Arrow Theory: Did Lyla Make a Deal With the Monitor to Get [Spoiler] Back?

Matt Webb Mitovich

Click here to read the full article.

Arrow‘s Lyla Michaels this week doubled down on her allegiance to the Monitor, standing by as husband John, longtime friend Oliver and Laurel got felled by tranq darts. So, what is her deal? Meaning, what deal did Lyla herself make with the cosmic being, that she would betray loved ones so?

Leading up to those tranq darts, Laurel turned down a deal the Monitor had offered her, to somehow restore her “erased” Earth-Two home in trade for her betraying Team Arrow (by stealing General Burov’s weapon plans). Laurel relayed that rather heroic decision to Lyla, whom she earlier discovered was already doing the Monitor’s bidding. She then urged Lyla to come clean to Diggle, if not also the rest of Team Arrow. Lyla, though, deferred, “Not yet” — before realizing that John and Oliver had been within earshot and were now aware of her alliance with the “space god” seemingly out to ruin, not save, entire worlds.

More from TVLine

Cue the Fffft! Fffft! Fffft! of darts hitting John, Oliver and Laurel in their necks, as Lyla just stood by.

What could possibly drive Lyla, heretofore a reliably noble character, to join up with the mysterious entity Oliver has been led to believe is out to destroy universes? And serve as his Harbinger helper?

That question keeps brining me to a stray teaser Arrow showrunner Beth Scwhartz shared after an early October screening of the final season’s premiere (which of course took place on the ill-fated Earth-Two). In the press conference that followed, Schwartz was asked, “Is there an Earth where Baby Sara still exists?” — a reference to the child of Lyla and John’s that was born in October 2014, but later became a baby boy as the result of Barry Allen’s Flashpoint antics.

Schwartz’s response to the inquiry about Baby Sara, whose erasure from existence has been an ongoing quibble with some fans: “We are definitely making up for that this season, so, keep your eyes open for it.”

To date — and nowhere in the Future JJ storyline — the Baby Sara “switch” has not once come up, by my math. Meaning, Schwartz’s tease has yet to play out.

Could that be because it will play into Lyla’s yet-to-be-revealed motivation? Just as the Monitor dangled a restored Earth-Two before Laurel, did he lure Lyla with the prospect of getting her and John’s daughter back (as fine a lad as wee JJ might be)?

What do you think? Does such a speculation hold water, as Vinny Gambini might say? Or could the topic of Baby Sara come up a different way, in the precious few episodes left to air?

Launch Gallery: 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' Arrowverse Crossover Photos

Best of TVLine

Sign up for TVLine's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.