All good things must come to an end. The same goes for things that used to be pretty good, then got kind of rough, but is still pretty fun during the crossovers. I speak, of course, of the CW's Arrow, which will officially hang up its hood after an abbreviated 10-episode season 8 according to star Stephen Amell.

In a joint statement, showrunner Beth Schwartz and executive-producers/co-creators Greg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim addressed the "difficult decision" to bring the show to an end.

"This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we’ve made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind. We’re heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We’re excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and — more importantly — the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years."

Developed by Berlanti, Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, Arrow first debuted on the CW in 2012, a small-screen take on DC's Green Arrow with Amell in the vigilante lead. What started as a surprisingly above average comic book show spawned a whole dang small screen universe, leading the way for The Flash, SupergirlLegends of Tomorrow, and the not-technically-the-same-universe-but-come-on Black Lightning. Thanks to the resulting Arrowverse, we've gotten small-screen adaptations of iconic DC characters like Ra's al Ghul (Matthew Nable), Deathstroke (Manu Bennett), Batwoman (Ruby Rose), and objectively most important, King Shark (David Hayer). King Shark!

Arrow's cancellation is surprising in the same way Iron Fist's cancellation by Netflix last October was surprising. Like Netflix's mini-Marvel Universe, you kind of got the sense that the Arrowverse would just chug along forever on The CW because of the name-brand prestige that comes with having a shared comic book universe. For now, The Flash is still scheduled for a season 6, Legends of Tomorrow a season 5, Supergirl a season 5, and Black Lightning a season 3. (Unrelated: Supernatural will be back for season 15 and will outlive us all.)

For more on Arrow's latest—and now, penultimate—season, check out the links below:

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Image via The CW
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Image via The CW
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Image via The CW