Hello everyone, how are you ? Before I begin this Cannarrow/Oliver/Slade bromance one shot, I'd like to address "Arrow" Season 6 and my hypothesis for what's been going on this season, including the fan base feeling that this season has regressed after the smashing success of last season.

I personally have enjoyed S6 for the most part, my only complaints being that the action within the first two episodes wasn't as strong or intense as within S5 while briefly getting annoyed that Dig was taking over as Green Arrow, but then it grew on me and I enjoyed it, plus the action intensified with each passing episode which in term helped my enjoyment of the arc.

I was also, at the time, in full agreement with the fan base that nobody dying from the island explosion except for Malcolm and Samantha was very bad writing.

As for why most of the fan base felt that S6 is a regression on the verge of failure, I've narrowed it down to 3 core reasons in regards to what they've had to say:

1. The season's first half being the "Diggle and Friends" program, repeating S4 in regards to what the fan base claimed was sidelining the title character for a side character.

2. The red herring big bad, Cayden James, being boring in personality and therefore not a villain that can be really engaging and project a true dark and menacing aura.

3. The Team Arrow Civil War arc, which made NTA/the Outsiders extremely annoying and aggravating (not to me though) due to them becoming corrupted and dishonorable when they hunted down Black Siren, while Dinah turned into a Huntress esque character in a bad way while other fans, I think, felt that the whole civil war was pointless. (I personally enjoyed watching the civil war, NTA becoming darker than usual, and the brutal culmination of it in the woods, but that's me.)

Besides all of that, the ratings for this season are lower than all of the other Flarrowverse shows.

Now, there are probably a great many of you who feel that all of this means "Arrow" is dead. At least that's the impression I've received from so many YouTube comments regarding S6, the ratings, and one of my fellow authors here. However, what if that's not the case ? What if S6 is being written the way it's been on purpose for a specific reason and those of you who feel that the show has regressed from S5 and is dead have jumped to conclusions prematurely ?

So far, much of what has happened this season has led to almost everyone around Oliver being pulled from him, voluntarily, but pulled away nonetheless while the city falls into darkness and corruption. This week's episode will also be Oliver centric while other characters only have 3 scenes. Me and a fellow author named Andrus speculated if that episode meant that everyone would leave or die, leaving Oliver by himself. As it turns out, that's exactly what's happening, minus the death part although that could change.

In addition, Guggenheim confirmed that this season is about Oliver losing everyone around him and that it is where it's headed. He said that this season will see the dismantling of Oliver's support network, that the writers gave him a wife, a son, a team, and I think some other stuff, and that this season will see the slow degradation of all of those structures.

So far, that's exactly what's happened. Everyone who makes up the Outsiders have left Team Arrow and, after the civil war fight, ended their friendship with him, Thea's left him (a decision he encouaged and plus Willa wanted to leave but her character's still gone), and now Dig's left him and it looks like their bromance is over. The only people Oliver has left are Felicity and William and now that might also be in jeopardy, plus he might be under impeachment due to last week's events and could lose the mayor's office. Even the Olyssa marriage has ended, albeit consensual and happily done by both parties in regards to its annulment.

Putting all of that together, including Guggenheim's comments, what do we have for S6 in regards to its direction and why so many controversial stuff, namely Diggle as Green Arrow and OTA vs NTA, was added despite it angering and/or annoying so many viewers ? Not all of them of course, but a great many. Has the series really gone down the drain from these creative decisions, despite what the ratings say ? Is "Arrow" really dead, or is there, as some would use this phrase, a method to the seeming madness ?

After recently thinking about some of the writing that's happened within this season and the direction as to where it's all gone, combined with Guggenheim's comments, I now have a theory as to what's going on, and that it might involve the idea many have of "Arrow" being dead, but not in the way you who believe that think. What if "Arrow" is being dismantled on purpose so that it can be rebuilt into something better ? What if it's going through a cleansing by fire, a painful one though for those who've strongly disliked this season, so that it can be reforged into an improved version of itself in which all of S4's mistakes are completely erased, along with mistakes from other past seasons ?

You see, with a lot of things in life, they can't always be repaired or restored or if they are, they aren't at its best. Sometimes they have to be torn down and rebuilt, that option perhaps being the only thing that will save it. It's like a house for example. The house can be dilapidated and crumbling, and you can try to make repairs continuously and give it paint jobs but it won't do any good long term. You may have to refurbish and remodel it or, in a more extreme action, tear down the whole structure and start anew.

That can also apply to a tooth. The tooth has decayed significantly and regular outer cleaning can only do so much. Instead a root canal has to be performed, and especially if the decay has reached to the gum area around it, in order to get the mess out while giving you a new tooth. The drilling also be very painful and you can't stand it, but it has to be done and in the end you receive a brand new tooth and a healthier mouth.

Same for a boil. It's very painful to squeeze and the pain during the squeeze might be so excruciating that you think you're going to, well, you know what, but when it's all over and the mess is extracted, you feel better and your skin where the boil used to be is now clean, soft, and healthy.

Therefore, what if that's what's going on with "Arrow" ? What if what's happening are actually signs that it's indeed being deconstructed, dismantled, and stripped, but not to prove correct to those who think it's dead but rather is being destroyed on purpose so that it can be reborn like the Fenix, but better and stronger than ever ?

