Sara Lance


 * For the Arrow episode, see Sara.

"For the first time in my life, I'm deciding my own fate."

- Sara to Quentin Lance

Sara Lance (December 25, 1987 –October 8, 2014) was a member of the League of Assassins and a vigilante. She was also the daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance, the younger sister of Laurel Lance, and the ex-girlfriend and close friend of Oliver Queen, friend turned enemy of Slade Wilson, a good friend of the late Shado, ex-lover and close friends of Nyssa al Ghul, a good friend of Sin, and the former mentor and acquaintance of Roy Harper.

When Sara was presumed dead after the Queen's Gambit went down in 2007, her father, at first, did not forgive Oliver. However, sometime between 2008 and 2013, Sara trained as a part of the League of Assassins and learned to fight. She left the organization and returned to Starling City under the vigilante moniker The Canary (a translation of her League name as Ta-er al-Safar (Yellow Bird) (طائر الصفار), and stayed to protect her sister, Laurel, before she was forced to leave due to the League following her, trying to bring her back. She was eventually released from the League of Assassins by her former lover Nyssa. Following this she joined Team Arrow and began a relationship with him, much to her sister Laurel's chagrin. However, she soon rejoined the League to keep her family out of harm's way. Sara eventually returned to Starling following Malcolm Merlyn but was killed by Thea Queen, unknowingly under influence of Malcolm, igniting her own sister's desire to take her sister's place as The Canary.

Early life
Sara Lance was born on December 25, 1987 to Quentin and Dinah Lance and has one older sister named Laurel Lance. When Sara was 10 years old her father bought her a canary pet which she loved but drove everyone else crazy. During her high school years, Sara was bullied by some of her classmates because she was stealing one of her classmate's boyfriends. The often occurrences of her getting bullied caused behavior issues from Sara, and caused her grades to drop. This led to her father teaching her and Laurel how to defend themselves. At some point Sara met Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn. Sara formed a crush on Oliver and even snuck out of the house to go to a secret party that Tommy held. Laurel however out of envy called the cops and Sara was grounded and by the time she wasn't, Oliver and Laurel were dating. In late 2007 when Laurel wanted to take the next step which freaked out Oliver and started sleeping with Sara instead.

One weekend Sara returned home to her family for a three day weekend from college but was secretly texting Oliver. Later Laurel talked to her and told her about moving in with him and Sara tried to talk to her about Oliver’s reputation for sleeping with everyone but Laurel took this as Sara being a bitch. Sara then agreed to Oliver’s offer and decided to go with him on the Queen’s Gambit voyage with him. Before she left her mother came home early and saw her pack her “Starling Rockets” cap in a bag. Dinah tried to convince Sara not to go but after telling her that she was in love and had to do what she felt was right, Dinah let her go. During their sail at sea, the ship was sabotaged (by Malcolm Merlyn) and sank and Sara was pulled under causing Oliver to believe that she had drowned. However Sara managed to swim to the surface on the other side of the wreck and was marooned on a piece of the ship for days.

Sara’s apparent death had multiple effects on the Lance family. For Laurel found herself unable to grieve because Sara stole Oliver from her but found herself unable to be angry because she had died and quickly managed to get over it. Quentin fell into a deep state of depression which saw him become an alcoholic and would often pass out in the bar and became obsessed with his work to ignore the pain and took every case without pause. Sara was also the first and last thought of Quentin’s mind everyday and took him years to get past that point. His drinking and work obsession leads Dinah to divorcing him and left for Central City.

The Amazo
A few days after the wreck accident Sara was found by a ship called the Amazo who took her onboard the ship but they instead put her in a cell where other people were held. Later the crew dragged her out of the cell and were going to take her away, but they were stopped by a grey haired man who took Sara to his quarters instead. This man introduced himself as Dr. Anthony Ivo who told Sara when she asked that she was going to save the human race, and asked if she would join him. Ivo told Sara that he was looking for a serum created by the Japanese in World War II called Mirakuru (Japanese for Miracle) which could increase muscle strength, enhance senses and regenerate cells but the submarine sunk somewhere in the chain of islands nearby. For the next year Sara would be protected by Ivo from the cruelty of his men and would teach her many skills in the field of biology and technology but would assist Ivo in torturing his men and was secretly glad that she wasn’t one of them. However Sara would still feel a sense of loyalty towards him for saving her life no matter how dark it seemed he got. One year later she meets a confused Oliver, but kicks him stating that prisoners do not speak and walks away. She helped Oliver slightly whilst he was a prisoner on the Amazo. However, that was soon realized to be a ruse to see if his friends Slade Wilson and Shado were still alive on Lian Yu. However when the ship captain tried to kill Oliver Sara instead suggested keeping him alive to find the gravesite which Ivo agreed.

