Laurel Lance (Arrowverse)

Laurel Lance
Arrowverse character
Katie Cassidy as Earth-1 Laurel Lance / Black Canary in Arrow season 3
First appearance	"Pilot", "Invincible" Arrow / The Flash October 10, 2012 (Earth-1 version) May 17, 2016 (Earth-2 version)
Last appearance	"Crisis on Infinite Earths", "Fadeout" Arrow January 14, 2020 (Earth-1 version) January 28, 2020 (Earth-2 version)
Based on	Black Canary by Robert Kanigher     Carmine Infantino
Adapted by	Greg Berlanti Andrew Kreisberg Marc Guggenheim Gabrielle Stanton Aaron Helbing Todd Helbing
Portrayed by	Katie Cassidy
In-universe information
Full name	Dinah Laurel Lance
Alias	Black Canary Black Siren (Earth-2 version; formerly) Siu Jerk Jai (Earth-2 version, occasionally)
Family	Quentin Lance (father) Dinah Lance (mother) Sara Lance (younger sister)

Dinah Laurel Lance (November 15, 1985 – April 6, 2016) is the name of several fictional characters in The CW's Arrowverse franchise based on the DC Comics character of the same name, created by writer-artist team of Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, and adapted by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg for Arrow in 2012. Katie Cassidy portrays the several multiverse versions of the character within the Arrowverse, all of whom are mostly referred to by their middle name, "Laurel", unlike the comics.

The first version of Laurel is introduced in the pilot episode of Arrow as a legal aid attorney and Oliver Queen's ex-girlfriend, who later becomes a vigilante and takes up the mantle of Black Canary in subsequent seasons of Arrow until her death in season four. The character also appears in spin-off shows The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow as well web series Vixen, which are all set in the same shared fictional universe.

In 2016, the penultimate episode of The Flash season two introduces an antagonist doppelgänger of Laurel Lance from the parallel universe Earth-2, who is known as Black Siren. The character subsequently recurs in Arrow season five and becomes one of the main characters from season six onward. This version of Laurel is gradually redeemed in the following seasons of Arrow and eventually assumes the heroic 'Black Canary' moniker, like her late Earth-1 counterpart.

Following the events of the sixth annual Arrowverse crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Earth-2 Laurel is revived in the rebooted universe called Earth-Prime. The penultimate episode of Arrow's final season served as a pilot for a potential spin-off series Green Arrow and the Canaries set in 2040 in the new timeline, co-starring Cassidy as the character. However, the series was not picked up.

Storylines

Laurel Lance (Earth-1)

Further information: Arrow season 1, Arrow season 2, Arrow season 3, and Arrow season 4

Dinah Laurel Lance is first introduced in the pilot episode of Arrow as a legal-aid attorney working for a legal assistance group called CNRI (City Necessary Resources Initiative) in Starling City. Her father Quentin Lance is a detective and her younger sister Sara Lance and ex-boyfriend Oliver Queen are both presumed dead, while having a secret fling during the sinking of Queen's Gambit five years ago.

Season 1

Over season one's course, Laurel pursues a relationship with Tommy Merlyn, and often works with "The Hood", unaware that the vigilante is actually Oliver who has returned. Laurel initially blames Oliver for Sara's death but after her breakup with Tommy, she briefly resumes her relationship with Oliver. Tommy's death during the events of 'The Undertaking' eventually causes Oliver and Laurel to part ways.

Season 2

In season two, Laurel becomes an Assistant District Attorney, but also struggles with Tommy's death, leading her to fight her own battles with alcoholism and use of prescription drugs. She learns that her sister Sara is alive. She also learns that Oliver is the vigilante known as "The Arrow", and her sister is also a vigilante, whom she eventually names "The Canary".

Season 3

In season three, Laurel witnesses Sara's murder and resolves to become a vigilante to find her sister's killer and to help people as Sara did. This leads her to begin combat training with Ted Grant, and later Nyssa al Ghul. Initially impersonating "The Canary", Laurel eventually assumes her own mantle as the "Black Canary" and joins Oliver's crusade. As Black Canary, she uses a side-handle baton as her trademark weapon, and later uses an updated version of her sister's sonic "Canary Cry" device designed by Cisco Ramon.

Season 4

In season four, Laurel is shown to be still active as a vigilante in Starling City (now renamed Star City) alongside John Diggle and Thea Queen. She and Thea convince Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak to return to aid their mission, which leads to Oliver adopting the moniker "Green Arrow". Soon Laurel learns about the Lazarus Pit's power and attempts Sara's resurrection, which succeeds with John Constantine's help. Laurel soon convinces Sara to join Rip Hunter's team later known as the Legends; Sara does so, adopting the moniker "White Canary".

Laurel is mortally wounded by H.I.V.E. leader Damien Darhk and later dies in the hospital surrounded by the team and confessing to Oliver that she still loves him. At her funeral, Oliver reveals Black Canary's real identity to the public to stop Evelyn Sharp's impersonation from inadvertently labeling her as a criminal. Laurel's death is avenged when Oliver kills Darhk.

