“ | A local gang lord who calls himself "The Mayor". Thinks he is the man to save our city.[...] Now this mayor has only one goal. To create chaos. So he can rule the Glades with the barrel of a gun. | „ |
~ Sebastian Blood to Oliver Queen |
Xavier Reed, called The Mayor is the self-proclaimed savior of the glades and an antagonist in the second season of the series Arrow. By arming the gangs of the Glades with military-grade weapons he plans to rule the Glades by force.
History
He spent his whole childhood in foster care. He spent three years in a foster family whose son would later join the military and provide Reed with the stolen guns.
In the series
The Mayor is the source of the gun violence in the Glades. His rise to power occurred after the quake. The police know about him but do not act which brings the Arrow on his track.
When three of the thugs who were provided with guns from the Mayor are stopped by Arrow, one of them is able to return to the Mayor's hideout, mockingly dubbed "City Hall". Angry that the guns are gone, the Mayor tries to shoot the man but instead kills the man's cousin who brought him into the organization.
Diggle finds out that the military weapons were stolen from a military camp two months ago. The Mayor somehow got his hand on one of the crates and deactivated the tracker hidden inside the crate. Felicity Smoke is able to bring the tracker back online and thereby finding the Mayor's hideout. Though the Mayor realizes it and destroys the tracker, Arrow has already arrived at the "City Hall". Arrow is able to secure the weapons but the Mayor escapes.
To help to stop the weapon flow, Sebastian Blood, provided with money from Oliver Queen hosts an event in the Glades where citizens can bring in their guns to the police for money. During this event, the Mayor arrives on a truck, stating that he did not give his permission for this event to concur. When Blood tells him that he does not speak for the citizens, the Mayor replies that Blood does not either and tells his men to shoot him. Blood is saved by Queen and the Mayor drives away.
Arrow finds out that the Mayor gets provided with guns from his foster brother and is about to get a new shipment high-tech guns including grenade launchers. To stop the Mayor, Arrow enlists the help of the Canary.
The Mayor receives three trucks of guns from his foster brother. Before he can test any on the guns they are attacked by the Canary and Arrow. The Mayor tries to kill Arrow and shoots at him with a grenade launcher but Arrow shoots the flying grenade with an arrow. It explodes mid-air, knocking both of them of their feet. The Canary disarms the Mayor and is about to kill him but Arrow manages to talk her out of it. She knocks the Mayor unconscious and leaves him for the police.
Instead of being brought to the police station the Mayor is brought before Sebastian Blood, who injects him with a substance, telling him that he needs an army.