Warning: MAJOR spoilers ahead for Season 5 of Arrow. Don't read any further if you have not learned Prometheus' identity yet.
Arrow has always been known as a show that throws twists and turns at the audience with incredible ease. It is a tradition that goes as far back as Malcolm Merlyn's reveal as The Dark Archer during the events of Season 1, and it will likely continue well into the future. With that in mind, we should've expected that the series would throw us a major curveball when it came to the reveal of Prometheus' true identity. In genuine Arrow fashion, the reveal came completely from left field as it was revealed that Star City District Attorney Adrian Chase was the mysterious badass that has terrorized the city. It is a strong sequence of events for a season that has (for the most part) returned Arrow to its former glory, but it also points to one of Oliver Queen's glaring weaknesses: his inability to read people. As much as we love the Prometheus reveal, the fact of the matter is that it very much echoes a similar reveal that took place in Season 2 with Sebastian Blood, and shows that Oliver keeps making the same mistake of trusting the wrong people.
For those of you who do not remember, Sebastian Blood was a Star(ling) City alderman during the events of Arrow's second season. He was a liberal champion for the underrepresented people of The Glades, and he, initially, started off as a very antagonistic figure in Oliver Queen's life due to Moira Queen's involvement in The Undertaking in Season 1. Eventually, Sebastian became friends with Oliver over a shared love for Starling City -- until it was revealed that Blood was working with Slade Wilson as "Brother Blood" to destabilize the city. He worked for Wilson through the entirety of Season 2, right up to the point when Isabel "Ravager" Rochev ran him through with a sword during the Mirakuru soldiers' siege on Starling City.
The similarities between the Prometheus reveal and the Brother Blood reveal within the context of the show are pretty glaring. While their exact motives and methods differ, both Adrian Chase and Sebastian Blood are highly respected local government officials who seem to have the best interest of the city in mind on the surface. Beyond that, both of these men befriend Oliver Queen's daytime persona, while secretly hiding deranged alter egos who will stop at nothing to take down Star City's favorite hero -- even if that means killing anyone who gets in their way. Even their masks share similar, monstrous characteristics.
Beyond that, actors Josh Segarra and Kevin Alejandro -- who play Adrian Chase and Sebastian Blood, respectively -- both share a striking resemblance to one another. Check out of comparison below to see for yourself.
Of course, I do not know if that last part about the actors looking alike was intentional on the part of the show's crew. That said, it seems like an oddly specific similarity for them to share when we consider all of the other attributes that they have in common. It's not hard to understand why they would go back to a Season 2 narrative device during Arrow's fifth season. After all, Season 2 is easily the highest rated season of the series on Rotten Tomatoes, so it's easy to fall back on what works with fans.
So what is the deeper meaning here? Why does it matter that the Prometheus reveal bears such a notable similarity to the Brother Blood reveal? It matters because it shows that Oliver Queen has once again fallen into the exact same trap that he went through in Season 2 -- albeit under slightly different circumstances. Season 5 of Arrow revolves heavily around the idea of legacy, and that is an idea that both of these characters embody. Brother Blood's rise to power was a direct result of two of Oliver's actions: Oliver's decision to "kill" Slade Wilson on Lian Yu, and his failure to prevent Malcolm Merlyn's earthquake during The Undertaking. Prometheus' rise to power follows a similar path, as his origins are directly linked to Oliver's first year under the hood.
However, on a deeper level, this theme is similarly echoed because Oliver has made the exact same mistakes with Adrian Chase that he made with Sebastian Blood during Season 2. He has been too trusting of the wrong people over the course of the series, and he has fallen into a similar trap time and time again. And that's just one of many issues that he has consistently battled over the last five years. He has grappled with whether or not he should kill people, and he has always struggled to correctly figure out how much of himself he should invest in his "Oliver" side, and how much of himself he should spend under the hood. In layman's terms: he's a man of inner turmoil.
Considering the legacy-centric themes of this season, and Oliver's recurring mistakes that echo his spotty legacy as a hero, I would wager that Season 5 will end with him finally learning from the issues that have plagued him over the course of the last decade of his life. It has already been established that Season 6 of Arrow will look and feel considerably different than any other season of the series to date -- not necessarily a reboot, but close. With that in mind, it stands to reason that the end of the Prometheus saga will be the end of a string of mistakes and character flaws that have plagued Oliver Queen from the very beginning of the series. That means he may start vetting people in his life more thoroughly. Let's hope so, because this guy has consistently shown off some pretty bad character judgment during his time as the Green Arrow.
What did you think of the Prometheus reveal? Was it everything you had hoped for all season long, and did it leave you wanting more? Let us know what you think in the comments section below so we can keep this conversation going!
CinemaBlend will bring you more information related to the fifth season of Arrow (as well as all of the other Arrow-verse series on The CW) as more details become available to us. The Emerald Archer's solo series airs every Wednesday night at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.
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