Observation 1

Friday, September 5
th
, 2014
CWTVs Arrow - Oliver Queens Double Life

Figured World: A specific setting or fictional world that has its own set of social norms, rules,
literacy practices, and communities.

Background Information: The series Arrow is modeled after the comic Green Arrow made
by DC Comics in 1941. DC recently produced a newer version of Green Arrow in 2011. The
two main settings are both fictional. The city/urban scenes take place in the Starling City, where
as the jungle/island scenes take place on Lian Yu, an island in the North China Sea. Oliver
Queen is the son of a billionaire whose wealth was gained through the family company, Queen
Consolidated. Oliver and his father are on their yacht when it sinks in the North China Sea.
Oliver and his father survive the sinking but Robert kills himself with a gun when he realizes that
only one can survive. Before he shoots himself Robert hands Oliver a book with names in it and
tells him to right his wrongs. We pick up at the last three episodes of season one. Oliver has been
hard at work cleaning up the city and is slowly letting more people in on his secret because he
needs help. Crime is way down in the city but something big is about to happen.

Rules and Conventions:
Olivers double life covers many different situations but one thing reigns true for all of them.
Lying is a social norm. These lies are often told to protect a loved one though it continually
ends up hurting their relationship. As a result, heart felt apologies are common so that these
relationships survive. Olivers world has always been supported by money, often in unlimited
quantities. The norm of having no financial struggles thus provides actors with the means
necessary to continue taking part in the practices of the community. In order to protect
themselves in this figured world, actors must either be very tech savvy or have tremendous hand-
to-hand combat skills. This is not only a norm, but also a necessity because of the kill or be
killed attitude that is carried by most actors of this world. Voice changing phone calls are a
convention that is carried out by actors protecting their identity, specifically Oliver. This means
that when dealing with other actors over the phone you usually have no knowledge of their actual
identity. The effect of this is the suspicious attitude that many actors portray all the time.
However, when meeting new people it is considered polite to say a nice word or two about the
person before kissing their hand if its a lady or shaking it if its a male. This is almost always a
false front. It is normal to drink alcohol at many events because of the upper-class citizens there.
It would not be abnormal to see teenagers drinking at parties but more commonly sophisticated
formal events. Sadly, another norm is knowing everyone elses business. It would be rare if
something happened and not everyone else finds out about in some way. Besides embarrassment,
it can bring on a stronger suspicious attitude in wondering how they know.

Actors: Actors are people who can change or make a difference in the figured world. These are
main characters of which the story revolves around. This list is not exhaustive.

Oliver Queen A young man in his mid twenties who has grown up in a billionaire
family. He is a rich brat that has takes no responsibility for his actions and is know for
alcohol, girls, and parties. He survived for 5 years on an island in the North China Sea
Commented [TP1]: PS: You picked a great show. If you
need help with this just ask me, Ive seen every
episode.(Zach)
Commented [TP2]: Good job on your background
information. The description gave enough to know what
The reader needs but yet still leaves a little bit of a
mystery. It makes me want to go watch the show.
(Michael H)
Commented [TP3]: Why did the father have to kill
himself in order for Oliver to survive? Its not really
explained in the background or actors section. This seems
like a relevant piece of information.
Commented [TP4]: What makes Oliver actually follow
his fathers advice and try to right his wrongs? If I were
in that situation I dont think that would be on the top of
my priority list after just arriving home from years away
from home. Is there a certain event that triggers his
actions?
Commented [TP5]: You said that it is normal to drink
alcohol at events where upper class people are, but it isnt
like only upper class people can drink. In most cases,
lower class people are alcoholics because theyve spent all
their money on alcohol. Also, the sentence after that one
is very unclear to me. Im not sure if this is grammatical
or not but I thought Id include it.
Commented [TP6]: I only know this because I watch
the show, but Slade should also have an actor description,
as he is part of the reason why Oliver is the way he is. By
this point in season one, he has definitely started training
Oliver on the island. Maybe talk about what they did and
how it changed Oliver for better or worse.
Commented [TP7]: Why does Oliver queen need a
bodyguard if he can fight crime? What made Diggle quit
the special forces? A little more background info would
help, and depending on the actor you might have to give
a bit more info. Act like your audience is a bunch of
babies. (Kyu-Waun)
Commented [TP8]: You mentioned a character named
Walter who was kidnapped, who is he in relation to the
other actors? Also who is Malcom Merlyn, is he a villian
or a friend? You mention the Glades are they an enemy
force?(Travis)
after his father yacht sunk during a storm, killing his father and everyone else on board.
He is much changed after this experience and no longer is the brat he was before, but
must keep up appearances in order the keep his alter ego, Arrow, safe from discovery.

