Before she started playing Agent Jessica Knight on NCIS, one of Katrina Law’s most well-known roles was her recurring stint as Nyssa al Ghul on Arrow. Introduced in Season 2, Law’s character appeared in every season that followed, and was among the many returning guest stars who were present for Oliver Queen’s funeral in the series finale, titled “Fadeout.” In an interview with CinemaBlend, Law reflected on what it was like for her getting together with so many familiar faces from Arrow’s eight-season run for this integral scene that she described as a great way to bring “closure.”
While the majority of my recent conversation with Katrina Law concerned her current gig on NCIS, including when she knew Jessica Knight would stick around for Season 22 and why her character made that big decision in the Season 22 premiere, I concluded out conversation by bringing up her appearance in “Fadeout,” which aired on The CW nearly five years ago. Here’s what the actress told me about her experience shooting the funeral scene:
What a perfect way for closure. It was so beautiful, seeing everybody together. And that cast, I mean, we traveled the world together. I know I only guest starred, but I guess starred for seven years. We went to conventions together, we literally went to other countries together. We saw fans and we watched fans have children and we held their children and we got to know each other. There's something magical about when you travel together, you just have a bond like no other. To know that everybody wanted to, was asked to and was willing to get back together for that final episode, it was pretty great. Just a great way to be like, ‘Hey, what a run, what an incredible journey and experience we all just went on together.’ So that's cool.
Nyssa al Ghul was chiefly seen in “Fadeout” speaking with her half-sister Talia and her former lover Sara Lance at OIiver Queen’s funeral. As Arrow fans will recall, Nyssa’s father, Ra’s al Ghul, forced her to marry Oliver in Season 3, but the marriage was ultimately annulled by “The Thanatos Guild.” Nevertheless, Nyssa and Oliver maintained an amicable enough relationship once they became allies, and when Sara thanked Nyssa for attending the funeral, she said there was “nowhere else” she’d be. Clearly Katrina Law felt the same way at the time, as she welcomed getting one last moment with the Arrow actors she’d spent so much time with over the years, as well as meet some new people in the process.
Although Arrow came to an end in early 2020, its lore continued to be explored through John Diggle’s appearances in various DC TV shows in the years afterwards, most of which revolved around the green-glowing box he found in “Fadeout.” Then this corner of the Arrowverse was touched on one last time in The Flash Season 9 episode “It's My Party and I'll Die If I Want To,” which saw David Ramsey once again reprising Diggle and Stephen Amell reprising Oliver Queen for the first time since Arrow’s series finale. Arrow’s penultimate episode, “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” was also meant to be a backdoor pilot for a spinoff with the same name, but it was decided in early 2021 not to move forward with the project.
Revisit all of Arrow’s eight seasons with a Netflix subscription, which can also be used to view The Flash, Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow and Black Lightning (you’ll need a Max subscription to watch Batwoman). If you’d rather look to the future, I advise you read through our guide of upcoming DC TV shows.
