If you took at look at the set photos, you've probably known for a while now that Laurel Lance would be the one to die in tonight's episode of Arrow, and die the Black Canary did after being stabbed in the chest by Damien Darhk. If reports about the hero showing up in Justice League are accurate, that's more than likely why we'll no longer see Katie Cassidy in the series, but executive producer Marc Guggenheim offered up this explanation to the DC Comics website as to why the decision was made.
"Arrow is always evolving. It’s a show where every character, arguably except for Oliver, is fair game. We started off this year with the promise of a death, and when we worked our way through our creative choices, we realized that the thing that will give us the most pop going into the end of the season and next season, unfortunately, would be Laurel. We knew that it would enrage a lot of people. We’re not blind to the “shipping” and the internet controversy, but we’ve never made decisions on the show creatively because of the internet. One of the things we knew that people would think is that in a season where Oliver and Felicity get engaged and Laurel dies, that’s clearly making a choice about who’s going to end up with whom. Truth be told, we told the Laurel/Oliver romance story in Season 1. We never really thought about going back to it."
"We recognize that upsets a lot of fans, particularly the comic book fans. In the comics, Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen are in a romance together. To some people, that is considered canonical and iconic. We respect that, but at the same time we’ve always made no bones about the fact that we’re telling our own version of the Green Arrow mythos. Green Arrow and Black Canary have had so many different interpretations over the years that we never felt beholden to one particular interpretation. This is our interpretation, like it or not, and I recognize that there are plenty of people up and down my Twitter feed who do not like it. I totally respect that. But it made the most creative sense for us going forward, despite the fact that we love Katie. We absolutely love her. That part, not getting the chance to work with Katie day in and day out is tempered by the fact that [the show] now lives in a universe where there’s resurrection, parallel earths, time travel and flashbacks. We have all these different ways of keeping Katie in the Arrowverse family. In fact, you will see her in an episode of Flash, playing the Earth-2 version of Laurel Lance. Katie is also reprising her role as Laurel of Earth-1 in Vixen Season 2. Death does not mean goodbye on any of these shows."
Guggenheim went on to confirm that Laurel's death wasn't faked and that we'll learn more about what she asked of Oliver in season five (that will apparently factor into the show in a major way then). Of course, despite the explanation above and the fact that we already know Cassidy is returning in The Flash as the Earth-2 version of Laurel is unlikely to come as much of a relief to fans angered by this decision, but the actress seems surprisingly ok with being killed off, and she told the site the following.
"Since Season 2 up until now, Laurel has had a truly amazing journey. The writers have written so well for me and I’ve had such an incredible arc. It made sense to me creatively. Laurel’s story has come to an end in the Arrowverse. I love everyone on set and our crew. Being there for four and a half years, they’ve become family, so it’s hard to not go into work every day and get to work with such amazing people. That part is certainly sad, but I was okay with it. We all came to an understanding that this was what was going to happen and it made sense to me. I think the shock value is good. It’s such a jolt and a turn in the story that it gives the writers so much more to do and places to go with it. Otherwise, I feel like shows can get stale."
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