Why Arrow Just Got Cancelled
2. Arrow Has Been Winding Down Oliver's Story Anyway
In a lot of ways, Arrow has already been setting the stage for its own exit. Season 7, which started with Oliver Queen in prison, has seen him largely done with vigilantism.
There's a new Green Arrow in town, in the guise of his half-sister, Emiko Queen, and we've seen flash-forwards to a future without Oliver as well. Of course, Arrow has toyed with the idea of Oliver passing on the mantle or hanging up the hood before now, but has never really been able to fully commit to it. This time, though, there's a real chance for a proper ending to his story.
After lots of will they, won't they, Oliver and Felicity are happily married, with a baby on the way. Other people will fight for Star City. He has a reason to give up being the Green Arrow. He's worked with the SCPD, and a lot of the season has seen a debate about the place of vigilantism in society. To that end, you can see the logic that Arrow would've been ending one way or another soon enough. It might've gone on for another year or two in the producers' ideal world, or at least a full season rather than an abridged one, but luckily it's not going to be too abrupt a conclusion because some of the groundwork has already been laid.
It's here where there'll be a debate about the semantics of 'cancelled' vs 'ending', but this news comes just after The CW's president has spoken about planning for the new generation, and a few months after Amell professed his love for the show and that he'd be back for Season 8 if it gets renewed. With the news of the cancellation, Amell posted a video on Facebook where he said he told the producers towards the end of Season 6 that he wanted to leave the show. There's no reason to doubt that's true, even if it makes his signing on for an eighth season a bit of a stranger decision, but would explain why they've been winding down his role.
Arrow did indeed get renewed just last month, but even then there were rumours it was going to be brought to an end - it's not uncommon for a network to give a show that's on the bubble one last, abridged season to wrap things up (see also: Gotham) - and it's apparent that, while it has worked out nicely for the producers - the show wouldn't be ending if the network wanted it to continue, especially as it's at a point with Emiko Queen and the future storyline, along with a roster of other characters, where it could just about go on in some form.