Arrow/The Hood A vigilante that spends his time cleaning up the city of Starling,
called the Hood by the media but wants to be called the Arrow. He is Oliver Queen and
operates out of the basement of Olivers nightclub Verdant. His father handed his mission
to him in the form of a book before he died. In the book is a list of names that the Arrow
believes to be part of criminal activities. He spends his time taking down these people
with the help of John Diggle and Felicity Smoke, who at the time are the only ones who
know of Arrows true identity.

John Diggle: Formally in the army Special Forces, John is now Oliver Queens personal
bodyguard and the Arrows trusted partner. He keeps the Arrows emotions in check and
is levelheaded thinker between the two, bringing much needed stability to Olivers life.
He helps on the Arrows various missions to take out the white-collar criminals of
Starling City.

Moyra Queen: Mother of Oliver and Thea. She took over the family company after
Walter was kidnapped and has had a past with Malcolm Merlyn, the main antagonist of
this series. When her husband, Robert, was killed she was forced to take his place by
Malcolm in helping him destroy the Glades. She has a lot to hide from her children,
which weighs upon her heavily when she has to lie to them.


Artifacts: Are non-living factors or objects that play a role in the figured world. These can range
from an arrow to the emotion of anger.

The Arrows Bow and Quiver: Without these the arrow would have a limited ability to
do what he does. It would be like batman without his gadgets. Specific arrows allow him
to listen in on conversation, sedate criminals, blast open doors, or create a fast get away.

The Arrows Hood/Mask: The hood and mask prevent anyone from recognizing Oliver
while he is the Arrow. It also helps with camouflage and brings an intimidation factor to
the table when he is interrogating people.

Computers: Much of the information or clues that the Arrow needs to conduct his
missions are found using computers operated by Felicity. These enable them to track
down targets, hack into almost any company network, and return stolen or extorted
money/information to it rightful owner.

The Earthquake Machine: Queen Consolidateds Applied Physics department made
this device under orders from Moyra, who was in turn forced to do so by Malcolm.
Unknown to the actors at the time, there are actually two of them, which proves fatal to
507 inhabitants of the Glades. Malcolms goal was achieved through these machines.

Commented [TP9]: You say Oliver has a double life,
expand a little on the two different life styles. What is he
like during the day? And what is he like when he is the
Arrow?
Commented [TP10]: How did he choose the name
arrow? Is there any significance to the name? Is it just an
arbitrary word that he picked because it sounded cool.
That could be something to put in his character
description.
Commented [TP11]: In Arrows character description
you mention a Felicity Smoke. There is no actual
description for her as an individual character. Is she that
minor she doesnt need one or should she probably
receive one too?
Commented [TP12]: How did Oliver meet John
Diggle? He is obviously trusted by Oliver to be trusted
with his secrets. Was John a former friend of Olivers
father, or was he someone that Oliver just happened to
meet?
Commented [TP13]: You might want to add an actor
description for Thea. She is a significant force in Olivers
life and we should have background information on her.
Ex: How old is she? How is Olivers relationship with
her? Etc.
Commented [TP14]: Finally, you should probably
include an actor description for Malcolm. I realize that
basically all of my comments have been about this, but
there are so many significant actors in this show that you
are going to have many more actor descriptions than
most people. Malcolm definitely deserves one because he
is one of the main antagonists in the show.
Commented [TP15]: What are the Glades? are they a
place in the city or around it? What is in them that are so
terrible. Why is this Malcolm man set on destroying them
and everything in them.


Communities of Practice: A group of people or like-minded individuals that share the same
ideals and activities.

Arrows Crew: This crew is small consisting of only Oliver, Felicity and Diggle. They
share the belief that they can help people affected by crime by stopping it before it
happens. These actors are every close friends and arent afraid to speak up if they dont
like what is going on.

Malcolms Forced Partners: Originally a group of six, Malcolm either blackmailed for
financially forced these wealthy characters to aid him in destroying the Glades in his
quest to cleanse the city. Both Robert and Moyra are keys players in this group. All of the
members at one point lost something dear to them in the glades because of the crime and
had tried saving the Glades by extorting the crime bosses with money. After they made
this first step they had no choice but to follow Malcolm or be killed.

