"It's the bad girls I'm worried about."
John Diggle on Helena Bertinelli's return
"The Huntress Returns" is the seventeenth episode of the first season of Arrow, and the seventeenth episode overall. It aired on March 20, 2013.


With his night club set to open and a new romance brewing with McKenna, Oliver is as happy as he's been since returning to Starling City. But when Oliver's ex, The Huntress, suddenly returns to town, she threatens to destroy everything and everyone he cares about. Meanwhile, Laurel and her father struggle with the return of Dinah Lance, who claims she has proof Sara is still alive. Thea gets Roy Harper a job at Oliver's night club, but he's not too inclined to stop his life of crime. Oliver and Tommy are thrilled they were able to get Steve Aoki to play at the opening of their new night club, Verdant.


Open at a strip club. A patron named Gus is propositioned for a private dance. In the back he sees that the girl is Helena. She is looking for her father Frank and thinks Gus, his attorney, might know something. He swears the feds stopped telling him anything but she kills him anyway.

Verdant will be opening soon. Oliver asks McKenna to be his date.

Laurel sets Quentin up with a surprising meeting with his ex-wife Dinah, who thinks Sara is still alive. Dinah explains that based on where Oliver was found she thinks it's possible she washed up on one of the other islands. She also shows him a picture taken by a tourist of a woman who looks just like Sara. Quentin doesn't want to believe it.

Thea runs into Roy on the street and says she might have a job for him working as a valet at Oliver's night club, Verdant.

John shows Oliver a video of Helena killing Gus Sabatoni. John thinks Helena is dangerous and Oliver asks him to look into finding her.

Oliver comes home and finds Helena sitting with Thea on the couch. She tells him Frank just cut a deal With the FBI and the justice Department to testify against the east coast family and will be getting out in protective custody in 24 hours. She wants help taking him down but Oliver thinks it would be murder. Helena makes a veiled threat against Oliver's family.

Tommy is still having trouble getting past Oliver's alter ego.

Flashback to the island. Oliver and Slade discuss how what Edward might be planning with his arsenal of missiles.  Slade thinks he has enough firepower to start a war and they need to step in and do something. There are six soldiers guarding the missile launcher.

Laurel asks Quentin to at least take a look at the information Dinah put together.

The night of the opening of Oliver's night club Moira tells Oliver she's proud of what he's accomplished. Laurel notices that something is up with Tommy, then mentions he skipped breakfast with her parents. Tommy tells Thea that Roy starts work the following day. We see that Helena is in the night club. Oliver gets a note to meet John downstairs.

Oliver finds Helena with Tommy pinned down to a table. He finally agrees to help her and she lets him go.

Tommy stops by to see Laurel at work. He tells Thea Roy never showed up for work.  Laurel wants to know what happened to his wrist and he gives her an obvious lie. He says he can't tell her the truth. She's particularly upset that he isn't there for her at a crucial time in her life.

Thea drops by Roy's place. He says he didn't show up for work because he didn't want to accept her charity. She leaves and runs into a few muggers. Roy arrives out of nowhere in a red hooded sweatshirt and saves the day, sustaining a knife wound in the process.

Helena and Oliver follow a motorcade of some kind with Frank in it. Oliver takes out the back of one of the vans but finds it empty. Helena goes after the other van and runs into a police ambush lead by Quentin and McKenna. Oliver sees this and mutters "damn it" to himself.

Quentin and McKenna question Helena and tell her they knew it was just a matter of time before she came after Frank. They say that they were also trying to get the vigilante and offer her a deal if she gives up his real name. Helena begins talking about Oliver Queen and the way he uses people, answering the question that they had asked, but in such away they didn't understand what she was telling them. An alarm goes off and we see the station is full of smoke. The Hood walks in and helps lead Helena out of the building.

Thea accompanies Roy to the hospital. He seems worried about getting a shot and she kisses him to take his mind off the pain.

Outside the station Helena wants Oliver to admit he has feelings for her. He gives her a plane ticket so she can start a new life in Europe. She takes it angrily.

In another island flashback, Oliver and Slade place explosives on the missile launcher. But Oliver thinks all they have to do is remove the circuit board.

Oliver drops by McKenna's place unannounced. He says he feels like he's letting down his friends by not having enough time. This leads to them getting in bed. Felicity tries to call Oliver with information about a recent sporting goods store robbery of a high-powered crossbow. As she leaves him a voicemail we see Helena walk into the room.

Oliver rushes to Queen Consolidated and finds Felicity tied up. John arrives a moment later. Helena forced Felicity to hack into the FBI database to find where Frank is being held.

We see Helena force her way into Frank's safe house, taking out marshal after marshal. She gets upstairs and Frank jumps out of a window. She follows him outside and runs into the Hood. McKenna arrives at the same time and is told to wait for back-up. Helena tells him she knows he won't shoot because he isn't a murderer. He says he has no choice because she plans to kill people and shoots an arrow at her chest. She catches it and seems hurt he would have actually killed her. They begin to fight and the Hood gets the upper hand. But as he points his bow at Helena, McKenna approaches from behind and orders him to put down his weapon. Helena uses the distraction to shoot McKenna.

McKenna wakes up in the hospital with Oliver by her side. She has a broken femur and is looking at a year of rehab. It means she'll be leaving town. Oliver suggested to visit McKenna as much as possible since he is a billionaire and traveling is no big hassle for him. McKenna, though, asked him to stay.

Quentin meets with Dinah and tells her that he is "ready to listen".

In Verdant, Tommy and Oliver talk. Oliver says he was wrong to think he could have a normal life given his enormous secret.

We get a final flashback to the island. Oliver radios Edward that they have the circuit board and suggests a trade: they will give him the board in exchange for a way off the island.


  • This episode features a cameo appearance from Steve Aoki.
  • Quentin states that Dinah didn't contact him or Laurel for three years, implying they divorced around 2009 or 2010.
    • Considering Dinah's absence in the flashbacks from "The Return", it is most likely 2009.


  • While Helena and Oliver are chasing the two vans on motorcycles, the vans are both driving next to each other, blocking off the entire road. This would mean there is no turning into that road, which isn't how they work.


Preparation ran from January 18 until January 28, 2013. Shooting ran from January 29 until February 7, 2013.[1]


  1. Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) - Twitter
