When Arrow returns this fall for its eighth season, it will be a very different show than the one fans have grown accustomed to. Not only did the Season 7 finale reveal Oliver Queen/Green Arrow’s (Stephen Amell) fate and have The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) show up as well, but it also marked the last appearance of Emily Bett Rickards as beloved character Felicity Smoak. Rickards announced her departure earlier this year, but fans aren’t exactly looking forward to the idea of an Arrow without Felicity — and it turns out neither is one of the stars of The CW series.
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David Ramsey, who plays John Diggle on Arrow, told Digital Spy that “no one really wants” to make Arrow without Rickards being on the show.
“We go back and Emily’s not a part of it,” Ramsey said. “That’s a big thing. Y’know, no one really wants to do that show. [But] Stephen and I both had conversations with the producers, telling us exactly what they want to do with the next season and it really is… it’s exciting. I don’t know how they’re gonna do it, but whatever you think could happen, it’s probably something else.”
As Rickards’ departure was announced in March, the show was able to craft a fitting exit for the actress and the character. During Arrow‘s Season 7 finale, Oliver and Felicity left Star City for their version of a happily ever after, moving to a remote location to raise their daughter in peace. However, when little Mia was just a baby, The Monitor showed up to collect on Oliver’s “Elseworlds” bargain, revealing that the hero would die in the process. The show’s flash forward timeline then revealed Felicity’s ultimate fate: after reuniting with a now-grown Mia as well as stepson William to save Star City yet again, Felicity met up with The Monitor who presumably took her to meet up with Oliver somewhere else in the multiverse. It’s as close to a happy ending that the character could get under the circumstance and, as Rickards herself told fans at MCM London this past weekend, it’s one that she found to be beautiful.
“We sent her off in a beautiful way and she lives on in these people,” she added. “I see her everywhere I go, so it’s not totally goodbye.”
Arrow will return for its eighth and final season this fall on The CW.
