Arrow season 7 finale: How did Felicity leave? Oliver’s death sentence

Emily Bett Rickards

Entering the Arrow season 7 finale, we had some big questions — with most of them centering around Felicity. After all, entering this episode the #1 story out there was the departure of this character entering into the eighth and final season.

Let’s be clear: We don’t think her exit was a creative decision by the writers. They would’ve probably loved to have Emily around to conclude this story in full, but once they realized that she could depart, they had to come up with a story that made a good bit of sense. That’s where everything apparently came into play when it came to Emiko, the Ninth Circle, and what Oliver’s sister put into motion in order to ensure that much of his life was destroyed.

Ultimately, after Oliver defeated Emiko (and then ended up saving her), she made it clear to him that there was going to be more danger coming for his family. With that in mind, the best thing that he could do was try to find a way to help her hide.

Eventually, we saw Oliver and Felicity head off to Ivytown, where the two were able to actually have something resembling a normal life — they welcomed their baby Mia, they had a break, and they even ever starting to consider bringing William in under a shared custody agreement.

In the closing seconds, though, here was the twist: The arrival of the Monitor, who turned up in Ivytown and made it clear to Oliver that it was “time.” Basically, he was going to have to make good on the conversation that the two had on this past crossover. The Monitor made it clear to him that he would die in the events that are to come — or at least based on the way in which history is written.

The end of this episode was painful, mostly because Oliver had to effectively to say goodbye. It wasn’t so much that Felicity left the show; instead, it was more that Oliver had to leave. With that, we have to imagine the entire world of this show has fundamentally changed forever.

Aside from just Felicity’s exit…

You had a lot of great stuff in here in between a wonderful Team Arrow family moment — one where we saw the term “end of an era” thrown around — and then also some reminders of the chaos that was going on in the future. That is, of course, one of the challenges with this storyline this season — trying to find a way to bridge together the present and the past. The flash-forward managed to be a passing-of-the-torch moment. Felicity, Dinah, and the other original heroes were ready to sacrifice themselves so that the new generation could have a future. After all, it just so turns out they’re more than fine to now go into hiding.

Our final verdict

We have no idea what season 8 is going to look like after this episode. This was one of the craziest endings that we could’ve ever fathomed, and now, here we are.

The final twist

Apparently, Felicity in the future is going to have a chance to travel and see Oliver … wherever that may be. Could he actually be alive somewhere?

For some more news when it comes to Arrow…

Be sure to visit the link here, since that is when you’re going to get some of the first season 8 premiere-date hopes for the series.

What did you think about the Arrow season 7 finale as a whole? Be sure to share right now in the comments! Of course, we’ll have some other news when it comes to the series before too long. (Photo: The CW.)

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