Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Green Arrow #13!I really hate to say it, but I don’t know if theJustice League’straitor is going to be able to come back from his sudden pivot. Watching Oliver Queen come back and rebuild his family has been one of the best things about the Dawn of DC era, but it looks like that time is over.
Green Arrow struck a dealwith the devil to protect his family and while I certainly understand his line of thinking, things have just taken a dark turn. With just one sentence, Oliver Queen has put his entire future in jeopardy, risking his family, his friends, and potentially his own lifeas Amanda Waller seizes the DC Universeby force.
Green Arrow Confirms He ‘Believes in Waller’
Green Arrow #13by Joshua Williamson, Amancay Nahuelpan, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Troy Peteri opens up with Team Arrow all together on their brand-new base, Arrow Island, and everything seems good. Oliver checks in on his allies, and between Roy falling asleep reading his daughter a story and Connor bonding with his teammates, Green Arrow seems to have finally found the peace he’s worked hard for. But something is on his mind, and in the middle of the night,Green Arrow leaves his family behind on the island.
Oliver says that he’s no longer Green Arrow and gives everything away to his former sidekick.
Two days later, Oliver is at the Hall of Justice (now Amanda Waller’s Hall of Order) and is helping with the storing and cataloging of the Hall’s weaponry. Peacemaker comes in and tells Queen that there’s a break-in at one of Belle Reve’s offshoots and that Waller wants Green Arrow on it. Oliver refuses, but Peacemaker shows Green Arrow something on a pad that shocks him. Meanwhile, at Belle Reve North, Arsenal and Cheshire Cat liberate Lian’s mother, Jade. The three start to make an escapeuntil Roy is stopped by Green Arrow.
Arsenal is understandably confused, both by Green Arrow’s actions and his new costume. Roy asks if Waller is blackmailing him, but Oliver denies such things, saying he and Waller are “square”. Oliver says that he’s no longer Green Arrow and gives everything away to his former sidekick. But all Arsenal wants is to know what the hell is happening, yetGreen Arrow has nothing to say other than “I believe in Waller”. Roy tries one final time to offer his former mentor help and is repaid by Queen kicking his partner out the window.
Green Arrow’s Downfall Has Been Coming
As someone who’s been following much of the output throughout the Dawn of DC,Green Arrowwas a title I’ve been heavily invested in. It finally put Oliver back into the spotlight after giving him a raw deal during Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, and it made it clear from issue one that it wasn’t just an Oliver book, it was a Team Arrow book. Month by month, I read this comic,waiting for Green Arrow to make it back home and be reunited with his family.
As 2023 drew to a close, Oliver finally made it back home, but he still had hard work to do. Amanda Waller was still manipulating Team Arrow, even after she moved on to bigger and better things as the Bureau of Sovereignty’s head. Green Arrow confronted Waller at the Hall of Order, wanting answers for why she manipulated his family and kept him apart. Waller was surprisingly forthright with Queen and told him that a war was coming. Even more surprising,Waller wanted Green Arrow on her side.
Oliver made his shocking deal with Waller inGreen Arrow #9 (2024)!
In exchange for keeping his family safe and preventing any further manipulation from Waller (as well as a chance to deal with his nemesis Merlyn), Green Arrow agreed to work with her and embarked on his first mission for her: Breaking into an old Justice League base to procure the Sanctuary files for Waller.Green Arrow successfully got the files, but told Roy that he was working a ‘long con’and implored his former sidekick to trust him.
Green Arrow’s Reputation is Holding On By a Thread
Do I seriously think that Green Arrow has gone all-in working for Amanda Waller? Well, I don’t want to. The guy spent the better part of his career fighting against authoritarians and fascists, so why the hell would he change that now? But this run of Green Arrow has made one thing clear: Oliver has learned to love and value his family more than he ever has. His first and foremost priority is protecting them andif that means Green Arrow has to work with Waller, I suppose I can see that driving him.
…Green Arrow working with Waller as she schemes to de-power and throw all of his friends and allies in jail is, frankly, a perturbing sight.
But believing in Amanda Waller? Her entire motivation throughout the entire Dawn of DC era has been to eliminate metahumans no matter what! Granted, Green Arrow has had his beefs with various heroes over the years (Flash, Hawkman, etc). But disagreeing with them over politics and the best ways to serve the community is a far cry from rounding them up and de-powering them (as is Amanda Waller’s want inAbsolute Power). That said, whether Oliver genuinely believes in Waller or not is redundant. Simply working with her issomething that could ruin Green Arrow forever.
Could Oliver really be a Waller supporter? Unlikely, since he’s already admitted to playing double agent to his allies. However, Green Arrow working with Waller as she schemes to de-power and throw all of his friends and allies in jail is, frankly, a perturbing sight. Waller is very likely to get someone killed with her plans. And whether Oliver is faking his support or it’s real doesn’t matter. He’s throwing his hat into Waller’s ring at the worst possible time, andthat’s going to have a serious impact on Green Arrow going forward.
I’m Hoping for the Best for Green Arrow But It’s Hard
I like Green Arrow and I like seeing him with his family. But watching him declare his new alliance to Roy is hard to comprehend. Even if this is just Oliver trying to subvert Waller’s plans and secretly save the day, I don’t know if it’s worth the pain and confusion it’s going to cause his allies. As Absolute Power brings massive change to the DC Universe, all I can hope for is that the iconicJustice Leaguerreveals he’s had a plan in mind, because if he doesn’t, Green Arrow might have destroyed everything he’s ever held dear.