Time on Lian Yu
She went with Oliver, Dr. Ivo and the crew of the Amazo onto the island to the plane, and watched as Ivo ordered his men to attack Slade Shado after Oliver screamed for them to run before Ivo left a bomb in the plane and had Oliver lead them to the grave site. When they arrived at the cave the guards started torturing Oliver for the hōzen on the bodies but Shado and Slade ambushed the crew at arrow and gun point and demanded Oliver back, when Anthony released him, Oliver punched the Captain in the face and grabbed Sara and ran away with his friends.

The hōzen Oliver found had coordinates on it which was revealed to house the location of the submarine Anthony discovered with the cure to save all of mankind, after Sara revealed this to them, Oliver asked if it could cure Slade. They used the hōzen to find the sub and they did. They boarded it and they found the Mirakuru and Oliver injected Slade even when Sara told him that Slade would not survive it, Slade began to react to the serum and had no heart beat. Then Ivo and his men came inside the room and captured them. Ivo took Sara and Shado hostage and held them in front of Oliver telling him to pick who would die between Shado and Sara, threatening to kill them both if Oliver didn't decide within 30 seconds. Oliver chose to save Sara and Ivo killed Shado just as Slade awakened and saved Oliver and Sara. She covered for Oliver by saying that Ivo just shot Shado for no apparent reason.

They buried Shado and Sara warned Oliver not to tell Slade why Shado died, because he now has the Mirakuru inside of him so he is unpredictable and learning the truth behind Shado's death would not end well. As they where walking they asked Slade where they were going and he said that he is going back to the plane to get weapons to kill Ivo. But Sara told him he would not be able to take them on alone and he grabbed Oliver by the neck and began to choke him and Sara had to hit Slade with a stick to make him stop. Later Ivo called them on their radio and gave them ten days to deliver the Mirakuru to him and in return he would give them safe passage off the island. Sara then came and told Oliver that Slade is gone and took the Mirakuru with him.

Sara and Oliver went to the plane to find Slade, but he was not there. Sara suggested they could accept Ivo's offer but Oliver turned it down immediately. As they argued Sara explained that she learned a lot and Oliver said he did too: "you can't trust anyone". Later they talked and Oliver, feeling guilty, apologized for what had happened to them. When Oliver fell asleep Sara took the communication and walked out and talked to Ivo. Ivo tried to persuade her to come back to him. Sara explained that when he took her in she felt like he was he savior and she felt part of something bigger but it was only because she didn't want to see how he was torturing the people on the boat and how she was glad she was not one of them. Then she told him that she would rather die than be part of it, she then ended the call only to see Oliver had listened to the conversation and she had now earned his trust.

They used the sensor grid to find Slade and they discovered that Slade is at the caves and when they got there he was gone and they found a drawing on one of the walls and Oliver rembered that they where calculations for the missile launcher and Slade intended to open fire on the freighter with it. They ran to find Slade and they did and Slade held Oliver at gun point, but Oliver convinced him not to destroy the freighter by telling him that Shado would have wanted him to get back home. Slade commented that they are still stuck on the island and Oliver said that they will take the freighter together.

Oliver, Sara and Slade continued to observe the ship looking for any means of getting on board but they heard a plane flying overhead but when they tried to get it’s attention it was shot down by Ivo’s missiles. When they found it they found the pilot bleeding and dying and Sara told Ollie and Slade to get the medical supplies but the man died anyway. But before dying he gave Sara a photo of his daughter Cindy and asked her to take care of her should she get off the island, though his death was not in vain as Ollie found a parachute. Planning to take the freighter Sara prepared a herb-like substance which could counter any serum exposed to him, specifically truth serum. Sara and Oliver discussed what they should do with the Mirakuru and they voted to destroy it which Slade further agreed with. As Sara and Oliver watched it burn in a fire Sara convinced Oliver that he needed to kill Ivo before Slade found him as Ivo would turn the situation around and Slade wound target Oliver and herself. Once Oliver allowed himself to get captured he mislead the guards and Sara parachuted onto the freighter with Slade and she proceeded to free the prisoners. However Hendrick started strangling her to death but Thomas knocked him out as they re-joined Anatoly and Oliver but discovered that Slade had learned the truth and she told Oliver that they needed to get off once the ship started blowing up. Though Sara, Thomas, Anatoly and Hendrick made it to shore Oliver was captured by Slade again.

