Oliver Queen and his band of heroes are closing the Arrow Cave and hanging up the bows. Arrow will come to an end next year during its eighth season with a shortened ten-episode run. The news isn’t too surprising since The CW superhero show’s continuation had been the topic of debate until the recent announcement of an eighth season.

Stephen Amell, the show’s star, made the announcement via Twitter, stating “Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life…but you can’t be a vigilante forever. Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this fall. There’s so much to say…for now I just want to say thank you.”

While on Facebook Live, he expressed that the decision was due in part to his family. Amell also pointed out that with the Arrowverse’s interconnect storylines, he could still pop up as Green Arrow from time to time.

Arrow began its run in 2012, taking inspiration from the gritty Dark Knight film trilogy for a moodier superhero show than CW predecessor, Smallville. What started with a focus on Oliver Queen, grew to include a team with former military man John Diggle, tech genius Felicity Smoak, his sister Thea Queen, and Laurel Lance as Black Canary, among others. An even larger world grew from there, creating the Arrowverse (or CW-verse) – a shared slate of shows, including The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow.

“This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we’ve made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind,” executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Beth Schwartz (showrunner) said in a statement. “We’re heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We’re excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and – more importantly – the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years.”

CW President Mark Pedowitz recently pointed out that the network is looking toward the future of DC programing. During the Television Critics Association winter press tour, he suggested that as shows age, they want to consider the next generation of programing to keep momentum going on the CW-DC universe.

Arrow is still expected to participate in next fall’s big “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover, which means that it’s possible the show’s ending may be centered around the event.