Throughout its eight seasons, Arrow has pulled out the stops time and again. It's launched a universe of shows on The CW, introduced a long list of iconic comic book heroes and villains, and it's explored the life of the Green Arrow--Oliver Queen--more than any other TV show or movie could possibly have dreamed of. Now, with it's next and final episode--"Fadeout"--the series is saying goodbye under some truly unique circumstances.
The series finale of Arrow comes on the heels of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover event, which not only reshaped the multiverse but killed off Oliver (Stephen Amell) for good. Ending a long-running series without the main character is no easy task, but it's one Arrow's executive producers were eager to take on.
"It was extremely challenging for all those reasons but I think, you know, Mark [Guggenheim] and I talked a lot about it and in the end it all those challenges is what made the ending so perfect," showrunner Beth Schwartz said during a Q&A following a screening of the finale. She later added, "There's a lot of wish fulfillment."
The end result is an episode filled with a long list of guest stars from throughout Arrow's eight seasons, many of which have been revealed thanks to photos of Oliver's funeral, one of which you can see above. Having so many familiar faces back allowed the show to craft the final moments they hope fans will be excited to see.
"I know it's really important to me and Mark to honor all of our characters in this. This was, you know, we spent a lot of time in the room brainstorming endings for all our characters," Schwartz explained. "And whether they were series regulars in Season 8 or they were series regulars in Season 1, it's we really wanted to give everyone a satisfying ending so that you could envision what their lives would be like after the show was over."
While they don't want to spoil exactly what those endings are, executive producer Marc Guggenheim previously revealed to GameSpot that the episode would include a nod to the fan theory that John Diggle (David Ramsey) is connected to the Green Lantern. "We've got we have a very specific moment in mind for the series finale, that our hope is it'll be satisfying to the fans, without getting me in trouble with my bosses at Warner Brothers," he said in August.
Arrow's series finale airs Tuesday, January 28, on The CW.
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