Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) was one of the characters on Arrow, both Earth-1 and Earth 2 versions, to go through an emotional roller coaster of a journey throughout the 8 seasons of the series. Whether it was the original version that went from a lawyer to a vigilante or the doppelganger that was able to fight her darkness, the Black Canary had plenty of adventures throughout the run. While the Earth-2 version may not be entirely done in the Arrowverse, with Green Arrow and the Canaries, it’s an end of an era for the character in terms of Laurel’s time on Arrow.
Whether or not the spinoff goes to series, the two incarnations of Laurel has had so much in 8 seasons. As the show has now come to an end, it’s time to look at the ten best moments of both Earth-1 and Earth-2’s versions of Laurel Lance.
Fighting For Oliver’s Soul (Earth-1)
Once Laurel had found out that Oliver (Stephen Amell) was the Arrow, it didn’t take long before she became part of the larger story of the series. In the second season when he was fighting Deathstroke (Manu Bennett), it got to a point where Oliver was getting ready to give up, Laurel took charge by trying to get to the bottom of his soul and save him from making a big mistake. While she may have not been in the superhero business at that point, Laurel’s long history with Oliver made her the person to knock some sense into him.
Laurel helped out in more ways than one as she revealed to Oliver that Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) was working with Slade this entire time. Mask or no mask, Laurel still got her heroic moments here and t there before becoming Black Canary.
Calling Out Sara And Oliver’s Behavior (Earth-1)
Sara’s (Caity Lotz) return to Starling City in season two wasn’t an easy one, to say the least. Having left the way she did with Oliver while he was with Laurel, it made the dynamic between the two sisters very tricky in the beginning. Once everyone knew that Sara was still alive and back in the city, the tension rose even more as Laurel was spiraling down.
During a Lance family dinner along with Oliver, it doesn’t take long for Laurel to piece together that he and Sara were, once again, seeing each other. While it seemed like most of the Arrow characters let Oliver and Sara’s actions in 2007 slide, Laurel, rightfully so, didn’t. The dinner ends in a disaster as she calls them out on being together again.
Laurel’s Breakdown (Earth-1)
The same episode where Laurel finds out about Oliver and Sara is where the character also hits rock bottom. After she storms out from the dinner, Laurel and Oliver have a massive heart-to-heart which, to this day, is still one of Cassidy and Amell’s best scenes in the entire series. While Laurel, correctly, calls out on Oliver’s questionable behavior, it also becomes evident that she has gotten to an incredibly dark place with her addiction.
Oliver, who had done everything he could that season to save her from herself, gave up at last. Being done chasing after her, it’s the final nail in Laurel’s breakdown where the character slowly begins to realize that she needs help.
Healing Her Relationship With Sara (Earth-1)
The fourteenth episode of the second season was a major one for Laurel. Following the big family dinner and the moment with Oliver in the hallway, “Time of Death” comes with another pivotal moment for Laurel as she goes to see Sara, ready to try healing their sisterhood.
In a heartbreaking scene with Lotz’s Sara, Laurel admits her flaws and the damage that her heart has taken throughout all these years. While it would be the beginning of a long process, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it was one of Laurel’s greatest scenes of all time.
Battling Her Fears (Earth-1)
The third season was a big one for Laurel as it began with the brutal death of Sara in the season premiere. While it was later revealed that the character would eventually return for the spinoff Legends of Tomorrow, Laurel’s journey into becoming the Black Canary was a heavy one, putting it lightly. Once she became the iconic heroine like the comic counterpart, the second half of the season put Laurel to the test.
Fearing that she couldn’t live up to Sara’s legacy, it becomes even clearer when Laurel gets injected by Werner Zytle’s (Peter Stormare) Vertigo drug. That’s when she begins to see Sara, as the Canary, haunting and tormenting her while Werner brutally beats her up. Once she has a talk with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) about trying to be her own hero, Laurel finally manages to battle her inner fears that include keeping Sara’s death a secret from Quentin (Paul Blackthorne.) What follows is Laurel, fantastically, taking control of her journey and stopping the new Count.
Resurrecting Sara (Earth-1)
With Sara being slated to return for the time-traveling spinoff, Arrow first had to bring the character back and it was all through Laurel. While the Lazarus Pit remains a controversial source in the Arrowverse whenever it’s used, Laurel being determined in wanting to bring Sara back which makes her one of the most dedicated big sisters out there.
Granted, it was a bit of a mess given that Sara’s soul wasn’t with her at that point, but that ended up being solved once Laurel and Oliver, with Constantine’s (Matt Ryan), retrieved her soul. But the moment where she remains committed to giving Sara a second chance at life was still major.
Laurel Protecting Starling City On Earth-2
The season 8 premiere ended up being the show’s best premiere of all time, partially because of Laurel’s Earth-2 version. Having now returned to her world as the new Black Canary to honor her Earth-1 counterpart, viewers got to see that this Laurel had really taken charge of protecting the Starling City of her world.
Seeing her own Canary bunker, working with a good version of Adrian Chase (Josh Segarra) as the Green Arrow, it was empowering to see the transition she had accomplished since taking on the mantle. While her world doesn’t last for long, it didn’t take away that satisfying moment.
Becoming Black Canary (Earth 1)
The second half of season three was one of the darkest times for Arrow as Oliver had gone up against Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) and lost. While the team believed him to be dead, it left Starling City without its faithful guardian angel.
Believing that she had lost both Sara and Oliver, that is what pushes her to finally become the Black Canary as the episode ends with her taking down a couple of thugs in her new suit.
Reuniting Green Arrow And The Canaries (Earth-2/Earth-Prime)
Following Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Star City of 2040 was reshaped thanks to Oliver’s reboot of the universe. But the penultimate episode of the series, setting up Green Arrow and the Canaries, has Laurel play a massive role as she travels to the future to warn Mia Queen (Kat McNamara) and Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy) about the danger that the city would be in 2041.
It’s basically Laurel that brings the new Green Arrow and the Canaries together which makes it clear the spinoff will definitely make Laurel a main character like Mia and Dinah.
Embracing Her Redemption (Earth-2)
Since coming in the fifth season, it was clear that the writers would be taking Black Siren down a path towards redemption. While it was a journey that would go all the way into season seven, the payoff was more than satisfying.
In the episode “Lost Canary”, Dinah, Felicity and Sara team-up to save the Earth-2 version of Laurel from herself once and for all. In the eleventh hour of her return to evil, Laurel finally makes the call to embrace her redemption, ending her time as Black Siren before becoming the Black Canary.
