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Morrigan2575
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I had Quentin at the top of my death list, but now I'm leaning toward agreeing with kismet that it could very well be Nyssa. 

 

She's a loose end - both with respect to her NP 'marriage' to Oliver and her relationship with Sara.  The EPs have shown no interest in making Nyssa a regular cast member on either Arrow or LoT, and they sometimes seem to forget about the imprisoned Nyssa altogether. With Sara now back from the dead (again), it would seem odd for her not to reconnect with Nyssa. 

 

Killing off Nyssa would let them avoid having to deal with (1) the legality of Oliver's NP marriage and (2) the end of Sara & Nyssa's relationship because I'm sure they want to leave Sara free for other hookups on LoT.  Nyssa's death would also give Sara (as well as Oliver and maybe Laurel) another emotional layer, depending on the circumstances of the death. 

 

As for Barry showing up at the gravesite, we don't know yet if there's going to be another Flash crossover to Arrow this season where he and Nyssa could both be fighting with Team Arrow.  Or maybe he is just there to support Oliver as a friend upon the death of Oliver's NP 'wife'.

Edited by tv echo
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Also maybe whoever is in the grave dies after Team Arrow ask for Barry's help but he's off facing Zoom. That could get Barry to come to anyone's funeral. And that gives the graveside Zoom talk another dimension as well.

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I don't see Nyssa being the one in the grave unless they decide to pull a major cop out.Killing Nyssa for me is the same as killing Roy.Its not worth the hype since she's someone who hasn't been appearing much and has zero relevance to the main plot this season.I also don't see Oliver crying over her and his reaction at the grave scene is too strong for Nyssa imo.I don't think they need to kill her to end the dumb idea of her still being married to Oliver since they have either ignored that or used it as a joke since the episode right after it happened.They can also easily break up her and Sara since their relationship ended once Sara left the league before and Nyssa seems unwilling to leave it even when the man who killed Sara is in charge.

I think only a team Arrow member or a season regular in the grave wouldn't be a cop out or totally underwhelming.Quentin is the least they can get away with imo.

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I think if the writers are honest and admit they chickened out (or didn't get higher approval for their planned death) they can get away with any one in the grave. Though fans will think it was suppose to be Laurel or Felicity and be bitter. But I don't think it will hurt ratings though it is a cry wolf moment that will have lingering affects. 

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I don't think it will hurt ratings or anything like that I do think it will be considered underwhelming after a whole season of building up the death and dropping anvils for all the major characters only to go and kill off someone who is a guest star that's been in like two episodes this season.I find it hard to believe they're not aware of that since they decided to spend a season teasing a major death.That's why I think the least they can kill of is Quentin though even he isn't worth this build up imo but they can get away with killing him without it being a cop out.

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I think you guys are totally focused on the wrong things. I don't think this comes down to "creative decison" or "because comics". I think it'll come down to money, especially going into a syndication year.

As for why the "anvils" don't count for Felicity it's because they just almost killed her in 309/310. And they are milking her "death" for Winter Hiatus talk just like Oliver in S3. I don't think this show ended the MSF on Felicity's death only to turn around and kill her for real 7-8 episodes later.

People were discounting the Felicity anvils long before the MSF. And I agree it's not entirely a creative decision.  As I've said, I think Guggie would love to kill Felicity, because he'd think that would be game-changing, but I am positive the suits wouldn't let him.  I am far less sure that the suits would let him kill Laurel.  Also, this show is almost never surprising.  Killing anyone major other than Quentin would be very surprising.

 

On the behind-the-scenes aspect, if it's Paul or DR or even Willa, who's been in the business for quite awhile for her age, I think they'd keep it quiet, but if it's KC she won't be able to.  So I think social media will be a clue if it's KC, at least.

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I don't see Nyssa being the one in the grave unless they decide to pull a major cop out.Killing Nyssa for me is the same as killing Roy.Its not worth the hype since she's someone who hasn't been appearing much and has zero relevance to the main plot this season.I also don't see Oliver crying over her and his reaction at the grave scene is too strong for Nyssa imo.I don't think they need to kill her to end the dumb idea of her still being married to Oliver since they have either ignored that or used it as a joke since the episode right after it happened.They can also easily break up her and Sara since their relationship ended once Sara left the league before and Nyssa seems unwilling to leave it even when the man who killed Sara is in charge.

I think only a team Arrow member or a season regular in the grave wouldn't be a cop out or totally underwhelming.Quentin is the least they can get away with imo.

