Arrow season 7 episode 2, "The Longbow Hunters", has left viewers with even more questions than they had following the season premiere. Strangely enough, most of these questions do not involve the titular villains who were introduced in the episode, despite there being a great aura of mystery and anticipation around the team of assassins whom crime boss Ricardo Diaz has hired as his new gang. In fact, the latest Arrow episode does not even identify the individual Hunters (Red Dart, Kodiak and The Silencer) by their respective code names.
In the original Green Arrow comics, The Longbow Hunters was a team of supervillains, led by Ricardo "The Dragon" Diaz, who had all been defeated by Green Arrow in the past and united to put an end to their mutual enemy once and for all. The Arrowverse version of The Longbow Hunters are a secretive group of assassins who are so ruthless that even The League of Assassins refuse to deal with them. Presumably, an explanation will eventually be given for why they are known as The Longbow Hunters when none of them fights with a longbow and the trio of villains have no previous association with Green Arrow.
Related: Arrow: 9 Big Questions We Have After The Season 7 Premiere
Most of the questions raised by "The Longbow Hunters" center around the flash-forward sequences which were introduced in "Inmate 4587." The episode made a number of surprising revelations regarding what happens to Oliver Queen's son William Clayton and Oliver's protege Roy "Arsenal" Harper in the not too distant future. Yet there are still a number of things keeping viewers guessing in the modern day storylines as well.
10. Are We Sure Digg Isn't The New Green Arrow?
The new Green Arrow didn't make an appearance in "The Longbow Hunters" but the episode seemed to eliminate John "Digg" Diggle from the list of suspects regarding the question of who the new Green Arrow is. Much of the episode was devoted towards an argument between Felicity Smoak and Digg regarding just how Digg is going about honoring Oliver's legacy. Felicity accuses Digg of breaking his promise to keep Star City safe by not taking up the mantle of Green Arrow like Oliver asked him to in the Season 6 finale. Digg contends that he can do more good in his new job as an agent of ARGUS but does admit that he's terrified that working as a vigilante might destroy his family in the same way it destroyed Oliver's life with William and Felicity.
It should be noted that this is a complete 180 from Digg's attitude on becoming Green Arrow during season 6, where he and Oliver came to blows over Oliver's sudden refusal to retire after asking Digg to become Green Arrow so that Oliver could focus on being a father and mayor of Star City. Digg went so far as to secretly seek out an illegal steroid that helped to calm the nerve damage he sustained in the final battle with Prometheus in Arrow season 5, so steadfast was his commitment to becoming the new Green Arrow. Still, Digg's change of heart does make sense given the events of the past five months and the increased scrutiny that all of Team Arrow is under following Oliver Queen being exposed to the world as Green Arrow. This is particularly true of Digg, whom we are told has already gotten into trouble with his superiors at ARGUS for devoting too many resources to the hunt for Ricardo Diaz.
This suggests an interesting possibility: what if Digg's newfound commitment to law and order is the ultimate mask? Perhaps he used some of those ARGUS resources to build a new Arrowcave on the sly? Having several arguments with Felicity inside ARGUS HQ would also be a fantastic way for Digg to throw suspicion off of himself if he were secretly working as the new Green Arrow and the events of the episode proved that he has no trouble withholding information from Felicity for what he sees as the greater good despite their friendship. Finally, John Diggle being the new Green Arrow might explain why we heard nothing about the new Green Arrow being out and around in this episode - he was too busy with his business at ARGUS to go out in his other identity.
Related: Theory: The New Green Arrow Is [SPOILER]
9. Why Did Brick Want Officer Yorke Out Of The Way?
After being released from solitary confinement, Oliver Queen discovers that his old enemy Danny "Brick" Brickwell was responsible for recruiting the inmates who delivered a beating and a message that Ricardo Diaz knew where Oliver's wife and son were hiding. When Oliver confronts Brick on this point, Brick is surprisingly agreeable to telling Oliver where Diaz is hiding, provided Oliver get rid of Officer Yorke - one of the guards in Slabside Penitentiary. Oliver asks why it's so important to get this one guard out of the way but Brick says that's not for Oliver to know. Does this have something to do with the side-hustle Brick tried to recruit Oliver for in last week's Arrow or is Brick just out for petty revenge against one of the more irritating guards?
8. What Exactly Is The Scope of ARGUS' Operations?
As Diggle is coordinating ARGUS' efforts to go after The Longbow Hunters following their theft of a new super battery, he is approached by the Deputy Director of ARGUS. Digg is reminded that ARGUS is not chartered to conduct criminal investigations and that his first priority should be recovering the stolen property rather than capturing Ricardo Diaz. This raises the question of exactly when and where ARGUS is allowed to operate.