Sara and the others made it back to the plane wreck but Slade soon after called them demanding Hendrick to fix the ship’s broken engine and in turn would hand Oliver and Ivo both to her. However Sara tried to cover for Hendrick saying that he died but Slade begun to torture Oliver and threatened to kill him within the hour unless Hendrick was handed over. Upon hearing this Hendrick pointed a gun at her before Peter and Anatoly distracted him allowing Sara to knock him out with a pipe before agreeing to Slade’s terms. As Peter and Anatoly argued over handing Hendrick over to Slade, Sara got the idea to use Hendrick to kill Slade. Anatoly then dug up a landmine for her and she proposed rigging it to Hendrick to take out Slade once he came for him. When Slade he caught onto the plan and threatened to let the bomb go off and kill everyone but then pointed a gun at Sara and wanted to kill her but decided that being marooned on the island would be better.

Ivo told Sara and the others that there was a cure for Mirakuru in his quarters on the ship which could reverse the effects on Slade. Ivo then begged for a quick death which Sara was about to do but Oliver took the gun off her and killed Ivo himself, telling her that killing changes a person and didn’t want that for her.

After Lian Yu
After failing to return within an hour, Anatoly fired a torpedo at the Amazo and Sara was separated from Oliver in a similiar fashion as she did on the Queen Gambit, this time Oliver believing her to have died for sure. After at least a year on Lian Yu Nyssa al Ghul would find her and take her in. Nyssa was part of the League of Assassins and at Nanda Parbat, Sara trained with the League and became a assassin herself by swearing her allegiance to them. She also knew Maseo Yamashiro who joined the same time she did and he admired her as a warrior. At some point during her five years with the League she and Nyssa became lovers.

League of Assassins
During her time with the League, she was told to "choose a new name". She chose "Ta-er al-Asfer" (in Arabic: الطائر الأصفر), which is Arabic for canary ("yellow bird"), reminiscent of the canary Quentin got her when she was ten. She was also trained by Ra's al Ghul as part of her league training.

Return to Starling and hunted by the League
In 2012 Sara begun to hear legends of the Starling City vigilante codename; The Hood/The Arrow who wore a green hood. Sara immediately knew that it was Oliver wearing Shado’s hood. After The Undertaking Sara left Nanda Parbat to see if her family was okay. However she stayed in Starling in the shadows unwilling to return to the league and became a vigilante also who targeted mainly men who attacked women. She also saved Cindy, now known as Sin, from a gang of muggers and as she promised her father she took Sin under her care but didn't reveal her association with her father. When Roy Harper was fighting a group of men who'd been harassing a woman, the Canary swooped in and fought off the attackers before they could beat Roy. Roy expressed shock by her sudden entrance, before she quickly left.

When the Arrow was cornered by the Police led by Laurel, the Canary swooped in and used a sonic device to distract the policemen and break the windows, they used the chaos to quickly escape the scene. Sometime later, when Roy was lured in to her hideout by Sin, she knocked him out with her staff. She asked why he was looking for her, but was interrupted by a message on Roy's phone from Thea telling him that Quentin and Laurel were abducted, then took off to save them letting Roy go. Canary arrived at a foundry where she fought her family's kidnapper Barton Mathis/Dollmaker and despite the Arrow's intentions to take him back to jail, Canary killed him instead. When she returned to the tower she was confronted by a member of the league who informed her that Ra's al Ghul wanted her to return. She declined and tried to persuade him to tell he could not find her, but killed him when he refused.

Felicity noticeds a pattern in the Canary's appearance, this leads to Oliver catching her to learn her identity. Oliver unmasks her and is shocked to discover that she is Sara. Oliver then reveals to John and Felicity that he thought she drowned on the Queen's Gambit, but met her a year after being shipwrecked, however he thought she had died since he last saw her. She goes back to her hideout and shares a meal with Sin, in which she reveals to her about running into Oliver and then how her dad is a cop and her sister is a lawyer. She follows Oliver to Verdant where she asks if Oliver told her dad and sister about her, but he says he didn't. They converse about her hiding when Quentin arrives asking for Oliver's help about Laurel, Sara overhears the conversation about Laurel's depression. When Sin is injured by The Mayor, she and Oliver team up and takes on The Mayor and his cronies. Both work hand in hand together, even using each others weapons. Sara is about to kill the Mayor, but Oliver convinces her not to. She spares him and lets him go. She is then seen watching Sin as she wakes up, with has company from Roy and Thea. As she is leaving, she encounters Oliver, The two leave together.

