Arrow Recap: Oliver Passes the Green Arrow Mantle on, but to Who?

After five years under the hood (and two very public accusations of vigilantism), Arrow's Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) might finally be hanging up his bow and arrow.

Even though he somehow managed to beat the Arrow accusations thanks to Curtis (Echo Kellum) and Felicity's (Emily Bett Rickards) successful efforts to expose the photographic evidence of his secret identity as fake, Oliver still couldn't justify going out and risking his life. As William's (Jack Moore) only living parent, he realized it would be irresponsible and selfish for him to continue his crusade to save the city if it eventually made his son an orphan.

So who might be picking up the mantle of Green Arrow, you ask? Possibly the worst option.

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Now don't get us wrong, we love Diggle (David Ramsey). On a regular day, we'd even set aside the fact that after five years as Oliver's friend, partner and bodyguard, he hasn't picked up a lick of archery.

There's a better reason than Diggle's lack of proficiency with the bow why he should not be going out every night as team leader. Thanks to a seriously close call with one of the explosions on the island, Diggle had degenerative nerve damage in his shoulder. He'd kept his little run-in with the shrapnel a secret since Thea (Willa Holland) and Samantha (Anna Hopkins) had priority due to the severity of their injuries, but now it's a real problem.

Nerve damage in his shoulder means limited mobility, which means he can't do something pretty important when you're talking about using a bow: aim! Dinah (Juliana Harkavay) nearly died because he couldn't back her up in the field without risking shooting her instead of her attacker.

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The real kicker is that Diggle was just about to fess up to Oliver about his injury and resign from active duty before Oliver asked him to put on the hood. What was he going to say? "No, Oliver, actually I can't have your back and make sure that you go home to your son every night because I sometimes get the shakes in my right arm." Well, that's exactly what he should have said, but we get that he just wanted to be there for Oliver. Diggle's loyalty is one of his best (and currently worst) qualities.

The real question now is how long we have to wait before the truth comes out. Until Oliver notices Diggle is not at the top of his game? Or until we get the first fatality on Diggle's watch?

Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

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