Emily Bett Rickards, who portrays Felicity Smoak on the popular CW superhero show Arrow, will be leaving the cast at the end of the show’s seventh and current season.
The actress announced her departure from the show via Instagram this afternoon.
Previously it has been announced that the show’s next season would be Arrow‘ss last and would run a shortened ten episodes.
Rickards first appeared on Arrow midway through its first season in what was originally supposed to be a one-off guest shot. Fans reacted positively to the chemistry between her and star Stephen Amell and she was brought back, ultimately becoming a permanent member of the cast and of Team Arrow, helping Oliver Queen/the Green Arrow (Amell) and his team of superheroes protect Star City.
Rickards departure from the show doesn’t necessarily mean that something fatal is in store for Felicity. Thanks to this season’s flash forward storyline, we know that she and Ollie have at least one child, a daughter named Mia, which Felicity gave birth to after going into hiding. Since Felicity has just recently revealed her pregnancy to Ollie, we can probably expect her to go into hiding at the end of the season to protect their unborn child.
