Arrow season two reintroduced viewers to Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), another unfortunate passenger on The Queen's Gambit when it was sabotaged at sea. After a harrowing experience trying to escape Lian Yu, Lance joined the League of Assassins and was trained under the name Ta-er al-Sahfer (yellow bird). She eventually returned to Starling City, adopting the name Canary and joining Oliver (Stephen Amell) in his fight to protect the city.
In a heartbreaking moment during the Arrow season three premiere, Sara was killed by a then unknown assailant, ultimately kicking off the storyline for the entirety of the third season. The character has remained dead to this point, but she's started appearing in promotional material for the upcoming series DC's Legends of Tomorrow as the White Canary. Fan theories about her resurrection began flying almost immediately, but it was soon confirmed that she would be brought back using the Lazarus Pit that was recently introduced on Arrow.
We know that Sara will be returning for Legends of Tomorrow, but it looks like we'll be seeing the character even sooner than that. Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim recently told E! Online that the White Canary will be revealed in the beginning of Arrow's fourth season.
"The White Canary will be launched in the first few episodes of 'Arrow.' 4x08, our typical crossover episode, will be doing a lot of heavy-lifting in terms of getting 'Legends of Tomorrow' characters set up and also seeing where they are with relation to 'The Flash.' It's a big episode."
While we've known Sara will play a role in the upcoming series for quite some time, this is the first confirmation that she'll be returning to Arrow too. It makes sense, considering her lover Nyssa has a newfound freedom within the League and the Lazarus Pit has already proven effective. The biggest question will be how the pit effects someone who has been dead for so long. Perhaps her resurrection will serve as a catalyst for the promised mysticism in season four.
Sara's return is going to have a greater impact than just introducing a new character for Legends of Tomorrow. As it stands, her death on Arrow was a pivotal moment in the show that had long-reaching effects for all of the characters. It destroyed the relationship between her sister Laurel (Katie Cassidy) and father (Paul Blackthorne) and turned Thea Queen (Willa Holland) into a killer and a tool to be manipulated by her father, Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). Reintroducing her to these characters could make for some great story moments, serving to reopen some old wounds while providing closure for others.
That being said, it's possible that the Arrow writers won't fully capitalize on this story's potential. The writing on the show hasn't always succeeded on the dramatic front, with characters like Merlyn being consistently histrionic. It's been fun in terms of the show so far, but it will take a more subtle approach to keep this White Canary subplot from feeling too much like a soap opera.
NEXT: DC's Legends of Tomorrow Showrunner Discusses the Series' Ensemble Structure
The Flash season two debuts October 6th, 2015 on The CW; Arrow returns for season four a day later on October 7th; and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is expected to debut on The CW by the first half of 2016.
Source: E! Online