I mean, these kids have seriously been through so much in the last few hours that it's probably best that the Smoak-Queens decide to head back to Olicity's old apartment for a good night's rest (though, I don't think any of them will be sleeping "well"). Oliver's hopeful expression as he asks his two children what the future is like is so sad knowing the context of what it's actually like which is why I completely understand the kids deciding not to tell current Team Arrow what it's really like.

Oliver first turns to talk to Mia and ask if she's okay, but she mostly just brushes her dad off quietly and heads to the guest bedroom.

This is when we get one of my all-time favorite scenes in the entire show where William comes out about his sexuality to Oliver. Ben Lewis really is able to bring his character's nervousness and insecurity to the forefront in this scene. He doesn't know how his father will react, but he didn't get to tell him the first time around and it always felt like a piece of himself was missing because of it, so it's one of those moments where you just have to take a leap of faith.

And what does Oliver do? He smiles happily at his son, admitting to William that he and Felicity always knew, they just wanted to give him the chance to come out to them on his own and that he's sorry that he never got the chance to do so. Tears of joy are now flowing from both their eyes as they look across the couch at one another, the invisible door of pain suddenly burst open.

Honestly, knowing this scene wasn't in the script until Ben Lewis suggested it and that Stephen Amell's performance was mostly improvised makes this part one-hundred times better!

I mean, this scene is so genuinely emotional that I think you'd be hard-pressed not to find yourself in happy tears when it's over.

We soon learn that the Deathstroke gang is attacking current time Star City, only it isn't JJ who's running it. It's Slade Wilson's second son, Grant, who inspires JJ in the future to join the Deathstroke cult.

The kids decide that it would be best if they deal with the problem on their own (ugh...) because it's their problem, not their parents. Of course, their plan goes awfully, making Oliver and the others swoop in and save them.

Don't get me wrong, I love the whole dynamic William, Mia, and Conner share as a team, but are they ever going to realize that making brash decisions have consequences, especially after what happened to Zoe?

After hearing Conner shout JJ during the fight (before knowing the true identity of the masked villain), John demands that the kids come clean to them. They all mostly stand frozen, unsure of what to say until William (through wet eyes) finally admits what the future really holds. How the Glades overran the entire city, with the help of Rene and Zoe's death by JJ's hand (I cringed at those last words just as much as the characters did). I did appreciate hearing William tell them the truth because it once again proves the fact that he's the most honest of the Future Arrow team.

Everyone's mostly up in arms in various levels of pain (most especially, John and Conner), but Oliver reasons that they still have to complete the mission.

Right before they go into the field, Oliver comes into the lab where William's working to check on how he's doing on scanning for Grant's bomb's location (but I think we all know why he actually went to talk to his son). William replies that he's almost done before offering Oliver some advice on Mia after his father apologizes again for not being there for him, "it's okay, dad. I'm glad that you were in my life, then and now, and Mia will be too (cue another wave of awws!).

Oliver just smiles back at his son, hope restoring within him for his and his daughter's relationship.

By the end of the episode, the team stops the Deathstroke Gang of this time and the Diggles make up. Just as a clarification, John and Conner have a great storyline in this episode, but it's not really necessary to William's character so, unfortunately I could not include it in this particular tribute. But if you would like, I'm more than willing to consider making other tributes to this one for other Arrow characters! Just please request in the comment section below!

The last few minutes of this episode are really fun, especially since they do a callback to the scene where Felicity raves about Oliver's midnight snack to younger William, only this time, William is telling Mia how great it is (Oliver's smile at his son's enthusiasm is priceless!).

We also learn here that the Smoak-Queens will need to head to Russia to get plans for a weapon that could destroy the Monitor.

We start the next episode with a training montage with the Archer Fam (Oliver and Mia) training as William finishes decrypting the other underlying materials needed for the weapon which just happen to be located in an army base (this leads into a nice sideplot with Diggle and Roy).

It's both surprising and sweet that Oliver is the first to suggest that his two kids should come with him to Russia, despite how much history he has there. Of course, Mia and William both immediately jump at the offer, but not before Mia asks the funny question, "Is it really that cold in Russia?" to her older brother. And just like you'd expect, William just laughs and says, "You are so not ready for this," as they leave to get packed for their "family trip."

