The Arrowverse has killed off plenty of characters over the past decade, but which deaths truly broke our hearts?
The CW’s Arrowverse has been a fixture of our screens for over a decade but recent changes to the network’s ownership means that it is ending with the ninth and final season of The Flash.
Speaking of The Flash, it was a major part of this TV shared universe, along with originator Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Batwoman. With all of those shows, there has been truly no shortage of superheroes and supervillains. However, one unfortunate side-effect of having so many characters can often be multiple character deaths.
Death is no stranger to the Arrowverse. It has come many times (even on occasions when it shouldn’t have) in order to claim the life of a hero, villain, loved one or civilian. It isn’t picky and will end up leaving the shared world of superheroes looking drastically different than it was before. And with a game-changer like Crisis On Infinite Earths shaking things up for the multiverse just a number of years ago, viewers have been treated to more than their fair share of Arrowverse deaths over the years.
With that in mind, let’s take a trip back in time (and through the multiverse) in order to reflect on the most heartbreaking deaths that the Arrowverse has ever seen. Get your tissues at the ready, it’s going to be an emotional one.
25. Malcolm Merlyn
Malcolm Merlyn is, without a doubt, one of the greatest villains to ever grace the Arrowverse with his presence. The dreaded Dark Archer, his reign of terror throughout Arrow‘s first season made him indescribably chilling, while his ability to return from the dead earned him the nickname “The Magician”.
That’s what made his apparent death in the Season 5 finale all the more significant. Standing there, across from his daughter – who hated him for all the horrible deeds he had committed over the years – and fully aware of the fact that she had stood on a landmine, there was no time to plan some elaborate scheme, just time to act. With that, he pushed her out of the way and took her place, reminding her that, in spite of everything he had done, he would do anything for his daughter.
Though it never took place on-screen, he presumably stepped off the landmine, allowing it to explode and take Captain Boomerang and Adrian Chase’s henchmen with him – saving Thea in more ways than one.
At this point, Malcolm had become a corny caricature of what he once was (Season 4 had that effect on most people), but none of us were opposed to one last act of defiance from him in the Season 5 finale – especially if it meant saving the life of our beloved Thea. And though a heroic end for a recurring villain, it’s ambiguity was the ultimate tribute to a man who cheated death more times than anyone else on the show.
24. Robert Queen
No list reflecting on the Arrowverse’s most heartbreaking deaths would be complete without looking back on its very first major loss. That loss was none other than Robert Queen.
A corporate tycoon with a checkered past, we now know that he wasn’t the most reliable, reasonable or relatable person, but if we learned anything from his last few moments, it was that he was willing to do anything to save his son – including killing his own bodyguard and himself to give Oliver the best chance of survival.
No doubt a heartbreaking thing for Oliver to have to witness, viewers couldn’t help but feel for the lost boy as he attempted to bury his father on the island of Lian Yu, and little did he realize that this sacrifice would end up redirecting him onto a new path for the rest of his life.
It all started with the death of Robert, as those feelings of grief and loss resonated with Thea, Moira, Walter, Tommy and, of course, Oliver as it ultimately influenced him to change the Queen legacy by completing his father’s mission. And that’s exactly what he did.
Robert may not have been a good man, but in those last few moments, he showed a desire to change that. Well, it’s safe to say that he’d be more than proud of his son for carrying out his final wishes.
23. Livewire
Livewire’s death was heartbreaking for a number of reasons. On one hand, it was hard to watch such an iconic DC Comics and Supergirl villain perish before her time. But on a much deeper level, it was hard not to get emotional at how she went out.
Having left her days of crime behind, Leslie had struggled to find a place for herself on earth where she wouldn’t be judged for her heinous actions, but when her old enemy reached out for help, she couldn’t refuse.
Livewire and Supergirl had quite the tumultuous history. They didn’t like each other but, after two years of on-again/off-again fighting they had developed somewhat of a mutual respect for each other due to the fact that Kara saved the villain’s life at one point during that time. And this ultimately resulted in Livewire returning the favor by saving the Girl of Steel from a deadly blast by Reign.
