Now that “Arrow” has crowned its new Heir to the Demon, the person who used to hold that title may be in big trouble.
In the newest episode of the CW superhero drama, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), now the Heir to Ra’s Al Ghul and going by Al Sah-Him, is tasked with returning to his hometown of Starling City and killing Nyssa Al Ghul (Katrina Law), Ra’s’ own daughter who he dethroned in favor of the former Arrow.
“This episode is huge for Nyssa,” Law told TheWrap about “Al Sah-Him”, the episode airing Wednesday. “This is a life or death episode. The League is coming after her with Oliver at the head, and essentially Nyssa’s fighting for her life.”
Law can’t give away whether her character will survive the night, but did reveal Nyssa’s state of mind as her very dramatic family problems follow her to Starling City and puts her new friends, particularly Laurel (Katie Cassidy) in danger.
In the interview below, Law also shared what we could expect if Nyssa ever showed up in Central City with the characters of “Arrow” spinoff “The Flash,” and gave some teases on potentially shocking nuptials to come.
TheWrap: What can you tell us about Nyssa in this episode?
Katrina: This episode is huge for Nyssa. This is a life or death episode. The League is coming after her with Oliver at the head, and essentially Nyssa’s fighting for her life.
When you accept the title of Ra’s Al Ghul, one of the things you’re required to do is take out all of your contenders. My dad essentially says to Oliver now that you’ve accepted this role you have to take out all your contenders, and the biggest contender of all of them is Nyssa. Al Sah Him comes back to Starling City to kill her.
How are Nyssa and Oliver feeling about each other at this point, and how will their confrontation go down?
You get to find out at the end whether or not Nyssa lives or dies. Oliver is fully on board with the League of Assassins and he’s going after her full stop with no holds barred.
At this point, Nyssa has already come to peace with Oliver in terms of Sara and she has respect for him as a fighter. When it comes to Oliver and the League, however, it’s definitely a bitter pill for her to swallow. It’s not something that she will ever be happy about. I don’t think she’ll ever respect Oliver as the new Ra’s Al Ghul like she did her father. But because Nyssa is so steeped in tradition in the ways of the League, she will accept him. And that’s very evident from the way she accepted her dethronement from heir to the demon.
When it comes to Oliver in general, this blows up everything in her face again. From Sara to taking her title, this is just one too many things for her.
What is Nyssa’s role now that she’s been completely displaced by Oliver?
I think that’s one of the journeys Nyssa’s going through, is trying to figure out what her new role is. Thankfully, she’s been accepted by Laurel. Through Laurel, Nyssa has now become an instructor, trainer, teacher. And I think she’s found worth and pride in that. She’s watching this young woman who’s very passionate and has a raw talent for fighting and martial arts and she’s training her to become a more technical fighter and to rely more on technique rather than her passion and emotions. Other than that, I think Nyssa is still on the search for who she is and what she means outside the League, but ultimately I think she will always consider herself a member of the League of Assassins.
Team Arrow helps Nyssa out in this episode, and there’s an open slot there now that Oliver’s gone. Could she find her new place there?
I think it’s a possibility. But I think Nyssa is working very hard to keep Team Arrow out of what she considers family business. And the reason why is because she knows a death sentence has just been put down on her head when Luarel tells her Oliver has decided to accept the title of Ra’s Al Ghul. By accepting the help of Team Arrow, she’s now dragging Laurel and Diggle (David Ramsey) and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) into essentially their own death sentences. Because she does have a love for Laurel and a very deep friendship with her, she’s trying to keep everybody out of it. This is personal, this is a fmaily matter and as far as Nyssa’s concerned, no one else should be involved.
We’ve heard Nyssa might have ulterior motives for being in Starling City. Can you tease what that might be about?
I think when you find out what it is, you’re going to see that Nyssa has more of a heart and a conscious than she probably should when it comes to being a League member. Maybe hanging around with Laurel and Sara has had a bigger influence on her than people realized.
The Lazarus Pit has come into play on the show in a big way. How does Nyssa feel about it, do we know if she ever tried to use it to revive Sara or is that on her mind now?
I don’t know what the writers are going to say but for me, I feel like the Lazarus Pit is not something that you use for a facial every other week. It’s very sacred and unless you are the demon’s head, you don’t touch it, you don’t have access to it and you don’t have permission to use it. It’s only used in very specific cases and in the case of Sara, I don’t think her father gave her permission to use it so it was never an option and it was never on the table. Because Nyssa is so respectful of the traditions of the League, I don’t’ think she would go against her father and use it. And there are consequences when you use the Lazarus too.
Now that she’s no longer in that world, does that change things?
Even though she’s no longer part of that world, she still has a lot of respect for the League and she would never go against them because it’s just what she’s grown up with. She may not agree with everyone, but she wouldn’t go against them to bring Sara back.
There’s another wedding/marriage coming up on “Arrow.” Playing process of elimination, can we cross Nyssa off the list or is she involved in some way?
I think Nyssa is involved in the marriage just as much as every single member of Team Arrow. It’s gonna knock your socks off. She’s as shocked as the rest of the characters. It comes out of the blue and everyone’s just shocked.
The world of “Arrow” is obviously getting bigger. Could we see Nyssa on “The Flash” or the new spinoff?
I think it would be a lot of fun to see Nyssa on Flash, just because she’s so dark and Flash is so light and fun. It would be like a clash of cultures. But for that to happen Nyssa would have to live past tonight’s episode!
“Arrow” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.