The seventh season of the American television series Arrow premiered on The CW on October 15, 2018, and concluded on May 13, 2019, with a total of 22 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunner for this season was Beth Schwartz. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt, Rick Gonzalez as Rene Ramirez, Juliana Harkavy as Dinah Drake, and Katie Cassidy Rodgers as Laurel Lance also returning from previous seasons. Colton Haynes, a principal cast member for seasons two and three and a special guest actor for seasons four and six, was reinstated as a series regular for the seventh season as Roy Harper. They are joined by Kirk Acevedo as Ricardo Diaz, who was promoted to a series regular from his recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member Sea Shimooka.
The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mysterious island in the North China Sea, before returning home to Starling City (later renamed "Star City") to fight crime and corruption as a secret vigilante whose weapon of choice is a bow and arrow. In the seventh season taking place five months after Oliver's imprisonment, Diaz has recruited the Longbow Hunters, consisting of Kodiak (Michael Jonsson), Silencer (Miranda Edwards), and Red Dart (Holly Elissa Dignard) for a new criminal agenda, including seeking revenge on Oliver's loved ones and allies. After Oliver is released from prison while taking down Diaz in the process, he and the former members of Team Arrow are deputized and begin working alongside the police. Another hooded archer, later revealed to be Oliver's second half-sister Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka) emerges as the new Green Arrow, seemingly to fight crime on Oliver's behalf. However, Emiko is revealed to be the leader of the Ninth Circle, a terrorist group that begins launching several attacks upon Star City, and is seeking to destroy Oliver's legacy as the Green Arrow ever since she was raised by them. Green Arrow defeats the Ninth Circle at the cost of a repentant Emiko's life. The season features flash-forwards twenty years into the future to Oliver's now adult son William (Ben Lewis) who seeks out Roy Harper on Lian Yu where they discover instructions left by Felicity leading them back to Star City. There they discover more secrets, including Oliver and Felicity's hidden daughter Mia (Katherine McNamara) while they work to save the city from another attack by Galaxy One and the security program Archer.
The series was renewed for its seventh season on April 2, 2018, and filming began in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on July 6, 2018, and ended on April 11, 2019. The season featured the directorial debut of cast member David Ramsey. This season includes the fifth annual Arrowverse crossover with TV series The Flash and Supergirl. The season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on August 20, 2019. The series was renewed for an eighth and final season on January 31, 2019.
