After eight years on patrol, Oliver Queen’s long night is coming to an end. It was confirmed on March 7 by Arrow star Stephen Amell, that the show will end after a truncated ten episode run next year. Alasdair Stuart assesses the news and wonders how the show will close…

Stephen Amell has always been very direct with the fan base and broke the news to the crew, and twitter, himself and then released this video.

Eight years is a hell of a run for any show but Arrow, in many ways, isn’t just a show. It’s a trailhead, the fount from which the entire CWverse has sprung. Without Oliver we don’t get Barry, Kara, the colossal ramshackle ship of lovable jerks in Legends of Tomorrow, Jefferson Pierce or arguably the Titans and Doom Patrol. Arrow proved you could do live action superhero TV in the same way and at the same time as Agents of SHIELD did. Later, pop culture historians are going to view those two shows the way we look at medieval family trees.

But Arrow has another dimension to it too. As was pointed out by screenwriter, showrunner and top quality twitter follow John Rogers,  this version of Oliver has done double duty. Amell’s not only done extraordinary work portraying Oliver Queen’s slow climb out into the light, he’s also essentially been playing Batman. Growly voice, likes to work at night, all about the ninja life, troubled idealist, liberal guilt and millions of dollars? It’s all there even before you get to the actual Batman characters the show used. Better still, it’s all been about the parallel redemption of Oliver as a survivor, and as the son of corrupt money and the city he’s endlessly trying to save. As Star City has moved towards the light, so has its troubled hero. That’s all led to the realization that, just like the Ben Affleck version of Daredevil, he’s not the bad guy.

I’ll be genuinely sorry to see the show go, because this last season in particular has been really very good. However, given Oliver’s arc (murderous vigilante, reluctant hero, enthusiastic hero, mayor, inmate, police consultant) I understand completely that there’s not very much more story to tell. Leave the stage on a high and all that.

I have a theory about what that high is too.

Last year’s crossover between Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl raised the threat of the Anti-Monitor, beloved 1980s DC villain who lies at the heart of Crisis on Infinite Earths. As Arrow is a trailhead for DC live action TV’s latest iteration, Crisis is the trailhead for western comic crossovers. Worlds live, worlds die and two of the key moments in the story involve the deaths of The Flash and Supergirl.

Moments that were set up in the last crossover, Elseworlds, only for Oliver to have a conversation we didn’t see, yet, with the Anti-Monitor’s counterpart, The Monitor (I know. Just run with it.). A conversation that saved his friends’ lives, almost certainly, in exchange for his own. Amell has talked about how the only thing left to do with the character is establish his legacy. Emiko Queen, Oliver’s sister, is active as Green Arrow in season 7. Connor Hawke is active in the CWverse’s future in the role. Oliver’s legacy is secure.  I’m all but convinced he’s not making it out of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

There’s one other piece to consider here too. The annual crossover tends to fall on episode 8 or 9 of the seasons. It would make perfect sense for Oliver’s sacrifice to be what closes out Crisis, with one last episode tying everything off. After all, like Amell says in the video, ‘Something tells me even when I’m done I won’t be gone.’

Regardless, a massive thanks to the entire cast and crew. Arrow is one of those rare shows that changed the environment it’s part of. Here’s to one Hell of a victory lap. Go get ’em, Ollie.