Later seasons

In later seasons of Arrow, the Black Canary mantle is passed on to Dinah Drake, while Laurel's civilian identity is assumed by her Earth-2 doppelgänger, Black Siren. In season 6, Laurel appears in Oliver's hallucination when he is drugged with Vertigo, accusing him of her death. In season 7, archive footage of Laurel as Black Canary is seen in Emerald Archer, a documentary about Oliver's vigilante activities. In season 8, Laurel appears as a speed force illusion in Arrow's episode of Crisis on Infinite Earths, where she mourns Sara's death alongside Diggle.

After the events of Crisis, in the new Earth-Prime, Laurel is said to have married Tommy Merlyn, who survived the events of the first season in this new universe, although Laurel herself still later died.

Legacy

Original multiverse

Identity revealed

Following her death, Laurel was initially listed as one of the casualties in the Iron Heights Prison riot, with her identity as Black Canary protected by her doctors. However, an orphaned teenager named Evelyn Sharp, who admired Laurel as Black Canary and sought revenge against H.I.V.E. for killing her parents, stole the Canary Cry from Laurel's hospital room. Fashioning her own Black Canary suit, Evelyn briefly imitated Laurel's alter-ego in her vendetta. Oliver eventually convinced Evelyn to cease her crusade, but her actions ended up labeling the Black Canary as a criminal.

At Laurel's funeral, Oliver gave her eulogy and revealed her identity as Black Canary, proclaiming she was a hero in every way a person could be, to preserve Laurel's reputation and all the good she had done with her life. Her identity as Black Canary was left on her tombstone. After the funeral, Oliver stood over Laurel's grave for hours, during which Barry Allen arrived to pay his respects, though regretfully missed the funeral itself because of an encounter with Zoom. Oliver told Barry that Laurel's death isn't his fault, but it is his responsibility to avenge her by killing Damien Darhk. While unsure of his odds against Damien's dark magic, Felicity urged Oliver not to give up in finding a way for the sake of Laurel, Team Arrow, and Star City.^[11]

Vengeance and Justice for Laurel

After her death, both Quentin and Sara attempted to undo Laurel's death; as both were initially unable to accept the fact that Laurel was gone and she was never coming back. Quentin made contact with Nyssa, asking her to use the Lazarus Pit on Laurel the same way Laurel used it on Sara, however, Nyssa reveal that she destroyed the Pit leaving Nyssa to tell him she would bring her back if she could. Later Oliver is forced to make Quentin accept his daughter's death by assuring him that if there was a way to bring Laurel back Oliver would do it.^[11] Sara, who arrived five months after leaving with Rip Hunter's team, discovered Laurel's death and threaten Rip Hunter to take her back to advert it, but he refused. Also, Rip reveals that she would not be able to change it even with the team's help.^[97] Despite this, Sara secretly began her own crusade to kill Damien Darhk in the past before he could kill Laurel and attempted to kill him in 1942^[105] and 1987. However, Martin Stein convinced her to drop her crusade after convincing her that killing Damien before his actual death would have countless unforeseeable side-effects on history.^[106]

Laurel's death was ultimately avenged when Oliver killed Damien in a similar manner that he killed Laurel previously. Oliver later lamented his actions over Laurel's grave, citing that she would not have approved of his actions; he reflected that Laurel was always better than him, which was what he loved most about her.^[107]

"With all that ails our city, I think it's fair to ask why we would spend time and money to honor anyone, why we would commission a statue and have a ceremony to unveil it. Surely, those resources could be put to better ends, but I, for one, think there is no better end than a reminder of what we are capable of when we stand together united, a reminder of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice protecting our home, and a reminder that as long as we keep their spirit in our hearts, there will always be better days ahead. And as she reminds us, let us always remember her. Ladies and gentlemen, Laurel Lance, the Black Canary."

—Oliver Queen^[src]

Six months after her death, Oliver commissioned a statue of Black Canary as a reminder of the heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect Star City, and that as long as they remain in their hearts, brighter days lied ahead. Laurel's death also changed Oliver's approach towards justice, causing him to resume killing criminals, believing if he had been doing so from the start, then he could have saved Laurel. This belief also caused a rift between him and Thea, who refused to be Speedy so long as Oliver was killing.^[98]

When Sara found out that Barry changed the timeline by creating "Flashpoint", she criticizes him about it by mentioning Laurel as one of the people she wanted to save.^[108]

Laurel Lance of Earth-2

Laurel's Earth-2 counterpart, a meta-human villain known as Black Siren, was brought over by Hunter Zolomon/Zoom as part of his plan to invade Earth-1. She learned of Earth-1 Laurel's death yet Earth-2 Laurel felt little remorse. Barry had trouble fighting Earth-2 Laurel given that she looked exactly like her late doppelgänger, whose funeral he'd recently attended. Once Earth-2 Laurel was captured Caitlin considered telling Sara and Quentin about her but Barry voted against it, not wanting to ruin their memory of Laurel.^[109] Around Christmas Laurel was released by Prometheus and extorted into impersonating her Earth-1 counterpart to infiltrate Team Arrow, though Felicity discovered her deception and Earth-2 Laurel was eventually taken into A.R.G.U.S custody. Oliver believes, partially out of guilt for Laurel's death which Oliver blames himself for, that Earth-2 Laurel could find redemption, believing choices are caused by circumstances, but also so he can forgive himself for what happened to Laurel. Encountering Earth-2 Laurel also motivated Oliver to keeping his promise to Laurel to find a Black Canary successor, and recruited Dinah Drake.^[110]

