5 Reasons The Death Of [SPOILER] Is ‘Arrow’s Biggest Loss

2: Another Major Green Arrow Character Lost

Black Canary isn’t the only big Green Arrow character that we have lost over the course of this series as there have been other departures before of other big Green Arrow characters. Roy Harper a.k.a. Arsenal (Colton Haynes) was a huge favorite of mine in both the comics as well as on the show as Haynes made justice to that character. He even looks a lot like Roy from some of the comics and in particular in animation as Haynes looked almost identical to Roy on Young Justice. While he wasn’t killed off, he had a similar path like Laurel where he was Arsenal for almost a whole season. Now this situation is a little bit different as the actor decided to not renew his contract after it was up during Season 3 which is a decision that I respect. But regardless, it’s still another loss of a great character from the Green Arrow family that is not part of the show anymore.

Throughout Season 1 and 2, we saw the show’s own take on the character of Shado (Celina Jade) as she had a very different backstory and role, compared to her comic book lore. Originally a villain from stories like Longbow Hunters and more, I really admired Arrow’s version of Shado as a great ally for Oliver in the flashbacks where she played a part in evolving him into the man that he is today. Unfortunately, she ended up being brutally killed by Professor Ivo (Dylan Neal) and her death became the cause for Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke (Manu Bennett) to go down the villainous path which was a powerful story in that season. However, a part of me feel that there could have been a better reason to make Slade go down that path as it would have been compelling to see what the writers could have done with her in the present.

The one thing that does disappoint me with the show as a whole sometimes is that Arrow seems to not really wanting to rely on those classic characters as much in this version. Don’t get me wrong: I 100% respect and understand that this is an interpretation of these comic books as the creative team doesn’t have to follow everything that exists in the mythology. But at the same time, it just feels like a waste of such rich characters that makes the Green Arrow that much more compelling. I think it’s good to have a mix of both, with original characters like John Diggle (David Ramsey) as well as some of these iconic characters. You can tell great original stories and make it your own, but distancing yourself this much may not be the best method. As of this point, Speedy (Willa Holland who plays a slightly different version of the comic character who goes by Mia in the books) is the only Green Arrow character that is left on the team. Even some of the Green Arrow villains haven’t been utilized to the fullest, but that can be discussed another day.