'Arrow' Season 8 could reveal Lyla Michaels has secretly been working for the Monitor all along as his herald, Harbinger
Lyla Michaels (Audrey Marie Anderson) has been an important part of The CW's 'Arrow' since the very beginning. She's the director of A.R.G.U.S., the loving wife of John Diggle (David Ramsey), and the fearless leader of the Suicide Squad, all roles that she's performed to perfection.
However, once 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' arrives, we will be seeing Lyla take on the job of Harbinger, herald of the Monitor (LaMonica Garrett). In the comics, Lyla Michaels was a young woman who was rescued by the Monitor as a little girl after her parents were killed.
The cosmic being raised her to be his right hand, empowering her with a range of abilities and training her to assist him in his task as guardian of the multiverse. While the Lyla on 'Arrow' hasn't shown any superpowers or connections to the Monitor yet, she has been using the codename Harbinger in her role as a spy for quite some time.
Until now, that's mostly just been a nice homage but it looks like things are going to change in 'Arrow' Season 8. The CW released a promotional image showing Anderson suited up as Harbinger on October 1. It isn't immediately clear whether this is the Lyla we all know or an alternate reality version of her (yes the Arrowverse has those).
Speaking to TVLine about the upcoming crossover, Eric Wallace, showrunner for 'The Flash', teased that there are no coincidences in the story that's about to unfold. “When you see who’s playing some of the major characters – like Pariah, who we’ve already announced is Tom Cavanagh — there is a reason why Tom Cavanagh is Pariah," he said. "It’s not coincidence, and you need to watch this season of 'The Flash' to understand that. Same thing with the person who ends up being Harbinger. It will make so much sense to you, you will go, ‘How did I not see that coming?'”
Wallace's comments could mean Lyla has actually been working for the Monitor all along and that we've been building up to her revealing that fact all this time. If so, she has managed to place herself in a pretty good position to fulfill her role since as director of A.R.G.U.S. she has information on almost all metahumans on Earth and the ability to get them to work for the Monitor as needed.
If she truly is the Harbinger, Lyla might end up being a gamechanger for the Arrowverse heroes in the coming 'Crisis', though we'll only know for sure once 'Arrow' Season 8 arrives on screens. 'Arrow' Season 8 will begin airing on The CW October 15.