SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Present Tense," the latest episode of Arrow Season 8.
Laurel Lance may have just made a Faustian bargain. In "Present Tense," the latest episode of Arrow, the Monitor approached her with the promise of saving her world -- for a price. She will have to betray Oliver Queen in exchange for Earth-2.
At the end of the episode, the Monitor stepped out from the shadows as Laurel exited Star City Police Department. "You must be the Monitor," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"How do you know?" the Monitor inquired.
"Because no human would ever wear something so ridiculous," she spat back.
"You ache for the world you lost," he observed. "And I possess the power to restore it."
"You can bring back my Earth," Laurel repeated in disbelief.
"The recovery of your universe will require a single task," he said.
"What kind of task?" she asked, stepping forward.
"You must betray Oliver Queen," he announced, and the episode cut to credits.
Of course, it seems unlikely that the Monitor has the power to restore Earth-2, which was destroyed by antimatter in the season premiere. He brought Oliver there to pick up an element that only existed in that world and rushed him through the mission, indicating that he couldn't stop the destruction of that world, even if he wanted to. He certainly didn't have the ability to swing something like that in the comic event, where he gathered the heroes and villains together of the DC Universe in an effort to stop a threat he could not tackle alone. As such, he is likely manipulating Laurel through her grief for her world.
Last week, Oliver learned about "a god who possessed the power to see all that is and all that will be. [Ra's] believed that, if he failed to keep the balance between good and evil, this god would bring forth the end of times: the annihilation of all things." He believes this description is about the Monitor, as he does not know about the Anti-Monitor, and so he has set out to stop him. Since the Monitor is nearly omnipotent, he likely knows about Oliver's plans. As a result, he may ask Laurel to sabotage Oliver's efforts, all based on a false promise.
Airing Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, Arrow's final season stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Rick Gonzalez as Wild Dog, Juliana Harkavy as Black Canary, Katie Cassidy as Black Siren, Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak, Joseph David-Jones as Connor Hawke and Ben Lewis as William Clayton-Queen.