Arrow Season 6 Premiere: Who Survived the Island Explosion?

Not everyone made it out alive after that cliffhanger at the end of season 5 of the CW hit: Find out who survived the Arrow season six premiere

By Lauren Piester Oct 13, 2017 2:00 AMTags

Caution: Spoilers ahead if you haven't seen the season six premiere of Arrow!

Arrow just shot one straight through our hearts in the season six opener on Thursday night. (See what we did there?) 

Nearly every character was left in danger at the end of last season's finale, when Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) shot himself, activating his own kill switch and detonating bombs planted all over Lian Yu. All Oliver (Stephen Amell) could do was hold onto his son William (Jack Moore) and watch the island blow up, potentially killing almost everyone Oliver knew and loved, including William's mom. 

Surprise surprise, it was only William's mom Samantha (Anna Hopkins) who didn't make it off the island, meaning Oliver now has to step up and be a real father to his young son. And, unfortunately, Thea (Willa Holland) is currently still in a coma after getting caught in the explosion trying to save Samantha's life. 

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The survivors were revealed slowly throughout the episode, which picked up six months after the island explosion. 

Of course, this means the following made it out alive: Diggle (David Ramsey), Rene (Rick Gonzalez), Curtis (Echo Kellum), Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), Dinah (Juliana Harkavy), Quentin (Paul Blackthorne), Black Siren (Katie Cassidy), Slade (Manu Bennett).

But what about Talia, Nyssa and Evelyn? We don't know yet! Ruuude.

Ahead of the premiere, executive producer Marc Guggenheim told E! News Oliver would have to step up as a father this season. (And now we definitely know why!)

I can say that whether or not Samantha is alive or dead, Oliver is going to be a bigger part of William's life in season six," he said, revealing that Oliver might surprise viewers with his parenting skills.

"I would say he's better than you expect," he previewed. "He doesn't exactly have a lot of role models. He doesn't have a lot to work off of when it comes to being a parent. He's pretty much on his own here."

Arrow airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on the CW.