In the next scene, we get a welcoming reunion of Anatoly with his brother, (brother is a term used in the Bratva, not his actual brother) Oliver. Side note, I laughed so hard at Oliver's dumbstruck expression after hearing his son speak Russian. William truly is a man of many talents!

This is when we discover that the man who holds the plans they need currently resides in a fight club. This is when tension starts to build between Mia and Oliver as he benches both of his kids to Anatoly's bar in favor of their safety. Instead, bringing Laurel and Anatoly with him to retrieve the information. I couldn't have been the only one who knew the two rule-breaker Smoak-Queen kids weren't going to listen to their father's orders, right?

The target agrees to give Oliver the plans, if he can win a cage match against their champion fighter (if he knows he is the Green Arrow then, why does he think this plan will work? Who knows.). Of course, Oliver levels his opponent, coming out of the fight with only a few scratches, but his kids watched him fight. See, this is something I really love about storylines that revolve around Oliver being a father. He doesn't care about what anyone thinks, he never did, unless the people in question are his two kids because he wants them to think of him as a good person, the person he wants to be for both of them.

Oliver quickly storms out of the area so he can finally finish the mission and get out of Russia, only Mia has other plans. She follows him and ends up getting them both caught because of it.

Once they are captured, we get some great Miaver (possible mash-up name?) moments, most importantly being one where Mia is forced to try and ring a bell, just as Oliver had to in the season five flashbacks, but fails by a mere second.

Meanwhile, William works his hardest (with the help of Laurel) to locate his family.

Another side note, his mannerisms are nearly identical to Felicity's when it comes to anxiety, including the whole nervous typing as he paces around the bar (he really did look up to her!).

And using Russian satellites, he's able to pinpoint their location, but to their surprise, when they get there, Miaver has already freed themselves.

Our next scene with the Smoak-Queen family has to be one of the most honest conversations Oliver has ever had. He scolds his kids for ignoring his orders, most notably, Mia, because she could have easily gotten herself killed. Mia protests that they don't need him to protect them because in the future, they're the ones saving the city to which William firmly agrees with his sister.

Oliver then yells painfully, "Yeah, well we're not in the future! This is months after I was heartbroken that I couldn't get you on the phone at your grandparents (looks at William) so, I walked into your room where I found you in your crib (turns his attention to Mia)!"

The way he speaks about his kids' protection with such passion is so heartwarming to see because it really shows how much his character has grown, how much all of them have grown.

They aren't little kids anymore, but he will always see them as those little children they used to be because they are his kids. Honestly, this part really made me appreciate my parents even more than before because I don't think we realize sometimes as kids how much they give up just to take care of us.

Mia storms out of the bar, furious at her dad's stubbornness, leaving Oliver hurting even more than before.

Another side note, I really enjoyed how William just turned around to the camera and took a sip of beer because he clearly stated in a prior episode that he doesn't usually drink which just makes an action as simple as this one show how hard this whole situation is on him.

We get a nice moment between Mia and Laurel outside the bar of what it really means to be your own hero which leads Mia to confront her father.

Luckily for everyone, Oliver agrees that Mia and William should help him in the field because he has to give them the chance to prove themselves and help them figure out their own unique styles, rather than pushing them away (the look of simultaneous surprise and joy on Mia's face after her father's words goes unmatched).

So, Oliver, Laurel, and Anatoly return to the fight club, only this time, it's with the Smoak-Queen kids, too. William convinces one of the hosts to let the Archer Fam fight with the one condition that they take on eight men this time. We get another good piece of sibling banter between the two kids when Mia whisper-shouts,"Eight guys? Is that the best you could do?" and William replies by saying, "You said you wanted a challenge, right? Just please, don't die."

Oliver and Mia take to the ring and fight the men in an awesome father-daughter action sequence! I mean, you have to admit that a parent and child fighting alongside one another is super cool (I mean, just look at Barry Allen and his daughter, Nora's action scenes!). Of course, they take the men down, stalling for just enough time before William gives them the exit signal and they literally smoke-bomb out of the place! Sorry about all the exclamation points, I just really enjoyed that part.

