Arrow season 5 premiere
Stephen Amell as Green Arrow in The CW's show Arrow The CW/ Warner Bros TV

Arrow season 5 premieres on Wednesday (5 October) at 8pm EST on The CW Network, with episode 1 which is titled Legacy. In the premiere, Felicity Smoak will try to convince Oliver Queen to recruit and train a new team of superheroes and build his own legacy.

The official synopsis of the chapter reads as follows:

After Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) death and the departures of both Diggle (David Ramsey) and Thea (Willa Holland) from Team Arrow, Oliver (Stephen Amell) takes to the streets solo to protect Star City's citizens as the Green Arrow. With Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) guiding him from the bunker, Oliver is forced to deal with a city that has become overrun with both criminals and a slew of new (and painfully inexperienced) vigilantes. Watching Oliver try to balance his jobs as both the mayor and also the protector of Star City, Felicity suggests he form a new team, but Oliver resists. However, when a deadly new criminal, Tobias Church (guest star Chad L. Coleman), enters the picture, Oliver realizes the best thing for the city might be a new team of superheroes. Meanwhile, the flashbacks take us to Russia where Oliver faces off against the Bratva.

Click here to watch the premiere episode of Arrow season 5 live via The CW app. You can also watch the episodes online by clicking here.

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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, executive producer Marc Guggenheim spoke about the plot of season 5. He said, "We basically pick up and it's five months later – five months past the end of season 4. We planned a normal time jump in broadcast that we typically do. Off-camera, Oliver's been officially elected mayor, and he's been operating as mayor. The problem is, he's also been operating as the Green Arrow without a team."

The theme of Arrow season 5 is legacy, according to the producer. "He's basically made being the Green Arrow the priority, and as a result, he isn't exactly a very good mayor.

"Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) suggests to him that it's time to accept the reality that Diggle's (David Ramsey) not coming back, and Thea's (Willa Holland) not coming back, so he needs to recruit a new team of vigilantes to help him," Guggenheim added and explained that "essentially the theme that we're dealing with this year is legacy, the idea of Oliver honouring Black Canary's legacy after Laurel's (Katie Cassidy) death last year".