"Arrow" Season 5 will return to The CW with a heartbroken and devastated Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards) following the death of her boyfriend, Billy Malone (Tyler Ritter).
Warning: This article contains spoilers from "Arrow" Season 5. Read at your own risk!
While at the Television Critics Association press tour (via Collider), executive producer Marc Guggenheim confirmed that Felicity will turn to her dark side and will team up with unlikely alliances in her pursuit to take down Prometheus. However, he clarified that Felicity will still remain deeply rooted to her human nature and will only go as dark as what is acceptable for the character.
In the midseason finale, the villainous character tricked Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) into killing Billy. Even though Felicity will not necessarily blame Oliver for his deed, the former will still find ways to give Billy the justice that he deserves.
As of late, Felicity's new team has not yet been disclosed, but Guggenheim confirmed that she will not be working with her father. Even though the storyline may be uplifting for Felicity and the fans, Guggenheim said that they want to come up with something new and exciting for the character.
Meanwhile, Felicity's new mission will tie her into the theme for Season 5: legacy. "As with all things 'Arrow,' it is not initially what you think it is and it will ultimately relate to the overall season theme of legacy, but in this case something very specific to Felicity," he explained.
In other news, Billy's death is not the first tragic thing that Felicity experienced in "Arrow." Throughout the past seasons, she has learned the truth about her father. Felicity has also gotten into a relationship with Oliver, got engaged and got separated from him. At one point, Felicity also lost her ability to walk. She was also responsible for killing a huge number of people in one of the cities.
But Billy's death is definitely the final straw for Felicity. And since she has worked with Oliver, Diggle, Roy, Laurel and Thea for years now, being with vigilantes all the time has certainly affected her positively and negatively.
"Arrow" Season 5, episode 10 will air on The CW on Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. EST.