The Lazarus Pit has been recurrently seen in both the Arrowverse and in the DC Comics. The magical abilities of the Pit are envied by many and feared by even more. But what makes the Lazarus Pit so scary and intriguing. What dark secrets do the ancient pools of mystery hold? Presenting 15 things you never knew about The Arrowverse’s Lazarus Pit…
Drinking its water can give you tremendous Bloodlust
The Pit can heal and sew you back together. It can even resurrect the dead. But there is a side effect that no one really knows. The Pit’s waters are mystical in nature. They can not only patch your body back but also affect your mind. Drinking from the Lazarus Pit curses a person with Bloodlust – an unavoidable urge to kill anything and everything.
The More You Drink, the Crazier You Become
The Pit will affect your state of mind depending on the amount of damage it repairs. If it’s only a cut or an open wound, the change to your mentality won’t even be noticeable. But if the Pit ends up healing a person who is dead or almost dead, like Thea or Sarah, crazy gets to the top floor.
The Pit contain the souls of its previous users
When someone goes skinny dipping in the pit, the pit gives you youth. In return, it takes bits and pieces of your soul. This fact was corroborated by Malcolm Merlyn in Arrow. He reveals to Oliver that it was the pit that made Ra’s Al Ghul immortal. The pit is like a scrapbook for the dead. He would rather Thea die than let her use the pit.
Its effects get weaker the more you use it
Ra’s Al Ghul is the guy that had lived for centuries thanks to the Lazarus Pit. The reason he went after Oliver was that he needed a successor to this throne. The Pit’s effects were weakening. The more he used it, the less effective were its effects on him. That is why he needed a successor. Oliver never used the pit so he could start afresh.
It is named after a Biblical Saint
When Jesus encounters Lazarus of Bethany, the latter is already dead for four days. The Gospel of John then says Jesus resurrected Lazarus from his eternal slumber. In the Bible, Lazarus is a saint. The pit is anything but. Whenever someone uses the pit to resurrect the dead, the result is always evil and sinister.
Damien Darhk possesses the last of its waters
As a member of the League of Assassins, Darhk rebels against the Demon’s Head. Before he is chased away, Darhk manages to steal a large quantity of the Pit’s waters. As a result, using the Pit’s waters he is able to effectively become immortal and use the longevity thus gifted to him to create the powerful terrorist organization – H.I.V.E.
Malcolm Merlyn was once its owner
Malcolm Merlyn may be a really conflicted character, but his priorities were always straightforward – Protect his daughter Thea. As the new Ra’s Al Ghul after Oliver defeats the previous one, Malcolm knew everything there is to know about the pit. He unsuccessfully tried to warn Oliver about the Pit’s destructive qualities when he tried to revive Thea.
It is also known as ‘The Fountain of Youth’
The Pit has been known by many names in many cultures, the most well known of those names being ‘The Fountain of Youth’. The Pits heals wounds, resurrects the dead and gives its user peak longevity, strength, stamina, and agility. It may be called the Fountain of Youth but the legends fail to mention its dark side effects.
If you have nothing to heal, the Pit will kill you
It makes all the more sense. If you have a life-threatening situation, the Pit will help you. But if a healthy person tries and wastes its time, the Pit will retaliate in its own way by sucking the entire life out of him/her. The comics and the Arrowverse take a different approach though – healthy users have been seen using the Pit without the risk of dying.
The Pit’s side effects can be cured using The Lotus Elixir
In Arrow Season 3, as Thea dies at the hands of Ra’s Al Ghul, she is resurrected using the Lazarus Pit. But then the bloodlust takes over and she goes on a killing spree. Nyssa Raatko reveals there is a cure for the bloodlust. The Lotus Elixir was created by enemies of The League of Assassins to counter the Pit’s effects.
There are multiple Lazarus Pits
In the comics, most of the pits are located on the mountains of Switzerland, Ra’s Al Ghul’s Headquarters. But another one exists on the Infinity Island where the Pit’s connections to the active volcanoes make its effects even more potent. Batman and Bane destroy all the pits except one in the comics. The one we see in Arrow Season 4.
The Batman Connection
Batman’s history with the Pit goes way back. When the Joker kills Jason Todd, Ra’s Al Ghul uses the Pit to resurrect him. The Pit was also used to make Batman relive his worst nightmare. Batman’s parents, whose death drove Bruce to become a vigilante, were once resurrected using the Pit and turned into mindless zombies.
Nyssa has used the Pit several times
The stunning Nyssa Raatko of the Arrowverse is not just a pretty face with a sword. In the comics, Nyssa is the first person in history to figure out how to use the pit multiple times without the danger of any side effects. Her ingenuity allows her to survive the world for centuries using the Pit’s waters. Yet she still finds the Lazarus Pit harmful and reduces its usage to a minimum.
The Quran says it was discovered by Al-Khidr
The Bible may have influenced its name but the Quran has mentioned its existence a long before Christianity even graced the planet. According to the Holy Quran, it was Al-Khidr, a servant of God, who found the Pit. DC Comics took a religious angle and mixed it with superhero fiction to give us a captivating backstory for the Pit.
Nyssa destroyed the Pit as an act of Love
Nyssa herself was one of the most prominent users of the Lazarus Pit. But the difference between her and her father was that she was truly scared of the Pit’s side effects. When her one true love Sarah Lance is revived back using the Pit, Nyssa goes into a fit of rage. She knows a person resurrected from the dead using the pit will not be the same then as he/she was before. To spare anyone else the same grief she had after Sarah’s resurrection, she destroys the Lazarus Pit out of love.
Don’t Miss: 12 Insane Arrowverse Fan Theories That Might Still Come True
