Stephen Amell Says Arrow As We Know It Ended When Emily Bett Rickards Left

Arrow is coming to an end very soon with its eighth and final season. We don’t know much in terms of story details about the run, but its shortened 10-episode length tells us that it will be structured very differently from previous years. Then there’s the fact that the season 7 finale saw Oliver Queen whisked off through a multiversal portal to aid the Monitor in the run-up to “Crisis on Infinite Earths.”

With the Emerald Archer being taken out of time and space, it seems that season 8 will allow the show to wrap up a few old plot threads and character arcs before it bows out. This means that some familiar faces not seen for a while will get to return. Here’s how star Stephen Amell teased the season in an interview with TV Guide:

“Every episode this year feels like were trying to put a button on a certain part of the show. And I’ve [gotten] a chance to work with actors and characters, thus far, that I haven’t had a chance to work with in a bunch of years.”

Arrow will be reaching right back to its beginnings for its guest stars in season 8, with the likes of Colin Donnell’s Tommy Merlyn and Susanna Thompson as Oliver’s mother, Moira Queen, among those returning. However, someone who’s been at the heart of the series for the longest time, Emily Bett Rickards, won’t appear after leaving at the end of season 7. For Amell, the exit of the Felicity Smoak actress was what spelled the end of Arrow as we know it.

“I think that the show as people understood it and its sort of structure — I think it ended in our Season 7 finale. This year is fundamentally different. The episodes are events. To me, the show as we constructed it ended when Emily [Bett Rickards] left.”

There might be a bittersweet element to season 8, as Felicity won’t be around and it marks the end of the road, but it still promises to be an exciting farewell to the daddy of the Arrowverse. And apparently, we’re in for a happy ending, too, despite the Green Arrow’s death being foretold to come in the “Crisis” crossover event.

Arrow season 8 kicks off on The CW on Tuesday, October 15th.