Olivers Friends: Laurel, Thea, and Tommy make up this group. They have no idea who
Oliver really is and suffer from his constant disappearing as it usually happens when they
need him the most. All want the best for Oliver and none have anything to hide from him
so it hurts them even worse when they find out he has lied to them. Their mission is to
stop Oliver from hurting all the people around him with his irresponsibility and
selfishness.

Domain: Is the certain are of activity that a community of practices pertains to. For instance a
baseball players domain is baseball.

Impossible Missions: These are the driving force behind the show as they tie together
Olivers past and present. All of them have a noble cause but often are carried out
violently without thought to loss of life. The missions are given to Oliver by the list of
names in the book his father gave him. These names tell Oliver who is dirty and needs to
be taken care of. However, not all missions stem from this book as new criminals take the
stage in the city frequently.


Practices of the Community: These are the activities that the community takes a part in so that
they can accomplish goals that are related to their domain.

Combat Training: It goes without saying that taking on criminals is a dangerous
business. Oliver and Diggle train frequently to prepare themselves for combat. This is
necessary with the attitude of kill or be killed and is the method Arrow uses to carry out
his missions.

Lying: Just about everyone in this show has something to hide. This means they often lie
to one another in order to either protect themselves or the people around them. Often
times this ends badly because secrets are discovered constantly. Not only are these lies
Commented [TP16]: In the artifacts talking about his
bow and quiver, let the audience know he does a bunch of
hand to hand combat. They way you wrote it makes it
seems like hes worthless without them. I watched a few
episodes before and they showed him flipping around
and rolling people over a lot, so he knows how to work
without his bow.
(There wasnt enough room to put in the page before)
Commented [TSP17]: Just for the audience, could
you explain how the city feels about what he does. Its
obvious that hes doing something good, but some
background info about the heros effect on the city
would be nice to know. Plus it confirms if what he is
doing is actually good, or if hes just a weirdo who
likes to dress up at knight.
Commented [TP18]: Is Starling City a large city? You
mention that everyone know everyones business, what is
the reason for this? How is Oliver able to protect his
other identity?
about the past but also more often than not they concern the present such as when they
pertain to actors true identities. With this constant lying and discovery of lies there are
no two characters that have complete trust with one another.




Literacy Practices: The ways of communication between actors within the same figured world.
Phone Calls/Texting: Many conversations take place over the phone because it is both
easy to hide the location of the caller and mask their voice. It is also an effective way to
immediately communicate with another actor. Texting in this world is used to send a
warning, or quick alert to someone. Rarely is it shown that this is done for pleasure.
Pleasurable conversations happen face to face.

Interrogation: Often times the best way to get information out of someone is by a
threatening interrogation. This practice is used frequently not only by Oliver but many
other actors as well, including Malcolm. This is not an acceptable norm outside of the
crime world in the city so whenever it goes to the media, there is a public outcry.

Observation 1: Season 1 Episode 21

2:00 minutes After a brief recap of previous episodes, the Arrow conducts a nighttime
mission. This consists of breaking into an office building and taking down two bodyguards in
order to have a physical conversation with Harold Backman, a white collar criminal who is paid
a large sum of extorted money for information stored on a computer. This computer is taken by
the Arrow and given to Felicity smoke so that she can return the electronically transferred,
extorted money to its rightful owners.

9:00 Minutes A flashback to around 7 years prior shows a meeting between the wealthiest of
Starling city where it is revealed that these people are trying to clean up the Glades, the crime
hub of Starling city. All 6 figures in the room had lost something dear to them because of this
crime. The leader of them, Malcolm Merlin, is suggesting that their previous idea of leveraging
the crime bosses to stop their activity wasnt working. When everyone agrees this allows him to
bring up his new idea of leveling the Glades with a machine being developed that could create an
artificial earthquake. The other members of the group meet this idea with indignation but are
forced to comply after threats by Malcolm.

17:00 minutes Felicity discovers a transaction on the computer that is related to the
kidnapping of Olivers step-dad Walter, who is also the CEO of Queen Consolidated. He took
that position when Olivers father died. With this information she pretends to be a high rolling
lady at an underground gambling establishment. She purposefully gets caught counting cards in
order to bug the crime bosss computer. The bugging goes wrong, forcing Arrow to shoot his
way through the gambling floor to save her life. He forces answers out of the boss pertaining to
the location of Walter and is told he is dead.