In "League of Assassins", Sara begins staying with Oliver at his mansion. However, they are attacked by Al-Owal, a member of the League of Assassins. Oliver and Sara successfully fight him off, and later she reveals to Oliver and his team that she was once part of the League and now they are on the hunt to bring her back to their leader, Ra's Al Ghul. Oliver and Sara then hunt down Al-Owal, narrowly escaping with their lives. Fearing retaliation against Sara, Oliver decides to protect the whole Lance family, but Sara decides that it was time to reveal herself to her father. She then tells her father everything, bringing him up to her hideout where they are attacked by Al-Owal and his two companions. Oliver arrives and along with Quentin and Sara, defeat the assassins. Sara kills Al-Owal and leaves one to run to Ra's to tell him that her family is off limits. She then leaves Starling City, trying to draw the League away from her family, but not before making her father promise not to tell Laurel that she is alive.

In "Tremors", much later Oliver contacts Sara after Laurel loses her job and right to practice law and is now a drug and alcohol addict and tells her that Laurel needs her. Later when Laurel passes out when she gets home, Sara appears to her though Laurel thinks she is a hallucination.



In "Heir to the Demon", Sara, after working out in the Arrowcave, decides to leave Starling but Oliver tries to persuade her otherwise. Then Oliver gets a call from Quentin asking for Sara, who knows she is back, and she talks to him. Sara later meets up with her father who begs her to stay but insists that she must leave. When Sara walks down a street, Nyssa al Ghul arrives and the two kiss. Sara and Nyssa go for a walk, Sara begs Nyssa to release her not wanting to kill anymore. An angered Nyssa kidnaps Sara's mother Dinah, giving Sara only 24 hours to rejoin the League or her mother dies. Oliver, Sara and Quentin track down an assassin for information but he kills himself before he can. Sara then decides to give herself over but poisons herself as Oliver and her father arrive. Oliver however manages to counter the poison, and Nyssa tearfully releases her from the league as Quentin and Dinah arrive with Laurel. Later at Laurel's apartment the Lances all have a reunion but Laurel is less than happy and openly blames Sara for all the mistakes in her life in the past 6 years and kicks her out. Sara later returns to Oliver's headquarters, both of them feeling betrayed by their families and the two of them passionately kiss before making love.

In Time of Death, Sara is reluctant to go to her homecoming party and tells Oliver to keep their relationship a secret. She attends the party but is disappointed that Laurel didn't come. When one of William Tockman's victims has been found, Sara and Oliver leave the party early to investigate. Afterwards, at the scene of another bank robbery, the Canary is able injure Tockman, collecting a sample of his blood. Sara later analyzes it and is able to determine that Tockman is suffering from MacGregor's disease. The Arrow and the Canary go to the address of Tockman's sister, only to find a device that destroys the foundry's computer system. Felicity tells Sara that she shouldn't miss her family dinner for the sake of the mission. Nervous about seeing Laurel again, Sara asks Oliver to come with her. At the dinner, Laurel realizes that Sara and Oliver are in a relationship and gets extremely angry, berating everyone at the table. When Oliver and Sara return to the Arrowcave, they find that Felicity is at Starling National Bank, hoping to catch Tockman. The Arrow, the Canary, and Diggle meet Felicity there to help her. Felicity, saving the Canary's life, takes a bullet for her and manages to take Tockman down by blowing up his cell phone. In the Arrowcave, Sara patches Felicity up while thanking her for what she did. Sara, after getting a job as a bartender at Verdant, is able to make amends with Laurel.

In The Promise, Sara recognized Slade Wilson's voice from the phone call from Oliver to Felicity, and brings Roy and Diggle to the Queen mansion, believing Oliver and his family to be in danger. She somehow entered the house and went to the first floor, after which she descended the stairs as if she had been there all along, confronting Wilson while he shook hands with Roy.

