The eighth and final season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 15, 2019, and concluded on January 28, 2020, with a total of ten episodes.
Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez, Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake and Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance also returning from previous seasons.
Former series regulars Emily Bett Rickards, Colin Donnell, Susanna Thompson, Paul Blackthorne, Colton Haynes, John Barrowman, Willa Holland, Echo Kellum, Sea Shimooka and Josh Segarra all returned as guests.
The eighth episode features the sixth annual Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", with TV series Supergirl, Batwoman, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow also taking part.
The ninth episode was set as a backdoor pilot to the later-scrapped spin-off titled Green Arrow and the Canaries which takes place in the year 2040.
Mar Novu / The Monitor sends Oliver Queen to Earth-2 to retrieve Dwarf Star particles, but they are stolen by this Earth's Tommy Merlyn as Dark Arrow who is looking to use them to level the Glades with his own version of the "Undertaking" in order to avenge Earth-2's Thea.
Oliver joins forces with Earth-1 John Diggle as well as Earth-2's Laurel Lance and Adrian Chase to stop Tommy and retrieve the particles.
Oliver heads to Nanda Parbat to gain more information on the Monitor from Talia al Ghul, where he reunites with his half-sister Thea and fills her in on his impending death.
Though Kara's team successfully stops Novu and Barry retrieves everyone, upon reaching the dawn of time, they learn the Anti-Monitor was released, regardless.
In 2040, two decades after Oliver's sacrifice saved the multiverse,[a] crime in Star City has been quiet, Mia has led a successful life with her fiancé J.J., and Zoe is alive.
She then recruits a reluctant Mia, restoring her pre-Crisis memories with Martian technology developed by Cisco Ramon, and manages to convince her to take on the mantle of Green Arrow.
And I think, if the show – if the conversations had been, 'we'll do 22 episodes without Emily,' I would've said, 'you can't do that'", and that the shorter ten-episode run, combined with the crossover, made the prospect feel "a little more realistic".
[55] Main cast members Stephen Amell, David Ramsey, Rick Gonzalez, Juliana Harkavy and Katie Cassidy returned as Oliver Queen / Green Arrow, John Diggle, Rene Ramirez, Dinah Drake and Earth-2's Laurel Lance respectively.
[26][27][41] In August, it was announced that Colton Haynes, who portrayed Roy Harper as a series regular in the seventh season, would not return with the same status, though Schwartz stated that she hoped to have him back in some capacity.
The site's critics consensus reads, "Oliver Queen's final adventure hits emotional peaks while spearheading the game-changing 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', giving the Emerald Archer a rousing sendoff.
"[79] Katie Cassidy's portrayal of Earth-2 Laurel Lance was praised by critics, with TVLine calling her development "one of the most enjoyable aspects of Arrow's 10-episode farewell run".