TV Guide

When Arrow first announced the Slade (Manu Bennett) would return as a recurring character in Season 6, we expected to see a lot of the mercenary running around Star City. So... where the hell has that dude been?

The early episodes of Season 6 were very Slade-heavy, and we even got to see him and Oliver (Stephen Amell) team up to take on Slade's nefarious son Kane (Liam Hall). At the end of that short arc, Slade parted ways with Oliver to go after Kane alone, and since then, all we've heard is crickets from that storyline.

Characters enter and exit Arrow all the time (just ask Colton Haynes!), but Slade's most recent exit felt unresolved, leaving us anxious for him to return and wrap things up. Luckily, an upcoming episode synopsis suggests that the beloved supervillain may be heading back to Star City very soon.

The description for the April 26 episode, "Shifting Allegiances," mentions that Oliver "turns to an old friend to battle Diaz (Kirk Acevedo)," the drug kingpin set on taking over Star City. Now, Oliver has dozens of old friends and most of them have the particular skill set necessary to take on bad guys, but when you start running down the roster of the likely candidates, Slade seems like Oliver's best option. He's already in Oliver's debt for helping him find Kane, so he'd likely be willing. Plus, his son is a mercenary with several connections to crime syndicates and the black market, which could come in handy in taking on the crime lord.

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In an ideal world, since we last saw them, Slade and Kane would have reconciled and they'll both turn up in Star City ready to help Oliver deal with Diaz -- but we all know that's delusional. If this "old friend," who comes to Oliver's aid is indeed Slade, the more likely scenario is he'll return because his son will have teamed up with Diaz for the latest step in the Dragon's master plan. Diaz has already allied with almost every other villain on the show this season, and a potential union with Kane would see Slade and Oliver once again uniting a common enemy.

All we need is some Mirakuru and this little reunion will be complete!

Arrow airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

(Full Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS, The CW's parent company.)

Manu Bennett, Arrow

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