Legends of Tomorrow’s Caity Lotz on the End of Arrow

Tonight’s penultimate episode of Arrow, titled “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” made a few references to the one Canary not involved in the planned spinoff of the same name: Sara Lance (Caity Lotz). Originally introduced (and quickly killed) in the series pilot (and played there by a different actress), the character returned in the second season as the Black Canary, an assassin trained my Nyssa al Ghul who returned to Starling City to wage war on crime. That’s where Lotz first appeared, and she has never completely stopped returning to her old hometown — even after a few deaths and revivals and a trip to the timeline with the Legends of Tomorrow.

Now, with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow renewed for another season and Arrow ending next week, Lotz says the change will be weird for her. She broke down her relationship with Arrow and why, even though there might be a spinoff, it still won’t be the same.

“It’s always been weird for me because I it wasn’t like I ever left Arrow and I was just Legends,” Lotz told ComicBook.com. “I’ve always felt equally a part of both. It’s weird and it’s interesting, and it’ll be weird now when Arrow‘s not around anymore.”

As a result, she told us, the idea that Oliver’s death has an impact on Sara will not just be a plot point discarded after “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Her closeness to Oliver Queen will continue to inform her character going forward.

“Sara has always been a character that has a lot of weight on her,” Lotz explained. “I feel like she’s always carried a pretty heavy load, ever since the ship crashing. I don’t think any of this is like old hat to her. I think it’s interesting, because Sara has to try to actually process this thing, and come to terms with it all. I think, especially in the Crisis, there is a lot of some really nice emotional stuff for Sara. You can see it weighing on her, what’s going on with Oliver. That really, really affects Sara.”

Even though she has spent the last few years on the Waverider never completely divorced from Arrow, Lotz told us that she believes the end of the show is a seismic change, whether or not the planned Green Arrow and the Canaries spinoff actually goes forward.

“It feels like, this chapter really closed,” Lotz said. “One, I don’t know if that show…if it’s going or not going. But if it does, it’s still not going to be the same. I think part of it, too, is the crew. It’s that whole Arrow family in the crew, and your stages. So if the Canary show goes, that’ll be a whole new setup in the field.”

Arrow‘s final episode — along with a retrospective looking back at the series — will air next week at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Tuesday, on The CW. The following week, both DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash will return with new episodes on Tuesday.