But it is worth all the hype. The audience is tuning in to see who it is. The media is covering who it might be. The teasing off is paying dividends. In the end, it doesn't really matter who is in the grave - so long as it is not destructive to the overall narrative & OQ's journey.  Cop-out or not, people have invested in this story. So the HYPE has been met, the writers have achieved their goal of making people watch and media talk.

 

If they put Nyssa in the grave instead of Lance, it will be an absolute cop-out, chicken moment. But I don't think the writers mind taking that hit. At that point they will probably spin it, as see we killed someone that wasn't even on your list. And if the last few episodes of the season are good, nobody is going to care that the writers overhyped another story. People might ding them for having a complete cop-out, but its not going to stop people from watching or talking about Arrow. OQ was going to do horrible things as Al-Sha-Him, blood was supposed to be running off his hands. And his biggest baddest moment was kidnapping Lyla & leaving behind Diglet, for which everybody but Dig forgave him for or at least didn't seem all that bothered by it a few eps later.

 

And I tend to believe like @Morrigan2575, it's all about money to some degree. Unless their contracts are up, killing any of the Lances would cost them money. So that has to be considered. LL is perhaps the most expendable character on ARROW, but she does have connection to the Comics and that is money source as well. They probably don't want to kill a female Comic Hero going into a syndication year. QL is expendable and has no connection to the comics to protect him. BUT there is no money gained or lost in killing him. However, if they need to replace the police connection, that means new casting and new monies spent on that process and another actor, so it might be costly. Where if they kill Nyssa, it only cost them whatever her guest star salary is for the episode they do it.

Edited by kismet
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She was on CW shows but that shouldn't affect her contract with Arrow.  Her original contract, if it was like everyone's except SA's, would have been up at the end of s3 (SA is contracted for 6 seasons).  It all depends on what they negotiated from there.

 

 

I think you guys are totally focused on the wrong things. I don't think this comes down to "creative decison" or "because comics". I think it'll come down to money, especially going into a syndication year.

In that case, Laurel is safe.  I can't see them killing off the Black Canary no matter what the storylines imply.

 

I think only a team Arrow member or a season regular in the grave wouldn't be a cop out or totally underwhelming.Quentin is the least they can get away with imo.

I can see them killing Nyssa and saying, Well, she's a major character and she's been on since season 2 and using that as a justification.  Killing Roy wouldn't have the impact since he was killed last season.

 

Of the others, I can see only Quentin as being someone they can get away with killing. Felicity and Diggle are too important to the show's structure, along with Oliver they are the legs of the stool and to kill either of them would hurt it too much.  I think if Thea were really dead Oliver would go catatonic (he'll be upset enough about Felicity and she's still alive), not be the guy we saw in the flash forward, and it's doubtful it will be Laurel since Because Syndication. 

 

That leaves Quentin.  It wouldn't have the effect that killing Tommy and later Moira had but it fits the behind-the-scenes stuff.

 

On the behind-the-scenes aspect, if it's Paul or DR or even Willa, who's been in the business for quite awhile for her age, I think they'd keep it quiet, but if it's KC she won't be able to.  So I think social media will be a clue if it's KC, at least.

It will be too late to start a 'Save the Black Canary' campaign since it's already decided so if it's her, I think she'll go Arrow social media dark in late January, as she did in s2 when she didn't like what they were writing for Laurel.

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I agree there's a chance they chose a cop out and kill off a minor character and then try to spin it as a death of a prominent character, I just don't think they will.I think they even are doing this grave thing as a way to raise the stakes because they did get a reputation as the show where no one big stays dead anymore.They are making this look like a major character imo both on the show with all the anvils for all the regulars and with the way they're promoting it.I don't think they'll cope out for now.Maybe they start giving interviews or clues on the show that makes me think it could be someone minor but for now it all point to it being either Lance or Laurel imo.I guess I chose to believe in the best of them lol.

Tbh as long as Felicity and Diggle are safe,I'm okay with whoever dies.I'd be sad if Thea dies but it wouldn't make me quit.Either of the Lances dying is fine though I would prefer Laurel.But I do think they need to not do a cop out on this.They made a big deal out of this so they should deliver.

Guggie would be really stupid if he wanted to kill Felicity. Her dying is show killing not game changing plus the thought of him "loving" the idea of killing Felicity is disturbing

Tbh I don't think even he would want to kill her off for real.He knows what brings in the buzz and he seems to really like the character imo.I think he might want do his shocking twist in the form of like giving her a fake death or what they just did in the midseason finale but no way a real death just for shock value.

