Actress Caity Lotz - who plays the role of Sara Lance on Legends of Tomorrow - has confirmed that the upcoming fourth season of the series will touch upon the recent death of Sara's father, Quentin Lance. The finale of Arrow's sixth season saw the veteran police officer turned Mayor of Star City die from complications during surgery, after taking a bullet meant for the supervillain Black Siren.

The violent death of Quentin Lance is only the latest in the series of tragic events that have defined Sara Lance's life. Surviving the destruction of the Queen's Gambit, Sara's decade-long journey has seen her serve as a mad scientist's assistant, a member of the League of Assassins, a vigilante superhero and captain of the Legends and their time-traveling ship, the Waverider. In that time she has died, learned to tame the berserker rage that is a side-effect of being resurrected by the Lazarus Pit, lost her sister and been forced to work with her sister's murderer to save reality. Compared to that, the loss of your father may seem a minor thing, but Sara was still clearly affected when she arrived just too late to be there when Quentin Lance passed in the final episode of Arrow's sixth season.

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ComicBook reported on Lotz's comments about Legends of Tomorrow exploring how the loss of Quentin affects Sara during a panel discussion at San Diego Comic-Con. Lotz said the show is going to touch on Sara's grieving in some interesting ways but that it will not distract from the comedic tone of the show. Lotz said:

"Our show is also a comedy now. It’s light and it’s fun, and your dad dying is not so much. Sara dealing with that takes place before the season starts. We talk about it a little."

Ava and Sara stand side by side on Legends of Tomorrow

The question of just how Legends of Tomorrow will address Quentin's death in any detail highlights the unique challenges posed by the nature of the Arrowverse. Despite airing on the same network and largely spinning out of the same show, the various superhero shows on The CW tell drastically different stories and possess entirely different tones. Arrow possess a darker tone and is best known for its intense action sequences and storylines involving organized crime and terrorist groups. By contrast, Legends of Tomorrow is more light-hearted, fully embraces the weirdness of the DC Comics universe and has often been described as "Doctor Who with superheroes."

To date, the writers of Legends of Tomorrow have done a good job of acknowledging the darker side of Sara's history without letting it overshadow the brighter tone of the series. The show has already had to deal with a death on Arrow affecting their characters once before, with Sara's struggle not to use her abilities as a time-traveler to save her sister's life informing much of seasons 2 and 3. It seems likely the writers will prove equally capable of addressing Quentin's passing without it weighing down Legends of Tomorrow.

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Source: ComicBook