She escaped custody yet again due to Prometheus and appeared again, this time to Quentin Lance. Seeing her, Quentin initially believed that his daughter had come back to him from death much like Sara had but Thea told him the truth of Black Siren's origin. Though she spoke to Quentin as if she was his genuine daughter, Quentin realized that she was Laurel, just not his Laurel.^[111] When Earth-2 Laurel fought against Dinah Drake, she angrily spat that Dinah thought she could replace her, speaking as both herself and her Earth-1 counterpart. She was then knocked out from behind by Quentin as she was tarnishing his daughter's memory.^[112]

Earth-2 Laurel spends time working for Cayden James after surviving the explosion on Lian Yu where she was reluctantly shot by Quentin when attempting to kill Dinah. She mocks Quentin when he tries to stop her from escaping during an encounter, saying she would have shot him on Lian Yu were she in his position. Later on, she kidnaps Quentin and is still angry with him about being shot on Lian Yu, though he begins to talk about her father, which leads to her revealing he's been dead since she was 13 and that he and Quentin shared the same ritual going out to retrieve a birthday cake for their respective Laurels. She becomes genuinely sentimental, and after Cayden orders her to kill him, she instead frees him, telling him to run. Despite all this, she continues her criminal activities and committing immoral acts, such as reluctantly killing Vincent Sobel on Cayden's orders, after it's revealed he's a mole in Cayden's cabal, which leads to both Oliver to seemingly give up on trying to redeem her as she continuously tarnished the woman he loved's memory, as well as Dinah becoming committed to killing her to avenge Vince.

After Cayden's death she was abducted by Quentin in a successful attempt to bring some of the good in her to light by reminiscing with her about his Laurel in private and how this Laurel finally has the opportunity to choose what she wants to be. She is confronted by New Team Arrow, who are seeking to get back the money she stole for Cayden, though Dinah attempts to kill her to avenge Vince. Oliver and the original Team Arrow rush to her aid, though mainly to stop Dinah from attempting to kill, as Oliver angrily states he never wants to see her again after this.

Escaping from Dinah, she eventually reveals herself to the public (pretending to be her late Earth-1 counterpart) in order to protect herself from the person (Ricardo Diaz) who killed Cayden James. She is fully aware that her late doppelgänger was an important public figure, which will make it difficult for anyone to kill her, Laurel stated to the press that her death was fake by H.I.V.E. and that she had been tortured by the organization for the last 2 years; as the public now believes that (Earth-1) Laurel is alive. Initially, Laurel acted as a mole within Team Arrow, gaining their trust by acting good around Quentin and helping them with intel that they use to rescue Roy Harper from Diaz. Oliver thanks her and agrees to give her space to try and be good, seeing it as fair. However, meanwhile, she continued to assist Diaz with his criminal activities while becoming romantically involved with him and feigning being good, though her brief romance with him ends after seeing him burn his childhood bully alive despite her pleas not to and she begins avoiding him.

She eventually revealed her alliance with Diaz to Quentin, though throughout her time on Earth-1, she had grown genuinely fond of Quentin, as he had become a surrogate father to her and the two began to act towards each other as actual father and daughter. Although Quentin at first was furious, learns from her that her alignment with Diaz was out of fear after watching him burn a man alive over a childhood grudge and as she states to him and that she was trying to protect both herself and Quentin. Feeling it hypocritical to blame her as he assisted Damien Darhk to protect Earth-1 Laurel, he apologizes for lashing out at her and he and Earth-2 Laurel then promise to protect each other. Later Oliver figures out about her alliance with Diaz when he sees her with him after being abducted and brought to Diaz. After avoiding Diaz for weeks, he realizes she is having doubts about him and doesn't wish to expose Oliver as Green Arrow in his trial so he threatens to kill her if she doesn't.

During his trial, Christopher Chance breaks into the courtroom disguised as both Tommy Merlyn and Green Arrow, claiming to be him. Laurel is brought in to testify as Diaz watches on TV and is asked who is Green Arrow, Oliver or Tommy. After hesitating to think about her response and looking over at Quentin, she ultimately testifies that Tommy is Green Arrow, much to Oliver's surprise that she had just redeemed herself and saved him and much to Diaz' anger. This leads to Chance (who happened to be disguised as judge C. McGarvey) to have the reasonable doubt that he needs to acquit Oliver of all charges, despite the rigged verdict from the jury that was paid off by a Diaz. Laurel tells Quentin that he changed her mind about testifying against Oliver, and that the first step to standing up to Diaz is standing up to him, which leads to her attacking Diaz at the docks along with his men and nearly killing him, though she gets cocky and he uses the time to activate his meta-human dampener and capture her, telling her he now plans to kill Oliver and everyone he cares about, much to her horror.

