After years spent surviving the brutal terrain of a remote Pacific island, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen returns to Starling City a haunted man, burdened by a dying wish from his father to "right the wrongs" of their family legacy. Struggling with severe PTSD and a world that moved on without him, Oliver masquerades as a hooded vigilante to dismantle a conspiracy of the city's corrupt elite. However, the mission is far more complex than a simple list of names; Oliver finds himself caught in a web of global industrial sabotage, metahuman enforcers like the unbreakable Brick, and the rise of a "Dark Archer" who mirrors his every move.
As Oliver recruits a ragtag team—including his stoic bodyguard John Diggle, the brilliant hacker Felicity Smoak, and a defiant street-thief named Roy Harper—he must navigate the wreckage of his personal life. He faces the resentment of Laurel Lance, who is secretly reclaiming her own heroic identity as the Black Canary, and the tragic spiral of his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. The season hurtles toward "The Undertaking," a catastrophic plan to level the city's poorest district, forcing Oliver to decide if he is a hunter seeking vengeance or a hero capable of inspiring a broken city.