There’s something incredibly tragic and heroic about a villain laying down their life for a hero because it doesn’t just show how much said hero impacted her life, it shows what she could have become if Reign hadn’t taken her life from her. And as she died in Supergirl’s arms, she smiled and endearingly called herself a “sucker” for doing the right thing.
The best kind Lesley, the best kind.
22. Astra
Supergirl‘s first season needed a villain that was not only formidable enough to battle the Girl of Steel, but one that had a strong personal connection to her in order to make the story all the more powerful. That villain was none other than Kara’s aunt Astra – the twin sister of her mother Alura.
Out for vengeance for the way her sister had wronged her on Krypton, Astra sought to make the people of earth and, by extension, Supergirl pay for Alura’s crimes, recruiting her husband Non, and an army of Fort Rozz prisoners to help her do it. However, the writers switched gears midway through the season when Astra was killed off prematurely by Alex.
The shock of it all pulled the rug out from under us, but the thing that really got to us was the emotional farewell between Kara and her aunt. As the Girl of Steel cradled the dying Astra in her arms, she saw the face of a woman who wasn’t an enemy, but her family. And it was so upsetting to know that Astra’s journey to villainy could have been so different if her sister had listened to her on Krypton.
In spite of everything, Astra loved her niece, and that made her the perfect tragic villain. It’s unfortunate that the writers chose to carry on her mission with Non instead – who wasn’t even half the rich character she was.
21. Everyone On Earth-2
One of the final doses of heartbreak in the Arrowverse from Arrow itself didn’t just shock us beyond belief, it hit us like a ton of bricks simply because of how unexpected and vast it truly was… because it’s not every day that you witness the destruction of an entire universe, now is it? Yep, that’s right, Earth-2’s demise was a hard pill to swallow.
Oliver Queen’s trip to the Arrowverse’s second-most famous parallel universe (the first being Supergirl‘s Earth-38) ended in a massive wave of anti-matter wiping it out altogether. Before he and Diggle left, they were able to rescue Earth-2’s most integral character, as Laurel (Black Canary/Black Siren) joined them.
That decision ended up grounding the season with some incredible emotional realism, as Laurel – having lost her sister and her partner-in-crime-fighting – was forced to face the fact that she was the last survivor of Earth-2. And we not only had to watch as Katie Cassidy killed us with an incredible performance, we had to deal with the fact that some of our favorite characters were killed off in the blink of an eye.
While there’s always a chance that The Flash will come up with some explanation as to where Jesse and Harry were at the time of its destruction, the likes of Earth-2’s hilariously nerdy Barry, its badass Iris and her talented father Joe most likely perished – and considering how memorable they were, that really hurts.
Laurel’s emotional outbursts were totally justified because we felt that way too.
20. M’yrnn J’onzz
The arrival of J’onz’s father, M’yrnn, really changed up the dynamic on Supergirl as the Martian Manhunter discovered that he wasn’t the last-surviving Green Martian after all. It wasn’t exactly surprising that the pair’s relationship quickly became one of the show’s most endearing, as Carl Lumbly portrayed the character with a warmth that just radiated off the screen, and his chemistry with on-screen son, David Harewood, felt so natural.
It was heartbreaking when the character started suffering from Mars’ answer to dementia because, as we all know, one of a Martian’s greatest assets is their incredible minds. And this disease not only made him lose sight of the things he loved, it made him dangerous – something that made it even harder to see both him and his son go through that.
However, he was determined not to let the disease take him – and he succeeded, sacrificing himself by phasing into the earth itself and stopping Reign from destroying it. While this allowed him to die the heroic death that he wanted, it also allowed him to say goodbye to his son on his own terms.
“Be happy, my son,” he told J’onn with a warm smile before he sunk into the earth, leaving us all to watch in awe at his selflessness.
I’m not crying, you’re crying.
19. Rip Hunter
Rip Hunter’s time at the forefront of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow may have come to an end following the conclusion of the first season, but he still had a big part to play throughout Seasons 2 and 3. The former Time Master from the 22nd Century had recruited the Arrowverse’s team of outcasts and misfits in a desperate bid to help him stop Vandal Savage and save his wife and son.
Though he wasn’t able to save his family, he did single-handedly assemble the most unique team of heroes to ever grace the small (or, for that matter, the big) screen.
