The last thing Oliver remembered was being caught in an explosion at the dawn of time as a spectre. He thought that he'd finally found peace after helping to create a new world to replace the old one. The last thing he remembered before his vision went dark was seeing Barry and Sara crouching above him as he watched the new universe be born. As he felt his life fade away, Oliver couldn't help but feel at peace knowing that he'd finally be reunited with those he'd lost. His father, Yao Fei, Shado, Akio, Taiana, Tommy, his mother, Maseo, Laurel, Quentin, Emiko, all of them. He'd see them again. It wasn't just his soul that was at peace, but his heart as well, knowing that he'd finally be reunited with Laurel again. In his death, he knew he could no longer lie to himself, she was his true love, not Felicity. He only hoped he could tell her that on the other side.

Then something changed and he felt himself being pulled back and suddenly, Oliver felt air surge into his lungs and his heart started beating again. He wasn't sure what was going on, but now he wasn't sure if he was dead, since it certainly didn't feel like it. He got his answer when he opened his eyes to find he was not in some kind of after life, but instead, he was in a hospital.

"Oh, Mr. Queen, you're awake." A doctor said and Oliver looked around to find himself in a hospital room in Hong Kong.

"Where am I, how did I get here?" Oliver asked, trying to get his bearings.

"You were brought here for treatment after you were rescued from Lian Yu." the doctor said.

"Lian Yu? What year is this?" Oliver asked.

"I suppose since you were gone for 5 years, it would've been hard for you to keep track of what year it is. It's 2012." the doctor said, surprising Oliver even more.

"What the hell is going on?" Oliver asked himself as the doctor left, trying to figure out how he was even still alive.

"I can answer that." a familiar voice said and Oliver turned to see Mar Novu standing in his hospital room.

"I thought you were dead." Oliver said.

"The same could be said of you." Novu pointed out.

"So why am I not dead? I was the spectre, I should've died to restart the multiverse. So what happened?" Oliver asked.

"When you recreated the multiverse, you changed your own fate. You were never just meant to be the spectre. You were the paragon no one knew existed." Novu said.

"I thought there were only 7 paragons." Oliver asked.

"As did I. It was not until I was reborn that the book of destiny revealed your true one to me. You, Oliver Queen, are the paragon of life. The most essential paragon of them all and as such, the paragon of life must continue to live on. You didn't just save the multiverse Oliver. You saved yourself. You gave yourself more time in this new world." Novu explained.

"Okay, but why am I back at my return from Lian Yu?" Oliver asked and Novu chuckled.

"Different earths exist in different parts of time. This new one exists 8 years in the past from the old one." Novu explained.

"Okay and is there anyway you can catch me up on what I missed in this world so I don't draw attention to myself?" Oliver asked and Novu nodded as he waved his hand and Oliver felt his head pound for a few moments before it faded.

"What did you just do to me?" Oliver asked.

"I gave you the memories of your counterpart from this new earth." Novu sadi and Oliver nodded.

"Will we be seeing each other again?" Oliver asked.

"Only if another emerges. So until then, goodbye Oliver." Novu said as he disappeared.

"Good riddance." Oliver said as he sat back down on the hospital bed and began to think about what he'd do differently in his new life.