In Suicide Squad, Oliver had a nightmare in which he woke up next to Sara, touched her and found blood on his hand, after which Sara suddenly changed into Shado. Upon waking, Oliver left, leaving Sara asleep. Upon his return, Sara tried to get Oliver to talk about his problems, commenting on his lack of sleep, but she had no success. Later, she talked to Laurel, who was filling in an application form at Verdant. After Oliver collected his information from the Bratva, Sara confronted him again, telling him he needed help, and that Shado's death was not his fault. Oliver, believing Sara to be in great danger, told her to keep away from him. Eventually, though, Oliver came back to Sara, confessing that he could not get Slade on his own, and the two promised each other to do so together.

In Birds of Prey, the Canary watched over Quentin Lance and his men trying to detain criminals, Frank Bertinelli included, and they quickly intervened. Quentin was injured which enraged Sara enough to force a criminal off the rooftop. Quentin then told Sara to show restraint next time and was fascinated that Oliver had a fling with Frank’s daughter Helena aka the Huntress. The Arrow, the Canary and Roy then intercepted her car but found it to be her decoy. Sara tries to convince Laurel to drop of her current case when Adam Donner assigned her Frank Bertinelli's prosecution, knowing that it would make her a target of the Huntress. When Helena took control of the Courthouse, Laurel got into a fight with one of Helena's henchmen, forcing Sara, as the Canary, to intervene. As she made her way outside of the building with Laurel in tow, Laurel convinced her to help rescue the hostages. This led to her facing off against Helena. In the fight she attempted not to kill Helena. However Helena was able to deprive Sara of her staff and used it against her to beat her up after which she threw Sara out of a window. Sara managed to avoid falling to death and Oliver saved her when Helena tried to shoot her. Later Oliver and Sara managed to steal Frank from the police with Quentin and arrived at a meeting place with Helena and Laurel. However a police officer opened fired on them, killing Frank and separating Oliver from Sara. The Canary then faced Helena again. Going full force she managed to win this time and wanted to kill Helena. However Laurel begged her not to and she spared her.

In Deathstroke, Sara provided a heavy sedative to Team Arrow when they went after Slade Wilson, after he kidnapped Thea. She was present at the confrontation with Wilson, donning her Canary-outfit. Sara was also the one explaining Quentin Lance why they brought Slade Wilson in. After Wilson's release by the police, Sara partook in the attempt to follow him, driving a motorcycle and following Felicity's directions. Wilson, however, managed to escape. When Roy planned to go after Wilson on his own, and hurt Diggle in the process, Sara aimed her bow at him, stopping him long enough for Oliver to come back. She was also present at the police station when Thea Queen was released, and later when her father was arrested for working with the vigilante.

In "The Man Under the Hood", Sara joined Oliver, Diggle and Felicity in blowing up Queen Consolidated's Applied Sciences Division. She also visited her father in prison while Laurel was trying to get him to give up the Arrow. When Slade Wilson infiltrated the Arrowcave, Sara, Oliver and Diggle attempted to fight him, but they were all easily taken out. During the subsequent visit to the hospital, Laurel saw Sara's scars, leading her to figure out that Sara is the Canary. The Arrow and the Canary tried to stop Deathstroke from breaking in at S.T.A.R. Labs, but arrived too late, after which they returned to their base. Sara and Laurel both visited their father after he was attacked in prison, and Laurel managed to bluff him out, after he convinced her not to pursue the vigilantes anymore.

In "Seeing Red", Sara is convinced that killing Roy is the only solution and arms up to kill him, against Oliver's wishes. When Roy comes to Verdant during Moira's campaign rally, the Arrow and the Canary confront him. After Roy starts strangling Thea, Sara almost shoots him, but is prevented from doing so by Sin, who stands between them until Oliver can put Roy down with poison arrows. Later, Sara confesses that she actually wanted to kill Roy, because that's what the League of Assassins taught her, and doesn't believe she knows differently anymore. Sara breaks up with Oliver after telling him that he needs someone who can still see the good in things, not a killer like herself, and that she cares too much for him to be with him. As she gets on her bike, Sin arrives to ask how she is doing. Sara replies that she has had a rough day and hugs Sin goodbye. She then drives away, telling Sin that she is going to see an old friend.

In "City of Blood", Sara disappeared from Starling City, leaving her friends and family to wonder what happened to her, and where she might have went.

In Streets of Fire, Sara arrived back in Starling City just in time to save Laurel from one of Slade Wilson's masked soldiers, after which Laurel reveals she knows about her secret identity. Laurel managed to get Sara out of her identity-crisis, by commenting on the fact that the innocence and beauty in her were not all gone yet. As the Canary, she saved a little girl from a burning building, causing citizens to comment on her as a hero.