His death in Season 3 was both expected and unexpected. His role in the show had significantly decreased over time and this sacrifice was his own personal way of both making up to the Legends for doubting them and thanking them for everything they had done.
As he stood there, ready to stall Mallus, flashbacks to his time with the crew pulled on our heartstrings, and we couldn’t help but both cry and smile as he triumphantly awaited his fate – knowing that he would be reunited with his family. And after all he had been through, that was a reward he deserved.
Farewell, Captain.
18. Captain Cold/Leonard Snart
Wentworth Miller’s performance as Leonard Snart on The Flash was so deliciously villainous that he became one of the select few chosen to reprise his role full-time on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. And given how exceptional the character’s redemption arc had been – as he attempted to transition from villain to anti-hero due to his unlikely friendship with Barry Allen – becoming an outcast and/or misfit with the rest of the Legends just felt right.
What caught us off-guard, however, was his valiant sacrifice towards the end of the first season when he took the place of his best friend, Mick Rory/Heat Wave, and blew up the Time Masters. It was undoubtedly a heroic death, but it was one that left Sara, Mick, the Legends and even The Flash himself in complete and utter shock.
Sometimes a triumphant exit is the right way to bring an end to a character’s redemption arc, and this was certainly an effective one, but it still hurts because, in spite of how under-handed Snart could be, it was impossible not to like him – and Miller was just brilliant in the role. That said, it was heroic ending worthy of the hero – no, the Legend – that he had become.
17. Catherine Hamilton-Kane
Catherine Hamilton-Kane was a hard character to read during her brief stint on Batwoman. With only occasional appearances throughout the first half of the first season (many of which featured her acting suspiciously), it soon became clear that there were more layers to this character than we initially anticipated.
But, in spite of her flaws, Catherine was, above all else, a mother. And her love for her daughter Mary couldn’t have been more clear than it was when she made the ultimate sacrifice, and allowed herself to die so that her child could live.
When Alice poisoned the pair, she left only enough Desert Rose antidote for one of them. In spite of Mary’s insisting that they share the antidote, Catherine ensured that her daughter took it, before the pair then shared a truly heartbreaking moment together – during which Catherine revealed to Mary that she knew about her secret clinic all along and expressed her pride.
Catherine was a flawed character, but there was love there. And in spite of her mistakes, she was a hero in the end, saving the life of her daughter in what was undoubtedly one of the most tear-jerking moments in both Batwoman and Arrowverse history.
16. Nora West-Allen
The time-travelling daughter of Barry and Iris, Nora West-Allen’s time on Season 5 of The Flash was divisive to say the least. On one hand, it was hard not get drawn into Jessica Parker Kennedy’s infectiously optimistic performance as Nora learned what it was like to be a superhero and, on the other, it was infuriating to watch the character make the same mistakes over and over again and consistently learn nothing.
That said, in spite of her arc’s shortcomings (and the shortcomings of Season 5, in general), you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody who didn’t sob their hearts out when she was erased from existence in the season finale.
A character that was more than willing to acknowledge her flaws, she desperately wanted to save her father from the arrival of the Crisis. Unfortunately, that determination created a new timeline which this version of Nora was not part of. And instead of receiving a life-line in becoming like the Reverse-Flash, she decided to bow out gracefully – wrapped in the love and affection of her parents’ arms.
By the time that Nora uttered her last words (“Thank You for everything.”), this writer had completely lost it as everything, from the music to the performances of Parker-Kennedy, Grant Gustin and Candice Patton, made this one of the most emotional moments in Arrowverse history.
15. Sara Lance
You remember that line from the Buffy The Vampire Slayer musical episode “Hey, I’ve died twice.”? Yeah, well, the Arrowverse’s Sara Lance could get away from belting that out over on Legends of Tomorrow.
The truth is that it’s hard to speak about Sara’s death because we really don’t know which time to refer to. The beginning of the entire Arrowverse revolves around the event that “killed” her, as the sinking of the Queens’ Gambit kick-started Oliver’s heroic journey on Arrow, and as a result, Sara spent the first season of the show presumed dead. But she wasn’t actually dead – far from it, in fact.
