Arrow Series Finale: What Does The Ending Really Mean?

4. Earth-2 Laurel Survived The Crisis

In a rather shocking turn of events, it was revealed that Oliver's attempts to revive all of his once-deceased loved ones didn't seem to extend to his first love Laurel Lance. The original Black Canary was bafflingly killed off in Arrow's fourth season and, even though the Emerald Archer changed her fate (by having her marry Tommy), he still couldn't save her.

It turns out that this might have something to do with the fact that Earth-2 Laurel a.k.a. the formerly villainous Black Siren had taken up residence on Earth-1. Though the writers didn't go into depth on the matter, it appears that Oliver either chose to let her continue doing the good that she has been doing as Black Canary or the universe missed her because she was filling the heroic Laurel Lance role on Earth-1.

Either way, this confirms that Earth-2 Laurel is the one that will be co-headlining Green Arrow and The Canaries and, even though the show could have still come up with a way to revive the original Laurel, it's great that all that hard redemptive work the character had gone through wasn't erased.