After Oliver made a deal with the FBI to help him liberate the city, Diaz called Quentin threatening him to remove the FBI or else he'd kill Laurel. After meeting, Diaz took Quentin and held him in the same cell as Laurel (who was now wearing a power-dampening collar) telling him that he only promised to give him proof of life before leaving. Diaz later returned as Team Arrow and the FBI were moving in on him, telling Quentin he was gonna shoot Laurel in front of him if he didn't comply to his terms. Laurel told Quentin not to comply to him and not let Diaz have the city, daring Diaz to shoot her believing he was bluffing. After giving Quentin five seconds, Diaz attempted to shoot her, with Quentin jumping in front of her and taking a bullet to the abdomen. Stunned,

Laurel attempted to comfort Quentin, and when Diaz began to mock them, telling her he shot him where he did as a mercy so he wouldn't bleed out yet so she can get him to call the FBI and tell them to leave the city, Laurel angrily told Diaz she was gonna kill him. As Diaz was about to shoot Laurel in front of Quentin, Oliver and the FBI arrived, forcing Diaz to flee. He came up and found Laurel with an injured Quentin and Dinah told Oliver to go get Diaz, so he shot the lock off the cage where they were held captive and Dinah arrived shortly after as Laurel tended to Quentin. Laurel spotted up to Dinah, believing she was going to attempt to kill her again, only to be stunned when Dinah instead freed her from her collar. The two carried Quentin out of the building to safety, using their canary cry's to fend off Diaz' men along the way and Dinah handed Laurel a gun.

After getting Quentin to the paramedics, Laurel headed back into the building and went to the rooftop where Oliver had nearly subdued Diaz. Diaz dared Oliver to kill him, as it was the only way to truly defeat him and knew Oliver wouldn't. Knowing Oliver wouldn't kill him, Laurel told him that Diaz was right that he'd have to kill him to beat him before blasting Diaz off the roof with her canary cry into a river below in an attempt to kill him herself, frustrating Oliver as he knew Diaz would survive the fall and angrily lashed out at Laurel, who in turn told him that she was trying to end it and she could only hope that the fall killed Diaz.

Oliver and Laurel then headed to the hospital to see Quentin, and while Oliver went in to speak with him, Laurel waited outside the room and called Quentin's other daughter and her deceased doppelgänger's sister Sara Lance, who arrived and seemed fairly amazed to see her deceased sister's face again on her doppelgänger. Laurel thanked her for coming, believing it was only right for Quentin's daughter to be there. Sara thanked her for calling her, and Laurel asked if it was weird for her to see her, which Sara responded that it was a little. Sara then asked if she was anything like her Laurel, which Laurel replied she hardly was at all, visibly disappointed at herself. Sara and her later walked over to Team Arrow and witnessed Samanda Watson arresting Oliver, to their confusion as he explained his deal to enlist her help from liberating the city from Diaz also involved him turning himself in in exchange for immunity for the rest of Team Arrow.

Dr. Schwartz approached them, and when Oliver asked how Quentin was, she told them he had seized during surgery and died as his brain was deprived of oxygen for seven minutes, leaving Laurel, Oliver, Sara, Dinah, and the rest of Team Arrow devastated as the FBI took Oliver away, who told all of them to take care of each other. As a grieving Sara hugged Felicity, Laurel turned away visibly teary-eyed and heartbroken by both Quentin's death and Oliver being taken away. Later as Oliver (under the direction of the FBI) revealed his identity as Green Arrow to the rest of the world and called on his friends and allies to keep fighting to save the city, Sara and Laurel cried and mourned together as they stood over Quentin's body.

Five months after Quentin's death, Laurel was appointed district attorney of Star City. When Diaz returned to Star City, Dinah placed Laurel into SCPD witness protection; much to Laurel's annoyance. Despite being told that the Longbow Hunters were in town along with Diaz, Laurel refused to placed under police custody. Laurel eventually snuck out of her office, but was found by Dinah. While Dinah wanted to call the SCPD in to help, Laurel said she was intending to take down the Longbow Hunters and then kill Diaz herself to get revenge for Quentin. When they entered the building, they separated and Laurel was attacked by one of the Longbow Hunters. Upon being found by Dinah, they both used their sonic screams to defeat The Silencer, but were not successful in capturing her. The following day, Laurel visited Dinah at the SCPD and thanked her for the help in defeating The Silencer. Before leaving, she tearfully apologized to her for killing Vincent and stated that she was no longer a murderer, and that she hoped that Dinah would one day see how much she had changed.

About a week later, Laurel was approached by Felicity who asked for her to help interrogate The Silencer, whom she had captured with the help of Rene. Laurel interrogated her by torturing her with her sonic scream; however, due to Honor's resilience, Felicity started to lose her temper and told Laurel to use extreme force, even if it meant killing her. Laurel then said to her that once that line is crossed, it's nearly impossible to come back from that, and suggested that she find another way to interrogate The Silencer.

When Felicity was declined access to visiting Oliver at Slabside, she turned to Laurel, who then turned to Dinah for help. Felicity had been told that Oliver was taken to "Level Two" at Slabside, with Laurel stating that there is no documentation of its existence. The three of them eventually found that "Level Two" was a psychiatric program that was intended to re-socialize the Slabside inmates. Laurel, Felicity, and Dinah were able to reveal the illegal practices of Slabside to the press, to which Laurel said that she could attempt to appeal Oliver's conviction.