Her return to Starling as The Canary in Season 2 was nothing short of incredible and, following a season full of badassery, assassins and Ra’s Al Ghul references, Sara left the city (and her family) better than when she returned to it. However, another return at the beginning of Season 3 resulted in her taking three arrows in the chest and plummeting off a rooftop – definitively killing her.
Sara was a huge loss to Arrow. Her personality and fighting style were perfect for it and, after all she had been through, it was heartbreaking to see it all ripped away from her when she had finally found herself. What made it even more heartbreaking was her family’s reaction to it.
Laurel witnessed it and tearfully sobbed over her sister’s body, while Quentin found out quite some time afterwards, and both reactions absolutely killed us. After spending years searching for her, only to get her back, the Lances had to grieve for her all over again.
Thankfully, Laurel’s determination to save her sister saw Sara revived at the beginning of Season 4 before she subsequently moved to Legends of Tomorrow.
14. The Flash of Earth-90
John Wesley Shipp is nothing short of Flash royalty and it has been a joy to see him play major characters like Henry Allen and Jay Garrick on The CW’s The Flash TV series over the years. The biggest joy, however, might just have been seeing him don a modernized version of the classic Scarlet Speedster suit he wore in the ’90s when he reprised his role from The Flash in the Elseworlds crossover – who we now know was The Flash of Earth-90.
That made it all the more heartbreaking when this legendary character, one who many comic book and TV fans grew up watching, met a tragic end in Crisis On Infinite Earths. But we could all watch with a smile as the veteran hero showed why he was so revered, both inside the screen and outside it, when he took Earth-1 Barry Allen’s place on the cosmic treadmill, saving Earth-1 from the anti-matter wave and the West-Allen family from a life without their Barry.
A tastefully triumphant moment, we watched as the legendary speedster saved those around him, running to his classic TV show’s theme and accompanied by a brief flashback to footage from the show itself, showcasing him with his beloved Tina McGee.
A heartbreaking but heroic sacrifice for the original live-action Scarlet Speedster.
13. Frost
The most recent installment on the list, Frost’s death came in The Flash season 8. That’s pretty late in the game to kill off one of your strongest supporting characters, but if you’ve been watching the legendary show’s more recent seasons, you’ll know that logic isn’t its strongest aspect at this point.
She may have debuted on the show as a villain but Frost (formerly known as Killer Frost) became an integral part of Team Flash. She died a hero in season 8 when she battled Deathstorm and defeated the evil entity. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make to save her sister Caitlin, but it was one that the show didn’t need to do given that there were far less interesting characters on Team Flash that the show could have survived without.
Nevertheless, it did make for an incredibly emotional moment when Caitlin wasn’t able to save her. Though she tried absolutely everything, Frost’s body just couldn’t go on after the battle and her ice healing factor wouldn’t kick in. Even though many of us knew it was coming, audiences couldn’t help but feel heartbroken as Caitlin desperately tried to save her and Barry looked on helplessly.
To its credit, The Flash made Frost’s death a very impactful moment (which is the very least that she deserved). The same can’t be said for how it handled the potential death of Caitlin Snow herself in season 9. And looking back now, it was clear that this was simply executed to set the stage for the arrival of Khione. Danielle Panabaker is great at playing all three characters but Frost was the one full of the most unrealized potential, and the fact that the show gave up on delivering that potential is almost as heartbreaking as her truly emotional death.
12. Ronnie Raymond
The Flash‘s Caitlin Snow spent the first half of the show’s debut season thinking her fiancée had died during the particle accelerator explosion, only to discover that he had actually fused with Professor Martin Stein to become the superhero known as Firestorm. A reunion we had all been waiting for, it was nothing short of heart-warming to see Caitlin and Ronnie reunited after Team Flash figured out how to separate him from Stein.
But in another cruel twist of Arrowverse fate, the pair were ripped apart after finally tying the knot when Firestorm attempted to help Barry close the wormhole above Central City. Though the professor emerged, Ronnie did not.
Ronnie may have died a hero, but his death didn’t leave anyone with a sense of triumph. His relationship with Caitlin was one of the most engaging on the show because of their clear love for each other and it was heartbreaking to think that, after finally being reunited following months of separation, they were pulled apart once more.
Caitlin and Ronnie both deserved better and the ambiguity of his death has left all of us hoping that he might return one day. Nearly a decade (and a villainous doppelganger) later, and we’re still waiting.