Commented [TP19]: It seems you have chose an
interesting figured world with a story line that sounds
like it would be easy to get hooked on. Observations look
good and descriptive. Overall good report and sounds
like a fun project.
Commented [TSP20]: I like the topic you chose, Ive
watched this show a few times and every time I did it
was enjoyable. Personally, Im into comic books and
graphic novels so most movies and tv shows about
superheroes is always pretty awesome. The way you
wrote your paper is informative and Ill probably
steal a few of your techniques because theres some
really good stuff in your paper.
Commented [TSP21]: I need to create a background
section for each observation so that the reader has more
to go off of and the observation itself doesnt become
bogged down with backstory explanations.(Ty)
25:00 minutes Oliver lies to his mother and sister by saying he learned from one of Diggles
FBI buddies that Walter is dead. Thea falls apart but Moyra states through tears, No! This isnt
possible! then says she is going out. Oliver comforts Thea then leaves and follows his mother as
the Arrow. She goes to Malcolm Merlins office and confronts him about it but he makes a call
and shows her a live camera feed of Walter alive in a cell. The conversation that ensues is very
indicting and is heard by the Arrow using a listening device attached to an arrow shot into the
wall just outside the office.

30:00 minutes Another flash back to the past takes place in which Olivers father and another
member of the group trying to fix the Glades are discussing how to stop Malcolm without going
to war with him. They decided on buying up the land in the Glades so that even if they were
destroyed Malcolm couldnt rebuild them, destroying his whole purpose. The flashback ends and
Felicity is shown entering Arrows headquarters below the nightclub, Verdant. She turns on the
lights to see Oliver sitting against a pillar. He explains everything he just heard. They pull up
Malcolms phone records and find where he is keeping Walter. Oliver gears up again but Felicity
insists that they need Diggle for the mission. He and Oliver are at odds because of a previous
mission. Oliver bluntly says no.

36:00 minutes The family is reunited at the hospital after the Arrow rescues Walter. Everyone
is very happy except Oliver who knows why Walter was gone in the first place. Flashback to
when Oliver and his father are boarding their yacht. After saying their goodbyes the camera
shows Malcolm talking on the phone to the friend of Olivers father whom he was trying to stop
Malcolm with. The friend tells Malcolm The bomb is in place and there is a storm front moving
in from the south of China. This plot twist proves that the yacht was sabotaged not sunk.

42:00 minutes Oliver goes to Diggles flat and tells him everything that happened. He then
apologizes sincerely and tells him that he needs his help to stop whatever Malcolm and his
mother have planned.




Observation 2: Season 1 Episode 22

2:00 minutes Malcolm, dressed as an archer, breaks into Queen Consolidateds Applied
Physics building and ruthlessly kills everyone inside. Apparently this is done to cover his tracks
but most likely Malcolm kills because he is an evil man. It was in this building that the
earthquake machine was designed and built. Along with killing everyone, Malcolm fries the
computers and burns any other evidence of the research.

7:00 minutes Oliver is in Verdant with his team when he tells them that he needs talk to his
mom about what he heard. On his way out he runs into Laurel. She tells him that ever since she
and Tommy broke up she cant stop thinking about why and then declares that she still has
feelings for him. The whole situation is tearing her apart because of the wild emotional
rollercoaster she has been on. He has to reject her harshly by telling her nothing has changed to
keep up appearance and distance himself so that he doesnt get her caught up in his Arrow life.
Commented [TSP22]: I think I made a mistake in
making my observations as far apart as they are. It would
help make the order of events more clear if I did shorter
but more observation notes. This would also allow me to
go into further detail without overwhelming the reader.
Walter finally comes home from the hospital to a warm greeting from his family. Thea, Oliver
and Moyra had brunch made for him but he declines stating that he is too tired. Moyra tries to
kiss him but he turns his head so that it is just on his cheek. After he retires Oliver goes to
confront his mother but she is leaving because the news just broke about the killing done by
Malcolm.

14:00 minutes Oliver and Diggle plan out a way to get information from his mother. Diggle
dresses like the arrow and kidnaps Moyra and Oliver at the same time. He takes them to a
warehouse and ties them up in chairs facing one another. Once they wake up from being sedated
by tranquilizing darts, Diggle enters as the Arrow and interrogates Moyra. At first she says she
cant tell because Malcolm will kill her and her family. Diggle has to start beating Oliver until
she cant take it anymore and tells him that Malcolm is planning on leveling the Glades with an
earthquake machine so that he can rebuild it and eliminate crime. He has no intention of giving
warning to any innocent civilians because earthquakes give no warning. Diggle releases them,
allowing Moyra to attempt talking to Oliver. He will have none of it and when she says you
know I wouldnt willing do any of this he responds while walking away, I dont know
anything anymore.

