'Arrow' Producers Issue Statement on Show Ending After Season 8

The CW is preparing for the end of an era, as it has been officially announced that Arrow will be ending with its upcoming eighth season.

In a new statement (via The Hollywood Reporter), Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz, executive producer Greg Berlanti, and consulting producer Marc Guggenheim confirmed that the series will be ending with an upcoming reduced order of ten episodes.

"This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we've made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind," the statement reads. "We're heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We're excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and — more importantly — the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years."

The news of Arrow's shortened final season was revealed on Wednesday, through a tweet from series star Stephen Amell.

This comes after plenty of rumors and speculation regarding "Crisis on Infinite Earths", this December's Arrowverse crossover event. The inciting incident for that event seemed to be a deal that Amell's Oliver Queen struck with The Monitor, and some have speculated that he agreed to sacrifice himself during "Crisis" so that Supergirl and The Flash could be spared.

In a way, the long-running CW series has been anticipating its conclusion for a while now, with Amell speaking fairly candidly about what he thinks Oliver's final story arc should be.

"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 in an interview 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."

What do you think of Arrow officially nearing its end? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.