11. Iris West
Before you read on: No, Iris West is not dead, but that certainly didn’t stop The Flash from trying to convince us that she was now, did it?
The show’s third season spent much of its time teasing us that Savitar was going to kill Iris before it came to an end, and thus, Barry and Team Flash had to figure out how to stop it. And yet, after a relatively small-scale penultimate episode in which it was clear that they were going to save Iris, the writers threw a curveball by having H.R. Wells inadvertently tell the self-proclaimed God of Speed where she was.
Then, just as we had seen so many times before, the speed demon prepared to launch his dagger into Iris’ back, and we kept waiting for some last-minute Deus ex Machina interference. Instead, we got a slow-motion montage that took the time to show us every pain-staking second as the Fastest Man Alive was too slow to save the love of his life
And how do you make this scene even more emotional? Well, you intercut said scene with clips of Iris filming her wedding vows that Barry would presumably never get to see her say in person and play Aurora’s “Murder Song (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)” in the background.
Everything about this, from the close-ups on the helpless faces, to Iris’ voiceover made this seem like it truly was the end that, by the time she actually was stabbed, our hearts were already broken. Drama at its absolute finest.
Thankfully for Iris… all was not what it seemed…
10. H.R. Wells
It says a lot that a character who felt like a downgrade of his predecessors at the beginning of the season managed to have us all bawling our hearts out by the end of it. But that is quite simply the enigma that is H.R. Wells.
H.R. spent his time on The Flash living in the shadow of his previous, smarter doppelgängers, and the only reason he was thought of as being less-smarter was because he was trying to fill a role that wasn’t his. The fact of the matter was that H.R. wasn’t any less smart. Being an Earth-19 novelist, his expertise didn’t lie in science, it lied in creativity – and that was creativity he had on full display in the season finale.
Realizing that he made the ultimate mistake by revealing Iris’ location to Savitar, H.R. set out to prove himself by rescuing her on his own. And that’s exactly what he did – using his Earth-19 technology to take her place and, in the process, he sacrificed himself.
You remember that convincing Iris death scene we just talked about? Well it was actually a precursor to a different death – as it wasn’t Iris who was stabbed by Savitar but H.R. in her place. And it was utterly gut-wrenching to see such a lovable character snatched away from us without warning.
As he winked at “BA” one last time, and told him to stop Savitar, we could only smile through our tears, knowing that he had achieved what he set out to do – and that was prove himself to his loved ones. H.R. did what no metahuman could, and that was save Iris West from Savitar – and that makes him Season 3’s ultimate hero.
We still miss you, H.R.
9. Quentin Lance
Quentin Lance was one of Arrow‘s last remaining original characters when death came calling for him in Season 6.
The father of Laurel and Sara Lance, he had seen more than his fair share of heartbreak over his six years on the show (and more than anybody else in the Arrowverse), as the writers really made him suffer – as he had to experience the death of Sara twice. But with Sara back in his life, those writers then pulled another cruel twist by killing off Laurel instead – and inexplicably insisting that, this time, it was permanent. As a result, Quentin felt a little lost without his daughters around in the fifth season.
But alas, he lived like a father, so it was only fitting that he die like one too as he was fatally shot at the end of Season 6 while protecting the formerly evil Earth-2 version of Laurel (Black Siren) from Ricardo Diaz.
Arrow‘s moral compass, he was a father to everyone in a way – and that made his hospital bed speech to Oliver all the more emotional. And when the doctor delivered the heartbreaking news, every familiar face in that building – new and old – was masked in anguish. And that was exactly what all of our faces looked like as we watched at home.
8. Eddie Thawne
When Eddie discovered that Barry Allen was destined to marry the woman that he loved, he quickly began to feel obsolete – a feeling that certainly wasn’t helped by his distant descendant Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash telling him that he amounts to nothing in the future. And that was, in a way, a summary of how many people felt about Eddie at the beginning of the show because, unlike all of the other iconic comic book characters in the Arrowverse, we didn’t really know who Eddie was.
“He [Eobard] was wrong,” Eddie told Iris as he lay on the ground after shooting himself to erase Eobard from existence, “Turns out, I’m a hero after all.” And after that, good luck to anyone who even attempted to hold it together.
