The recently unveiled preview of the next episode, "Canary Cry," of Arrow reveals glimpses of Laurel (Katie Cassidy) as the Black Canary and shows Oliver (Stephen Amell) dealing with speculation suggesting that she is still alive.

The preview pretty much confirms what the previously revealed synopsis says about the episode. "Laurel's gone, and if she were here she would tell you that you cannot forget who you are. We can never become them," Oliver is heard saying.

The tag line that runs with the preview also seems pretty definitive: "You cannot come back from crossing the line."

While some reports speculate that a new Black Canary might emerge, these glimpses seem like flashbacks, although the synopsis reveals that Laurel's father Lance will claim to have seen her.

Here's the synopsis:

"Oliver and the team struggle to come to terms with Laurel's death, especially Diggle who is overwhelmed with guilt for choosing to believe Andy had changed. Meanwhile, Lance refuses to believe his daughter is really gone and asks Nyssa to help bring her back. A recent Black Canary sighting in Star City only seems to prove his theory that Laurel isn't actually dead."

The latest episode, "Eleven-Fifty-Nine," revealed that Laurel was the loved one in the grave. The character was killed off in a confrontation with Damien Darhk (Neal McDonnough). While many fans were obviously left shocked and stunned, some of them are also a bit outraged, as Laurel was a very dear character.

In an interview with Variety, showrunner Marc Guggenheim extensively justified the decision to kill off Laurel and also revealed that this will not be the last fans will see of the Black Canary:

"Obviously, 'Arrow' is always a show that's evolving. It's always a show where every character, arguably except for the Arrow, is fair game. We started off this year with the promise of a death, and when we worked our way through our various different creative choices, we realized that the thing that will give us the most pop, going into the end of the season and into next season, unfortunately would be Laurel. By the way, we knew that it would enrage a lot of people. We're not [blind] to the shipping, and we're not [blind] to the internet controversy ... But we've never made decisions on the show, creatively, because of the internet.

"One of the things we knew people would think was, 'In the season where Oliver and Felicity get engaged and Laurel dies, that's clearly making a choice about who's going to end up with who.' And truth be told, we told the Laurel-Oliver romance story in Season 1 ... and we never really thought about going back to it. So, the shipping thing was not an element. It was not a factor for us. And we recognize that that upsets a lot of fans, particularly the comic book fans. In the comics, Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen, depending on which version of the character you like, are in a romance together, in various iterations. That, to some people, is considered canonical and iconic, and we respect that. But at the same time, we've always made no bones about the fact that we are telling our own version of the Green Arrow mythos."

"Canary Cry" is set to air on April 6.

Watch the preview:

Tags
Arrow, The cw, Television