'Arrow' Season 4 Cast Gives Theories About Who Dies And The New Villain Following Episode 15

Now that the CW series “Arrow” is on a mini-hiatus until March 23, fans have plenty of time to speculate about the biggest mystery of Season 4. Following the events of episode 15, it looks like the big bad villain of the year may have shifted.

The most recent episode of the superhero series saw [SPOILER ALERT] the team finally take down Damien Darhk (Neal McDonough). The character had been using magical powers against Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and his gang for quite some time, but thanks to the help of Vixen (Megalyn E.K.) they disarmed him of his powers and put him in police custody. Darhk’s capture puts many of the theories about the show’s mysterious death, which was teased at the beginning of the season, into a tailspin. With the big bad locked away, who is responsible for killing the mystery person?

As previously reported, evidence has been piling up in the past three weeks that Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman), the infamous Dark Archer that provided the main villain in Season 1, would step up to take over as the big threat in Season 4. This came to fruition a bit when Merlyn sold out Oliver’s 10-year-old son to Darhk. Now that the show has written him into Darhk and his backer’s evil plan to destroy Star City, the cast is opening up about the plotline's potential.

“We have seen moments of uneasy alliance and even quiet, humorous moments and some moments of actual appreciation between Oliver to Malcolm [in the past], and I think it’s safe to say that for however long Malcom Merlyn is walking the Earth, that bridge has been burned forever,” Amell told Variety. “So it will be interesting to see what they do with the Oliver-Malcom dynamic, because they’ve never really been sworn enemies. They’ve gone up against each other in battle … but the betrayal of giving up Oliver’s son is something that they can never come back from, ever.”

While this provides a few more clues as to who is responsible for putting a loved-one in the grave, it doesn’t shed too much light on who ends up dying at the end of the season. For that, we turn to Felicity Smoak actress Emily Bett Rickards. It was revealed during the midseason premiere that Felicity is alive and well at the funeral, but she isn’t wearing her engagement ring. Episode 15 saw her walk out on Oliver, despite the fact that an executive producer posted her eventual wedding photo to Oliver on Twitter. However, with her character's life no longer hanging in the balance, the actress speculated on who might get the axe.

“I think that it’s someone close to Felicity,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “I always thought it would be somebody closer to Felicity. I just think that it’s probably going to hurt everyone a lot, like a lot.”

Sadly, because Felicity is such a friend to everyone on the show, this doesn’t narrow the list down at all. However, with episode 15 sending Oliver’s son and his mother away from Star City for good, the show’s last-remaining red shirts are no longer with us, meaning whoever ends up dead will be a big blow for both the team and fans.

“Arrow” returns March 23 to the CW at 8 p.m. EST. Will you be tuning in to see how the grave twist plays out? Comment below or tweet your thoughts to @TylerMcCarthy.