The truth is that Eddie was a hero – not just to Iris but to all of us. Not only did he do the one thing nobody else could and defeat the Reverse-Flash (in a way that nobody else could), he saved countless lives in the process.
For a character who simply started out as a plot device to keep Barry and Iris apart, Eddie really came into his own as the season went on. With his big heart and lovable smile, he made us love him and that, more than anything made it that much harder to say goodbye to him.
7. Moira Queen
To this day, Moira Queen remains one of the Arrowverse’s most formidable characters, so it was rather fitting that she looked death in the face and didn’t blink. Why? Well, because, in spite of her flaws, this woman was willing to do anything for her children, including laying down her own life – which is exactly what the Queen matriarch did.
Moira wasn’t perfect. She was a very flawed character who had done some very bad things throughout her life, but in the end, she did the right thing and managed to redeem herself in a huge way – staging one of the best comebacks in Arrowverse history when she won the people over with her honesty following her stint in Iron Heights prison and was even elected mayor of Starling City.
That’s what made her death so heartbreaking. Moira had finally made up for her actions and showed everyone that her heart was in the right place and, as anyone who knew her would tell you, she would have been a force-to-be-reckoned with as the city’s mayor.
But her premature death didn’t just rob the city of its new mayor or Arrow of one of it strongest characters. It robbed Oliver and Thea of their mother and, considering they had lost so much already, they certainly didn’t deserve that – and neither did Moira.
6. Henry Allen
Henry Allen’s death at the hands of Zoom hurt for a number of reasons.
First and foremost, he had spent a decade and a half of his life wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of his own wife – which, of course, he didn’t commit – only to lose his life within a year of getting out. Moreover, Barry had lost so many loved ones already that it was nothing short of cruel to take one of the few people from him who had been there all along.
But the thing that hurt just as much, if not more, about Henry’s premature death was the fact that he was, in many ways, the heart and soul of The Flash. A good-natured father through and through, he always had a smile on his face and love in his heart, and his prison visits from Barry were always the most heart-warming (and emotional) moments of the first season.
To say that The Flash lost a piece of its soul – no, its heart – when Henry died would be a major understatement. He loved his son more than anything in the world and never feared when death came his way because he had faith in The Flash – he had faith in Barry. A good man to end, he deserved so much better than what he got because, in all honesty, this man deserved the world.
The Flash (and the whole of the Arrowverse) will always miss Henry Allen and, quite frankly, so will we.
5. Tommy Merlyn
Tommy Merlyn was undoubtedly one of the many things that made the first season of Arrow‘s so great, so when the show killed him off in the season finale… well, to say we were heartbroken would be a huge understatement.
Someone who had undergone one of the Arrowverse’s earliest cases of character development, he spent the season determined to cut all ties with his irresponsible playboy past. In the process, he just so happened to find the love of his life in Laurel Lance. Thus, in a way, it was fitting that he went out with the ultimate act of heroism by saving her life during The Undertaking.
Everyone loved Tommy. He was a best friend (and essentially a brother) to Oliver, a loving boyfriend to Laurel, a loyal son to Malcolm and was, in a way, even like a son to Moira. And that doesn’t even cover the millions of fans who just loved watching Colin Donnell bring the big-hearted character to life. So you can imagine how devastated we all were when he died.
Also one of the Arrowverse’s first major deaths, Tommy achieved the redemption that he so desperately fought for and it goes without saying that he deserved a lifetime full of happiness for it.
4. Oliver Queen / Green Arrow
One man who seemed destined to give Sara Lance a run for her money in the “I’ve died twice” department in Crisis On Infinite Earths was none other than the Green Arrow himself.
Oliver Queen was so committed to saving the multiverse during the Arrowverse’s long-teased Crisis event that he was willing to lay down his life twice, as he delivered two heart-wrenching death sequences that left us crying our eyes out at the start of the crossover and the end of it.
With Supergirl’s Earth-38 about the succumb to the wave of anti-matter, the Emerald Archer hung back until the last moment (after The Monitor had sent all the other heroes to Earth-1 for safety) so that he could save as many lives as possible. He did that, having an emotional but powerful last stand against an unrelenting army of Shadow Demons.