While the Smoak-Queens work on distracting their enemies, Laurel and Anatoly break into the target's office and steal the plans before meeting the other three back at the club.

They drink to their success before Oliver thanks his kids for their help and explains why he wasn't honest with them earlier. And the scene ends with Mia and William listening intently to Oliver's stories of his days before he became the Green Arrow.

Okay, so the sixth episode of the eighth season is very well done and definitely worth checking out but, the kids are barely in it so I'm not going to include anything from it in this tribute except the very last scene.

The episode ends with the team mysteriously finding themselves on Lian Yu where they start to prepare for their last mission, or should I say, Oliver's (I'm literally going to make myself cry writing this) last mission.

Which leads us to episode seven which starts out with Lyla explaining to the others that the Monitor took them to the island so they could power up a crucial device to stop the incoming Crisis.

This is when Oliver asks for the room and tells his kids the painful truth that he has to die to save the Multiverse. Honestly, the looks of sadness on all three of their faces is insurmountably painful to see, Mia takes it worst of all, once again storming out of the room.

Then, we see that Roy, Dinah, and Rene's (who were sent to the island by Lyla as part of the Monitor's plan) plane were shot out of the sky. Not only, possibly damaging the device, but injuring their teammates. Oliver suggests that the three Diggles go rescue the team while he, Mia, and Laurel retrieve the lost piece of tech. Meanwhile, William will keep working on the device (just a brief side note, loved the fact that the show pointed out how often William gets kidnapped in this scene via Oliver).

To everyone's surprise, Mia declares that she is going to stay with William, in a clear attempt to avoid her father as much as possible. In typical Oliver fashion, he decides not to push on the topic and agrees just to go with Laurel to look for the device. Rookie parenting mistake.

We cut between several different groups in this particular part of the episode (why did they have to take Roy's arm?!), but I'm only going to really mention William and Mia's section because this is his tribute, after all. William rushes around the underground Argus base where they're currently camped, trying to create a device that can help save the multiverse in mere hours (no pressure, right?). Meanwhile, Mia just mostly stands to the side, sharpening her knife as she broods.

William, noticing that his sister is hurting, stops his work and comes over to talk to her.

Can I just say that I love how kindly he speaks to her in stressful situations, even when she's really mad. Mia explains how she feels betrayed by their father because he's just deciding to give up his life for the sake of his job instead of staying with his family.

Her words are simultaneously very hurtful and true which makes the scene feel that much more real. William tries to counter her argument by saying that he isn't giving up on them, but he has to go save the multiverse, even though it hurts all of them so much.

You can see a slight change in Mia's opinion before she leaves the base to get some air.

As the Smoak-Queen kids reenter the upper part of the base, they are met by their teammates (aside from Oliver) who are carrying a one-armed Roy as they try to stabilize him.

I really hate seeing Roy so hurt after you know, having just died to save Thea, though his words later on to John about how he'd rather die helping the team than live his life alone is one of the most moving lines in the episode (and there's a lot of them).

At the sight of seeing that their father isn't safe, Mia immediately grabs her bow and prepares to venture into the Lian Yu woods to find him. William quickly jumps in front of her, reasoning that they don't need two teammates to get lost in one day and Oliver can handle himself.

Mia declares that she is not going to just let their father die, not now or later.

William responds with probably my favorite line he's ever said in the entirety of the show,

"When I was little, Felicity had me down in that bunker and I saw that dad could cheat death more than anyone. I pushed him away because I never thought I could lose him and then, he disappeared. If this really is the end, I don't want to waste the time I have left being mad. Do you?"

His words not only comfort his little sister as tears stream down both their faces, but it also shows great character development. When William became kind of like one of the starring characters (season six), he spent about half the season being very cautious as to whether to trust Oliver or not because he was afraid of getting too attached to him and then losing him, just like what happened with Samantha. But this conversation shows viewers that he doesn't blame Oliver for abandoning him, he blamed himself for not taking advantage of the little time he did have with his father. Which is exactly why he's giving Mia this advice, in hopes of stopping her from making the same mistake.

