Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) finally learned the dark truth about his daughter Sara last week, as Laurel (Katie Cassidy) not only admitted she was the new Black Canary but revealed Sara was dead. I spoke to Blackthorne about how Lance will react to this news, the realization that Laurel was keeping it a secret from him for a long time and why this might be bad news for Arrow.

Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance in Arrow.

Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance and Katie Cassidy as Laurel Lance in Arrow.

Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance and Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak in Arrow.

Yes, I think in some ways it does make it even worse. That dread that he felt and the idea of having to go through a loss he already experienced once again and this time it’s for real is what really brings him down. He saw the effect that that had on him. He remembers the effect it had on him. His life fell apart, his marriage fell apart, his personal life fell apart with drinking. Everything was lost. The idea that now, as a sober person, he’s going to get through this without going back to the bottle and has no family to fall back on now. When he reflects on it for a second he realizes that he lost his trust in Laurel so that rock that he had beside him is gone. He can’t reconcile how she could have kept this away from him for so long, so he’s standing there alone, really with a lot to deal with and desperate to try and get through unscathed, without falling back into the bottle and pulling his life down once more.It’s a massive breakdown in their trust or certainly his trust in her. So their relationship is going to change enormously and that’s going to have huge repercussions because of some of the things that are coming down the pipeline for Starling City. They’re going to be a little bit difficult for quite a few folks to deal with. His trust with his daughter is broken down and [with] the Arrow as well. It’s going to be tricky and definitely a shift in relationships.Yeah, it’s great. They always write great stuff. These writers are really quite talented and everybody, all the characters, get their piece in some juicy stuff and this kind of stuff is great to delve into and it’s much appreciated. It’s always great being with Katie as well. Katie Cassidy and I talk about the relationship the two of them have a lot. That really helps too so it’s not just from the writing point of view, but the people you’re working with as well and getting your teeth into it. It’s nice to be involved with all this.It’s the first reason for Lance to really doubt his relationship with the Arrow. Now, there are certain things coming down the line which also give him reason to doubt the nature of the Arrow’s character. I think it’s those things, sort of compiled, that we really see a case, in Lance’s mind, against the Arrow and the nature of his true character. This is the first part of building up a much more negative view of the Arrow than Lance had not had before. It’s the first step toward a breakdown in their relationship, yeah. And to answer your question more fully, yes some of these events come through definitely with more reason to him wanting to know who this guy is. I think we can see Lance getting more in that direction.From Lance’s point of view, yeah. It didn’t take him long to work out who Roy was.Yeah it was fun. That’s the good thing. We get the heavy stuff but we get the lighter stuff in there as well so that was fun. Yeah, obviously Lance does know some of the people are working with the Arrow so they better watch their backs as well, I think.In the last year or so, it hasn’t mattered to Lance who the Arrow is. In some ways, the less he knows about it the better it is. Ignorance is bliss, so to speak. Obviously, in his mind, he has some ideas but it’s not in his interest to pursue them. But, like I said, with the breakdown of their relationship as it seems, obviously, Lance might have more reason to find out who he is. That’ll be an interesting thing to find out as it comes. Who knows. Is Lance going to be in the Arrow cave? We shall see.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter at @EricIGN , IGN at ericgoldman-ign and Facebook at Facebook.com/TheEricGoldman