Dinah Lance


 * For other characters with the same first name, see Dinah.

"Come over to academia, the fun never ends"

- Dinah Lance

Dinah Lance is a professor of Greek and medieval history at Central City University. She is the mother of Laurel Lance and Sara Lance, as well as the ex-wife of Quentin Lance. After Sara's apparent death, she left her husband and surviving daughter. However she returned in 2013 to make amends with her family and to tell Laurel that she believed Sara to still be alive. Dinah never blamed Oliver for Sara's apparent death, unlike Quentin or Laurel at the time, as she felt the most guilty after Sara's death for letting her go with Oliver on the Queen's Gambit.

Searching for Sara
Dinah sent Laurel a text which Laurel didn't bother to respond and even check the message. Dinah appeared at Laurel's door, saying that Sara might still be alive.

Later, she told her ex-husband, Quentin Lance, that Sara was still alive. When Quentin was hesitant to believe, Dinah showed him that the island Oliver was on had many islands surrounding. She then brought out a photo of a woman on one of the islands in a Starling City Rockets hat who looked similar to Sara Lance. Laurel learned from the Chinese Embassy that the girl was in Starling City and contacted her. They learned the girl in the photo is Jenn, a girl who went to Zhengjiu for a year which is Mandarin for Salvation. Later, Laurel asked how Sara brought the hat to the trip because Dinah was so sure the girl was Sara because of the hat, not because she looks like Sara. She admitted she was there when Sara was packing and that she let her go without attempting to stop her and began to think she was responsible for Sara's death. She visited Laurel one last time to return to Central City which Laurel told her mother she can call anytime if she wants to talk, forgiving her.

Sara's return
When Laurel apparently overdosed, Dinah returned to Starling to visit her with Quentin and Oliver. However, later she was kidnapped by a member of the League of Assassins to be used as leverage to get Sara to return to them, mainly Nyssa al Ghul. Much later Quentin found Dinah with Sara confirming what Dinah had thought all along, that Sara was still alive. However Sara then passed out from self poisoning. Out of rage Nyssa tried to kill Dinah and Quentin until the The Arrow intervened. After the fight was over Quentin and Dinah had a proper reunion with Sara as Laurel arrived in shock. Though Dinah was overjoyed that Sara was home, Laurel wasn't and even threw a glass of wine at her out of rage in front of Dinah.

Dinah, along with Quentin, attended Sara's "Welcome Back" party at the Queen Mansion. There Moira said how happy she was for Dinah now that she has Sara back and that she understood how painful must had been for her to believe her daughter was dead for all these years. Later, she and Quentin seemed to share a moment but they got interrupted when Quentin was called away to a bank robbery. The next day, at Laurel's place, the whole Lance family was invited for dinner, in Quentin's attempt to get back together with his ex-wife. When Quentin talked to Dinah about leaving Central City and coming back to Starling, Dinah admitted to being happy with her new life and her job there, not wishing to move back. When Quentin tried to persuade her even further, she admitted to also being in a relationship. An awkward silence followed, but then Sara and Oliver, who also attended the family dinner, congratulated her.

Losing Sara again
At the Starling City Police Department, Dinah paid a visit to her daughter and her ex-husband. She asked Laurel where Sara was, and pressured her to telling the truth. Laurel revealed that Sara was dead, but begged her mother to not tell Quentin. Later at the cemetery, Laurel and Dinah visited Sara's grave. Laurel promised her mother that she would find Sara's killer, no matter what it took.

Losing another daughter
Following Sara's resurrection and John Constantine restoring her soul, Sara contacted her mother to let her know she was alive, to which she was overjoyed. Sara later came to visit her. When Sara left Laurel went to see her as well. When Damien Darhk killed Laurel Lance, Dinah came back to Star City and was once again in grief. She went to her funeral with her ex-husband Quentin. She told Quentin that Laurel will come back just like Sara did but Quentin, who had hoped for the same thing before Oliver talked him out of it, no longer thought so. During the funeral, Oliver revealed to everyone that Laurel was the Black Canary which shocked Dinah because she never knew that Laurel became the Black Canary after Sara was the Canary.

Personality
Dinah is kind, caring, selfless, intelligent, compassionate, she is also a reasonable person, as she did not blame Oliver for Sara's apparent death, because she knew Sara's apparent death was an accident.

Dinah is a loving mother, as she loves both of her daughters, Laurel and Sara very much, She was devastated when her younger daughter died, although Dinah loved her then-husband, Quentin, but she couldn't handle what he had become, so she left and divorced him, 6 years later, the two reconciled.

Abilities

 * Maternal instincts: Dinah is shown to have strong maternal instincts when it comes to her children. The entire 6 years Sara "died" she still maintained the feeling Sara was alive somewhere but when Sara actually died, she then lost those feelings, leading her to believe Sara had died without needed to be told.
 * High-level intellect: Dinah is very intelligent, as she is a professor of Greek and medieval history at the Central City University.

Arrow
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Season 6
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Trivia

 * In an erased timeline Dinah, presumably, along with everyone in Central City, was killed by Vandal Savage using the Staff of Horus in his efforts to kill Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders. However, due to Barry Allen changing the time continuum this disaster never occurs.
 * She is the only known Arrow character who lives in Central City, the city where The Flash takes place.
 * She's appeared in every season except Season 5.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics, Dinah Drake-Lance is the first person to take on the legacy mantle of Black Canary, a member of the Justice Society of America and is also the mother of her successor, Dinah Laurel Lance.
 * On the show, the character is split into two altogether separate individuals; Dinah Lance, the civilian mother of Sara and Laurel Lance, the White Canary and first Black Canary, respectively, and Dinah Drake, the metahuman Black Canary-in-training.