, but as the show heads to it final episodes of the season, the pace doesn’t slow down at all.

“Truth be told, those five episodes beyond 18 pack a lot of story we still had to get to,” Guggenheim said. “We always knew how this season would end, and we knew the moment we were building up to, and we knew a big chunk of moments we wanted to have, and to cram them all into the remaining five episodes was quite the trick. So we’re on a rocket ride from 19-23, post-18. We always talk about the season as being chapters in a book: 18 closes one chapter, and the final chapter is 19-23.”

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ARROW airs Wednesdays at 8 PM on The CW.

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