Board Thread:Arrow discussions/@comment-9346948-20160427235332/@comment-3221148-20160429070336

You guys seriously think Laurel is dead? After the doctors said that she's going to be fine? After the scene cuts from Laurel's promise to another shot, and when we come back Oliver's just "i dunno what happened"? After this very season had a flashback where Oliver fakes Taiana's death? After Oliver is left the only person in the morgue, hears Laurel's voice then turns to her body? After no body was shown at the funeral, at all?

This is basic CW writing - seed something in "filler" episodes for it to be relevant for the big twist, just like how time travel was relevant for the Zoom reveal, instead of tinfoil "twin theories".

Next season (or even this season's finale) we'll get a flashback showing that Oliver's "promise to her" was to fake her death and force himself to not tell her dad about it. Her secret identity was compromised, plus she realized that Dhark can very much still control Quentyn while his daughters are around. By being legally dead, she gets time to train more to become a better superhero away from Star City (think Merlyn post-Season 1), and Lance has nothing keeping him from going after Dhark in full force, he just can't control him anymore. Oliver feels super-sad, because he now has to lie everybody about Laurel's death, seeing their tragedy, but unable to break his promise. And Oliver's secrets is also an old Arrow plot element, which always rips him away from the rest of his team members.