Arrow Season 3 Spoilers: Possible Storylines for Oliver Queen, Malcolm Merlyn, Ra's al Ghul

The latest Season 3 episode of the CW's Arrow, entitled "Uprising," concluded the trilogy of Oliver Queen's absence from Starling City. The episode also set the table for the remainder of the season, but where does the story go from here?

Oliver is now back in his hometown and has formed a tentative alliance with Malcolm Merlyn to take down Ra's al Ghul. The leader of the League of Assassins, meanwhile, will almost assuredly come for Oliver and his loved ones in Starling. Thea, specifically, is in danger because Malcolm used her to kill Sara.

So where does the story go from this point? Let's take a look at a few possibilities. Keep in mind this is pure speculation on our part, and the best we can do here is make some educated guesses.

Oliver and Malcolm truly work together and defeat Ra's. 

Oliver has concluded that the only way to defeat Ra's after the sheer ass whooping he received in their first encounter is to go to one of Ra's' students. In this case, that's Malcolm Merlyn. The Dark Archer has been nothing but a thorn in Oliver's side for the duration of the show, but in this case they have a mutual interest in taking out Ra's.

So the Arrow plans to work with Malcolm to accomplish that goal. So the best outcome here is that it all works out according to plan. Their training pays off, and Oliver manages to defeat and kill Ra's al Ghul in combat. Unfortunately, this seems like a long shot. Ra's outclasses Oliver in almost every way, and it will take a monumental effort for our hero to overcome him.

Malcolm betrays Oliver.

This seemingly would not serve the Dark Archer's best interests, but this is Malcolm Merlyn we're talking about here. When he breathes, the air comes out crooked. It's possible that he uses Oliver to achieve his goal of killing Ra's and then turns on the Arrow. After all, if "only the student can defeat the teacher," then why doesn't Malcolm just take on Ra's himself? He must know something that he's not letting on just yet.

Ra's wins.

There's no guarantee that Oliver wins even if everything goes his way. As we said earlier, Ra's outclasses him in every way. Even if Malcolm stays on the right side, Oliver could still lose. Ra's could easily be a villain that sticks around for a while, and there's nothing that says he has to be written off by the end of Season 3.

Thea turns on Malcolm.

If Thea finds out that Malcolm is the reason Ra's is coming for her, then she's likely not going to be too happy. We've seen her sparring with her father, but could she actually fully turn on him and attempt to kill him? And if she does, what would Oliver do, as he needs Malcolm to fight Ra's?

Ra's kills Malcolm.

Ra's has been hunting Malcolm for a while now, so it's entirely possible that the leader of the League of Assassins finally gets his justice and takes out the Dark Archer. Maybe Malcolm takes on Ra's head on in a final act of redemption, only to get cut down in the process. This could give Oliver the motivation he needs to take out Ra's.

What do you think will happen during the remainder of Season 3 of Arrow? Let us know in the comments section.