Despite her success in working with Felicity and Dinah, Oliver was not trusting of Laurel, as shown when she visited him at Slabside. Frustrated, Felicity comforted her by stating that Oliver had not had a chance to see that Laurel was a changed person. Her frustration grew after her attempt at appealing Oliver's conviction was denied. She intended to torture the judge, but before she could, she was talked down by Dinah, who reminded her to not through away her attempts at doing the right thing. Ultimately, Laurel was able to make a deal with the FBI to have Oliver released if he was willing to help with their case against Diaz.

A week after Oliver's release, Laurel attended the gala held by Star City in honor of his return and to support prison reform. Despite having helped get Oliver out of prison, she was greeted coldly by everyone, except for Felicity, who reminded the others how they should all thank her for what she did to set Oliver free. Oliver then (genuinely) thanked her and apologized for not having given her the benefit of the doubt.

After the death of Ricardo Diaz, Laurel was placed in charge of investigating his killer. Ben Turner called her and asked her to come visit him at Slabside so he could give her some intel. He revealed to Laurel that he knew who killed Diaz, but in exchange for disclosing that information, he wanted to see his son and also asked Laurel to get him out of prison faster. Although hesitant, Laurel accepted those terms and arranged for Turner's son to visit him. Turner then told Laurel that the person behind Diaz's death was the new Green Arrow.

Laurel then called Emiko and arranged for a meeting. At the meeting, Laurel revealed to her that she knew her true identity and that she knew she killed Diaz. However, Emiko responded by saying that nobody would believe her because of her past as Black Siren. When she disclosed this information to Oliver, he (once again) did not believe her and demanded that she leave them alone. The following day, Laurel got a call from Dinah, who scolded Laurel for forcing the confessions of her suspects during interrogations. Although Laurel agreed to do things "the right way", she lost her temper and threatened to kill Gustavo Hernandez after he mocked Quentin's death during an interrogation.

Right after Hernandez was released, he was mysteriously found dead. Dinah confronted Laurel and accused her of killing him, to which Laurel questioned why she was being accused. Although Laurel denied killing Hernandez, Dinah did not believe her, stating that she looked at him in the way that she looked at Vincent right before killing him. Frustrated, Laurel responded that despite how hard she had worked at redeeming herself, Dinah would never ever believe her and only see her as the Black Siren. Later that night, Laurel was visited by Emiko, who had released a photo of Laurel working alongside Diaz and told the public that Laurel was responsible for killing Hernandez.

Frustrated that her criminal past caught up with her and hurt that her "friends" had not believed her, Laurel donned her Black Siren persona and contacted an old friend. Together, they began a crime spree around Star City. Although Felicity believed that Laurel could still be saved, Dinah was adamant on bringing her in; even after she found proof that it was not Laurel, but Emiko who had killed Hernandez. After an unsuccessful attempt at pulling through to Laurel herself, Felicity contacted Sara, believing that she could help pull through to Laurel. Despite the efforts of Felicity, Sara, and Dinah to pull through to Laurel, she seemed to rebuff their efforts on multiple occasions. However, after Sara realized that she had Laurel had no intentions to kill people and just felt hurt and abandoned, she attempted to give her some encouragement when visiting Quentin's grave, to which Laurel resisted.

As she was preparing to steal a lethal weapon, Laurel was approached by Felicity, who told her that she still believed in her. When Laurel stated that being a criminal is her true self, Felicity challenged Laurel by saying that if she was happy with the weapon killing people, she should just kill Felicity right then and there; which was echoed by Sara and Dinah. Unable to kill her friends, Laurel decided to stop her crime spree and turned against Shadow Thief, who revealed to them that she had been anticipating that to happen. The four women were then attacked by Shadow Thief's other partners, but after a brief fight, Felicity detonated the weapon; destroying the building and all four of the women managed to escape.

Felicity and Dinah cleared Laurel's name by giving the evidence of Emiko's involvement in Hernandez's death over to the SCPD. Despite that, Laurel told them that she was tired of hiding from her past, and that she decided to return to Earth-2, following Sara's advice to go back to where it all started. Before departing Earth-1, Felicity gifted her Earth-1 Laurel's Black Canary suit, encouraging her to take up the mantle of Black Canary on Earth-2.

A few weeks later, Earth-2 Laurel returned to Earth-1 to help Oliver and Team Arrow defeat Emiko and the Ninth Circle; now operating under the alias "Black Canary" while wearing Earth-1 Laurel's Black Canary suit. Their efforts were successful, with Oliver shaking her hand and thanking her for her help.

When a wave of antimatter hit Earth-2, Laurel escaped with Oliver and John just before the universe got wiped from existence. The following day, Oliver was approached by Mar Novu who criticized him for interfering with the events on a parallel universe. According to Novu, Laurel was supposed to die with the rest of Earth-2 if Oliver hadn't pulled her through the breach and saved her life before its complete destruction - to which Oliver replied that he had watched "her" die once before, and did not want to experience that again.^[113]

New multiverse

In the new multiverse after the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Laurel finds that she was restored on Earth-Prime instead of her late Earth-1 counterpart. She expressed guilt to the resurrected Quentin Lance that Oliver's sacrifice had reversed the deaths of Quentin himself, Tommy Merlyn and Moira Queen, but not Earth-1 Laurel; believing that Oliver couldn't reverse it due to her presence on that Earth. However, Quentin embraced her and said that Oliver didn't reverse Earth-1 Laurel's death because there was nothing about Laurel herself that needed to be fixed.

