'Arrow' Season 4 Sound-Off: Major Character Death Is Not the End of Show, EP Assures

After the heightened excitement over the season four teaser of someone's death shown during the premiere episode, it may have become a bitter taste in the mouth for some fans who had worshipped the vigilante Black Canary and daytime's Laurel Lance (both played by Katie Cassidy) to finally learn who was in the grave. This first death of a major character on the show was a big jaw-dropper that sent shock through every proper viewer of the show who considered themselves loyal fans.

Lance had been stabbed by Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) with one of Oliver's arrows. Her death was revenge Darhk served out for Quentin Lance's betrayal. Laurel's being rushed to the hospital laid false hopes because in the end, she died convulsing while she was in the middle of her conversation with Oliver. The death of the beloved character served as the end to months of endless and almost painful speculation over who it would be.

However, Laurel's death is not to be taken as a sign of the show's end.

In an interview with E! News, Marc Guggenheim, the show's executive producer expressed his misgivings, "We started off the year with the promise of a death, and when we sort of worked our way through our various different creative choices, we realized the thing that would give us the most pop [creatively] going into the end of the season and into next season unfortunately would be Laurel."

Guggenheim admitted that they had never before killed off a character on the show with as much importance as Laurel Lance/The Black Canary and that it took some "fortitude." It was a sacrifice that was necessary for the show to evolve into what it was, and, according to the EP, doing so had brought forth the best episodes on the show.

For more of CW's "Arrow," new episodes air each Wednesday at 8 p.m.