The “Invasion!” episode of Arrow kicks off where The Flash left. After the heroes are abducted, it is revealed that Oliver (Stephen Amell), John (David Ramsey), Sara (Caity Lotz), Ray (Brandon Routh), and Thea (Willa Holland)have been placed in some kind of containment unit. They experience a shared dream state where their lives are more or less the way they wish things were. As they learn that things aren’t what they appear to be, their friends on Earth search for a way to bring them back.
“Invasion!” The Life the Heroes Want
Oliver is the first to notice things are off. In his dream, both his parents are alive, and he is about to marry Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy). However, occasional glitches in the system cause him to remember his real life. He gets suspicious when he and his father are saved by the Green Arrow from a street mugger. He tracks the Green Arrow to his lair to find that the man under the hood is John Diggle.
The Green Arrow kicks him out of the lair, but shows up the day after, confirming that he too has his suspicions that nothing about their world is real.
The Hunt for Heroes
Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) travels to Star City to help Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) track down their friends. Curtis (Echo Kellum) creates a universal translator to help them, but the device overloads. Team Arrow tracks down a device that will allow the translator to work with alien technology, only to find that it has already been stolen by a woman named Laura Washington (Erica Luttrell); a villainess who has augmented her body with cutting-edge technology.
Wild Dog (Rick Gonzales) doesn’t seem to like Flash (Grant Gustin) and Supergirl (Melissa Benoist). He carries out the mission with them, but mentions how bad things tend to follow the appearance of powerful figures. He abruptly changes his mind when they team up to help him take down Laura.
Curtis gets his translator working. He initially believes it doesn’t work, but Ragman points out how the alien language is very similar to Gematria; the numerological system found in the Torah. They manage to locate the captives, and are surprised to find that they are in space.
Heroes vs Aliens: Escaping the Dominators
In the mind prison, Oliver, Ray, Sara, Diggle, and Thea come face-to-face with villains from their past: Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), Deathstroke, Damien Darkh (Neal McDonough), and a few thugs. A fight ensues where the heroes emerge victorious. A simulated Laurel Lance asks them what is going on. The heroes say heartfelt goodbyes to her before returning to the real world.
Upon waking, the heroes find themselves on a ship in space. Ray quips how certain elements of design are universal. They run into a group of Dominators, and Oliver picks up a piece of alien weaponry to fend them off. They manage to find an escape pod, but are pursued by a fleet of smaller ships. Fortunately, the Waverider tracks them down, granting them a way out. The episode ends with what feels like a Pyrrhic victory, with Gideon –the Waverider’s AI – translating a phrase Ray heard from the Dominators. It relays a vague message that a “weapon is almost ready,” and the audience is left with a scene of the Dominator ship making its way to Earth.
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Featured Photo Source: CW YouTube channel (screenshot)
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