'Arrow' Season 3 Premiere: How Did [SPOILER] Die In Episode 1; Will They Return In Later Episodes?

Sara Lance (Caity Lotz, pictured) was killed at the end of the "Arrow" Season 3 premiere. The CW

The Season 3 premiere of “Arrow” aired Wednesday night on the CW. While episode 1 began with crime at an all-time low in Starling City and a happy Oliver asking out Felicity, the premiere ended in tragedy. The end of the episode saw a surprise death shock fans that were left wondering if Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), aka The Black Canary, was really gone.

Episode 1 centered on Oliver and Team Arrow fighting a new version of Count Vertigo (Peter Stormare). Oliver, with Sara’s help, was able to defeat the villain. However, later, with fans thinking the action in the premiere was over, Sara met up with her sister, Laurel (Katie Cassidy), on a rooftop where an unknown assailant emerged and put three arrows in Sara’s chest. Laurel was left alone with her sister dying in her arms.

"Any time we kill off a character from the show it's always incredibly hard. We're not ‘Game of Thrones.’ We're not ‘Sons of Anarchy.’ It’s really, really, really difficult," Executive Producer Marc Guggenheim told E! Online. "But as with Tommy's death, as with Moira's death, the story implications for this development are so far-reaching for the show and affect all of the characters. We always call it the terrible story math. It really kicks off a mystery that will drive us for at least the first half of the year."

However, fans have not seen the last of The Black Canary. Sara Lance is due to appear in three more episodes this season via flashbacks, according to E! First, though, viewers are going to have to have to watch how Team Arrow deals with the loss, which according to Guggenheim is “gut wrenching.”

Fans will be mourning the loss of Sara Lance along with Team Arrow, but will at least have the consolation of the flashback episodes. However, for Oliver and Laurel, the mystery of who killed Sara and why remains for the next few episodes. Fans will have to tune in next week to see who was responsible. “Arrow” airs Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. EDT on the CW.

Will you miss Sara Lance? Tweet your thoughts to @Ja9GarofaloTV.