Emily Bett Rickards Announces Her Arrow Exit

The Olicity ship is coming to about to end.

Arrow star Emily Bett Rickards announced her departure from the series over the weekend in a poetic Instagram post shocking fans of her character, Felicity Smoak, and the relationship the character forged with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell).

 

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❤️🖤💛💕💜💙 The time has come to talk of many memes. Of bows and arrows and superheroes and Olicity and Queens And why TGA is so damn hot And yes, canaries need more scenes… But wait just one minute before we go and do all that For this makes me out of breath To have this not small chat Felicity and I are a very tight two But after one through seven we will be saying goodbye to you I thank you all for the time we’ve shared The elevators we have climbed The monsters we have faced and scared And The burgers we have dined I will keep her in my heart for always And I hope that you can too Because she would not be alive if it weren’t for all of you 💕 Love, Felicity and Me

A post shared by emilybett (@emilybett) on Mar 30, 2019 at 11:24am PDT

The character debuted early in the first season as a one-off character, but quickly grew in importance because of Rickards’ perfromance. In a statement (via TV Guide), executive producers Greg Berlanti and Beth Schwartz referenced those early days. “We’ve had the pleasure of working with Emily since Season 1 and in those past seven years she has brought one of TV’s most beloved characters to life,” they said. “And although we’re heartbroken to see both Emily and Felicity leave the show, we’re completely supportive of Emily and her future endeavors. She will always have a family at Arrow.”

It is unclear how Felicity will depart, but considering the flash-forward storyline running throughout the current season, circumstances will likely force her into hiding for twenty years.

Arrow returns April 15th on The CW.