Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Arrow, season 8, episode 9, "Green Arrow & the Canaries."
"Green Arrow & the Canaries" was more than the backdoor pilot for an Arrow spin-off; it was also the first look at how the cornerstone of the Arrowverse was changed by Crisis on Infinite Earths and where the future of the biggest shared universe in television history is heading.
When it was announced that Crisis on Infinite Earths would be adapted for the 2019 Arrowverse crossover, it was presumed that big changes were on the way. Those changes began even before the event started, with Arrow season 8 returning to the world of Star City 2040 first introduced during season 7's flash-forwards. Early on in the season, the children of Star City's heroes were sent 20 years into their past, inadvertently changing the future with their actions.
With Crisis on Infinite Earths having drastically changed the present day Arrowverse, it was even more uncertain just how much things might have changed in the future. Ignoring the earlier actions of Mia Smoak and her allies, it was safely assumed that merging the Earths of Black Lightning and Supergirl into Earth-Prime might result in some big changes to the timeline. Here's a breakdown of everything that is different in the future of Arrow following Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Star City Is In Great Shape
From the very first scene of "Green Arrow & the Canaries," it is clear that the familiar Star City of the future is, paradoxically, a thing of the past. The dystopian nightmare ruled by a small group of rich elites from within their ivory towers in The Glades is no more. The new Star City 2040 is in great shape, with Mayor Rene Ramirez (the former Wild Dog) seeking his third consecutive term and no major crimes in 20 years.
The Queen Mansion Is Intact & Still In The Family
Oliver Queen originally lost his family estate during the hostile takeover of the Queen family's assets initiated by Isabel Rochev during Arrow season 2. It was later burned down by the Church of Blood during the events of the Arrow Season 2.5 comic book. Precisely how the mansion was restored and came back into the ownership of the Queen family is not explained (presumably Felicity Smoak bought it after Smoak Tech became successful) but we see the ancestral home in all its glory in an establishing shot as Mia Queen wakes up.
Oliver Queen Is Idolized In Star City
Originally the people of Star City in the year 2040 hated the vigilantes who risked their lives to protect them and freely gave up their rights to politicians and corporations who promised them safety from the dangers costumed crime-fighters attracted. Things are quite different in the new Star City, where Mia Queen is a celebrity purely because of her father's reputation as a hero. There is also a bronze statue of Oliver Queen as the Green Arrow in one of the city's parks; an unthinkable accomplishment given he was a pariah after being outed as a vigilante and sent to prison just over one year ago. Mention is also made of Star City supporting a Vigilante Museum.
Mia and William Grew Up Together
One of Oliver Queen's dying wishes during Crisis on Infinite Earths was for his allies to make sure that Felicity Smoak fought to get custody of both their children, so William and Mia could grow up together. This request came after Oliver met his children as young adults when they traveled to the past and learned they had both grown up as only children. Even before we see how close Mia and William are in the new reality at Mia's graduation party, their new history is confirmed by a picture on Mia's bedside table, showing a tween William holding a toddler Mia.
Mia Is Upper Class & A College Graduate
In the original Star City 2040 timeline, Mia Smoak was home-schooled in a small town before she ran away from home as a teenager. She never graduated from high school, instead furthering her education in the fighting pits and cage matches in the Star City underground under the name Blackstar. Mia's background in the new reality is drastically different, with Mia having a decidedly upper-class upbringing and having just graduated from college. She also goes by Mia Queen in the new reality.
William Is Running Smoak Tech & Newly Single
Before Crisis on Infinite Earths, William Clayton was a self-made billionaire who ran his own tech company. He had a steady boyfriend and commitment issues, which he blamed on being abandoned by his father and foster mother as a tween. In the new reality, William has taken over Smoak Tech and, thanks to his new upbringing, his commitment issues are gone. Unfortunately so is his boyfriend, who was apparently the one with commitment issues in this reality.