He later returned when the multiverse was gone, now appearing as the supernaturally-charged being known as The Spectre, and did battle with the Anti-Monitor before ultimately rebirthing the multiverse before bidding an emotional farewell to Barry Allen and Sara Lance.
It was a heartbreaking but triumphant way for the man who started it all to bow out, and it ensured that The CW’s highly-successful shared universe of superheroes had now earned the name “Arrowverse”. The ultimate tribute to its founding father.
3. Professor Martin Stein
Professor Martin Stein was like a fountain of knowledge for anyone in need on either The Flash or DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, willing to drop whatever he was doing and unleash a tale from his well-lived life or a theory from his field of expertise. To say that everyone loved Martin would be a major understatement.
A worthy other-half to both Ronnie Raymond and Jefferson Jackson as the brains of Firestorm, he put his brilliant mind to work in the field to save countless people and even mend the timeline. But his journey came to an end in the Arrowverse’s Crisis On Earth-X crossover when he was shot by a Nazi solider.
Ever the noble man, Professor Stein refused to take down Jefferson with him, sharing an emotional farewell with his partner-in-crime-fighting – telling him that it was a father’s duty to allow his son to life – and, with that, drinking a drug that would free his biology from his own, allowing Jax to live and “Gray” to die.
Jefferson and Stein’s kinship went through many phases during their time fused together, but they clearly cared about each other a great deal. And this came across beautifully in the pair’s final scene together, as Victor Garber had us all screeching with his incredibly emotional performance.
We’re not sure we’ll ever get over how good he and Franz Drameh were here but, even more than that, we know we’ll never get over Stein’s death.
We miss you, professor.
2. Nora Allen
By the time that The Flash‘s Season 1 finale rolled around, we had already witnessed Nora Allen’s death more times than we care to count. But in the unlikely event that you managed to build up a threshold to seeing the kind-hearted mother of Barry Allen killed by the Reverse-Flash, not even that could have prepared you for the heartbreak you would witness in the finale when the Scarlet Speedster went back in time and was forced to watch her die all over again.
Perhaps it was the fact that he had spent all season trying to save her, or maybe it was just the Emmy-worthy performances of Grant Gustin and Michelle Harrison, but there was something undeniably crushing about watching this scene between a grieving son who tried so hard to save his mother, and that dying mother simply concerned about the safety of her loved ones.
“It’s me, Mom. It’s Barry,” he emotionally told Nora as the pair quietly and tearfully (very tearfully) embraced before Barry assured her that he and his father would both be okay – a fitting but tragic way of wrapping up the Scarlet Speedster’s Season 1 arc.
Without a doubt, the most heartbreaking scene in Arrowverse history, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone anywhere who didn’t bawl their eyes out at this absolutely beautiful moment.
1. Laurel Lance
There are a number of reasons why no death in the Arrowverse is more heartbreaking than Laurel Lance’s, but let’s start with the moment itself just like we did with the rest.
The original Black Canary found herself on the wrong end of an arrow after Damien Darhk sought revenge on her father. And even though a “Who’s in the grave?” storyline promised a death, it looked like she was about to pull through. However, after an emotional re-connection with Oliver, she died in hospital surrounded by her loved ones before her father could get to her.
While this was undoubtedly an emotional moment, the other thing that makes this death so heartbreaking is thing that makes it impossible to judge it from an emotional standpoint. Laurel’s death signified the death of what Arrow once was because, at this stage, it had fallen so far from the legendary heights that it once achieved that this was heartbreaking in and of itself.
The character was the leading lady of the great show that Arrow was, and her death resulted in her being replaced by the character that single-handedly turned it into the hard-to-watch shell that it became.
Laurel Lance’s death is perhaps the most heartbreaking of all the deaths in the Arrowverse, and the reason for that is because it’s a double-edge sword. Though it was an understandably emotional moment that crushed viewers watching, the show couldn’t hide behind the creativity here. It was a poor creative decision that steered Arrow further into the water that it was desperately trying to escape from – and one that ultimately prevented the show from returning to its former glory.
There isn’t anything more heartbreaking than that.
Which Arrowverse death do you think was the most heartbreaking? Are there any others you can think of? Let us know in the comments below!