‘Arrow’ To End After Season 8

Arrow will end following the conclusion of the show’s upcoming eighth season, series star Stephen Amell confirmed today.

The decision comes amid rumors that Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), the series’ lead character, will die in the upcoming “Crisis on Infinite Earths” event.

“Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life… but you can’t be a vigilante forever,” Amell tweeted. “Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this Fall. There’s so much to say… for now I just want to say thank you.”

In recent weeks, rumors have run wild about various CW series ending or being radically overhauled following “Crisis.” The crossover, which will bring together the casts of Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, is set for the end of this year (near the midpoint of next season).

A ten-episode final season will roughly line up with the timing for “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

The crossover will be a follow-up to this season’s “Elseworlds,” in which The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) came to Earth-1 in search of champions for an upcoming “crisis.” He brought with him the Book of Destiny, in which Superman saw that The Flash and Supergirl were destined to die. “Elseworlds” might have already set up Amell’s exit, as the Green Arrow had to make a deal with the Monitor in order to save Supergirl and the Flash from death. Perhaps the Monitor will come to collect on that price, which could be Oliver Queen’s life.

Amell teased what he saw as the end of his role on the series last year, explaining on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast that there’s only one box left to check on Oliver Queen’s “to do” list.

“The only thing that is left for him to do – and he doesn’t need to die to do this – is he needs to leave a legacy.” Amell said last year. “Because we have all these other shows that exist. So whether Arrow continued on in the absence of Oliver Queen, or someone else took up the mantle of the Green Arrow… I think leaving a legacy is the last box left to tick for the character.”

Even when rumors swirled about cancellation, some fans wondered whether the network may try to continue the series without Oliver. They recently introduced Oliver’s sister Emiko (Sea Shimooka) and, in the 2040 flash-forwards, John Diggle’s adoptive son Connor Hawke, both of whom have the skillset to become the next Green Arrow if that is what the writers want to do. That could theoretically power the back half of a season, to allow the supporting characters to have their own endings after Oliver’s, if indeed Oliver dies in “Crisis.”

Arrow airs on Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT, before episodes of Black Lightning on The CW.

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