After another scene or two, Oliver comes back to the base and tells everyone that the island is filled with his past enemies (yep, typical Tuesday) and they will have to buy William some time so he can finish the device. Everyone nods their heads in agreement, Mia smiling at her father (aww!) before they leave.

We get a really cool action sequence next with a mix of our current and Future Team Arrow (plus, Yao Fei) as they fight season one's flashbacks main antagonist, Edward Fryers and his men.

William frantically works on finishing the device, only to discover that it needs Oliver's fingerprint to complete its activation. So, Oliver and John rush back to the base in the midst of the fight and help William. But there's a catch, turns out Lyla actually has to be the one to activate the device.

As soon as the device is finally active, all their island enemies disappear and the field team heads back to the base. Everyone starts to pack up, Oliver giving Rene and Dinah a quick, but sweet goodbye on their way out. Honestly, I think that each goodbye he gives out this episode is perfectly well-written for each of their characters' arcs.

Next, we get my favorite scene of the entire episode (though, I'll be the first to admit that I'm biased) where Oliver says goodbye to Roy and William. Oliver goes to thank Roy for all he's given up for the team, but his old sidekick just stops him mid-sentence. Saying that he is only the great person he is today because he had as great a mentor as Oliver (sniff, sniff).

As Roy leaves out the door, William offers to give him back the hosen (since Roy gave it to him in the future forwards), but Roy refuses, stating that William can keep it because he doesn't plan on leaving the team anytime soon.

Now, that leaves Oliver and William to say their final goodbyes. Oliver starts off the conversation by saying how proud he is of the hero his son has grown to be to which William responds that he had a good example to look up to (Awwwwwwww!). Oliver then says that it means the world to him that he got a chance to get to know him and that he hopes William will eventually be able to forgive him for all the mistakes he made during their relationship.

William just smiles and says, "Dad, I already have. I know for you I only left a year ago, but for me, it's been twenty years. And when I was a kid, I didn't understand what it meant to fight for something bigger than yourself. But now I do, and I'm really proud of you, dad."

Oliver smiles through teary eyes, saying, "Not as proud as I am of you," as he looks back at his son before they embrace each other in a beautiful hug.

This scene perfectly shows why Oliver and William are my favorite parent, child pairing in the Arrowverse. They've both made mistakes in their relationship (some worse than others), but they will always love each other. And now, they also have a better understanding of what it means to be in the position their respective other had to be in. It shows how much they've grown as people. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better goodbye for them.

We also get a nice send-off for Oliver and Diggle's friendship which is especially nice because they were technically the first members of Team Arrow. Lastly, the episode ends with an emotional goodbye from Oliver and Mia where she apologizes for giving him the cold-shoulder for most of the time since they met. She just felt so hurt by losing him for so long that it was hard for her to let that pain go, but she understands now why he has to go. Seeing her run into a hug with her father feels reminiscent of what William did the first moment they saw Oliver in this time which I think is a great way to show how drastically her feelings towards him have changed over the course of the last few episodes.

Unfortunately, this is the last time we see William and his father together for the remainder of the show.

Personally, I really wish he would've been present during Crisis because it kind of felt like by Mia being there, but not William, they emphasized how prominent of a difference there was in who was the focus of the Future Team. Just to be clear, I have no issues with Mia, in fact, I think she's a great character with an even greater actress playing her. I just connected more to William's personality (whether that be Moore's or Lewis' version) and would've liked to see more of that emotional impact in Oliver's last few hours, in addition to what we got with Mia.

Okay, so explaining the ninth episode of this season is going to be very hard due to the changes from Crisis so, just bear with me.

At the beginning of the episode, a rich social butterfly is throwing a rager at Club V (short for Verdant probably) when she's kidnapped. This might not sound like a big deal but just a scene later as Mia is getting herself ready for the morning alongside JJ (yep, that's right. In this new created reality, Mia and JJ are not only a couple, but also, soon to be married. Honestly, I'm not really against the concept, but it's a little strange to see after everything that happened in the future forwards) when the news channel plays in the background, revealing that Star City has been completely crime free for twenty years! I mean, wow, Oliver's sacrifice not only brought back the multiverse, but he really did save his city, after all.

