Emily Bett Rickards Announces Arrow Exit After Season 7

The hits just keep on coming for Arrow fans! The CW announced earlier this month that Arrow would be ending after Season 8, but now it appears its final season will have to wrap up without a fan favorite character, Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards).

Rickards' most recent Instagram post announced that she will be exiting the series after the current seventh season ends, meaning she may no longer be series regular in the eighth and final season. "Felicity and I are a very tight two/But after one through seven/we will be saying goodbye to you," Rickards wrote. "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."

The accompanying photo was a collage of Felicity through the years, and Stephen Amell tweeted a photo of Felicity's first scene from Season 1 (you know, the famous red pen one) shortly after Rickards' post went up.

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TV Guide has confirmed that Emily Bett Rickards will not be returning for Season 8, and executive producers Greg Berlanti and Beth Schwartz put out the following statement about her exit: "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. 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."

Arrow airs Mondays at 8/7c on The CW.

(Disclosure: TV Guide is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of CBS Corporation.)

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