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"Arrow" is losing one of its allies. Colton Haynes, who has portrayed Roy Harper / Arsenal since the first show, is exiting the CW drama series in its latest episode which aired on Wednesday, April 15.

"Colton will not be returning to the show as a series regular in Season 4, but will appear in one additional episode this season," a rep for Warner Bros. TV, which produces the show, confirms it to THR. "Like all characters that exist in this universe, there will always be the potential for him return moving forward."

To Buzzfeed, executive producer Greg Berlanti reveals that Colton's gig on "Arrow" was always intended to be short-lived. "We made a two-year deal, so we always knew we were on a clock," he says.

Of Haynes' departure, Berlanti says, "He was such a wonderful element as a character and a person. It was super sad, but everybody kinda looked at each other and realized that he's at the start of, what I'm sure will be, an incredibly incredibly impressive career. It's great that he gets to go on and have that and we got to have him while we did."

Berlanti adds that the door is open for Haynes to return any time. To facilitate this, Haynes' character Roy Harper wasn't killed off in the most recent episode. He merely faked his death after protecting Oliver by taking the blame for being the Arrow. Thus, people will think that Arrow's dead. Roy, however, has to leave Starling City and starts a new life with a new identity.

Haynes first joined "Arrow" in a recurring role in the 15th episode of season one before being promoted to series regular at the beginning of season two. He is also known for his role as Jackson Whittemore on MTV's series "Teen Wolf", which he left after two seasons.

"Arrow" airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on The CW. In a sneak peek for the new episode, Oliver takes a wounded Thea to Nanda Parbat where there's water which can heal people. However, there's a twist since "the water changes people in the soul."