Observation 1Friday, September 5th, 2014

CWTV’s “Arrow” - Oliver Queen’s 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 with the amount of food they had left on the life raft. Before he shoots himself Robert hands Oliver a book with names in it and tells him to right his wrongs. Oliver doesn’t understand at first and only focuses on surviving. Soon after returning home, he comes to the realization that the names on this list have something to do with the boat sinking. We pick up at the last three episodes of season one. Oliver has been hard at work cleaning up Starling city, a very large 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.

Starling City – Photo Cutesy of ArrowWikia.com

Rules and Conventions:Oliver’s 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. Oliver’s 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 it’s a lady or shaking it if it’s a male. This is almost always a false front. Drinking is a norm for every character in the show. The upper class and older individuals do it casually with expensive wines among others to show off. Teenagers are seen drinking heavily in the rough parts of the Glades and with moderation when the setting is more sophisticated. Sadly, another norm comprises of everyone knowing everyone else’s business; somewhat like a small town. 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 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. During the day Oliver is snobby and extremely selfish though he shows moment of compassion and thoughtfulness to his family and friends. He has to lie a lot about what he is doing and must do stupid things to make sure no one suspects him of being the Arrow.

Arrow/The Hood – A vigilante that spends his time cleaning up the city of Starling, Oliver’s alter-ego is called the Hood by the media but wants to be called the Arrow. Oliver chooses this name simply because he shoots arrow’s and he thought it sounded less evil than the Hood. He operates out of the basement of his nightclub, Verdant. When Oliver is in Arrow mode he is extremely determined, smart, resourceful and just. In other words a completely different person from the one everyone else knows. 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 Arrow’s true identity.

John Diggle - Formally in the army Special Forces, Diggle is now Oliver Queen’s personal bodyguard and the Arrow’s trusted partner. John was the first person assigned to be Oliver’s bodyguard when he returns home from the island. Oliver kept slipping away to do Arrow activities, making Diggle look bad as a bodyguard. He becomes accidentally involved in on of Arrow’s missions and soon becomes fully involved. He keeps the Arrow’s emotions in check and is the levelheaded thinker between them, bringing much needed stability to Oliver’s life. Because Oliver can handle himself, being his bodyguard is only a front so that he can be seen with him at all times without exciting suspicion. Because of his training, Diggle acts as extra muscle on many, but not all missions to take out the criminals of Starling City.

Felicity Smoke – Felicity was, and still is, an IT employee at Queen Consolidated before Oliver started approaching her with odd research jobs and small illegal activities to do. It wasn’t long before she was fully involved in helping the Arrow. She is an extremely key part of the team because of her immense talent and knowledge on everything computers.

Slade Wilson – Oliver first encounters Slade on the island a few months after being stranded. Slade is an Australian Special Forces personnel who is responsible for the first part of Oliver’s combat and survival training. Although he is only seen in the flashbacks to the island, he had a huge part in making Oliver capable of being the arrow. Slade was on the island as part of a rescue mission but was stranded when the plan crashed.

The Arrow/Oliver Queen – Photo Courtesy of arrow-flash.com

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.

Thea Queen – Thea is Oliver’s little 17ish year old sister. She has changed so much during the five years Oliver was gone that Oliver has a very hard time connecting with her. She has turned to small amounts of drug and alcohol use to cope with all the misery she has gone through. All she wants is for things to be normal again, but that can never happen with Oliver being the Arrow. She is completely in the dark as to Oliver’s other identity and takes huge offense when she finds out Oliver has been lying to her.

Walter Steele – Walter was one of Robert Queen’s friends and was ranking just below the owner in Queen Consolidated. After Robert’s death he became CEO of the company, requiring a lot of time spent with Moyra, this turned into a relationship and a few years later they got married. All of this happened within the five years Oliver was on the island. Walter is liked by everyone and is seen as a kind man who has many things done wrong to him.

Malcolm Merlyn – Malcolm is the bad guy at the end of this series and is at least a millionaire with his own company called Merlyn Industries. He is responsible for coming up with, coordinating, and carrying out the destruction of the Glades. Along with the deaths of hundreds from the man made earthquake, Malcolm has killed Robert Queen the other partner to whom Robert went to get help. He is the father of Tommy, best friend of Oliver, and secretly the father of Thea Queen, a fact that has no effect on this season.

The Glades – This is a small portion of land in the middle of Starling City. Crime is always bad here resulting in many bad things happening. These bad things and crimes are what drive Malcolm to destroy it. He wife was killed there and no one stopped to help her. This isn’t surprising at all for the Glades. Although there are a lot of bad people there, it cannot be said that there are no innocent and good citizens stuck there because of financial trouble. Malcolm regards these people as collateral damage and is quite ok with killing 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 Arrow’s 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. However, Oliver can handle himself in any situation without these artifacts. H is very well trained and can use a variety of weapons including his own hands. These are simply his weapons of choice

The Arrow’s 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. Yao Fei gave the hood to him on the island just before he died, making it very sentimental.

