Arrowverse is one of the most successful TV universe based on DC comics, something that even Marvel has failed to do. It comprises of shows like Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning etc.
Arrow was the first marquee superhero show launched by CW and its still going strong even after five long seasons. Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow has faced deadliest and most dangerous enemies imaginable from Dark Archer to Slade Wilson to Ra’s Al Ghul to Damien Darhk and finally Prometheus.
Oliver Queen has undergone a major change in his personality from a dark, brooding vigilante to cheerful dad but one thing which has remained constant is his love for Star city. When he was a playboy billionaire cum vigilante, he protected the city from those who failed it and now as a Mayor, he is willing to go to any extent to save innocent lives from Cayden James and co.
At the end of season 5, Oliver ended up at a very dark place as he was pushed to his breaking point by District Attorney Chase aka Prometheus. He, in fact, confessed that he kills people because he likes it. But in season 6 makers promised a new Oliver Queen who is more a mentor than a leader. He needs the support of rest of the team to defeat the enemy, gone are the days of going solo.
Marc Guggenheim, the show’s executive producer had this to say about new Oliver Queen and season 6.
“This season, we’re trying to give you a different version of Oliver. Because of the journey he went on in season 5, he finally got to a place where he was ready to follow everyone’s advice and discard the past and move on with his life. The Oliver Queen that you’ll meet in 601, he’s still the Oliver you know and sometimes loves, but he has a different sense of himself”…
“In season 6, I think you’ll see Oliver giving the people in his life the advice for a change. He’s been through five years of being this superhero and he went through five years of hell before that, so he’s got 10 years of very heavy experience to start to bring to bare, and that’s something we’re interested in seeing more of a mentoring Oliver as the various people in his life face their challenges”.
Guggenheim was bang on and Arrow Season 6 is actually turning all tables in the hopes of turning itself into a fast-paced superhero action thriller. After the phenomenal Season 5, Prometheus is dead and Oliver is left with a son who has just lost his mother. The rest of the team comes out of Lian Yu unscathed but then comes a catch. Diggle is injured.
The consecutive explosions that Adrian Chase set off all over Lian Yu in a bid to get back at Oliver Queen really did a number on this guy. Diggle has degenerative nerve damage. He can’t even make a fist, let alone hold a gun and be a Star City vigilante.
An experimental drug helped him calm the tremors that had taken over his hand, but with that supply running out, Diggle was officially off the team and Oliver subbed in to put on the hood instead.
The latest episode of Arrow season 6 gave us an interesting turn of events to ponder upon.
Spoiler Alert: The following paragraphs contain MAJOR spoilers for Arrow Season 6 Episode 11 ‘We Fall’. If you still haven’t watched it yet, I recommend you look away.
Diggle is not only back on the team, he has been cured. Using an experimental microchip placed on his wrist’s nervous systems acting as an artificial nerve to help regulate the motor functions of his hand (since his organic nervous system is damaged beyond repair), the tremors are gone. He is back to his old, interesting life of Vigilantism.
But if you think he is going to put on the hood again, you are wrong. Oliver finds the taste of the mantle of the Green Arrow too hard to let go. The Green Arrow is addicted to being the Green Arrow. Diggle is not going to put on the Hood anytime soon. This is where his other superhero alter ego, Spartan, comes into the picture.
In ‘We Fall’, Oliver gifts Diggle a new Spartan Suit to celebrate his return to the team. Diggle will not be holding a crossbow but he sure as hell will kick ass using his trusty Handgun. Diggle has already used the Spartan Costume to strike fear in the hearts of men.
When Oliver took a hiatus from being the Arrow after Season 3, it was Spartan that became the new leader of Team Arrow and helped lead the team against Damien Darhk and his terrorist Organization called H.I.V.E. Diggle, as Spartan, has been Oliver’s trusted confidante and right-hand man since as long as we can remember.
In Season 6, we see Oliver making a promise to his son that he will let go of his vigilante life now. For the sake of being a parent, he has to let go of being a superhero. He entrusts Diggle to be the new Green Arrow in place of him. And Diggle does a fantastic job.
But then the viewers are introduced to a massive twist – Diggle’s tremors are not gone. He just uses a neurological drug supplied by none other than Richard Dragon to suppress them. Oliver finds out about it and decides to help the Team by putting the hood back on.
By doing so, he goes back on his own promise that he made to his son William. Diggle was forced to sit on the sidelines and watch the rest of Team Arrow kick ass.
Curtis and Felicity worked on a possible cure for Diggle. Using the same advanced microchip technology that cured Felicity’s Paralysis, Curtis developed another chip that could be placed on someone’s hand instead of a spinal cord. The experiment worked. Diggle’s tremors are gone (for now) and he is back on the team.
So it’s back to the original trio who began this crusade at the first place – Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity. But realizing Diggle will need a suit of armor before he got back on the streets, Oliver had already asked Cisco to design a new Costume for his now sole on-field teammate.
The new Spartan Suit looks awesome and judging by the fact that Cisco designed it, we can assume the suit will have its own bag of techno-tricks. We only had a glimpse of Spartan back in action in the last episode of Arrow. Maybe the future episodes will explore the suit’s capabilities in depth. But we are excited to see this new improved avatar of Diggle, a war veteran with superior combat abilities. It would have been foolish on the part of show-runners to bench a guy like him while others are going into the field.
CW has released the synopsis for the next episode titled “All For Nothing”. Read it below: 
“OLIVER AND DINAH FACE OFF — Oliver (Stephen Amell) continues his battle with Cayden James (guest star Michael Emerson). Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) and Oliver have a major disagreement that endangers the life of one of their own”.
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