Let's look at the civil war for example. It really annoyed so many people and they couldn't stand it, while the Outsiders becoming so unlikable to many viewers didn't help matter either. What did it lead to ? What kind of chain reaction did it lead to when it first started ? It first led to NTA leaving the team and then in turn, in regards to the OTA vs NTA battle in what many of you felt was a terrible episode, led to Rene being injured while Dinah and Curtis have no choice but to put their vigilante duties on hold to care for Rene's daughter. That in turn led to Oliver and Dig being the only ones on the field while further isolating Oliver since NTA's done with him.

Next is the Diggle as Green Arrow arc. Many feel that it sidelined Oliver's character and I agree with you, but what did it lead to ? It led to Oliver of course getting his hood back, then to him and Dig getting into a fight over it, along with Dig saying so many hurtful words it made his character look bad and I didn't even recognize him, making me mad at him and not believing the words coming from his mouth, and, while they sort of made up in the end, led to him quitting the team, possibly joining ARGUS.

Putting together those two paragraphs above, what did it all lead to ? The answer is that it led to Oliver without a field team, without his bromance with Dig, and in turn, combined with Thea leaving, left him as the lone vigilante on the streets and in turn, no more Team Arrow for the most part.

As for Cayden James, many feel he was a boring villain. I understand why but disagree since he made up for it with his destructive actions that left the team and the city reeling. Again the question is what did his arc lead to ? It led to a round of cyber terrorist attacks and embezzlement of the city's finances which led to its institution's near collapse and bankruptcy, in turn leading to the city's corruption due to Diaz, the big bad, using it to offer money to the SCPD and possibly the institution to keep things afloat, like money from vertigo, so long as they joined him, while also bribing, blackmailing, and threatening officials throughout the city and perhaps even having having his willing operatives infiltrate the institution.

Plus Cayden's attacks thinned the herd for Diaz, such as killing Captain Pike which enabled Diaz to place a corrupt police captain over the SCPD. All of that has led to the city becoming corrupted like in S1, with a powerful elite poisoning it like Oliver said back then, but far more corrupt than in S1 and much like Gotham was before Batman and Commissioner Gordon cleaned it up.

Putting everything I've written together, I ask all of you this: How do imagine what "Arrow" would look like, in regards to atmosphere and structure, if there's no more Oliver/Dig bromance, no more Team Arrow or any other support structure for Oliver except for Olicity but even then, an estranged Olicity, no more Mayor Queen, and, if my suspicions are correct regarding these four people, no more Dinah, Quentin, Diggle, or Rene (I suspect the first 3 might die off since Black Siren might become the next Black Canary and we can't have two Canaries running around, there's no more story left for Quentin and his death could push Black Siren closer towards redemption, and someone on YouTube said they had intel Dig would die by S7), and the city's totally corrupted ? As for Rene, I wonder if he'll leave to devote his time to his daughter ?

What would the show appear as to all of you if all those things were to happen and has actually happened in regards to no Team Arrow, more or less, and no more Oliver/Dig bromance ?

For those who don't have the answer, I'll give you this hint: What was "Arrow" like, including for Oliver himself, when he first started his crusade and what was the status of the city's institution ? Next, combine that answer to if Roy were to return as a regular and if Black Siren gets redemption. What kind of show do we have ?

Therefore, as you can see and if my theory's correct, what's been happening this season isn't the death kneel for "Arrow" but rather the purposeful deconstruction and demolishing of the series, not only backwards from S5 to S2 but all the way back to S1, so that it can be made bare bones and more so than last season in order for it to be rebuilt and restarted from the bedrock.

This season is, in effect until I'm shown otherwise, the root canal, painful boil pressing, tearing down the dilapidated house season. Or, in the spirit of the show, its own island. Just like Oliver and other characters went through their own island and came out better, S6 could be the island for the show itself. Heck, Oliver's shown wearing his S1 suit in the trailer for this week's episode, unless it's a flashback.

Oh, and who's to say that NTA and Dinah especially was made aggravating to you guys on purpose so that they could be exited with fan support instead of the writers being read the riot act for removing fan favorite characters, and what if the first half was "Diggle and Friends" to not only lead to him being removed from the team but also as a sendoff for his possible exit if what the YouTube commenter said about him dying off by S7 is true ? He's been a core character since S1 and would therefore need one last hoorah before exiting.

Also, in regards to the civil war, here's Guggenheim's defense of it which I've copied and pasted, and please make of it what you will:

I think if I miscalculated anywhere, it's probably on the order of not taking into full consideration the fact that while all the arguments may be equal and equally strong, there's always going to be a love and affection for the original characters that the new characters don't get a chance to enjoy.

"In crafting these arguments, we were being, I think, very evenhanded. At least we were trying to be," he added. But we were not taking into account the familiarity factor.

"Superheroes having a falling out and fighting amongst each other is one of the most longstanding comic book traditions," he noted. "Again, this is maybe where we miscalculated, but I always assumed the fans would go along with us in this regard, because it is such a tried-and-true comic book [convention]."

Finally, while slightly unrelated, I have some very good news for everyone who hasn't heard the news yet. Colton Haynes, who plays Roy, will not only be back next season but will be back as a regular. This is not a joke. Colton and the writers have confirmed this and Roy is rejoining the "Arrow" family full time next season.

Now maybe I'm right or maybe I'm wrong, but lets not be so quick to judge S6 until its end or S7's beginning, since there may be more than what meets the eye. Also, you have my permission, if anyone wants to, to copy this message and post it across social media. I'll be posting it on Facebook while adding a link on Twitter for it.

And now please go on to the next chapter and enjoy my latest Canarrow one shot.