Now that the star-studded season finale of Arrow is less than a week away, we can’t help but recall the journey that got us here. And no, we’re not just talking about what’s been one of the strongest seasons the series has delivered to date, but rather, all that went down on social media.

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As you may remember, there was a lot of back and forth between Deathstroke actor Manu Bennett and the show’s producers on Twitter and the like, confounding us all and forcing us to wonder if indeed a stuntman would be under the two-toned mask come finale time as opposed to the man we’ve grown accustomed to. Well, as it turns out, it was all thankfully a clever ruse to attempt keeping Bennett’s involvement under wraps in a digital age that nearly prohibits secrets from being kept.

So, you can imagine our shock – and delight – when Slade Wilson himself appeared in the closing minutes of last night’s episode, “Missing.” But as awesome as that was, we’re still waiting to see how Oliver Queen will manage to convince his bitter rival to join him in the final battle against Prometheus. The extended promo at the top reveals a few more snippets of the deadly mercenary in action, but doesn’t divulge any clues on the front, so we may very well have to keep guessing for the next six days.

For more information regarding “Lian Yu,” be sure to check out the official synopsis below:

The battle between Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) culminates in a final epic battle on Lian Yu. After recent events, Oliver decides to recruit a group of unlikely allies – Slade (guest star Manu Bennett), Nyssa (guest star Katrina Law), Merlyn (John Barrowman) and Digger Harkness (guest star Nick. E. Tarabay) – to defeat Chase. However, Chase has his own army – Black Siren (guest star Katie Cassidy), Evelyn Sharp (guest star Madison McLaughlin) and Talia al Ghul (guest star Lexa Doig) – and the forces collide in an explosive season finale.

Arrow airs on Wednesday nights on The CW.