The Arrowverse has been one of The CW’s biggest successes since Arrow’s start all the way back in 2012. Through the Green Arrow drama came shows like The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, and now recently Batwoman. Through the many shows, heroes have come and gone, whether through hanging up the mantle or being tragically killed off. Being a superhero comes with its risks and for some of the characters in the Arrowverse, it has sometimes led to their deaths. While Black Lightning and Batwoman have yet to feature any major character deaths, the same can’t be said for the other four.
As Greg Berlanti’s massive DC TV franchise is getting into the eighth year, it’s time to take a look at some of the most heartbreaking deaths in the Arrowverse. Only time will tell if there will be even more devastating losses after the massive Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. With that said, these are the ten most painful Arrowverse deaths.
Eddie Thawne (The Flash)
The season one finale of The Flash came with a surprise in the form of Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett), who had learned about his connection to the villainous Reverse-Flash (Tom Cavanagh). Having discovered that he was an ancestor of Eobard, the man who killed Barry’s (Grant Gustin) mother, Eddie makes a shocking decision. During Fast Enough, Eddie shoots himself, thus preventing Eobard from ever being born in the first place.
This was one of the few times in the Arrowverse where death was this gruesome, with Eddie choosing to kill himself in order to stop Eobard. But what stands out about this is that in the end, as painful as it was to see him go through with it, Eddie did a heroic sacrifice.
Quentin Lance (Arrow)
One of the characters to survive one trauma after another on Arrow was Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne.) It’s a miracle that the character survived six seasons of the series before tragically passing away. In an attempt to save the Earth-2 doppelganger of his daughter Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) from Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo), Quentin gets shot by him. Later on in the season six finale Life Sentence, Quentin has an emotionally charged moment with Oliver (Stephen Amell) before heading into surgery.
Since it had already been revealed prior to the finale that Blackthorne was leaving the series, his death wasn’t exactly surprising. However, the fact that he passes away off-screen during the operation is what becomes a big punch in the stomach.
Henry Allen (The Flash)
The last episodes of The Flash’s second season weren’t exactly easy for the Scarlet Speedster. During the final minutes of Invincible, the penultimate episode leading into the finale, Zoom (Teddy Sears) kidnaps Barry’s father Henry (John Wesley Shipp) and takes him to the Allen house.
As Barry speeds over there to save Henry, Zoom wanted to push Barry so the hero could become just like him. Henry shares his last words before Zoom brutally phases his hand through Henry’s chest and stops his heart. This death came out of nowhere, which is why it hurt so much to see Barry lose his final biological parent.
Astra (Supergirl)
Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) had a very personal big bad to face in the first season of her show. For most of season one, her aunt Astra (Laura Benanti), Alura’s twin sister, served as the primary foe to the Girl of Steel. But as her husband Non (Chris Vance) went against her wishes for Kara to not get harmed, Astra began to shift. After helping Alex (Chyler Leigh) save Kara from the Black Mercy that Non had unleashed on her, things get complicated.
In For the Girl Who Has Everything, a showdown takes place where Astra goes up against Alex and Martian Manhunter (David Harewood.) Despite not wanting to fight her, Alex is forced to kill Astra as she was about to give J’onn an honorable death.
Moira Queen (Arrow)
The way that Oliver lost his final parent is one of the darkest moments in Arrow’s history. In the season two episode, Seeing Red, Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) goes after the Queen family. Determined to destroy Oliver’s life in any way possible, Slade puts Oliver’s mother and sister through the same dilemma that Anthony Ivo did with Shado (Celina Jade) and Sara (Caity Lotz) on Lian Yu.
Seeing Moira (Susanna Thompson) getting up while having her hands tied as she sacrifices herself for her children is absolutely heartbreaking. The mere sight of Moira being executed by Slade as he drives his sword through her chest is still one of Arrow’s most gruesome death scenes.
Nora Allen (The Flash)
One of the core aspects of Barry’s character arc is the death of his mother Nora (Michelle Harrison). From the get-go, Nora’s death is established early in the series as part of Barry’s origin story. While we have only seen parts of the night when Eobard killed her, Nora’s death is still a tragic one. What is even more painful is how many times the show has taken viewers back to that horrific night.
Despite Barry temporarily changing the timeline by saving his mother, Nora doesn’t stay alive for long once Barry is forced to reset the timeline by letting Eobard killing her. It never gets any less painful whenever the series touches upon her death.
Tommy Merlyn (Arrow)
The season one finale started and finished big for the Emerald Archer as he suffers a big loss in the final minutes. During the events of Sacrifice, Oliver’s best friend Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell) goes to save Laurel at the CNRI that got affected by the earthquake.
As he saves Laurel, Tommy gets trapped inside before being impaled by a concrete reinforcement bar. The moment Oliver shows up and finds Tommy is when the finale became a big tear-jerker.
Nora West-Allen (The Flash)
What started as a time travel adventure became the end of Iris (Candice Patton) and Barry’s future daughter Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy.) In the season five finale, the team manages to stop Cicada II (Sarah Carter), but at a major cost. By stopping Cicada and destroying her danger, a new timeline was created which caused Nora to be erased from existence.
Despite having a way to survive, Nora refuses to let the Negative Speed Force get to her anymore. Nora’s final minutes with her parents as she fades away became one of the show’s most unforgettable moments of all time.
Martin Stein (Legends of Tomorrow)
The Crisis on Earth-X crossover delivered one of the darkest deaths in the Arrowverse with Martin Stein (Victor Garber) losing his life in the four-hour event. Having announced he was leaving Legends of Tomorrow, the way Stein went out was something no one saw coming.
During the attempt to escape from Earth-X and get to Earth-1, Stein got shot by Nazi soldiers which resulted in his death later on. To this day, seeing a Jewish superhero die at the hands of Nazis remains one of the Arrowverse’s darkest moments of all time.
Laurel Lance (Arrow)
Who would have ever imagined that a Green Arrow series would kill off the Black Canary? Despite Dinah Laurel Lance’s major role in the mythology, Arrow had a different path for the iconic heroine. In the season four episode, Eleven-Fifty-Nine, Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough) punishes Quentin for betraying him by stabbing Laurel in the stomach. Despite making it look like she would be fine after coming out of surgery, Laurel ends up being the one who was in the grave that was foreshadowed in the season four premiere.
Laurel’s death became a controversial moment for the series, as she became a victim of the "Women In Refrigerators" trope. Basically, she was killed so that Oliver and Quentin’s storylines could move forward. While Cassidy is currently playing the Earth-2 version of Laurel, the shocking death of Earth-1’s Laurel still remains one of Arrow’s most questionable decisions.