The promotional stills and synopses for Arrow episodes 1×08 “Vendetta” and 1×09 “Year’s End” have been released. “Year’s End” is Arrow‘s mid-season finale.

1×08 “Vendetta”

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Here’s the synopsis for 1×08 “Vendetta”:

ARROW AND THE HUNTRESS TEAM UP — As Oliver (Stephen Amell) and Helena (guest star Jessica De Gouw) grow closer, Oliver trains her to be his ally, complete with showing her how to use a crossbow. Diggle (David Ramsey) disapproves of Oliver sharing his secret with Helena as he’s not sure she can be trusted, but Oliver refuses to listen to his concerns. Helena’s quest for revenge proves to be too strong for Oliver to handle after she kills the head of the Triad and all hell breaks loose. Katie Cassidy, Colin Donnell, Willa Holland, Susanna Thompson and Paul Blackthorne also star. Ken Fink directed the episode written by Beth Schwartz & Andrew Kreisberg.

We can’t wait to see Arrow and The Huntress team up. We’re sure to get a heavy dose of action as well as drama in this episode, and we can’t wait to see how not listening to Diggle will come back to haunt Oliver.

1×09 “Year’s End”

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Here’s the synopsis for 1×09 “Year’s End”:

IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME AT THE QUEEN HOUSEHOLD — Oliver (Stephen Amell) discovers that after he and his father went missing, Moira (Susanna Thompson) and Thea (Willa Holland) stopped celebrating Christmas. Determined to make up for lost time and restore a sense of normalcy to the Queen household, Oliver decides to throw the family a Christmas party. Meanwhile, Tommy (Colin Donnell) asks Laurel (Katie Cassidy) to spend Christmas with him but she points out that Christmas was also her sister Sara’s birthday and she needs to be with her father (Paul Blackthorne). Tommy suggests changing things up might be the best way for everyone to heal but Laurel isn’t sure her father is ready for that. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) tells Oliver someone is murdering the people on his father’s list with arrows, which sends Oliver off to face his toughest adversary yet. John Dahl directed the episode with story by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim and teleplay by Andrew Kreisberg & Marc Guggenheim.

This episode is the mid-season finale, and it’s certain to be a great one. We love Christmas themed episodes of TV shows, and the fact that Oliver, the one who his family thinks isn’t close enough to them, is the one to bring Christmas back to the Queen household makes us very happy. We’re also interested to see that Oliver will have to face a villain that is pretending to be him, and we’re glad that he has to face a fake Arrow.

Thanks, Green Arrow TV.

More ‘Arrow’ news

Batman villain Firefly was added as a villain.

A new poster was released in time for the November sweeps (see previous link).

A new video asking “Is Oliver Queen worth saving?” was released.

The CW gave Arrow a full-season order.

Tahmoh Penikett has been cast as Tom Salvati, the right-hand man of mob boss Frank Bertinelli.

Are you excited for the ‘Arrow’ mid-season finale?

Arrow returns tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.