Got an idea on how the season will play out...

[ArrowMD]

I am kinda hoping/speculating Laurel dies. Her character is annoying. I am sure every one can agree we like Sara as Canary more than her. Plus realistically.. how many girls would get back together with the guy that cheated with her sister and then dated said sister after she came back to the city. Kill off the plastic looking drug addict!
In addition, production speaking, Caity Lotz is already trained in martial arts or whatever, and looks more built to play the part of Canary compared to Katie Cassidy.

[cloisornothing]

Katie is here to stay and she ain't boring, since last episode she's starting having more and more supporters (not only Katie Cassidy fans!). and Laurel is here to stay, she won't die and what writers are doing right now proves once again that she'll become Black Canary.

[cloisornothing]

I'm starting to think too, that Slade will become a grey character with his good sides and bad sides. I think that Oliver will end Slade vendetta in an unexpected way, not by fighting with him but with words and maybe he'll talk about Tommy's death caused by Malcolm's madness. Slade ain't Malcolm so much (except for the vendetta, he has something he has to live with everyday -like Malcolm's losing his wife- Shado's death he didn't witness and the Mirakuru in his veins), but there is one big difference between Slade and Malcolm. Slade is a soldier, a man with values, a man who started becoming Oliver's friend and started to teach him what he knows, he helped him to survive. It built a stronger connexion than Oliver has with Malcolm.

What I mean is that Oliver couldn't save Slade on the island and he couldn't save Tommy from the building's collapsing. I still think that Oliver considers Slade as a friend and with Tommy's death I think he's not ready to kill someone again. If Oliver can train Roy and helping controlling Mirakuru, he can help Slade too. Maybe Slade would be a great asset against season 3's villain. And I think Slade's situation and Laurel's one are quite similar (not in the same way obviously) remember he has plans for her and I think this is why we see them side by side on season 2 poster.

[samgeorgey]

In my honest opinion, Malcom won't show up until the finale as Ollie begins his fight to death between Slade. The reason as to why Malcolm showing up Would also be as another user mentioned that Thea being abducted by Slade. We can already see in the pictures of the next episode "The Promise" where Thea looks at Slade and it hints at disapproval or somewhat implying that she doesn't trust him. Slade would probably cope on to how Thea doesn't really trust him and he would probably abduct her resulting in the return of the Dark Archer. But hey the Arrow writers are absolute legends and they could do anything short of amazing and whatever we speculate here they might've seen coming a mile away and rewrote a whole different plot perspective that we wouldn't even think of leaving us a little less than flabbergasted at how the episodes wind up!

[snookie16]

This is how I see the end of the season playing out.

We all will think he Slade has been defeated when it is actually Sebastian Blood who was defeated. Slade will probably end up like how it ended with Malcolm last season. So it leaves open for Deathstroke to come back. Slade will not leave without hurting people but it will leave an impact.

Also I don't see Sara dying but her role as Black Canary ending and her becoming White Canary I only say this because in the Pilot episode we saw the actress playing Sara in a set of black panties and bra which felt to me foreshadowing her as Black Canary. When Caity Lotz came in this season we see Sara in a set of white panties and bra which feels to me they are foreshadowing her to become White Canary. Or Sara will stay black but Laurel can take on the role as White because for a little time in the comics she was a the White Canary. As for Laurel there could be a period where she might become Arrowette because those of you that are familiar with "Green Arrow: Year One" graphic novel she did loose her sonic scream but she still was a hero taking on a version of Arrowette. I also think it be pretty interesting to see what influence Slade will have on her.

[Quark]

I reckon Nyssa finds out about Thea's parentage and forces Malcolm to try take control of the Slade situation otherwise she tells Ra's al Ghul about Thea. Malcolm says yes but only if Thea is safe. Nyssa then goes to Sara who is the only person Nyssa trusts and tells her it's only a matter of time before the rest of the League finds out. Sara realises the only way to keep Thea safe is if they both go on the run and don't tell anyone...

[cryhwks]

My theory is Slade will force Ollie to make the same kind of decision that Ivo made him do on the island but this time he has to choose to save either Laurel or Sarah. & maybe team Arrow will come into play & they'll be able to save both or I think Sarah will die & it will be mirrored on the island with her "dying" there. But I could also see something like in the very end Ollie saves Slade somehow.

[cloisornothing]

I remember Slade saying Laurel was a problem. But only in the sense that she would find out Slade's plans and tell the Arrow, and Slade didn't want it to happen. I don't think that Slade would hurt or try to kill Laurel, even for revenge. Because when he learnt that Sara was alive in the island flashbacks, he said something like this to Oliver"and you cheated on your girlfriend for her ?!". As if he would empathize to Laurel's situation. If Slade wanted to kill off Laurel, he would have already do that! But, I think Slade will have a part in Laurel's transformation into Black Canary and if it's really the case that would be the best thing that happened in the show (with casting Manu Bennett, Katie Cassidy and the arrival of Barry Allen)

Honestly, if next season Slade trains Laurel as Black Canary, I would be so happy! I can't wait to see it happening! Those two characters have so much in common and they didn't even share any scene together, but I don't want to see the same Lionel/Chloe situation like at the end of season 2 of Smallville.

[Nightwing25]

I think the candidate most likely to die will actually be Sin, and it will come at a time when everyone thinks their loved ones are safe. Sin has connections to Roy, Thea, and Sara which he can also affect Olivers relationship will all of them through killing her. I do think that he will go after others like Detective Lance and Laurel (and maybe injure them to the point that their fates are hanging for the season finale), but killing off Sin might be a way to have Sara leave and train with the League of Assassin's or even introduce Lady Shiva. If it does take that turn, Slade would succeed in pushing Sara away from Oliver and maybe he'll kidnap Thea and train her or influence her with a modified strain of the Mirakuru (as he did to Cassandra Cain in the comics). Also it seems like the writers are writing Laurel to be more like Roy in the comics where she struggles with addiction and makes all kinds of mistakes along the way. Also Isabel's character will probably end up being Rose Wilson or in cahoots with Slade as she is probably attacking Oliver from a financial aspect. Also wouldn't it be something if Joseph Wilson shows up in the season finale to help neutralize Slade in the season finale and they reveal a HIVE connection as well since it was mentioned by Deadshot in the season.