After eight seasons, Arrow finally came to a close in January. The series first premiered in 2012 and, at the time, it transported viewers in a DC Universe that was much more grounded and gritty than what the Arrowverse would eventually become. Back then, there was just Oliver Queen, his bow and arrow and a list of names he was determined to cross off. Dinah Laurel Lance was also one of the main characters of the show, and there were hints in the series' early episodes that the character would eventually become the Black Canary fans know from the comics.

Unfortunately, things didn't exactly go that way. Instead, Arrow twisted things as it evolved. The character of Laurel Lance ended up becoming a casualty of these changes. But the Black Canary, several of them in fact, would still rise in the Arrowverse. Now, as we look back at the show's legacy, it's clear Arrow ultimately failed Katie Cassidy's Laurel Lance -- but did right by the Black Canary.

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When we first met Laurel Lance in the series' pilot, she was a lawyer fighting for the little guy. Right from the start, it was clear that she had a heroic heart, and her self-defense fighting skills let us know that she would one day take things to the next level and suit up as the Black Canary to Oliver Queen's Green Arrow. It was a transformation comic-book fans expected because, in the source material, Green Arrow and Black Canary are not only partners, but one of the DC Universe's most iconic power couples.

However, over the course of several seasons, Arrow went through numerous changes: its universe got bigger, super-powered heroes and villains were introduced and Oliver found a different love interest in Felicity Smoak. And, as the focus and the scope of the series changed, so too did the character of Laurel Lance.

After going through a rough patch in Season 2, Laurel took a few leaps forward as she started to train with Ted Grand/Wildcat in Season 3 and finally learned enough combat skills to become the Black Canary. And it worked... but only for a short amount of time. Laurel's turn as the heroic vigilante was different than others on the show: since she was new to crime-fighting and still lacked training, she wasn't particularly good at it, as opposed to the other members of Team Arrow who were at the height of their abilities more or less at all times.

It was an interesting plight for Laurel and would have made for an interesting arc for the character... if she wasn't killed due to her lack of experience.

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Yes, in Season 4 Laurel was murdered by Damian Darhk. The character was mourned by the rest of Team Arrow, and then they moved on, widening the ranks of the team even more than before. And yet, despite that, Laurel would return to the show.

While she wouldn't be outright resurrected, her doppelganger from Earth-2, aka Black Siren, joined the series as a super-powered villain. But this version of Laurel would also get her own redemptive story arc, and she would eventually grow to become Earth-2's Black Canary by the time the series reached Season 8. What's more, the character even joined Mia Smoak in the future, to become a part of the potential spinoff series, Green Arrow and the Canaries.

It's been a bumpy road for Laurel Lance -- one filled with ups, downs and sharp turns. Considering all that the character has been through, it seems apparent that Arrow simply didn't know what to do with her. On one hand, the show's writers wanted to give comic-book fans the Black Canary from the source material, but too many previous decisions made that transformation nearly impossible. The character's death only complicated matters further, and it shows that perhaps the series didn't treat Laurel Lance with the care and respect the comic-book character deserved.

Dinah Drake/Black Canary on Arrow

However, the series did manage to do right by Black Canary -- if not with Laurel under the domino mask, then with other characters. In fact, in Season 2 of the series, Arrow introduced its first Black Canary in the form of Sara Lance. Sara was trained by the League of Assassins for years, meaning that she had a good amount of time, in-story, to become someone close to the Black Canary fans know from the comics. The only thing she was missing, was the character's signature Canary cry.

And Sara Lance was just the first in a long line of Canaries. In fact, after Laurel Lance suited up as her sister's successor, Dinah Drake (the comics' first Black Canary) joined the series in Season 5 as a Canary who not only had the fighting skills, but also the super-powered cry, gained after the explosion of S.T.A.R. Labs' particle accelerator in Star City.

Dinah was as close as Arrow could get to a comics-accurate Black Canary. But she wouldn't even be the last. Laurel's Earth-2 doppelganger would also eventually suit-up as a superhero, keeping Star City safe alongside an alternate version of the Emerald Archer. Plus, she would even fight alongside Oliver Queen in the series' final season.

As Season 8 of Arrow came to a close, the series had two active Black Canaries -- and yet, neither of them were the character who was originally supposed to become the vigilante back in Season 1. Unfortunately, we never got to see the real Laurel Lance get her proper due as the Black Canary. But, at least, Arrow made up for it by offering fans multiple versions of the superhero -- each cooler than the last.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell as Oliver Queen, David Ramsey as John Diggle, Rick Gonzalez as Wild Dog, Juliana Harkavy as Black Canary, Katie Cassidy as Black Siren, Katherine McNamara as Mia Smoak, Joseph David-Jones as Connor Hawke and Ben Lewis as William Clayton-Queen. All eight seasons are currently streaming on Netflix.

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