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Could you imagine them carrying out this Felicity-fake-out scenario throughout the season? Like, after a whole episode in 419 or so where TA is battling HIVE again, and the writers make it look like Diggle, Thea, or even Felicity are going to die, when *twist* DD goes to Lance's apartment like Slade visited Laurel in s2 and kills Lance abruptly at the end of the episode. 

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She was on CW shows but that shouldn't affect her contract with Arrow. Her original contract, if it was like everyone's except SA's, would have been up at the end of s3 (SA is contracted for 6 seasons). It all depends on what they negotiated from there.

In that case, Laurel is safe. I can't see them killing off the Black Canary no matter what the storylines imply.

I can see them killing Nyssa and saying, Well, she's a major character and she's been on since season 2 and using that as a justification. Killing Roy wouldn't have the impact since he was killed last season.

Of the others, I can see only Quentin as being someone they can get away with killing. Felicity and Diggle are too important to the show's structure, along with Oliver they are the legs of the stool and to kill either of them would hurt it too much. I think if Thea were really dead Oliver would go catatonic (he'll be upset enough about Felicity and she's still alive), not be the guy we saw in the flash forward, and it's doubtful it will be Laurel since Because Syndication.

That leaves Quentin. It wouldn't have the effect that killing Tommy and later Moira had but it fits the behind-the-scenes stuff.

It will be too late to start a 'Save the Black Canary' campaign since it's already decided so if it's her, I think she'll go Arrow social media dark in late January, as she did in s2 when she didn't like what they were writing for Laurel.

I'm not sure LL as BC is a money maker. Last year LL fans wanted to know when she was going to be featured on the comic and MG made a comment about them actually buying it. Based off of how fast it fall off of the top 10 lists, it didn't sell nearly as well.

KC also did a charity campaign where she was trying to sell something like 500 shirts in a month. I want to say she ended up with 200 something.

She is probably getting a funko pop with the second wave but Funko Pop has been perfectly happy with Saras BC. I mean they have just been calling it good with that one.

I honestly have a hard time believing comic fans are running out to support this character.

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I honestly have a hard time believing comic fans are running out to support this character.

 

Isn't her action figure also struggling to sell? 

 

Even though LL is BC from the comics, the comic fanbase (which is pretty small considering only 20 something k people buy the BC) is split on her... You have no idea how many times I've heard comic fans say that LL is a disgrace to Dinah Laurel Lance from the comics. 

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I'm not saying she doesn't have a fan base. It's just I don't think she has this comic fanbase that people say she does.

 

No I know she has a fan base. I just don't think that every comic book fan is her fan. I'd say the comic fanbase (however small it is) is split on LL. And I know there are a few people who don't read the comics who like her too... IMO from what I've seen, most of LL fans are mostly KC fans, and to a lesser extent, comic fans. 

 

And I'm going ot shut up now because we're starting to get into fan talk territory.

Edited by wonderwall
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She was on CW shows but that shouldn't affect her contract with Arrow.  Her original contract, if it was like everyone's except SA's, would have been up at the end of s3 (SA is contracted for 6 seasons).  It all depends on what they negotiated from there.

 

I'm pretty sure she has the same contract as SA. I remember Colin said he signed a 6/7 year contract and when they signed the cast, it was still originally a 3 person ensemble. 

It's funny I just searched Black Canary on Funko's site and this is what it gave me. Sara's Pop, Sara's Action figure and Felicity. 

 

Untitled_zpscv0lsmrj.jpg

Considering Funko doesn't have any Laurel-based action figures it makes sense that that is what would show up. The Laurel Lance action figure isn't funko.

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The contract situation has always been a mystery to fans.  SA said he signed for 6 years, Colin Donnell said he signed for 7 but the question is whether it was truly 7 (which didn't make sense to me because why would they sign him for longer than the actor playing Oliver Queen?) or if it was a standard 3 year CW contract with a renewal option for 4 more years.  Whatever he signed, I agree that Katie Cassidy would have been signed for the same.  It seems logical that all three were signed for 6 years because they were set to be the foundation for the show.

 

I think that even if Laurel/Black Canary doesn't have the fanbase they expected her to have when they started the series, she does have a fanbase and if it's a question of syndication, I can see that they would want her to stay with the show.  Suits are usually very conservative.

Edited by statsgirl
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I think Arrow is a lock for Syndication considering it's absolutely going to get a 5th season. I doubt killing LL will affect ratings that much if at all. Maybe it will minutely change the overall number of people who are watching, but I don't think ratings will change at all.

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Oh, agreed.  The question that was floating around is whether KC has a clause in her contract that if they take her off the show before the end of the contract, that there would be a high monetary penalty for early termination.

