*Yes, this article contains spoilers from Arrow's third season. So leave now if you haven't watched the premiere!*
Black Canary is dead, long live Back Canary! Sara may have taken three arrows to the stomach and then fell to her death, but the Black Canary mantle is going to live on. As we've all suspected for quite some time, the show is finally moving forward with transforming Sara's sister, Laurel, into Black Canary. But is this something that should happen? Let's talk about it.
I'll be blunt, my immediate reaction is a confident no, it shouldn't happen. Yeah, Dinah Laurel Lance is Black Canary in the comics and the character's growth could lead to an Green Arrow and Black Canary relationship down the road (sorry, Olicity fans), but the character just doesn't seem to fit in with the other heroes. Being a vigilante takes more than just knowing how to fight. She's a passionate and driven character and we've seen her deal with a few tough situations before, but overall, I'm still left with this feeling that she just isn't ready take on Starling City as a vigilante and she should know she isn't prepared for it. Again, this thought goes beyond her abilities as a fighter. You need to be a gifted tactician, remain levelheaded (or try to), and make immensely difficult decisions on the spot.
I respect Laurel's urge to protect her city and keep scum off the streets, but her passionate nature has led her to some pretty poor and frustrating decisions, hasn't it? If things don't go well -- which is more than possible in that line of work -- I just don't have the confidence that she'd be able to respond to it well and watching her get in over her head won't be a fun thing to witness, especially since we've seen that before. Given what motivated her to pursue this path, it's more than likely emotion is going to play a critical role in her actions if she believes she has found the person who killed Sara. She'll obviously be Ted Grant's sidekick -- something Ollie is totally going to love (in case you can't tell, that was roughly 350% sarcasm) -- but, based on what we've seen, she still has a lot of mental training to do before she has the potential to eventually become a worthy addition to Starling City's evergrowing roster of vigilantes. I don't expect her to immediately be a flawless hero or hold her own with Oliver, but it still feels like she's not even prepared to go out there as someone's sidekick.
Over several years, Oliver Queen endured intense training on the island and then even more in Hong Kong (we've been told Katana will begin to help him soon enough). Sara was taught how to fight and act in combat by the League of Assassins. Both of these characters required several years of training to become formidable and it gave them the skills they require to overcome armed thugs and make quick decisions when they're in a rough spot. In the comics, Black Canary is an incredibly gifted fighter, but it's clear that won't be the case when Laurel assumes the mantle. Can she become a better hand-to-hand combatant and learn some neat moves? Sure, otherwise that training with Ted Grant would be a total waste of time (who else wants them to play Rocky music as they have training sequences?), but it's safe to assume she just won't be on par with Oliver and the other gifted melee fighters in the Arrow universe. That's perfectly fine and, if I remember correctly, this is something Stephen Amell has even addressed during one of the Arrow After Show episodes on YouTube He knows viewers won't accept her becoming on par with the best of the best -- that takes a lot of time and a lot of training.
So, what will Laurel bring to the table if we know she's not going to be a very good fighter? Seeing as she's not as good as many of the threats that occupy Starling City and the CW-verse, she needs to bring something extra to combat. Unfortunately, the released images of her only shows her carrying a baton. That may help even the odds against some low to mid level goons, but if she isn't as good as the others, you'd think she'd need more than that weapon so it's not as dangerous every time she goes on a mission. If she had some extra tech and equipment on her to help even the odds, it would be more believable to watch her go out there and fight crime. But, based on those two images, her suit doesn't seem to have extra compartments and only has a holster for that melee weapon (it looks like there might be one pouch on her right leg). She doesn't have the reflexes required to block or deflect arrows and she's yet to show commendable agility, so it really leaves me wondering what she can bring to the crime fighting experience. If anything, having her out in the field just seems to be an extra risk because they -- be it Ted or team Arrow -- need to worry about her safety. Roy has agility and came from a rough environment. Diggle has extensive training. Oliver trained for years in tough conditions and has face numerous challenges. Sara trained under the League of Assassins for years. Laurel? She's getting some extensive one-on-one lessons with Ted, but how can he honestly think she'd be ready for this? Maybe there will be a jump in time or maybe she'll have more equipment that we've yet to see. Her going out with such limited experience and gear doesn't seem like the best idea, does't it?
Training to vent and channel her anger is good, but heading out there against villains and armed criminals? I thought Deadshot's supposed to be the one who doesn't care if he lives or dies?! What can I say? I guess I'd prefer not to see her get herself killed. Despite thinking it's not a good idea for Laurel to become Black Canary, it's easy to understand why she's so actively pushing to become a vigilante. As a viewer, it's really easy us for us to pass judgement on these characters and say how they could have done something differently. We have a look at the bigger picture and often don't share their drastic emotions. But let's be honest, how many times have you made a decision that wasn't technically in your best interest? Unless you're supremely arrogant, I'm sure there's a few times that come to mind. I imagine if someone's watching your life and saw those developments, they probably go on a forum to rant about why they think the decision was silly. Given what happened to Sara (this is the SECOND time she's had to accept her sister's death. Let that sink in for a moment.), it's understandable she'll stop at nothing to locate Sara's murderer and she doesn't want someone else out there doing the job for her. She wants to do more to help and make sure Sara's killer is found. I can respect that, but she's seen the kinds of threats that are out there and will she honestly think a nightstick or Ted Grant watching her back will even the odds? I like the handling of her training in "Guilty," so if they continue to push her physical and mental training and keep her as a sidekick -- one who is allowed out there because she really presses for it -- it'll be far easier to accept this development.
Now, Laurel's not the only one becoming a combatant in Season 3. Thea's also stepped up her skills, but it's easier to accept her transformation. First and foremost, she's training under Malcolm Merlyn and he's really pushing her. We've only seen brief samples of their training and it was very intense. It's not like you'd expect anything less from Merlyn though, right? Secondly, she's not putting on a costume and going out to battle others -- or at least we haven't seen that from her. See, that's the critical part. If we saw Laurel training and training and training but we didn't know what the future held for her, it might be easier to one day accept this change and it would feel more natural. But it hasn't really been a secret that they want to make her become Black Canary -- there's been several blatant nods in Season 3 -- so that's making the development come off a little forced at times instead of being organic. It's almost like the process is being a little rushed. Still, the character has been down a rough road, so her desire to take control and become stronger -- both mentally and physically -- makes sense. Now it's just a matter of seeing how her transformation is handled.
As of right now, it's tough to picture Laurel bringing anything other than more drama to the story when she becomes Black Canary and that's really a bummer. Her honoring her sister and carrying on the Black Canary legacy should be something that should makes us cheer and applaud as she smacks around goons. But when it comes to skill and tactics, she just doesn't seem even close to being ready for the change and her slipping into the costume will upset Oliver and potentially put her in even more danger. There's obviously a lot of story potential there, but if we're having Laurel become Black Canary, I'm sure many of us would rather have it be something that excites us instead of feeling like Sara was killed just so they could put Laurel's development on the fast track. Look, we all know she'll be wearing the costume by the 10th episode of Season 3, so let's just hope they really step up her mental and physical training as we race towards that episode. And who knows how it'll play out? This entire article is nothing but speculation and we have no idea what'll happen once Laurel puts on the costume. Wouldn't it be surprising if she has trouble and realizes this change isn't for her? She could still go back to fighting crime by using the legal system and leave the physical fights to people like Ollie. Only time will tell and, despite not being the most optimistic person about this development, I'm still curious to see how it will all play out! Here's hoping the show makes me eat my words and the change is handled brilliantly.