Setting up the whole season with a looming death is a neat trick. It reminds us of the stakes of Olivers fight and keeps audiences on their toes every time someone is in danger. The problem, in this case, is that by their own admission, at the time of the seasons premiere, the showrunners didnt actually know for sure who would be in the grave. As a viewer, that should be a troubling bit of information. The most successful stories often let the believable actions of the characters help move the plot along but by cementing this huge plot point at the end of the season, the writers may have backed themselves into a corner. This is not to say that it rules out the possibility of a well-handled, emotional death for one of the characters. It does, however, force the writers to kill someone, whether the story really calls for it or not. Itl be easier to evaluate this decision in hindsight, but as of now, promising such an important moment before its even fully conceived sounds like a dicey proposition.