Arrow Season 7: 5 Major Questions That Must Be Answered Before The Finale

The news of Emily Bett Rickards' imminent departure from Arrow shocked a lot of people. Her character, Felicity Smoak, has been a part of the show since the third episode and, quite frankly, it's hard to imagine what it will look like without her.

As she's such a core character, it would be hard to write her out at any stage (but doable nonetheless). This season, however, that's going to be a lot more difficult.

Not only does Felicity play her usual role in the present-day timeline (while also recently discovering that she's pregnant), she also has a major role to play in the flash-forward narrative. Thus, the question remains: How do you write a character of dual importance out when she's in the midst of her, well, dual importance?

Based on what we know about Mia's backstory, Felicity will move into a cabin in the woods to raise her daughter so, as far as the present-day timeline goes, that's definitely a possible way for her to exit. The issue, however, lies in her future role. Should the flash-forwards continue into next season, the writers are going to have to come up with a way of writing her out of that timeline too and, given that they've already utilised a potential kidnapping/missing storyline with her, it does feel like they've backed themselves into a corner with this one.