In "Unthinkable", Sara watched as the League of Assassins sedated Laurel. Afterwards, Sara, Nyssa, and six other assassins met up with Team Arrow, with Sara having promised to go back to Nanda Parbat with them if they'd help fight Slade Wilson and his army. Together, they assaulted the Queen Consolidated building and taking down Slade's bodyguards. Slade managed to escape, though. Quentin Lance joined them after one of Wilson's men managed to abduct Laurel. Sara, Oliver, Roy, and the assassins made their way to the Giordano Tunnel, via where Slade's army was trying to escape the city. After they neutralized the army using the Mirakuru cure, Sara and Oliver made their way to Wilson's hideout and with Felicity's help they managed to inject him with the cure, saving Laurel and Felicity. Once the city was safe, Sara said her goodbyes to Laurel and Quentin, before boarding the ship with the other Assassins.

Return of the Church of Blood
On the way to her next job, Sara stopped off in Starling City to pay her friends a visit. She came across John Diggle outside Verdant, who'd been beaten by an intoxicated Oliver. Felicity attempted to find out about Sara's next job, though she was unable to reveal. Sara offered to bring Ollie in, before finding him on a rooftop. They fought for a bit, before Sara knocked him out and took him back to the Arrowcave. Believing him to be dosed with something, Felicity took a blood sample, finding traces of mushrooms. As Ollie woke up, he wished to go back to find Brother Blood, though Sara would only allow Oliver to go once he'd had some rest, promising to accompany him if he did so. Meanwhile, she headed to the hospital to see her father. She was greeted by Laurel, and after weeks in the hospital, Quentin woke up to see both of his daughters.

Hunting Malcolm Merlyn
After months away, Sara finally returned to Starling City to confirm rumors of Malcolm Merlyn's presence in Starling City. Searching for Malcolm she paid Quentin a visit and asked about a monk named Ken Zhi Jansen connected to Malcolm. Before leaving she was going to visit Laurel but overheard Felicity's communications helped Oliver take down Werner Zytle's thugs, as well as Zytle himself. She later met up with Laurel, asking that she not tell their father that she was home. As Laurel was leaving, Sara confronted by a hooded Thea much to her confusion before being shot by three arrows from her causing her to fall off the building into an alley, where Laurel raced to find her, dead. Sara was kept in a freezer, before being buried in her previously empty grave from 2007.

After her death Roy began having nightmares about him killing Sara. After believing himself to have killed Sara under Mirakuru induced rage Oliver used a mind calming method to make Roy confront the issue. However Roy discovered that he had actually killed a police officer under Mirakuru rage but saw Sara, as he saw her at the time. A few months after he death, Thea was eventually revealed as the killer having been drugged by Malcolm Merlyn, and rather than have her hunted by the League of Assassins, Oliver took the fall for her as part of Malcolm's manipulations.

When Laurel, taking her place as the Canary, was injected by vertigo from Zytle she saw Sara in her head as the Canary also. "Sara" taunted Laurel about being a fraud, liar and an addict as Laurel went into full rage then blamed her for letting her die. Later "Sara" again taunted Laurel for her actions about trying to be her but when Laurel defeated Zytle, "Sara" smiled at her sister.

Legacy
When Sara apparently died on the Queen's Gambit, her supposed death had a huge impact on the people she cared about; on Quentin Lance, causing her father to become an alcoholic, it eventually resulted in her her mother divorcing her father; her apparent death is possibly one of the reasons why Oliver Queen became the vigilante known as The Hood, later The Arrow.

However, when she dies, this time for real, her death is what causes her sister, Laurel, to follow into her footsteps, becoming the vigilante known as Black Canary. John and Lyla Diggle's newborn daughter was named in honor of the late Sara. Sara is revealed to have been killed by Thea Queen, because she had been brainwashed by Malcolm Merlyn into doing the deed as well as forgetting it, making him the true culprit. Sara's death was part of a plot by Malcolm to embroil Team Arrow into a conflict with the League of Assassins. Thea would then learn from Oliver she'd killed Sara, feeling remorse for it, informing Laurel and disowning Malcolm as her father.