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They probably have a liquidated damages clause.  But it would be less than paying her for the rest of her original planned time on the show.  Even if they don't have a liquidated damages clause (and they would be total morons not to), they'd still, at most, have to pay out the rest of her original contracted salary.

 

Also, I do not personally believe she actually has a six-year contract.  I think she probably has a three-year with options.  Even if they planned to keep her around for six years, it doesn't harm them, and does help them, to structure it that way.  And it's not as if she was some huge star.  She was a one-year recurring character on a shortened season of Supernatural and a fairly major character on a failed CW show (Melrose Place).  She'd been something like "Slutty Damsel #2" in a couple horror movies.  We're not talking Jennifer Lawrence here.

Edited by AyChihuahua
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At the time the show was created and casted, she was the more well known name and had the better ties with TheCW and she was one of the first to sign on. We know from the casting director that they went a different route after everyone had already been cast so I doubt they went back and made any adjustments to contracts. This was suppose to be TVD-Superhero Edition and they probably wouldn't have wanted to have that possibility of losing one of the 3 love interests. 

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One of KCs interview during Dragon Con made me wonder if she didnt have more input into choosing the project she wanted to work on.

 

 

So after two years of seeing everybody else get into costumes and having fights and being able to do all that, was it really exciting to be able to get in there and really join in?

 

    Oh my gosh yes, absolutely! I met with The CW before I even read Arrow, was offered Arrow, before Arrow was even around, and I said, “Listen, I really want to do an action role.” I’ve always worked out, I think a healthy lifestyle is really important, and I was like, “I really want to do some bad ass, kick ass action show. If you guys have something, let me know, let’s talk.” So then Arrow came about, and I met with Greg and David Nutter and Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim, and they pitched me the show. And they were like, “Well, in the comics, Laurel Lance is Black Canary, so probably like Season 1, Season 2,” and I was like, “Okay, great!” And obviously it’s television, anything can happen. I’m actually grateful and glad the way that they went about it, because it gave my character someplace to go, and when you’re on a show season after season after season, I’m so lucky that I’ve had this wonderful arc that they wrote for me. But yeah, definitely, Season 1 and Season 2, it was a little frustrating, because I wasn’t a part of the A storyline, and you know I wanted to be in there! And then when Caity Lotz came on, who by the way I love, she’s amazing, it was definitely hard. Because I didn’t know, they hadn’t told me that she was coming ’til like a week before, and I was like … I mean I didn’t say this, but I thought this in my head like, “Pretty sure they sold me the show based on that I was supposed to do that!” And then I was like, “You know what, just have faith and trust them they know what they’re doing. It’s television, I’m a professional.” I tried to handle it in the best way possible, and she was so great. It was also good just watching, I think because we were still just trying to find our legs Season 1 and 2, you know? And it’s obviously been an honor and I’m so happy, I’m so grateful and I’m so excited I’m finally a part of Team Arrow! The one thing I will say, though, is when you’re a super hero and you’re on our show, you work ’til like four, five in the morning, so I’m nocturnal.

http://bamsmackpow.com/2015/09/12/dragon-con-2015-katie-cassidy-press-conference/

 

I actually think there must have been some changes after s1. Because ever since s2 started only 3 actors were in all episodes. Stephen, David and Emily.

Edited by Velocity23
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Actors are contracted for certain amount of episodes but don't have to actually appear in them, they just get paid automatically either way. Nikita creators talked about how they contracted Devon Sawa for a certain amount of episodes but couldn't find a way to put him into an episode and it was wasted money. It happens.

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But KC was cast as one of the leads, not just a regular on the show. And when she doesnt appear in every episode its quite telling.

 

I am not sure how accurate that info is but Laurel Brown implied that EBR was in the flashback episode because of contractual obligations.

Edited by Velocity23
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It's telling from a story POV but not from a contractual POV. Just like she said she was sold as her character becoming Black Canary and then they go behind her back and cast someone else to play the heroic persona before she gets to transition into it.

 

Not to mention that they basically sold the actors 1 story only to totally go around and change it on them and it isn't like they would've been able to back out. 

Edited by Primal Slayer
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Really a female lead not being in all episode is not significant? Well its not like there is only one person who ever was BC in the comics?

 

Arrow isnt the first show to change things after seeing that things arent working out.  You could see the slight changes as early as in s1.

And Colin Donnell could sing a song about how TV business sucks. Since the initial plan was for Tommy to be the big nemesis for Oliver throughout the seasons. But they went with Malcolm instead.

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To me it is pretty obvious that Katie is still the lead actress on paper while EBR is the lead female on screen and that is a change that probably wont be made 100% until Katies contract is up. If it were up last year, they probably could've bumped her down and bumped EBR up.