20:00 minutes - Back in the basement of Verdant team Arrow determines that the only way to
stop the city is to find the device instead of confronting Malcolm because there is still another
archer in the city. They clearly do no know that the other archer is Malcolm Merlyn himself.
Felicity begins to attempt hacking into the Industries mainframe to get more info. Meanwhile in
the police station Laurels father, Detective Lance, comes to the same conclusion and has one of
his people snoop around the same mainframe. This isnt possible with the security installed.
Felicity tells Oliver thats she needs direct access to the mainframe which means somehow
accessing it on the 25
th
floor of the Merlyn Industries tower.

25:00 minutes Oliver sets up a meeting with Tommy who works for his father. Diggle poses as
a security guard and orders food, which is delivered by Felicity and injected with a sleeping
agent. Diggle shares his food with the other guard and is soon the only conscious one in the
camera room. Felicity makes her way to the 25
th
floor and hacks into the main frame while
Oliver talks to Tommy about Laurel and tells him he should get back together with her. Felicity
gets caught leaving the mainframe room and would have been compromised if Diggle didnt
come to her rescue stating, She got past me on the 1
st
floor, Ill take care of this.

30:00 minutes Back in the Queen mansion Walter gives Moyra some documents. She reads
them only to realize they are divorce papers. Walter is a smart man and has realized Moyras
involvement in his kidnapping. Despite confessing and telling him that she only did it to keep
him safe, he has his things packed and starts to leave. Thea comes in the door just as this is
happening and receives a warm, unexpected hug from Walter moments before he leaves. In the
police station, the employee whom Detective Lance had hack into the mainframe runs into the
same problem Felicity had. He tells Detective Lance this but also says, I wasnt the only one
who tried to do this. She used the same pathways I did. The detective doesnt understand how
the employee knows it was a she until he is told that the hack was traced back to Felicity Smoke.
For some reason Oliver goes over to Laurels flat and tells her that he still loves her. They are
getting it on in the window when Tommy, flowers in hand, sees them just as he was about to
enter the apartment building


Observation 3: Season 1 Episode 23


3:00 minutes - Oliver is chained to the ceiling of random warehouse after being knocked out by
Malcolm Merlyn in the last episode. He know knows that the other archer and Malcolm are one
and the same. Malcolm informs Oliver of what is to come then leaves him chained up so that he
can carry out his plans unmolested. Oliver climbs up the chains then drops himself rapidly to
break the old pipe he is chained to. He takes down two guards but a third has a gun on Oliver
when Diggle comes out of nowhere and shoots him stating, I take back every joke I made about
you sticking a tracker in your boot.

7:00 minutes Felicity is arrested leaving Queen Consolidated for hacking into Merlyn
Industries and many other companies from previous missions. Detective Lance is interrogating
her when he gets a phone call from the Arrow using voice changing software. The Arrow tells
him what is about to happen in the Glades and urges him to evacuate at once. Detective Lance
releases Felicity and begs the Captain to approve evacuating the Glades. He is at once suspended
and told to go home before he gets incarcerated for working with the Arrow. In Verdant, Tommy
confronts Oliver about seeing him with Laurel. Oliver apologizes but Tommy will have none of
it and tries to punch him. Oliver easily evades the drunken swing then tells Tommy that his
father is going to level the Glades to honor his wifes (Tommys mother) death.

15:00 minutes Oliver makes it back to Queen mansion to see his mother packing her clothes to
leave. He directly tells her that he spoke to Malcolm and knows everything that is about to
happen. She is terrified that he talked to Malcolm and exclaims, He could have killed you like
he killed your father! Oliver slowly shakes his head no and tells her about being on the life raft
with his father and they were running out of food and water. His dad shot himself so that Oliver
could survive. Just as he finishes Moyra gets a call from Malcolm informing her that the
Undertaking is happening tonight. Oliver begs her to do something but she is too scared so he
leaves stating, Someone in this family needs to do something to stop this, whatever the cost.