Personality
Much like Oliver, Sara was a person who "just couldn't stay out of trouble". As the younger of two siblings, Sara was something of a "black sheep" to Laurel Lance's "golden child". She made unwise, often selfish decisions, such as pursuing a boy with a girlfriend while in high school, provoking physical attacks from his girlfriend and her friends in retaliation. She apparently got in a fair bit of trouble as a teenager, including one incident of shoplifting that her father made go away. She also had an affair with her sister's boyfriend Oliver, suggesting that loyalty to her sister meant nothing to her. Though this may have something to do with the fact that she had a crush on Oliver before he started dating Laurel, which Laurel knew about and possibly sabotaged by informing her father about the party and the fact that Sara was there. In her youth she snuck out of her house to spend alone time with Oliver. Going on the Queen's Gambit was her way of getting revenge for what Laurel did to her. The fact she was with Oliver led to her presumed death when the Queen's Gambit went down.

However in her time spent with Dr. Anthony Ivo after being rescued by him, Sara appeared to become more apathetic, cold and brutal, more savvy with technology and science, even helping Ivo torture his test subjects, though secretly she was terrified of being the next subject so she kept to herself. Despite Oliver being one of the reasons for her shipwreck, Sara still cared about him, so that when he is captured on the boat she does everything to stop the crew from killing him, though she was still loyal to Ivo. She used Oliver to obtain Shado and Slade Wilson's location on the island though her loyalty was shattered when Ivo called her an "ungrateful bitch" on the radio. After spending time with Oliver and Slade she also regained her sense of loyalty.

Soon after she was recruited into the League of Assassins and became a cold killer, though she never forgot her family and still cared deeply for them, but had become afraid to reveal the fact that she was alive to her family, fearing that they'll reject what she had become.

Becoming the vigilante 'the Canary', like Oliver, Sara has displayed a sense of honor as well as guilt and remorse for her actions. She labels herself a murderer for one particular assassination where she killed a beloved father which lead to her leaving the League. Nevertheless, Sara has displayed a vengeful nature, perfectly willing to kill people who have harmed those she holds dear such as Barton Mathis, Xavier Reed and Helena Bertinelli, the latter two she only didn't terminate because two people close to her convinced her not to kill them.

Sara also still deeply loves Oliver, even 6 years after the Gambit's sinking and the events of the island, and was even in a relationship with him again, even though their affair was what destroyed Oliver's relationship with Laurel in the first place. She also loves Nyssa despite the violent causes she serves, to the point where she refused to kill Nyssa and begged Oliver not to kill her when he had the chance. She cares for wayward orphan Sin like a little sister, partially because of a promise she made to Sin's father before his death on the island. Becoming a member of Oliver Queen's team, Sara got along well with John Diggle and like Felicity uses his nickname "Dig". She also got along well with Felicity Smoak and was actually amused by her awkwardness, telling her she thinks it's cute.

Sara did not get along so well with Roy Harper, mainly due to his Mirakuru injected rage, even willing to kill him with an arrow when he lost it at John, and again later when he hurt Sin and endangered Thea. However, Sara came to regret these actions of hers, as her reasons for wanting to kill Roy were not justified. Caring for Oliver, she comes to the conclusion a killer is what she is because that's what the League made her be, so ends her relationship with him because she cares about him too much to be with him. Sara describes herself on this matter as being lost in the shadows and did not believe she can come back from it.

In, when Laurel told Sara she knew who she was, Sara told her sister she was the farthest thing from a hero. Laurel humored her sister as well as comforted her in that while she wouldn't pretend she'd experienced anything she had, she couldn't be called the Canary if she was so irredeemable. Sara found comfort in that she was praised as a hero saving a child from a burning building. She starts adjusting to and accepting this new mindset joining Oliver in taking down Werner Zytle and preventing his bombing without killing or attempting to kill anyone involved.