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Katie is 2nd billed. EBR wouldnt be 2nd billed if they bumped her up anyway since her resume was pretty empty when she started Arrow. If anything David would go to 2nd position.

Edited by Velocity23
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When I was talking about the decision coming down to money and contracts I didn't want to get into a whole thing about it because we know nothing. It's all guess work and rumors on our part.

What I meant was that Hollywood is a business, a lot of the times decisions to kill a character off comes down to money, contracts and occasionally egos/pissing people off.

Right after 401 aired and WM gave that interview about not knowing who was in the grave Canadagrpahs made a tweet that I agreed with. He said the EPs probably had a short list of who could be in the grave and the final decision would come down to contracts.

Who's contract is up at the end of the year and wants to move on?

Who's contract has reached option year so they can get rid of them without costing a pretty penny.

Who's in renegotiation and asking for too much money, etc.

Where can they save the most money in the budget

I think the final decision comes down on the business side of Hollywood and it's not something I have the answer to or can even speculate on.

I just think over analyzing that scene and the character roles on the show is futile. The business side is going to play a big role in the decision and that's something we don't know much about.

Edited by Morrigan2575
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Well, if it comes down to money, then that would make Felicity even safer, as Emily is most likely the lowest paid regular on the show, despite the fact that she has more screentime (and therefore works longer hours) than anyone else other than Stephen.  And Katie is probably one of the highest paid, so that increases the chances of Laurel biting it.  Good news all round.

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It will be too late to start a 'Save the Black Canary' campaign since it's already decided so if it's her, I think she'll go Arrow social media dark in late January, as she did in s2 when she didn't like what they were writing for Laurel.

 

If the decision has in fact already been made (which I don't know), then it should interesting to see KC's demeanor (happy or sad) - as well as the demeanor of the other Arrow actors - at the upcoming Heroes & Villains FanFests in January and March (fyi, she's also scheduled for City of Heroes 2 in May and Super Heroes Con II in June).

Edited by tv echo
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Flip side: KC would also be one of the more expensive ones to buy out.

I'm hoping fans try and trip them up at The Cons. It would be entertaining.

SM is going to interesting. Everything can be read differently depending on where you stand.

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Flip side: KC would also be one of the more expensive ones to buy out.

I'm hoping fans try and trip them up at The Cons. It would be entertaining.

SM is going to interesting. Everything can be read differently depending on where you stand.

Not really, from what I've been told, the buyout is a sliding scale.

But again, not really sure we should be discussing this, especially in this thread since it's not spoiler/spec

Edited by Morrigan2575
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Right after 401 aired and WM gave that interview about not knowing who was in the grave Canadagrpahs made a tweet that I agreed with. He said the EPs probably had a short list of who could be in the grave and the final decision would come down to contracts.

I think he's right that they had a list and partly right about it coming down to contracts.  The big additional costs for the show are actors like Brandon Routh and Neal McDonough and the CGI that comes with them and I imagine it overshadows buyout costs.  it doesn't make sense save a few pennies by not buying out a contract if there is limited storyline for that character.

 

That's why I think upcoming storylines (topic!) and story possibilities also have to play a part in trying to figure out who it is in the grave.  One of the main guesses is Quentin but I can't think that Paul Blackthorne would be asking for a lot of money and perks. He's been in the business for too long and been in too many roles that ended (Dresden Files) not to be aware that it's better to be on-screen for less money than not be seen.

 

Another consideration:  Willa Holland is doing so well with Thea, I can see the CW wanting her for another TV if they had something in the works.

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I read this spec on Tumblr about Laurel being shown protecting kids in both the season premiere and mid-season finale and this potentially being a clue towards her dying in protecting William. Now, I think this would suck so bad even for Laurel, but I haven't taken note of this and could it be that putting her with kids could mean more than just trying to make her likable? A direction for her character further in the season, Laurel's Basement for Lost Boys & Girls?

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Remember how Sara saved the kid from fire in s2. But then died a few months later. *shrug*

 

Yep, and she wasn't expecting any accolades from that. She did it because it was the right thing to do not because she wanted the glory of being called a hero. Even when the cop called her a hero, Laurel was looking at her all smiles and Sara was like okay, and looked uncomfortable with the praise. 

Edited by Sakura12
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Yeah, sorry, but that spec just sounds like reaching too hard tbh. But this fandom does it a lot so it's not surprising haha. I just don't see how you can go from Laurel shielding kids from being shot to saving William. LOL. Not everything is a clue for something later down the line.

Edited by Guest
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