Here's how I want Arrow to end:
Season 5, the flashbacks loop back to that moment in the pilot where he's rescued. Boom, we're done there.
But
then
At the end of the episode, we flash forward a few years from present day into the future where a beaten and bloody Oliver is being led through the dank, dark halls of a prison, one where all the prisoners were put there by him. They're all shouting for his blood, etc.
The masked guards stop him in front of a cell. Across from him, his nemesis and friend: Slade Wilson.
"Welcome home, kid."
From then on, we're done with flashbacks, and start doing flashforwards that detail 'SUPERMAX' while the present day stuff shows the lead up. Eventually, Ollie, Slade, and a few other villains team up to escape Lian Yu and Oliver heads back to Starling for one final confrontation with whoever this dastardly villain is.
He arrives in Starling, to find it decimated. The present catches up with the flash forwards. Greenery has overtaken the city. The authorities can't get in. Metahumans can't. There are just a smattering of vigilantes and cops left to fight back in this villain's personal fiefdom.
From there, we get an all-star team up of Ollie, Diggle, Slade, Laurel, Thea, Roy, Grant, Katana, Red Hood Tommy, and whoever else is still alive to take the final villain on.
Maybe the final villain Ra's al Malcolm. Maybe it's "Prometheus". Whoever, but it's gotta be someone you build up to.
Yeah. That'd be cool.
