SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "Unmasked," the latest episode of Arrow.


Arrow Season 7 has an insidious new threat on the rise. In "Unmasked," the latest episode of Arrow, A.R.G.U.S. Director Lyla Michaels and her husband John Diggle uncovered some clues in the Dante painting they picked up on a recent mission. If those clues are any indication, Oliver and Team Arrow will soon face the Ninth Circle.

Introduced in 2016's Green Arrow: Rebirth #1 by Benjamin Percy and Otto Schmidt, the Ninth Circle is an international crime ring comprised of corrupt executives. However, some members are compelled to join through force or abduction and are subjected to a "rebirth" during which they are physically burned and then brainwashed. Appropriately, their base of operations is called the Inferno and the organization is led by Dante, all of which are references to the the epic poem The Inferno by Dante Alighieri.

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"I had my contact look into the image that Curtis decrypted," Lyla told Diggle during the episode. "It's being used as some sort of highly advanced identification protocol within terrorist circles: Kobra, Basilisk, the Third World Liberation Army. They're all using the name Dante like it's a contact."

"When I cross-referenced the terrorist groups with the financials we obtained in Geneva, I found a common account," she explained. She then pulled up the last five transactions by the account, all of which were with a consulting firm called Rubrum, Silentium and Ursa. "That's Latin for 'Red, Silent and Bear' -- the Longbow Hunters," she pointed out.

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When they realized Dante's connection to the Longbow Hunters, Lyla and Diggle turned to the only person who knew anything about the villainous group: Ricardo "The Dragon" Diaz. Their work with Diaz is sure to cause some tension with Oliver, who has suffered a lot thanks to Diaz's machinations.

Airing Mondays at 8 pm ET/PT on The CW, Arrow stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Rick Gonzalez as Wild Dog, Echo Kellum as Mr. Terrific, Juliana Harkavy as Black Canary, Colton Haynes as Arsenal, Kirk Acevedo as Diaz, and Katie Cassidy as Black Siren.