20:00 minutes - Tommy goes to Malcolms office and joking tells his dad what Oliver had told
him. He is laughing when his father turns to him and tells him it is true. He is immediately
repulsed by the thought his dad could do something like that. Malcolm goes to his desk and pulls
out a phone to play a voicemail. Its from Tommys mom after she was shot in the Glades. She
was lying there bleeding out with people just walking by her when she call Malcolm. Malcolm
passionately tells his son that his mother did everything she could to help the Glades but they did
nothing in return when she needed it the most. He is going to finish the work she started and take
revenge on the Glades at the same time.

25:00 minutes Oliver is back in Arrow HQ. He is informed by Felicity and Diggle that the
device is most likely place in the subway along a known fault line running directly beneath the
Glades. As soon as they tell him this he gets a call from Thea telling him, Mom has all kinds of
Commented [TSP23]: I need to make a note at the top
of the assignment that I only observe the first 30 minutes
of the TV show in observations 2 and 3.
reporters here, what is going on? Oliver turns on the TV to see his mother confessing to
everything and urging the people in the Glades to evacuate. She is being cuffed when Thea
comes up to her furious and crying because her boyfriend, Roy, lives in the Glades. Thea runs
out of the mansion to go warn him. Back in Malcolms office a SWAT team breaks down the
door to arrest Malcolm but are all killed by him using a sword. Tommy pulls a gun on him but
gets knocked out by his father.

30:00 minutes - There is a mad rush out of the Glades by its inhabitants but somehow Thea gets
her car through the traffic. She gets Roy out of his house and they are driving away when they
see a wreck with people trapped inside a bus. Roy cant go leaving those people in there and
forces Thea to leave him, promising to be right behind after he helps. Oliver is about to leave to
attempt to stop Malcolm by himself. Diggle shows true friendship by telling him he isnt going
out there to die by himself and declares he is going with Oliver. When Oliver says no felicity
steps in and informs Oliver that ever since he let them in he wasnt alone, that he didnt have to
fight his battles alone anymore. This hits home with Oliver and they set out to stop the
Undertaking.


Interview:

Oliver Queen = OQ
Me = TP

TP: When did you first realize how much the island had changed you?
OQ: It never just hit me that I had changed. Throughout my stay on the island I had to do things
that changed me in the very moment they were done. From that point on I knew I was different
and understood why. Although some changes seem terrible they allow me to accomplish what I
have in Starling City without regret except for the lies Ive had to tell.

TP: How was living on the island easier than coming back to the real world?
OQ: Living on the island was extremely simple. You either kill or be killed by starvation or the
hands of another human. Here in Starling it is so complicated because of the amount of collateral
damage that could ensue from any of my actions. I am responsible for many more lives here than
on the island. I love my family and will do anything to protect them, including lying to their
faces. This is incredible difficult to me because they lost me for 5 years only to have me come
back and lie to them. That is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

TP: Lying is a huge part of your life, does it hurt more to lie to the people you love or to have
them lie to you?
OQ: Going along with what I said in answering your last question, it has to be harder on them.
They do not and cannot understand why I lie to them when I do. Without seeing any good reason
it hurts them far deeper than it would if they knew my other identity. Needless to say it hurts me
as well but I can somewhat cope with it as I know that it will benefit the city. They cant see how
the two are related.

Commented [TSP24]: In your interview questions,
try to reword them. When i read your questions and
answers, I know you are the one answering for OQ
but the questions seem like you already know the
answer and youre just trying to fit a question to
them. Leave the questions more open ended and
general so that the answers given feel more real.
Commented [TSP25]: I definitely agree with Kyu-Wuan
here and need to revise my questions.
TP: Tell me about the first time you realized you werent the only one who has gone through a
tragedy like yours.
OQ: Diggle told me an assassin accidentally killed his brother while he was a bodyguard. I
realized I wasnt the only one going trough something rough when we discovered that it wasnt
an accident; his brother was in fact the target. I could see the pain on his face was at least equal
to what I felt when my father killed himself in front of me. This turn of events allowed Diggle
and I become much closer as friends, benefitting our missions.

TP: How did being tortured strengthen your resolve, which in turn motivated you to start
cleaning up your city?
OQ: I was tortured defending someone I hardly knew. His name was Yao Fei. I dont know why
I didnt give him up. Whatever that reason was is the same that motivates me to help people I do
not know and shouldnt care about according to my socioeconomic class. The people Im helping
have nowhere else to turn, just like me before I met Yao Fei. The resolve I showed when tortured
was something I didnt know I had. After going through that I realized there wasnt anything I
couldnt do when protecting someone else. I show the same resolve for the people of Starling
City.