Alrighty, 4 episodes left this season. let’s get down to some Damien Darhk business! We got scores to settle ya’ll.

Arrow S4:E20 Genesis recap starts now!

At HIVE headquarters, two remaining board members are waiting for Damien Darhk’s arrival. Everyone else has called out sick, scared of retribution for not getting him out of prison. Their fears are not unfounded, as Darhk kills them both after finding out that his Genesis plan is still proceeding as planned.

Felicity has picked up on the deaths of the two board members whose bodies have been dumped. She has recognised them as HIVE members who were present when they were kidnapped by Darhk. Looks like Darhk is cleaning house. Oliver tells them he was finally able to get in to touch with John Constantine and he’s put him on to someone who can teach him how to fight Darhk’s magic. Looks like the Constantine episode was a one off, dammit. The others all decide to take a couple of days off and recharge the old batteries.

John Diggle’s wife Lyla Michael’s and her daughter Sara are hiding from Andy in some sort of bunker, all connected to the ARGUS office. John arrives to check on them, and tells her that it’s still to o dangerous for them out of the bunker. Lyla tells him to listen to Oliver and not try and engage Andy or Darhk. John locks up the bunker, and its on the back of a constantly moving truck.

Felicity goes to see Oliver who is living in the Arrow bunker after their breakup. He’s packing ready to go to Hub City, and she asks him for some more details. Oliver is worried about the magic that Darhk uses, it turns people dark and soulless. He’s worried it might happen to him but there is no length he won’t go to to avenge Laurel. Felicity tells him that she is coming with him, no arguments. She’s already got the company jet ready anyways.

Diggle gets a facial recognition alert on his phone, his brother Andy is in the area. I would seriously love that app for certain family members. He goes against everyone’s advice and follows the signal to a dodgy apartment block. It’s a trap, and Andy starts firing on him. John gives chase and they take pot shots at each other through dark streets and alleys.

John answers a call from Lyla who is calling to warn him that Andy has been spotted, he tells her that he kinda knows that already. He gives her their location and tells her to get there quick smart. She tells him his judgement is compromised, but he’s already gone.

Oliver and Felicity arrive at the High Roller room at the Hub City Casino, their meeting point with whoever Constantine has arranged as their contact. They go and sit at the blackjack table as instructed, and Felicity is keen to play, bit of card counting about to happen no doubt.

Thea has gone away for the weekend with her boyfriend Alex, who also happens to work for Ruve Adams. They’re staying in an idyllic house in a picture perfect neighbourhood. He’s made her breakfast, and encourages her to relax and enjoy the weekend. She apologises for falling asleep soon after leaving Star City, and he tells her that shows just how exhausted she is.

Felicity is winning big, the beautiful lady sitting beside her is not doing so well. Felicity spots her some chips, and the lady is grateful. Oliver is starting to think that his contact is not going to show, but hello! She’s right there beside Felicity! And her name is Esrin Fortuna.

John has Andy cornered, or so he thinks. HIVE soldiers come up behind him and Andy knocks him out. They throw water in his face later to wake him, and he’s chained to the ceiling. Andy tells him that Darhk is on his way, and he is supposed to prep him. Andy starts examining various tools, and eventually chooses a screwdriver and stabs John in the gut.

Fortuna takes Oliver and Felicity aside and tells them that she is an immortal shaman, and leads them through a door. They emerge into a candlelit cave, a nexus point, complete with head totem. She knows just who Darhk is, but shaman’s don’t get involved in the lives of men if they can help it. She explains that Darhk channels his magic through the totem, and gets his power from death. All things have their opposite, and the opposite of Darhk’s is light and hope. If Oliver can channel the light, he can repel Darhk’s magic. But if his darkness is stronger than his light, he will only fuel the dark magic.

Thea and Alex take a walk, and she is annoyed she can’t get a signal. The place they’re staying is bothering her, it seems too perfect. And she’s suddenly noticed that all the nature sounds she’s hearing are on a loop. Alex tells her she sounds a little crazy, and she just needs to give in and be happy.

John is unconscious as he is unchained from the roof, or not. He takes down the soldiers, and cuffs Andy to a pole. He holds a gun to Andy, who goads him to do it for Laurel. When he drops his gun, he tells John she’d be so disappointed.

Oliver is undergoing his Defence Against the Dark Arts training, and Fortuna is going to send some dark magic his way and he needs to try and send out some light in defence. The darkness moves towards him and Oliver’s eyes briefly turn gold as he repels it. She tries some stronger magic, and we go inside Oliver’s head. That shit be dark, lots of deaths, loss and pain. His inner darkness is too strong, and he can’t repel it. Fortuna tells him that she can’t help him, his light is too weak, he will only fuel his enemies.