The following day, Laurel attended Oliver's funeral where she met the resurrected Tommy Merlyn. Tommy revealed that on this Earth, he and her deceased counterpart were married before the latter's death. Laurel ultimately found comfort in the fact that although her doppelgänger's death wasn't reversed, she had found happiness during her life.^[114]

A few years later, after Armageddon, Mia Queen would meet Laurel's killer Damien Darhk during a victory celebration she had with her friends after they defeated both Eobard Thawne and Despero. Once she saw him, she drew out a knife and held it to his throat and considered avenging Laurel by slitting his throat. After Damien invited her to, she allowed him to live, for as little time as he had left. ^[115]

Laurel Lance (Earth-2)

Further information: The Flash season 2, Arrow season 5, Arrow season 6, Arrow season 7, and Arrow (season 8)

Cassidy as Earth-2 Laurel Lance, during her first on-screen appearance as Black Siren

Black Siren is introduced in The Flash season two's twenty-second episode "Invincible" as a criminal and member of Zoom's metahuman army. Her scream is a metahuman power that she uses to take down buildings on Zoom's order, but is stopped by Barry Allen / The Flash's team and imprisoned at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Season 5

Black Siren later re-appears in season five of Arrow. Initially posing as Earth-1 Laurel, she is revealed to be working for Prometheus. But her true identity is soon discovered by Felicity, and she, along with Team Arrow, imprison E2 Laurel at A.R.G.U.S. She later assists Prometheus again in kidnapping and taking the Team on Lian Yu.

Season 6

In season six, Black Siren works with criminals Cayden James and Ricardo Diaz, and becomes a recurring menace for Team Arrow. On James's order, she kills Dinah Drake's (the 3rd Black Canary's) partner and ex-lover Vincent Sobel, leaving Dinah angry and vengeful. Morally conflicted Earth-2 Laurel is persuaded and supported by her late Earth-1 counterpart's father Quentin Lance who remains optimistic about her redemption. She eventually goes public with a cover story of being abducted for "two years" making people believe that she is Earth-1 Laurel. In the season finale, Laurel is devastated when Quentin is shot and killed by Diaz while trying to save her.

Season 7

In season seven, Laurel takes on her Earth-1 counterpart's position as District Attorney and becomes an ally of Team Arrow. She gains Felicity's trust and the duo start a crusade to kill Diaz, but both eventually overcome their vengeance. Laurel later learns from Ben Turner that Diaz was murdered in prison by Oliver's half-sister Emiko Queen, who tries to discredit Laurel by exposing her criminal past. She briefly relapses into her Black Siren persona but Felicity, Dinah and Sara manage to stop and convince her. Laurel then goes back to Earth-2 in pursuit of full redemption with Earth-1 Laurel's Black Canary outfit, given to her by Felicity.

A flashforward set in 2040 shows Laurel working with a female vigilante group known as the Canary Network while helping a resistance movement against Galaxy One. She later returns briefly to help the team battle Emiko and the Ninth Circle, now operating as the "Black Canary".

Season 8

In season eight, Laurel encounters Oliver on Earth-2, where she is shown to be actively working as Black Canary alongside Earth-2 Adrian Chase / The Hood. She is also reunited with John Diggle and the group works together to stop "The Undertaking", orchestrated by Tommy Merlyn / Dark Archer of this Earth. As Earth-2 is destroyed by antimatter, Laurel escapes with Oliver and Diggle to Earth-1 where she learns that Oliver is working for Mar Novu / The Monitor, to save the multiverse from a forthcoming crisis. Laurel assists Oliver and Team Arrow for subsequent missions, leading them to places like Hong Kong, Russia and Lian Yu and encountering several past and future enemies in often time-altering settings designed by Novu, leading to "Crisis on Infinite Earths".

Rebooted universe, future timeline

Following the events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths", Laurel learns about Oliver's death and his role in rebooting the universe as the Spectre, resulting in a new universe in which several people including Quentin and Tommy, never died. She attends Oliver's funeral and learns from Tommy that her original Earth-1 counterpart had married him in this new universe but died later. At some point after the funeral, Laurel travels to the year 2040 in this new timeline to warn Oliver's daughter Mia Queen of an impending danger, and is reunited with Dinah Drake who is revealed to have been time-displaced since Oliver's funeral.

