‘Arrow’ Season 8 Release Date: Is Emily Bett Rickards Returning in the Final Installment?

“Arrow” Season 8 is set to end the superhero series to the disappointment of some its fan base. Others, on the other hand, are welcoming the conclusion since they feel the show’s quality has gone down considerably compared to its other entries.

Indeed, the recent finale once again highlighted this fact as the Ninth Circle threat never made a lasting impression as it intended. Of course, it should be noted that the farewell given to Emily Bett Rickards has been handled pretty well, with Stephen Amell delivering yet another powerful performance during their separation. Now, “Arrow” Season 8 will be upping the stakes to a whole new height as the upcoming Crisis crossover will give Queen his most challenging work yet, CinemaBlend reported.

The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) has already hinted that Queen might die in the inevitable conflict as they attempt to stop forces that could destroy the entire universe. Meanwhile, it’s still unclear if Rickards will reprise her role in “Arrow” Season 8 as she already parted ways with the series, Deadline reported.

CW president Mark Pedowitz said that although he’s satisfied with how Felicity’s farewell was handled, he’s also hoping that she can come back in some capacity in the final entry. It’s still unclear why Rickards suddenly left the show as the actress remains mum about the subject. She did, however, posted a heartfelt Instagram message thanking everyone who’s been involved in the series’ creation. As for “Arrow” Season 8, its episode count has been shortened to 10, opposed to its predecessors that were given more than twice that amount.

It appears that the showrunners are going to be consolidating the finale’s plotline, which is quite worrying since “Game of Thrones” was handled similarly. With Queen now set to lay his life on the line for the greater good, “Arrow” Season 8 is in a position to end the series on an explosive note. The last installment is expected to premiere in October since previous entries were dropped during this month.