Not surprisingly, Arrow has been officially renewed for a seventh season. But based on the way the show is trending, should season 7 be the end?

The good news is that the entire Arrowverse will be returning for the 2018-19 season. The problem is that the show that started it all is really starting to show its age. So, with Arrow now officially returning for a seventh season, it is time to start talking about if this should be the end.

When it comes to the earlier seasons, there is no doubt about how strong Arrow was. It launched an entire universe after all and was built around a strong premise that should have given the show a solid five-year plan.

But after an amazing second season, Arrow has been on a downward slide ever since. The show was based around being a superhero series that was more grounded and realistic. Yet with the success of The Flash, Arrow was thrust into a world that now contained meta-humans, aliens, the multiverse and eventually time travel.

The low point for Arrow is season 4, when the show decided to tackle magic. What makes season 4 worth it is that it introduced Damien Darhk and John Constantine. Both have gone on to be great additions to the Arrowverse — just on Legends of Tomorrow, not Arrow.

A more impactful misstep from season 4 was Arrow killing off Laurel Lance. Since season 1, and especially after Laurel’s middle name was revealed to be Dinah, it was expected that Arrow would follow the comics and Laurel and Oliver would be endgame. But then Felicity Smoak happened.

Once Arrow became all about the will they-won’t they of Oliver and Felicity, there was no longer a place for Laurel even after she became the Black Canary and a lot more interesting. Instead, the show decided to get rid of that character, an even more curious decision given the information revealed in the wake of Willa Holland’s departure. She has been wanting to leave since season 4, so why couldn’t Thea have been the big death of that season?

Earth-1 Laurel would still be around and the Black Siren storyline in season 6 would not have sucked up all the oxygen of what looked at the start to be an interesting season. Remember back to the early part of season 6 when it looked like the show would be tackling a storyline where Oliver had to deal with the authorities closing in on his secret identity and what the fallout would be if he was outed as the Green Arrow? Yeah, instead we got stuck with a new team vs. old team storyline that just will not end, all based around what to do with Black Siren and the reveal that Vigilante was Dinah Drake’s ex and they really loved each other only an episode after reuniting.

That is not to say that there has not been many bright spots since the high water mark of Oliver vs. Slade Wilson in season 2. Season 5 was very strong as the island storyline finally came to an end, and Prometheus was a strong villain. But what is left to tell of Oliver Queen’s story?

He is Mayor of Star City, is happily married to Felicity with a son who is now perfectly fine with his dad also being the Green Arrow. Based on the last episode, Oliver is also coming to realize that being the Green Arrow is an important part of his identity — no matter how much Diggle may want to put on the suit again.

It could be interesting if the show takes a page from the comics and does in fact pull the trigger on making Oliver’s identity as the Green Arrow public. Season 7 could be focused around the public fallout from that reveal. And the season builds to Star City fully embracing Oliver as its public hero. That would be a great end point to a journey that started with Oliver killing criminals off of his father’s list.

Once Arrow ends its run, that doesn’t mean Oliver Queen needs to be gone forever. Thanks to the Arrowverse, Oliver or other characters could continue to appear on any of the other shows. Felicity always seemed like she would be a better fit on The Flash.

(However, it seems doubtful Team Flash will want Felicity around after the stunt she pulled at Barry and Iris’ wedding.)

How great would it be be Ragman came back and joined Legends of Tomorrow? Or if Dinah Drake could join the Legends and break away from the awful storyline she has been saddled with during Arrow season 6? That character had so much potential before the Vince/hating Black Siren storyline.

That is the best part of this shared DC universe that The CW has created. Even if Arrow ends, it is not really the end for any of these characters. It is just recognition that maybe Oliver Queen’s solo story has reached its end. After seven seasons, that is not a bad thing. Not every show is designed to last forever/is Supernatural.