SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Tribute," the latest episode of Arrow.
There's a new Green Arrow in Star City. At the end of "Tribute," the latest episode of Arrow, John "Dig" Diggle agreed to take over the hood from Oliver Queen, who decided to retire for the sake of his son William. Though this may seem like a simple passing of the mantle, it's anything but, for reasons revealed earlier on in the episode.
In last week's premiere episode, Team Arrow member Dinah "Black Canary" Drake has noticed something off about Dig. She watched him draw his gun to take down a mercenary, but he never fired; as a result, Wild Dog was blasted off of an overpass and would have died if Oliver hadn't caught him in the nick of time. Dinah confronted Dig about the moment, asking if he was compromised, but Dig shrugged it off and refused to talk about it.
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Now, in "Tribute," the truth has come out: Dig suffered a grievous injury during the explosion on Lian Yu, which has left him with degenerative nerve damage. As such, he has a tremor in his right hand. Though slight, the tremor is enough to make him doubt his aim, so much so that he refuses to fire his gun even when necessary. He revealed to Dinah that he never told the team because he didn't want to worry them in the wake of Samantha's death and Thea's injuries.
This came into play later in the episode, when Team Arrow stormed Anatoly's warehouse in search of his Markovian hostages. One of Anatoly's men managed to get the jump on Black Canary, pulling a wire against her throat. As she struggled and gasped for air, Dig stood with his gun drawn, but didn't take the shot for fear of hitting Dinah by accident. Dinah was able to get herself out of the situation, but the damage was done; this proved he was definitely compromised by the injury.
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As the episode neared its end, Dinah convinced Dig to tell Oliver about the injury. However, when they met up, Oliver asked Dig to take over as Green Arrow. Before Dig could say no, Oliver launched into a speech about his son and how he promised William that he wouldn't make him an orphan -- a promise he couldn't keep unless he stepped down from being Green Arrow.
"Every time that I'm out there as the Green Arrow, I'm a target, of the FBI, of the Bratva," Oliver explained. "Of the threats that are out there and the threats that are undoubtedly coming. And on my own, I can take it. I'm not on my own anymore. I cannot be responsible for my son losing the only parent that he has left. Star City needs the Green Arrow. It just can't be me anymore. So I'd like it to be you."
In response to that, Digg shook in hand, signaling to Oliver that he would indeed take over as Green Arrow.
Starring Stephen Amell as the Emerald Archer, Arrow airs Thursdays at 9pm ET/PT on The CW. The series also stars Emily Bett Rickards, David Ramsey, Willa Holland and more.