Here’s How Roy Harper Fit Into ‘Arrow’ Season 7 Premiere

So with a new time slot and new name, Oliver Queen managed to take quite a beating in the seventh season premiere of Arrow, having to contend with the likes of old friends such as Bronze Tiger and Brick. Admittedly, Oliver was no pushover during his prison stint, where he did indeed remain by episode’s end, but hey, this isn’t about Oliver, this is about Roy Harper.

You know. Red Arrow. Arsenal. Speedy…no wait, that’s Thea’s code name. Anyway, while it’s been stated by now that actor Colton Haynes is returning to the Arrow series as a regular, we didn’t know how he would fit into the storyline. At least, not until episode’s end. And yes, it might be easy to potentially finger Roy as the new Emerald Archer going around and doing what the Green Arrow does best, we don’t get a clear idea of Roy Harper himself until the very end of the episode in the final flash-forward.

Yes, I said flash-forward. Throughout the episode, we see an older William heading to Lian Yu, which, last I checked, was blown up in the Season Five finale. When William arrives, he’s ambushed by an archer and reveals the stone given to him by Felicity in present-day during the episode. The archer reveals his face and it is indeed an older Roy Harper. What remains to be seen is how William knew to look here, his intentions, and how Roy ended up on the island in the first place.

More than that, what has become of Oliver at this point in the Arrow flash-forward? All we see of Oliver Queen is his prison stint, so does William pay him a visit at some point? We saw Diggle and Felicity visit Oliver, so it’s possible that his son would want to see his father as well. But what about Roy? How will he factor into all of this and when do you imagine we’ll see him unmasked in present day? Let us know your thoughts and theories in the comments below and stay tuned for more Arrow news.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Echo Kellum, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy, Katie Cassidy, Colton Haynes, and Kirk Acevedo.

The series airs on Monday nights at 8 P.M. on the CW.