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 Consolidated’s Applied Physics department made this device under orders from Moyra, who was in turn forced to do so by Malcolm.

The Glades After the Earthquake – Photo courtesy of m1.paperblog.com

Unknown to the actors at the time, there are actually two of them, which proves fatal to 507 inhabitants of the Glades. Malcolm’s goal was achieved through these machines.

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

Arrow’s 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 aren’t afraid to speak up if they don’t like what is going on.

Malcolm’s 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.

Oliver’s 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 player’s domain is baseball.

Impossible Missions: These are the driving force behind the show as they tie together Oliver’s 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 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 wasn’t 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 Oliver’s step-dad Walter, who is also the CEO of Queen Consolidated. He took that position when Oliver’s 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 boss’s 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.

25:00 minutes – Oliver lies to his mother and sister by saying he learned from one of Diggle’s FBI buddies that Walter is dead. Thea falls apart but Moyra states through tears, “No! This isn’t possible!” then says she is going out. Oliver comforts Thea then leaves and follows his mother as the Arrow. She goes to Malcolm Merlin’s 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 Oliver’s 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 couldn’t rebuild them, destroying his whole purpose. The flashback ends and Felicity is shown entering Arrow’s 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 Malcolm’s 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 Oliver’s 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 Diggle’s 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 Consolidated’s 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 can’t 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 doesn’t get her caught up in his Arrow life. 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 can’t tell because Malcolm will kill her and her family. Diggle has to start beating Oliver until she can’t 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 wouldn’t willing do any of this” he responds while walking away, “I don’t 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 Laurel’s father, Detective Lance, comes to the same conclusion and has one of his people “snoop around” the same mainframe. This isn’t possible with the security installed. Felicity tells Oliver that’s she needs direct access to the mainframe which means somehow accessing it on the 25th 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 25th 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 didn’t come to her rescue stating, “She got past me on the 1st floor, I’ll 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 Moyra’s 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 wasn’t the only one who tried to do this. She used the same pathways I did.” The detective doesn’t 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 Laurel’s 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 wife’s (Tommy’s 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 Malcolm’s 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. It’s from Tommy’s 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 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 Malcolm’s 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 can’t 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 isn’t 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 wasn’t alone, that he didn’t have to fight his battles alone anymore. This hits home with Oliver and they set out to stop the Undertaking.

Interview 1:

Oliver Queen = OQMe = 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 I’ve 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 can’t see how the two are related.

TP: Tell me about the first time you realized you weren’t 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 wasn’t the only one going trough something rough when we discovered that it wasn’t 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 don’t know why I didn’t give him up. Whatever that reason was is the same that motivates me to help people I do not know and shouldn’t care about according to my socioeconomic class. The people I’m helping have nowhere else to turn, just like me before I met Yao Fei. The resolve I showed when tortured was something I didn’t know I had. After going through that I realized there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do when protecting someone else. I show the same resolve for the people of Starling City.

Interview 2:

Oliver Queen = OQMe = TP

OQ: In your eyes, do you see me as a murderer who just happens to be killing the right people or someone who is doing what needs to be done?TP: There is no doubt in my mind that you are extremely motivated to do what you do. However, this doesn’t make killing right. I sometimes get very agitated when you kill a criminal because you act as the judge, jury, and executioner. Although death is what many of these people deserve, they should have a second chance at life just like you did.

OQ: When did you start really getting in to the show?TP: I was into the show from the very start. Seeing someone turn their life around be surviving what you did is encouraging for me to see. I had many things taken away from me when I shattered my hip in football so I can somewhat relate to what you went through. Little connections like this hooked me on the show.

OQ: Am I limiting my abilities by not using guns or long-range weapons to aid my missions?TP: Not in the least, your work requires you to get up close with your enemies and criminals. Long-range weapons and guns would be of no use to you on missions. You are so good with

arrows that even if you switched to guns you couldn’t achieve any better results, plus it appears that an archer is very intimidating to people who have never fought them before.

OQ: What is your opinion on what happened on the island to me? Did I come out on top or worse than when I arrived?TP: You definitely arrived out on top after surviving that hellish place. Anyone who goes through that changes in a big way, you happen to change for the better. I would bet that this has everything to do with fulfilling your father’s wishes. You became a better person on that island even with all the bad things you had to do. That just goes to show how bad you were before.

OQ: Do I lie too much to my family? I feel like I’m hurting them more than helping, should I change this?TP: You have to lie so much in your life that you get caught up in what is really important. So yes, you do lie too much to your family and I don’t think it would hurt them if they knew your true identity. When you look at what you have told them and how they feel now, there is no way you can lie to them any more without completely ruining your relationship with them. I think you should tell them the truth. It hurts to be lie too as much as they have.