Abilities

 * Peak of human physical condition: As a highly skilled assassin, Sara was shown to be in top physical condition. In "League of Assassins", she was shown to be strong enough to break Al-Owal's neck in a matter of seconds.
 * League of Assassins training: It can be assumed that Sara had gone through the training all League members do. She likely possessed skills with a variety of other melee weapons such as knives.
 * Advanced hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: In, Sara was shown to be a formidable hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist when she took down three armed thugs simultaneously. In "Broken Dolls", she was also able to kill Barton Mathis by hurling a baton into his chest. In "Birds of Prey", while she loses the first time she and Helena fight, she revealed to be "holding back", proving in their second fight able to easily defeat Helena. She stated that one martial art she was trained in was Wing-Chun.
 * Expert stick fighter: In, Sara carries a pair of expandable batons that combine to form a bo-staff. This allows her to quickly use both long range and close combat techniques. She is highly skilled in different forms of stick/staff fighting. Using her staff she was able to quickly take out multiple armed soldiers in mere seconds. In "Time of Death", Sara was able to hold her own in a practice fight against a teamed-up Oliver and John. Using her staff she was able to hold her own against the sword wielding, mirakuru enhanced Isabel Rochev.
 * Skilled archer: In "Crucible", Sara was shown to be a skilled archer, she was able to use Oliver's customized Oneida Kestrel Compound bow, combined with one of his customized hunting arrows, shooting it with great accuracy, into the shoulder of one of The Mayor's goons.
 * Stealth/Free running/Acrobatics: Sara had shown to be highly skilled in entering and leaving without being seen. She was able to break into heavily secured buildings, capable of scaling buildings and running from rooftop to rooftop easily. Using a scarf she was able to quickly descend from a ceiling. She displayed impressive acrobatics while entering and leaving buildings.
 * Multilingualism: Sara was capable of fluently speaking English, Mandarin, and Arabic.
 * Skilled tactician: In "Crucible, Sara carefully plans on how to take down her opponents.
 * Skilled markswoman/Firearms: Sara was shown to be skilled with firearms. She was able to quickly shoot a Mirakuru enhanced Roy in his thigh.
 * Tolerance for pain: In "League of Assassins", Sara had shown an increased tolerance to pain. An example of this was when Oliver was stitching her wound, Sara shows no sign of pain, not even a flinch.
 * Skilled forensic technician: In "Time of Death", Sara was shown to be skilled in forensics and chemistry due to her time on Ivo's freighter. She was able to analyse blood from her baton to discover the Clock King's genetic disease.
 * Expert driving skills: Sara had the ability to drive multiple vehicles, and was skilled at it. She was able to pursue enemies in various ways using different vehicles, known to be a motorcycle.

Equipment

 * The Canary Costume: Sara wore a black leather costume, the pants being reminiscent of fishnet stockings, while fighting crime as The Canary. Along with this, she wore a mask to hide her identity from enemies (and also from friends and family, at first).
 * Expandable Batons: As The Canary, she used a pair of expandable batons to fight. They were able to combine into a bo-staff.
 * Sonic device: Sara used a handheld non-lethal sonic weapon used to disable large groups of people. It overwhelmed the hearing of everyone in the immediate vicinity, and was also capable of shattering glass. In "Crucible", it can also be use as an improvised explosion device, when the light on the device changes, from light blue to light red, the device immediately explodes for the purpose of distraction or escape.
 * Voice Filter: Sara used her voice filter when talking to those that didn't know her true identity, so she could successfully hide it.
 * Dagger: Sara killed Suarez in Guyana with a dagger in his bed.
 * Scarf: Like her former lover Nyssa, Sara uses a scarf to descend from ceilings in a acrobatic manner.
 * Sara Lance's motorcycle: Sara used a motorcycle to get around Starling City, when she was out on patrol as The Canary. It was unknown if this was her civilian motorbike.

Arrow
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Season 3
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Arrow

 * "Limbo" (dream/hallucination)
 * "Call to the Bar"
 * "Lapse" (mentioned)

Arrow: Season 2.5

 * "Descent" (mentioned)
 * "Haunted"
 * "Awakenings"
 * "Assurances" (mentioned)

Trivia

 * In, during her fight with Al-Owal, she tells him "You should be mindful of your surroundings". This is a reference to the film Batman Begins, where Ra's al Ghul trains a young Bruce Wayne.
 * Sara Lance is the ninth person to discover Oliver Queen's secret identity; The Arrow. Though this was only directly revealed to her in, she had long suspected that Oliver was the green-hooded Starling City vigilante that she had been hearing about in the past year.
 * During the first season, Sara was portrayed by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood. However, Sara was recast as Caity Lotz for the second season, who re-filmed scenes originally filmed with Wood in the first season's.
 * When Caity Lotz auditioned, she was under the impression that she was auditioning for a character named Lisa.
 * Sara is the second person to be released from the League of Assassins, following Malcolm Merlyn. However, Sara would rejoin the League in.
 * Despite being credited as a guest star rather than a regular, Caity Lotz appeared in every episode of the second season in either flashbacks or present day except for Identity.
 * In, Sara's name is spelt as "Sarah", though throughout the rest of the series it's simply "Sara".