In the past ARGUS (an acronym for Advanced Research Group United Support) had been depicted as an American anti-terrorist organization that operated in secret. Their charter was seemingly quite broad, as the organization had been seen acting domestically to capture professional assassins like Deadshot, operating overseas through Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad and containing metahuman criminals from alternate realities like Black Siren and King Shark. While it is realistic for a federal agency to be far more limited in their scope, it still seems highly unlikely that the organization couldn't find some way to charge Diaz with terrorism activity given some of what he's attempted in the past. It's also unclear why ARGUS couldn't hold him without charges as they did in the case of the hacker Cayden James during Arrow's fifth season. Perhaps Waller was overstepping the bounds of her authority as director of ARGUS and they're trying to clean up the organization in the wake of her death?
Related: Who The New Green Arrow Definitely ISN'T
7. What Is The Ultimate Goal Behind Diaz's Thefts?
Arrow's latest episode sees Ricardo Diaz and The Longbow Hunters working to steal both an experimental new super battery capable of powering a city and an experimental new energy weapon. Digg reveals that the super battery also has an adapter that could be used in conjunction with a number of energy weapons to make them powerful enough to destroy an entire city. Could it be possible that Diaz now seeks to destroy Star City, having lost his ability to turn it into his own personal kingdom?
6. Why Do Oliver and Felicity Abandon William?
Though we miss out on the details of the conversation, the first flash-forward scene between an adult William Clayton and Roy Harper on Lian Yu reveals that Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak abandoned him as a teenager. William glibly says that he survived with nothing worse than a major case of commitment issues that ruined things with one boyfriend and went on to become a tech billionaire. Still, one has to wonder what could cause Oliver and Felicity to break off contact with William, given that rebuilding their family is the biggest priority for both characters in the modern day.
Page 2 of 2: More Questions About Arrow Season 2, Episode 2
5. Why Does Felicity Guide William To Lian Yu?
In the flash-forwards, William reveals that the Queen Family Hozen - the stone arrowhead which has been given from family member to family member as a symbol of reconnection - had been altered by Felicity. Three weeks earlier, the Hozen began beeping, leading William to discover a hidden display built into arrowhead, which gave him the coordinates to Lian Yu. He says that it's clear that Felicity wanted him to come to the island for some reason but what that reason is remains a complete mystery.
4. Why Exactly Is Roy Harper On Lian Yu?
Another complete mystery is why Roy Harper just happened to be on Lian Yu at the time William Clayton showed up there. William asks him about this but Roy quickly changes the subject, asking William how he got the Queen Family Hozen, which Roy recognized from when Thea Queen gave it to him before he returned it to her as a symbol of his desire to rekindle their romance. While it makes sense that Roy Harper might need to lie low in a remote location given that the world thinks he is dead in the modern day, it still seems odd that he'd settle on the island where his mentor was trapped for so many years. It seems likely there is more to this beyond Roy's later insistence that he was just trying to get away from his past.
Related: Arrow Theory: The New Green Arrow Is William From The Future
3. What Happened To Thea Queen?
There is another occasion where Roy Harper is quick to change the subject when William asks him about the past. This occurs as William recalls how the first time he met Roy Harper was just before Roy and Thea Queen left to go on a trip somewhere. Roy tersely tells William that he won't get anywhere with him by dredging up the past. Clearly Thea is a sticking point with Roy, but why? Did their romance go south after their seemingly happy ending? Or did she come to a violent end that Roy is trying to forget?
2. Why Is Oliver's Bow Buried On Lian Yu?
Roy and William eventually track the exact coordinates Felicity sent William to a fifth grave buried next to the four loved ones Oliver Queen lost while on Lian Yu. It is here that they find the old chest which contained Oliver's equipment from Lian Yu when he first went back to civilization and Oliver's first bow inside of it. Roy finds a message hidden in a compartment in the bow, which he says requires them to return to Star City. While this is a big question in and of itself, the reasons for why Oliver Queen's Green Arrow gear would be buried on Lian Yu are not explored.
1. What Is Felicity's Plan In Going To Agent Watson?
The episode ends with Felicity Smoak seeking the most unlikely ally imaginable in her new mission to capture Ricardo Diaz at any cost. The final scene shows Felicity confronting Samandra Watson - the FBI agent who spent most of the sixth season trying to expose Oliver Queen as The Green Arrow. Watson was also responsible for negotiating the plea-bargain that would allow the rest of Team Arrow to escape prosecution and win the FBI's help in bringing down Ricardo Diaz's empire if Oliver turned himself in.
It's unclear what Felicity hopes to gain from an alliance with the FBI, even assuming an arrangement can be reached. Watson was wholly unsympathetic towards Team Arrow's goals in the past and indeed went out of her way to point out that her deal with Oliver only required they destroy Diaz's empire - not capture Diaz himself. This has led many to conclude that Watson is in Diaz's pocket - an idea that seems increasingly likely given the ease with which Diaz is apparently avoiding a manhunt run by the FBI and ARGUS. Hopefully this will be resolved one way or another as the seventh season of Arrow continues.