Thea tells Alex that’s it not even getting dark yet, and she realises that he hasn’t even told her where they are. She points out the sound loop again, and Alex starts to get annoyed. He opens his bottle of vitamins, and they spill everywhere. They’re yellow pills, the same pills that HIVE gives its Ghosts to make them compliant. Ruve Adams gave them to him to help him stay healthy. Things are very wrong here, and Thea does the bolt.

John returns to Lyla’s bunker, and she is furious that he went out on his own. He knows he messed up, but Laurel was like a sister to him, and Andy is still his brother. He still wants to help him.

Oliver and Felicity talk about Oliver’s inner darkness, and she tells him to stop having a pity party. He explains that’s just the way it is, Felicity is the one who brings the light in their story. Whatever happens, he is always going to revert to the person he was on Lian Yu. She tells him that everyone can change, and she doesn’t believe that Oliver can only be dark.

Darhk arrives and finds Andy still cuffed to the pole. He congratulates him on his performance, and that the tracker is in place and locked on. Time for one last family reunion. Andy rolls up behind the bunker truck and starts to fire on it. More Ghosts arrive on motorbikes, and the truck is under serious attack. They strap baby Sara in, quietly confident that the truck is impenetrable. John realises that Andy tagged him, and tries to get hold of the team but no one is answering. There is one thing that could stop a truck like that, however, Mr Damien Darhk.

Lyla has worked out that Darhk is after her, not John. Otherwise he would be dead already. As the Director of ARGUS, she obviously has something valuable that Darhk needs. She tells John that she needs him and Sara safe. As Darhk goes to enter the truck a bike flies out at top speed, and the Ghosts give chase. Lyla fires on the remaining soldiers but is unable to escape from Darhk’s magic. He finds that Sara is gone, and we see she’s in a backpack on John’s back. As he rides a motorcycle. Being followed by men with guns. She’s on his back? Dad of the year over here! Felicity arrives in an SUV just in time, and knocks out the Ghosts. John hands over Sara tells her to get out of there.

Darhk has Lyla, and uses his magic to draw a microchip she seems to have implanted under her skin out. Oliver arrives and shoots Darhk in the back, but he fights back. He pulls out the arrow and begins to aim his magic at Oliver. The darkness start to drain away Oliver’s life force, but he manages to access his light and repel his magic. His eyes turn golden, and they both blast back from each other. Yer a wizard Ollie!

John has caught up with Andy, and is holding his gun on him. Andy has reached the point of no return and threatens to keep trying to find Lyla and Sara until he finally takes them out. After all, Sara’s gotta go to school one day. There’s only so much John can take though. Andy is bemused that John can kill to protect a bunch of Afghans he never knew, but not the person threatening his family. That’s it for John, and he puts Andy down once and for all.

John cradles Andy’s body, as Oliver runs up. He’s shocked and worried for John, but John tells him that he had no choice. He was never coming back, and his family was never going to be safe.

Back at the bunker, Felicity checks on Oliver, and he tells her that he was able to repel Darhk’s magic. He says he heard her voice in his head. She was reminding him of all the good things he has in his life. He heard John, he heard Laurel. Telling him to keep fighting, to never give up.

Lyla wakes and John reassures her that Sara is fine. He tells her about Andy, and what he had to do. He had to kill his baby brother. She replies that he wasn’t a brother to John, not in the ways that really matter. Lyla sees the bandage on her wrist, and realises that what she had under her skin is gone. Rubicon is gone.

At the bunker, Lyla explains to the team that Darhk took Rubicon. It’s a ballistic launch override protocol. It prevents any country from firing a missile, but with some adjustments it could be used for the exact opposite. Darhk will control the world’s nuclear power, but to what end? John puts together that Darhk’s plan is called Genesis, as told to him by Andy, and that in the bible, Genesis was God wiping out the world to start again. God did it with a flood, Rubicon is Darhk’s flood. So what is his ark? I think Thea has just found it, under the streets of Star City.

I admit to a minor eye roll when Oliver did his golden eyed magic repelling booshite, but I’m willing to go with it. But seriously, just bring back John Constantine for the magic-y bits. We need the real deal back in our lives, although Oliver’s accent tonight was spot on. But anyway! Looks like the end of the world is next week, just as well we get Vinnie Jones back as Brick. May as well make it a party!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br_nTdWQbmc