Whether or not Arrow abandons its flashback device altogether after Season 5, the upcoming episodes will inevitably return Oliver Queen to the bearded castaway we first saw in the 2012 pilot. To wit, star Stephen Amell is now teasing the return of a familiar foe, albeit with a deathly familiar stroke.

Amell shared the recognizable sight of a Deathstroke mask pierced by an arrow, the very same image that excited pilot viewers for Slade Wilson’s imminent arrival on the DC drama. Granted, Arrow first pivoted with Deathstroke character Billy Wintergreen under the mask, Season 2 eventually circled back to feature Manu Bennett’s take on the series’ most notable DC villain.

Arrow Season 5’s flashbacks have largely served to fill out the Bratva side of Oliver’s history, though the pilot dictates Oliver inevitably ending up bearded, and abandoned on the island of Lian Yu for a third time. It’s likely that transition has something to do with Lexa Doig’s Talia al Ghul, given the character’s suggestions that Oliver return home, rather than continue his Russian vendetta, but it also remains to be seen how much time Season 5 actually spends on said island return.

In the meantime, Arrow bosses have expressed the possibility of keeping a flashback device into Season 6, but will Oliver’s return to the island add anything new? Might the present-day Oliver have returned to Lian Yu (where Slade is still imprisoned), before the flashback character heads there?

Check out the latest on Season 5’s “Kapiushon” below, and stay tuned.

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