Legacy

Original multiverse

Erased future

In a erased future where Eobard Thawne comes from, Black Canary is one of the several heroes remembered in the "Age of Heroes"; whether this refers to Laurel, her Earth-1 counterpart or her successor, Dinah, is unknown.^[50]

Other versions

• In the Legends of Tomorrow season one episode "Star City 2046", the Legends accidentally travel to Star City in a dystopian future timeline, where Sara learns that Laurel had either abandoned Star City or died. However, this future timeline is not connected to the flash-forwards shown in Arrow season seven and eight. It is later revealed in the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover that this future was on another earth in the multiverse, designated as Earth-16.
• A dream-state version of Laurel is seen in a simulated reality created by the Dominators in "Invasion!" (the 2016 crossover and also the 100th episode of Arrow). In this reality, Oliver and Laurel are engaged and the pair never became the Green Arrow or the Black Canary. Oliver and Sara bid farewell to Laurel before they escape from the reality.
• In an alternate re-written reality shown in the Legends of Tomorrow episode "Doomworld", the Black Canary (implied to be Earth-1 Laurel) was killed by Legion of Doom, along with many other heroes.
• The Earth-X doppelgänger of Laurel Lance, known as "Siren-X", appears in The Flash season four episode "Fury Rogue". Siren-X is a metahuman assassin with echolocation powers and an ultrasonic scream (similar to Earth-2 Laurel). She is the last surviving member of the New Reichsmen army, who were defeated and killed during the events of the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover. To avenge their deaths, Siren-X attacks Leo Snart and follows him to Earth-1 but with Barry's help, she is defeated and taken back to Earth-X to be imprisoned. Her fate is unknown since "Crisis on Infinite Earths", where Earth-X is destroyed by the antimatter wave.

Development

Creation and casting

Katie Cassidy, who portrays Laurel Lance

In January 2012, after The CW ordered a television pilot for a potential Green Arrow series, its executive producers Andrew Kreisberg, Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim developed the character of Dinah "Laurel" Lance, based on the Black Canary from DC Comics. The official character breakdown pitched Laurel as "a 28 years old, smart sexy, legal aid attorney determined to use her life as a one-woman war".

"Laurel is so good at what she does. At some point, when the Black Canary happens, it would be awesome for a woman to kick some ass and fight." — Katie Cassidy in 2012, on the possibility of Black Canary.

In February 2012, Katie Cassidy was cast for the role. Regarding the differences between the characters on the show and in the comics, Warner Bros. Television president Peter Roth stated in an interview with TVLine, "We are working very closely with DC. We are making sure that each of the original characters are honored, are respected, and any changes that we make are being made with the sanction and endorsement of DC."

In an interview given in October 2012, Cassidy stated that she loved the script when she read it. She went on to say that, "It was everything that I wanted to get involved with, so I was beyond thrilled."

Characterization

In DC Comics, Dinah Laurel Lance is one version of Black Canary, a superhero in her own right, and a love interest and eventual wife of the Green Arrow. However, the series takes a different route and introduces the character as a legal attorney and childhood friend of Oliver Queen, with whom she shares a romantic past. The character is known by her middle name, Laurel. Oliver and Laurel's relationship is one of the key plots in season 1, as she initially blames him for cheating on her and causing her sister's death, but later forgives him and attempts to rekindle their relationship.

Laurel's sister Sara Lance, an original character developed for the series, is introduced in season one and returns in season 2, as a female vigilante known as the 'Canary'. In an interview with TV Guide, then-executive producer Andrew Kreisberg revealed that Lotz's character was the beginning of the Black Canary's story. He further stated that, "Everyone knows that Laurel Lance is the Black Canary. But how we get from A to B is the story of our show – People will see how Caity Lotz fits into Laurel's journey along the way".

Sara's story serves as a backstory for Laurel's eventual path to becoming the 'Black Canary', who is also a legacy character in the comics. Before assuming the mantle, Laurel's character goes through various personal tragedies such as losing her boyfriend Tommy, being kidnapped multiple times, dealing with her father's alcohol-addiction, and then her own addiction and finally witnessing Sara's murder in the season 3 premiere. In an interview dated January 2015, Katie Cassidy stated that, "You can't just overnight all of a sudden be a superhero. You have to go through things and hit your rock bottom and then be able to come out on top and build character and be strong."

Character death

In April 2016, during Arrow's fourth season, the character was killed off in the episode "Eleven-Fifty-Nine". The-then showrunners and executive producers Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle cited the decision to kill off Laurel as a "creative choice", at a press screening. They also stated that, "Death does not mean goodbye on any of these shows" hinting at a possible return for the character/actress. Cassidy mentioned in an interview that she learned about Laurel's fate only two episodes before shooting began on "Eleven-Fifty-Nine". However, she explained that, "I've had such an incredible arc, so it made sense to me, creatively, that we've told Laurel's story".

Multiverse, return to Arrow and character redemption

In May 2016, Cassidy appeared as Laurel Lance's Earth-2 doppelgänger known as Black Siren on The Flash, which had already introduced the concept of multiverse in its then-ongoing second season. The alias "Black Siren" serves as a callback to the Justice Guild of America member from the Justice League animated series who herself was based on the Golden Age Black Canary. In July 2016, Cassidy was promoted to a series regular across all Arrowverse shows, as part of a special contract that allowed actors to recur on multiple shows simultaneously, previously signed by fellow actors Wentworth Miller and John Barrowman. In March 2017, it was announced that the actress would return to Arrow full-time for its sixth season and portray the Earth-2 Laurel.

Towards the end of Arrow season seven, Earth-2 Laurel eventually finds redemption and takes up the mantle of Black Canary. Regarding the character's new costume in season eight, Cassidy stated in an interview, "It really truly feels like the Black Canary. It feels like Laurel Lance. It feels almost truer to the comic book than we've seen, and I think that's really cool. I wish I had it sooner".