JJ Diggle Is Mia's Fiance & Manages An Art Gallery
When Mia, William, and Connor Hawke traveled into the past, John Diggle was stunned to learn the son he named after himself was destined to become the leader of a gang called the Deathstrokes. Apparently the warning and the two Team Arrows defeating the Deathstroke gang as they were getting established in 2019 was enough to change destiny. In the new timeline, John Diggle Jr. (JJ to his friends) is the respected manager of an art gallery. He is also, as the episode opens, Mia Queen's fiance.
Zoe Ramirez Is Alive & Well But No Longer A Canary
One of the defining tragedies of Mia Smoak's life was the death of Zoe Ramirez. The daughter of Wild Dog and Dinah Drake's protege as Black Canary, Zoe died defending Mia from the leader of the Deathstrokes just before the rest of the future Team Arrow was sent back to the past by the Monitor. Zoe only appears briefly in "Green Arrow & the Canaries," putting in an appearance at Mia Queen's graduation party. Sadly, we don't learn much about her in the new reality beyond the fact that she's alive.
Connor Hawke Is The Bad Son Of The Diggle Brothers
In the original future of Star City, Connor Hawke was a respected federal agent with Knightwatch and the on-again/off-again lover of Mia Smoak. Sadly, Connor's status seems to have fallen in the new reality at the same time that his adoptive brother JJ's star has risen. Like Zoe, Connor crashes Mia's graduation party. Unlike Zoe, Connor is not warmly welcomed and Mia pointedly asks him if he's still in rehab and if he's planning on starting a fight or setting something on fire.
Dinah Just Woke Up In 2040 & Never Existed In 2020.
The morning after Oliver Queen's funeral, Dinah Drake woke up in the future of Star City. The former police captain built a new life for herself under an assumed name, opening up a piano bar and buying the loft apartment in the clock tower above it. Disturbingly, there was no record of Dinah Drake having ever existed in the modern-day Arrowverse or there being a second Black Canary who joined Team Arrow after the death of Laurel Lance. Dinah has avoided thinking about this, however, taking it as a sign that the universe didn't want her to be a hero and put her someplace she didn't have to worry about saving people, despite the fact that her Canary Cry power has been restored.
Helena Bertinelli Adopted A Daughter Then Disappeared
The action of "Green Arrow & the Canaries" centers around the abduction of Bianca Bertinelli, the socialite daughter of Helena Bertinelli. The former Huntress doesn't make an appearance in the episode, but Laurel Lance doesn't dismiss the possibility that Bianca was kidnapped by an old enemy of her mother's. It is revealed that Bianca was adopted and Mia says that Helena was a great mother before she disappeared mysteriously. Between this and the suggestion that Laurel got to know Helena at some point in the past, it seems likely that Huntress and Black Canary teamed up sometime shortly after Oliver Queen's death; perhaps as the Arrowverse's Birds of Prey team?
There's No Canary Network... Yet
With Star City in good shape, there's been no need for Dinah Drake to start the Canary Network like she did in the original timeline. However, by the end of the episode, Dinah has begun to reconsider her retirement from vigilantism and started thinking that the future could use a few good women to save it. To that end, she asks Laurel Lance (who has decided to stick around the future for a while before hitching a ride back to 2020 with Sara Lance on the Waverider) to help her with establishing the Canary Network in the new timeline.
There Is A New Deathstroke
"Green Arrow & the Canaries" not only sees a new Green Arrow established in the future of Star City but also a new version of Arrow's greatest villain. The new Deathstroke is revealed to be involved in the kidnapping of Bianca Bertinelli and also seems to be trafficking a new Mirakuru formula, perhaps intent on starting an army of super-soldiers like the original Deathstroke did over 25 years earlier. At the very least, he's transporting some kind of drug, but he was able to firebomb the vehicle containing the cases holding the drug before Green Arrow and the Canaries could analyze it. Either way, the future of the Arrowverse is definitely in peril.