As the episode progresses, we watch how Mia, Laurel, and Dinah's lives have changed over the years (though, two of these aren't really relevant to this tribute). Mia has just finished college and despite her brother's constant nagging, hasn't gotten any job yet and doesn't really plan to either.

I really loved the part where Mia practically lunged into William's arms, hugging him tightly once he'd arrived at her party (true sibling love at its finest!).

This is also when we get the amazing news that Zoe is still alive in this new world since she showed up with William (as a friendly plus one, of course).

It seems like the three of them have been friends forever at this point which is nice to see because they were perfect together in the future forwards. The only thing that would have made this reunion sweeter is if Conner was involved although he's a bit more of an outsider in this new world. Hey, I'm sure if they let William talk to the guy, he'd probably be able to convince him to join their group ( I mean, he is the one who convinced all of Future Team Arrow to come together, right?).

As the party progresses, Mia gives a nice speech about how thankful she is for both her brother (awww!) and her now fiance, JJ. This scene is also when Laurel and Dinah first show up and give Mia back all her memories from before this new timeline.

She then mostly spends the rest of the episode reluctantly helping the two Canaries find her friend before finally revealing that the reason she doesn't have a job is because she always heard stories about how amazing her father was and she knew she could never be that good so, she never even tried.

I know this isn't really important to William's character, I just love it so much, I had to at least touch on the subject!

Eventually, Mia does come along and help save her socialite friend from an organization with strange tattoos on their arms. This group is run by a female, but that's all we know by the end of the episode (since this section of the episode was originally setting up an Arrow spin-off). During their investigation, Mia is forced to go through JJ's stuff to prove his innocence to the Canaries (he was a murderer in the last timeline) which doesn't exactly bode well for the newly wed's relationship. Luckily, Mia comes back to him towards the end of the episode and apologizes which he takes graciously before they kiss.

That leads us to the second-to-last scene in this episode where William and Mia are standing in front of their father's statue together. They basically come there to admire the powerful impact Oliver had on Star City, admitting how proud they both are of him.

Another side note, I really enjoyed when William joked about how the news was calling him constantly to see if he was the Green Arrow, but never asked her.

Especially, the part when he says, "Isn't that a little misogynistic? I mean, it is 2040 after all."

It's always nice to see feminine empowerment in these shows, but I especially appreciate when the guys say it, too, because it just shows that they respect them equally.

Mia just laughs before commenting that he brought the pet rock (the hosen). William smiles back at her and protests that it's not a pet, it's a family heirloom that's been passed down from Oliver to Thea to Felicity and now, to him. Mia can't help but smile herself before asking to see it which William gladly obliges to. That's when she notices something very odd about the rock's writing.

It's the same one written on the gang's arms earlier.

But before she can react, two tranquilizer darts come soaring through the air and hit both of the Smoak-Queens' necks, knocking them to the ground. Mia tries to fight the urge of drowsiness without success, leaving her awake just long enough to see William get captured by three members of the gang. Mia weakly calls his name but it's too late.

This episode perfectly balances making us feel engrossed in the original timeline's Star City and this new multiverse's version. Honestly, my only complaint is just that we didn't end up getting the actual spin-off (though, I know Covid was mostly the cause of that).

Which leads us to the very last episode (sniff, sniff). The final episode is great in almost every way, bringing all of the show's past heroes together for one last mission. And that mission is (you guessed it), saving younger William, of course because he apparently also got kidnapped. I mean, it was nice to see Moore's William back before the show's end since he was the one who originated the role (especially getting to see scenes with him and Katherina), but I really wish they would've given him a better storyline to work off of because he's so much more than just the kid who gets kidnapped.

The team eventually ends up rescuing him in a beautiful moment where we get to see Mia dressed from head to toe in her dad's personally designed green leather save her older (younger? Lol) brother. Soon after, they all attend Oliver's bronze statue unveiling and lastly, his funeral. The funeral scene is not only amazingly written, but fantastically acted, finally grouping together all of the show's past heroes in a final tribute to Oliver.

Overall, the final episode is a spectacular ending for an amazing show!