NOTE: Spoilers
Arrow returns this week in America for its first episode since Oliver Queen's (Stephen Amell) death at the hands of Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable).
Taking the fall for Sara's (Caity Lotz) death after discovering it was in fact his sister who killed her, the event led to a showdown between he and the leader of the League of Assassins, which ultimately saw him fatally wounded and pushed off the edge of a huge cliff.
Executive producer Marc Guggenheim has of course been joking around since the event, and said to Entertainment Weekly of Amell's involvement nowadays: "Stephen Amell is really enjoying playing Toliver, who is Oliver Queen's identical twin brother that you've never heard of before".
Fellow executive producer Andrew Kreisberg added: "I don't think the audience is wondering whether or not he's really dead.
"It's wondering how he's going to come back. The answer to that question is really revealed over these next three episodes, which were designed to be a trilogy of what happened to Oliver Queen and what happens to Starling City and its heroes when their leader and their inspiration isn't there to guide them anymore."
David Ramsey who plays loyal sidekick Diggle in the drama series has noted that he'll be suiting up in Green Arrow's costume to keep up the guise that the vigilante hero is still in action, but the decision to keep Team Arrow going may not be unanimous when the members discover what has happened to their leader.
Ramsey explained: "This has been Oliver's crusade for three years and now it's ours. We have to decide whether we want to stay or go and why. It's a big emotional turn for all of us. Do we want to go look for Oliver? Do we dismantle the team? How do we fight crime in this city without him? We do, by the way, fight crime without him, and it ain't pretty."
Colton Haynes - who plays Roy AKA Arsenal - adds: "Obviously Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) is heartbroken.
"Roy kind of plays it differently. He's very conflicted. He feels a little let down, and I don't want to say cheated, but in a way he really doesn't think Oliver is gone. Roy is now on a path to try to figure out if the truth is being told and he's going to get into a lot of trouble on that path."
Meanwhile, Katie Cassidy - who plays Laurel Lance - is finally getting the chance to suit up and carry on her sister's legacy as Black Canary.
Haynes continues: "Roy is a big part in bringing her into the fold because we do need as many people to make up for [Oliver's absence]."
"This is her opportunity to really step up to the plate and she does." Cassidy adds.
"You'll see her in costume, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she's good. She still has a ways to go. She's avenging her sister's death. She's a believer. She's had a lot of loss in her life. If anybody can handle more loss, I feel like Laurel could because she's an incredibly strong character."
Haynes goes on to explain how Thea (Willa Holland) reacts when she realises she was the one who killed Sara Lance.
"When she does find out, she starts to question her relationship with Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) and her relationship with everybody, because Thea is always the one being betrayed and everyone's lying to her."
Though everybody seems to blame Malcolm for Oliver's untimely death, Team Arrow need the Dark Archer if they're to progress.
"It's always the people that you want to take vengeance against that you need. When you need something from someone, especially when now we're having to deal with Ra's al Ghul, unfortunately you have to suck it up and wait for the right time." says Haynes.
A new threat is just around the corner to add to the problems with the League of Assassins, as Vinnie Jones joins the cast of Brick.
Whilst the bad guys are on the rise, Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) could be stepping into the shoes of his alter-ego The Atom sooner rather than later.
Guggenheim says: "You'll see with Felicity, there's a lot of back and forth. She and Ray Palmer probably have their most intense and intensely negative interaction in the wake of Oliver's absence. It's interesting because Oliver basically went off and, in her mind, did the equivalent of committing suicide, and here comes Ray Palmer and says he wants to be a super hero, too. 'Now I have to watch another guy go on a death mission?' Oliver's absence and his willingness to place himself in harm's way looms very large in Felicity's interactions with Palmer because Palmer represents a chance for her hopefully to do things differently."
He goes on to add: "The reason episodes 10, 11 and 12 are a trilogy is the events of episode 309 were so epic on so many different levels, it can't just be resolved in one episode.
"There are repercussions that go for three episodes and really for the remainder for the season, if not the remainder of the series. The series will never be exactly the same post-episode 309."
Arrow returns tonight at 9pm ET on The CW, and comes back to Sky1 in the UK later this year.