After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. Back in Starling City, Oliver slowly reconnects with those closest to him. Oliver has brought back many new skills from his time on the island and manages to secretly create the persona of Arrow to right the wrongs of his family and fight the ills of society. As Arrow, Oliver will atone for the past sins of his family while he searches for the personal redemption he needs.

Oliver heads to the courthouse to get his death certificate repealed and is pleasantly surprised to run into Laurel, who is there prosecuting Martin Somers, a criminal with ties to the Chinese Triad. Oliver recognizes Martin's name from his father's book and sets his sights on taking him down. Martin orders the Triad to "take care of" Laurel so they send their top mercenary - China White - after her, an act that culminates in a battle between Arrow and China White. Meanwhile, Moira and Walter ask Oliver to take over the company.

Oliver is surprised when someone shoots and kills one of his targets. As his plan is to bring people to justice vs. outright killing them, Oliver doesn't appreciate the help and searches for the gunman. He soon learns that the man, Deadshot, is taking out businessmen who are scheduled to bid at an auction on an energy company and Walter is one of the bidders. Realizing he can't protect his family and stop Deadshot at the same time, Oliver enlists Detective Lance's help, but his plan has dire consequences. Meanwhile, Laurel and Tommy get caught in an awkward situation with Oliver.

Oliver discovers that after he and his father went missing, Moira and Thea stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy asks Laurel to spend Christmas with him but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara's birthday and she needs to be with her father. Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal but Laurel isn't sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, Diggle tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father's list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet.

After Oliver is shot, he turns to a surprising person for help - Felicity. Diggle is stunned when he sees Felicity walk through the front door of the lair dragging a dying Oliver behind her, and the two team up to save Oliver's life. As Oliver hovers between life and death, he flashes back to a seminal event on the island - a daring escape attempt with his new friend Slade Wilson.

Oliver and Diggle race to stop the Dark Archer from unleashing his vengeance on The Glades. However, they run into a roadblock after Detective Lance picks up Felicity for questioning. Tommy and Oliver's already tumultuous relationship takes a turn for the worse after Oliver makes a confession about Laurel. After hearing of the danger in The Glades, Thea races to find Roy, inadvertently putting herself directly in the line of fire for Malcolm's devious plan. On the island, Oliver, Slade and Shado are locked in a life-or-death struggle against Fyers as his missiles lock on a full Ferris Air jetliner.

Diggle and Felicity travel to the island of Lian Yu in search of Oliver, who left Starling City after the devastation of The Undertaking and his failure to avert it. Convinced to return home, Oliver finds that things are in much worse shape than he imagined – Isabel Rochev is preparing a hostile takeover of Queen Consolidated, Thea refuses to visit Moira in jail, Roy is trying to fill the void left by the Arrow's absence, and Laurel is working with the District Attorney's office to take down the vigilante. Meanwhile, flashbacks to the island show Oliver's mentors Slade, Shado and Oliver in a desperate situation.

When a superhumanly strong thief robs a Queen Consolidated warehouse, Central City police scientist Barry Allen comes to Starling City to investigate the case. However, despite his close working relationship with Felicity, Oliver suspects that there's more to the young scientist than meets the eye. Meanwhile, Sin asks Roy to help investigate the disappearance of a friend. In the past, Oliver, Shado, and Sara try to get Slade to the submarine so they can use the serum to save his life.

When Oliver and his team destroy Slade's centrifuge, he attacks them as Deathstroke to get what he needs to find a replacement. Meanwhile, Laurel ponders what to do with Slade's information, and Oliver tries to convince Thea to help him protect their finances from Isabel.

As Oliver's face off with Slade escalates, his resolve to the no-kill rule is tested. Especially as Slade targets the woman Oliver loves.