Arrow season 8: Emily Bett Rickards leaving ahead of final season

Arrow season 8 is going to be missing one key player. Emily Bett Rickards has decided to step away from the series ahead of its final season.

The news for Arrow fans just keeps getting sadder. After hearing that season 8 will be the last and only include 10 episodes, Emily Bett Rickards has now announced that she will be leaving the series. There will be no Felicity Smoak in the final season of the CW series.

It’s extremely surprising news and has many of us scratching our heads. Considering there are only 10 episodes left, it seems odd that we’ll be saying goodbye to one of the original cast members — while initially brought on as a guest star in the first season, Rickards quickly became a series regular.

Rickards shared the news on her Instagram, offering a short poem to say thank you and goodbye to the fans. The poem was from both Rickards as the actress and as the character Felicity.

The Arrow season 7 finale is still to air. The show’s final episodes are still to be filmed, and the announcement to leave could suggest that the character is being written out in some way in those episodes. The show has been setting up the possibility of Felicity being alone in the future, and these final episodes of this season could explain how that happens.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvpHWl_FP-8/

Interestingly, TV Line previously shared a blind item that an original cast member of a long-running show would be exiting at the end of the current season. One of my thoughts was either Emily Bett Rickards or David Ramsey — Rickards would now make a lot of sense. However, TVLine has since shared the exit is going to happen next season and it will be the final season, so I guess now, Rickards is off the list.

It’s certainly going to be sad to see Emily Bett Rickards go. Felicity has always been my favorite character on the series. She was the geeky, smart woman who wasn’t afraid to set the men straight when they needed it. This was a woman after my own heart and I’m not sure how I feel about Arrow season 8 without her.

How do you think Felicity will be written out of the show? Share your thoughts in the comments below.