Spin-off

In August 2019, Newsarama reported that Katie Cassidy had pitched a Birds of Prey spin-off to the network. When asked about her previous interest in the team, Cassidy said, "I've pitched it. I think they should. It's time for women". In September 2019, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that The CW were developing a female-led spin-off series, with Katherine McNamara, Cassidy and Juliana Harkavy as the leads, reprising their roles from Arrow, titled Green Arrow and the Canaries. However, the series was ultimately not picked up by The CW.

Reception

Critical reception

The character received mixed response from the critics during initial seasons of Arrow. David Hinckley of New York Daily News wrote, "Cassidy starts off well and is likely to get better as Laurel starts to figure things out", in his review of the pilot episode. Other critics wrote Laurel as "a scrappy legal aid attorney" or "plainly a good girl". Laurel's character was often compared to Rachel Dawes from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, with some critics calling Laurel as Arrow's version of Dawes. Jesse Schedeen of IGN included the character among "hit and miss" characters in his Arrow season one review. Shunal Doke of the same website criticized Cassidy's portrayal for making the character "unlikable" but appreciated the motivations behind the character and wrote her as "eventually proving worthy of becoming a costumed heroine."

The critical response towards the character improved in subsequent seasons. In IGN's review of season three finale, Schedeen praised Laurel's team-up with Nyssa and wrote, "It seems Laurel has finally graduated to the big leagues, and she didn't even need to rely on her Canary Cry." Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Chancellor Agard observed in his review of season three, that "Laurel, who was once the show's biggest problem, came into her own this season".

In his review of season four episode "Eleven-Fifty-Nine", Schedeen called Laurel's death a "huge emotional moment" and her final conversation with Oliver as Cassidy's finest moments on the series. Writing for TV Overmind, Andy Behbakht criticized the decision to kill off Laurel, feeling the character was underutilized and "The Black Canary was in many ways one of Arrow's big hearts and seeing the show losing that character, makes the series lose a lot of its remaining magic". Eric Francisco of Inverse called the decision "a bold move that would have been a good one for the show... if it had been handled with delicate care. But Arrow is not delicate." Laurel's death also drew criticism from many fans, prompting an online backlash.

The Earth-2 version of the character – Black Siren received positive reviews. Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote in her review that, "The Flash better serves Laurel than Arrow did in several seasons – Black Siren has swagger". Schedeen also praised the character and wrote, "It was refreshing to see Cassidy cut loose and play a twisted version of her character". The Arrow season seven episode "Lost Canary" focuses primarily on Earth-2 Laurel's eventual redemption, which mainly garnered positive reviews. Scheeden wrote in his review, "We see Laurel at her best and truly embodying the redemption being Black Canary offers." Season 8 episode "Welcome to Hong Kong" sees Laurel deal with the fallout of her home world's destruction. In his review, Schedeen wrote, "...this version of the character has never been more sympathetic or identifiable than when confronting the death of a world where she finally found happiness. Her ultimate decision to bounce back and continue saving the living in order to honor the dead feels like the culmination of a major arc for this character." Chancellor Agard of Entertainment Weekly said, "Overall, I loved Laurel in this episode more than anything else. The exploration of Laurel's grief over the loss of Earth-2 is some of the best material Cassidy has ever had on the show and yields one of her best performances."

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee	Result	Ref.
2013	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actress: Fantasy/Sci-Fi	Katie Cassidy	Nominated
2015	PRISM Awards	Performance in a Drama Multi-Episode Storyline	Katie Cassidy	Won

In other media

Print media

• The Earth-1 version of the character appears in the season one digital tie-in comic series Arrow, and also in Arrow: Season 2.5, a bi-weekly digital comic series that bridged the gap between seasons two and three.
• Both the Earth-1 and Earth-2 versions of Laurel are mentioned in the tie-in novel Arrow: Fatal Legacies, co-authored by Marc Guggenheim and James R. Tuck, which bridged the gap between the seasons five and six of Arrow.

Web media

Vixen

Cassidy provided the voice for the Earth-1 version of her character in the second season of the CW Seed Arrowverse animated web series Vixen. In the story, Laurel (Black Canary) provides assistance to Mari McCabe (Vixen), along with Ray Palmer (Atom), in capturing Mari's sister Kuasa in Star City. They later help Mari in combating former warlord Benatu Eshu in Detroit.

The Blu-ray and DVD re-release of the first two seasons was combined into a single story as Vixen: The Movie. It added fifteen minutes of never-before-seen content, including a few scenes of Earth-1 Laurel that were not included in the CW Seed release. The third season of Legends of Tomorrow ultimately changes the continuity of Vixen, resulting in an altered timeline where Mari McCabe now shares the 'Vixen' mantle with Kuasa. It is unclear to what capacity the events of Vixen season 2 get affected.

The Chronicles of Cisco

The Earth-1 version was mentioned in The Chronicles of Cisco Post 9 "Chapter Seven: Hannibal Bates", and a video footage of the Earth-2 Laurel is seen in Post 40. The Earth-X version was mentioned in Post 79 "#BestListenerEver".

See also

• Black Canary in other media
• List of Arrow characters
• List of Arrowverse cast members