Arrow: Why Oliver Queen Deserves a Happy Ending
As Arrow continues its road towards the end, things are particularly depressing for our favorite heroes, especially Oliver Queen.
With no real mention of Oliver’s fate in 2040, aside from the incredibly vague mentions of his presence made by others in the past tense, we honestly have no idea what happened to him, whether he’s out there, or if he’s even alive.
Arrow Season 7 Episode 16, “Star City 2040,” did indicate as much that Star City (once again) turned on the Green Arrow and, in turn, Oliver and Felicity at some point during Felicity’s pregnancy, causing them to go into hiding.
With that vague development in mind, the anxiety and notable absence growing as each episode goes by, a definitive end date given, and my need to talk this one out, I had to write about all of the reasons Oliver Queen deserves an appropriate, happy ending when the show comes to a close at the end of Season 8.
When looking at Arrow, from the pilot to now, it’s incredible to see how far Oliver Queen has come as a person and hero.
He’s gone from the dark, brooding man who set out to right his father’s wrongs without any help, to a man who allows hope to shine through and believe that there will come a day that Star City, his city, will be safe for his family—choosing to believe it can be done with Felicity, Diggle, and the others’ help.
This transformation is why I think he deserves a happy ending, an ending that illustrates his growth through his journey, his hard-earned happiness, and his goal complete.
Oliver has given up so much for the city, for his friends, and for the sake of the mission over the last seven years. He gave up his happiness, his anonymity, his freedom, and at one point, his life (Arrow Season 3 Episode 9, “The Climb”).
It’s these sacrifices we’ve seen over the seasons that would make Oliver’s death a betrayal of sorts.
There’s also the matter of what Oliver’s journey has been about which reminds me of a line that Felicity says on Arrow Season 3 Episode 22, “My Name is Oliver Queen”:
Felicity: Don’t fight to die. Fight to live.
Oliver spent the first two seasons, and the better part of Season 3, just waiting for his life to end for the sake of the mission he took on and his family—from Arrow Season 2 Episode 21, “City of Blood,” where he attempts to give himself over to Slade, to of course Arrow Season 3 Episode 9, “The Climb,” where he goes to face off against Ra’s in Thea’s place, and again when he joined the League of Assassins on Arrow Season 3 Episode 20, “The Fallen.”
But he eventually finds a way, an alternative to dying, opting to strive to stay alive for the city, the mission, his friends, and his family.
A perfect example is his post-Slabside story in Arrow Season 7. Once he finds out that he’s had to send William away after Stan attacks the Queen-Smoak family loft and learning that Felicity is pregnant, he and Felicity are even more determined to live and make the city safer for their children.
Oliver’s finally learned to balance the darkness and the light, harnessing it to become the best version of himself. The act of killing him would utterly destroy the narrative built and devalue the hard-learned lessons over the years.
We have seen Oliver’s struggles through the years and how hard he’s worked to get where he is (after being repeatedly knocked down so many times).
Death as an ending would be undoing all of that work, devaluing his journey, and be a punch in the gut to fans.
It would be the antithesis of what these writers have seemingly set up over the last few seasons, despite what the flash forwards look like. Nevermind that a story like that for his children would put them in the same position their was father was in after Robert killed himself, leaving Oliver with the notebook.
Oliver deserves a happy ending, with Felicity and his children close, alive, and having successfully done what he and Felicity set out to do.
The question now is whether or not that will be what we get to see it when Arrow ends next season.
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What do you think? Should Oliver get his happy ending? What does your idea of a happy ending for Oliver entail? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Brianna Martinez
Brianna spends her time away from briefs, legal research, and pleadings, watching TV and writing about it. She generally has a lot of feelings about TV, which you can read about here and on Twitter.
7 comments
I agree! With all that Oliver has sacrificed for this city and those he loves, I see no other fitting end than for the show to conclude with a glimpse of a future where he is happy and at peace. Things might not be perfect (hello Blackstar’s future) but there should be satisfying closure.
Yes! Absolutely. Satisfying closure is definitely the best phrase to describe what I would want and it involves payoff for the sacrifices.
Yes I absolutely agree, after all that Oliver has been through he definately deserves to end up with his wife and kids and be happy, blimey hes been through the wars and given up nearly everything for the greater good and nearly his life several times over, the man need a break surely come on writers/producers, you have now told us that hes going to die wow and sent Felicity through a portal to find him, who has now left the show. I hope that someone has asked Emily(Felicity) to appear in Season 8 to give the show a great ending and a happy one for their family because they have all been through enough. The Arrow seasons have been a joy to watch I have enjoyed all the episodes and have watched them over again!!!! but so far the way season 7 has ended the shows bosses need to do something to make sure that our lovely and handsome Oliver gets the happy future/ending he should have afterall The Flash can time travel so get Barry on the case or something along those lines Arrowverse can surely save the day for us dedicated hardcore fans of this Superb Excellent Show that we are going to really miss and make us smile instead of cry at the end of Season 8. Please DO NOT carry it on as you have left it, depressing doesnt even cover it as Felicity very rightly says Oliver “Fight to live dont fight to die”. Give them the well deserved happiness that they have been looking for over these 7/8 years.
Oliver should be able to a Hero and have his family and be happy this is what hes been asking for all these years but was never allowed to have. Please give it to them.
Absolutely deserves a happy ending…
I 100% agree that they do. Let’s hope that it happens.
I agree! I’m super done with the “happy endings are boring” kick some writers have been on lately and Oliver has been through too much to not get one.
Crossing my fingers the writers do right by the character.
I agree with you 100%! A happy ending can be compelling and fulfilling when earned, and Oliver Queen has MORE than earned that happy ending after everything he’s sacrificed for the sake of the city and the MULTIVERSE. Crossing my fingers that he gets it.
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