Arrow 7x17 "Inheritance" Episode Review
Major Spoilers are included in this episode review. Please read with caution.
This episode was mostly predictable, but it was entertaining predictable with one huge character twist I didn’t see coming about The Ninth Circle. Yeah, they were name-dropped in the newest episode, but the Longbow Hunters are still nowhere to be found. I really thought they’d come back by now.
Emiko Queen is indeed a member of The Ninth Circle, but the plot twist behind that is…
Dante is not the leader. Yes, he trained Emiko after her father (Robert Queen) abandoned her, but he’s not the one in charge. More twists that make sense considering the next season will be the end. Emiko Queen is the leader of the Ninth Circle and our main antagonist of the season. This is pretty awesome if you don’t think too hard into it. She also threatened to kill Dante if he disobeyed her… so badass.
No flashforwards were in this episode, but instead we were given an Emiko-centric flashback story: when Robert left their family, how she met / trained with Dante, and one last meeting with her father days before he got on the Queen’s Gambit with Oliver. Arrow might have another twist coming regarding the accident caused by Malcolm Merlyn… Emiko may have been involved because she had the blue prints.
This setup could make Emiko Queen the final villain of the series, the one who sent Oliver Queen on his five years in hell. Malcolm Merlyn did indeed cause the accident—he’s admitted this to Oliver and Sara, but maybe he hired the Ninth Circle to do it for him, and Emiko accepted the job.
Then, we have the flash forward story to consider, and how Felicity creating the Archer Program will be the end of Star City, and the rise to the Glades. The Ninth Circle would most likely target Oliver Queen’s family, and that’s why Olicity had to leave without telling anybody about the pregnancy.
Alena returned in this episode. I have missed her, and I’m glad she’s a part of Smoak Technologies.
Laurel Lance E-2 is on the path to redemption and is getting on Oliver’s good side because of her bond with Felicity. The episode description was inaccurate. Felicity did not have to make a choose between Laurel and the team, but based on the next episode coming, she might have to soon. Her scenes with Dinah were tense, but I hate how Dinah mentioned her dead boyfriend.
That’s not right of her, and I’m glad Laurel called her out for it.
Overall, it was fun in certain places and predictable. But, the plot twists involving Emiko and The Ninth Circle were refreshing. Next month should be good for “Lost Canaries”! We’re getting that Birds of Prey story.