

In the finale, Quentin Lance dies during the fight against Diaz's group, the FBI arrest Diaz's minions with Diaz still at large, and Oliver is imprisoned in a maximum security penitentiary. As Diaz takes control of the city, Oliver is forced to recruit the aid of the FBI, in exchange for him publicly announcing his identity and going to federal prison. As James loses control of his cabal and is arrested, Ricardo Diaz comes to the fore and kills him, revealing that he manipulated James into believing Oliver killed his son and announcing to Green Arrow his scheme to take over Star City's criminal underworld and control the city's political infrastructure, all while Oliver must contend with his former teammates forming a rival team. At the same time, new enemies emerge, initially led by terrorist hacker Cayden James ( Michael Emerson), who allies himself with various criminals including drug dealer Ricardo Diaz ( Kirk Acevedo), metahuman vigilante Vincent Sobel (portrayed by Johann Urb, voiced by an uncredited Mick Wingert when masked), Russian mobster Anatoly Knyazev ( David Nykl), and metahuman Black Siren. In the sixth season after an explosive battle on Lian Yu, Oliver must balance being a vigilante, the mayor, and a father to his son William. The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen ( Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. They are joined by Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez and Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake, who were promoted to series regulars from their recurring status in the previous season. Katie Cassidy, a principal cast member from seasons one to four and a guest actor for season five, was reinstated as a series regular for the sixth season as Laurel Lance / Black Siren. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons.

The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle.

The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series.

The sixth season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 12, 2017, and concluded on May 17, 2018, with a total of 23 episodes.
