‘Arrow’ Season 4, Episode 20 Recap: The Final Phase Of Genesis

This week’s Arrow episode, titled Genesis, opens with Milo (James Kidnie) and Ms. Nixon speaking about what will happen with Darhk (Neal McDonough) now that he’s out of prison. Milo feels that he won’t be as mad as some might expect but Ms. Nixon disagrees. Darhk arrives at the meeting and shows them both exactly how he feels, by killing them both. This is a lesson for everyone else present as he says, “It is time to begin the final phase of Genesis.”

‘Arrow’ Season 4, Episode 20 Recap

Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) briefs the rest of the team as to what happened to Milo and Phaedra in hopes of coming up with a solution to stop Darhk before he kills anyone else. Oliver (Stephen Amell) explains that he has a plan after speaking with Constantine and has found someone to teach him how to defend against dark magic. After explaining to Thea (Willa Holland) that he needs to do this on his own first, she informs him that she’ll be spending the weekend with Alex (Parker Young) to try and relax.

Diggle (David Ramsey) talks to Lyla (Aydrey Marie Anderson) about Oliver’s plan and she agrees that it’s best to lay low. However, Diggle gets a notification from a tracking device that led him to Andy (Eugene Byrd) where they have an intense shootout before his wife calls him and figures out where he is. Diggle falls into Andy’s trap by following him and gets taken to be “prepped” for Darhk’s arrival.

Felicity pops in on Oliver before his trip and tries to get more information about this magic training he’ll be doing. Oliver explains that he’s seen the effect Darhk’s Magic has on people which makes him apprehensive but tells her he’ll do whatever it takes to avenge Laurel. Felicity then insists on joining him, promising to keep it platonic. They end up at a casino to begin his training with Constantine’s contact, Fortuna (Gabriella Wright) who turns out to be very different than who they were expected.

Constantine’s Shaman friend takes them to begin training and explains how Darhk’s gets his power and what to do to repel it. However, given Oliver’s dark side, this may be a problem.

Thea and Alex’s vacation begins well but she soon suspects that things seem a little too perfect and perhaps artificial. As time passes she realizes she is hearing and seeing the same things over and over. She sees a bottle of pills Alex has marked as vitamins but when they spill they turn out to be the same ones Darhk has been giving to his followers. She accuses Alex of drugging her.

Meanwhile, Diggle defeats Andy and the other henchmen but can’t bring himself to kill his brother, crediting his humanity. This turns out to be yet another part of Darhk’s plan because Diggle now has a tracking device on him.

In Hub City the Shaman begins Oliver’s training by seeing if he is able to overcome the darkness inside by focusing on his light energy. Sadly, he learns he is unable to at this point and Fortuna ends the training. After what happened with the Shaman, Oliver is discouraged but Felicity tries to get him to focus on all the good he has done since leaving the island.
When Diggle returns to Lyla she is understandably upset that he put himself in this dangerous position without telling anyone. He pleads that all he wants to do is help his brother but Lyla tells him he must do it the right way.

As Lyla cleans up Diggle’s injuries, they realize that Andy and the rest of Darhk’s men have located them with the intention to kill them and their daughter. Lyla amd Diggle both call their respective teams for backup but everyone seems to be unavailable so they have to try and defend themselves. Darhk arrives and Lyla realizes it’s her he wants. Diggle takes Sarah and Lyla stays on the rig. As Andy and the other henchmen chase Diggle, Felicity arrives just in time to take care of all but Andy. The same thing happens on the rig as Darhk begins to torture Lyla. Oliver uses his light side to repel Darhk. Andy and Diggle continue their fighting and Andy continues threatening Lyla and Sarah which turns out to be the last straw for Diggle as he shoots and kills his brother.

In the end, Oliver admits to Felicity that it was her voice that helped him focus on his light when fighting Darkh even though he’s not gone for good. Meanwhile, Diggle admits to Lyla that he killed Andy but changes the story to self defense. At that moment Lyla realizes that Darhk has taken something from under her skin, something called Rubicon that can prevent any country from using a nuclear missile. If tampered with enough, Darhk could use this to annihilate the planet and create a new one. It looks like this has already started and that Thea’s suspicions about her vacation spot were right: she is really in an artificial world under the city and unable to escape.