'Arrow' Season 8: Roy Harper is the latest archer to lose his arm for an interesting plot but he's not done fighting yet
Limiting a superhero's ability to use their powers is a surefire way to create some drama and give them something to struggle against. It's something we see writers do all the time and it's unlikely they're going to stop anytime soon.
But what do you do when your hero is an archer without any superpowers to speak of? Well, you chop off their arm, of course.
Roy Harper / Arsenal (Colton Haynes) is the latest in a long line of archers to lose his arm, having gotten it cut off in a desperate '127 Hours'-type situation in 'Arrow' Season 8 Episode 7 'Purgatory'.
It's not exactly new for the character — it's happened to him both in the comics and on the animated series 'Young Justice' — but that doesn't make it any less painful for poor Roy now does it?
Then again, considering an alternate universe version of Oliver Queen / Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) lost his arm in an episode of 'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' and still managed to be a pretty kickass hero, there's still hope that the injury won't permanently bench Roy.
With 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' having arrived, Oliver is going to need all the help he can get and knowing Roy, he would certainly want to lend a hand (forgive the pun).
There are quite a few options for Roy to overcome this new handicap, the easiest being to switch to a crossbow or some single-handed weapon in the immediate future. He could also try firing arrows with his mouth but that seems like a bit too hard to do in the heat of battle, at least not without a few months of intensive training.
What we'd really love to see is Roy getting a cool metal prosthetic arm like the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) in 'Star Wars'.
It's a look that never really goes out of style and as a bonus, Roy could outfit the arm with a few accessories that would make him deadlier than ever. After all, Roy Harper isn't the kind of person to let an injury, no matter how critical, stop him from being a hero and we're sure he'll find a way to keep his edge, one way or another.
The next episode of 'Arrow' won't be here till January 14 but we'll be seeing all (or at least most) of Team Arrow again sooner than that when 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' begins with December 8's episode of 'Supergirl', airing exclusively on The CW.