I perused the comment section, and I came across this post from an Olicity fan. I will post the whole reply, because I think it gives a pretty good portrayal how the more hardcore Oliciters view the question of what "Arrow" is about, especially since Laurel has started her BC journey. I keep seeing the mantra ""Arrow is about Oliver and his origin story, not about Laurel/BC in many oliciter tweets and metas, and that is exactly the meme the poster below is rehashing in her post. So, for parts of the Olicity fandom Laurel is superfluous, because the show is about Oliver, but Felicity is essential because she is his love interest and partner. Judge for yourselves:

I won’t mince my words, I’m known for being blunt in my stance on things. But this post reeks of the ranting of a bitter comic purist that tuned into the tale of the Green Arrow’s origin story to see the Green Arrow and Black Canary show. And frankly, that’s a disservice to the show’s one and only protagonist, Oliver Queen.

I know many of you like to harp on who the leads are and who should be important, even at what level of prominence in Oliver Queen’s journey. Let me clarify this for you, Stephen Amell is the show’s lead. Period. Katie Cassidy was cast as a female lead because she was supposed to be the primary love interest. Thus the term (Female lead) and not simply lead, like Amell. But the fact remains that viewers and critics mocked the show for their leads being completely flat and lackluster together. And honestly for hiring two people without doing a chemistry test. Sometimes, roles are simply miscast. This is a flaw that could have buried this show by season two if changes weren’t made to make the show viable. But the fact remains that this is in fact a TV show designed to introduce the Green Arrow into mainstream to levels never before achieved. But not to worry, it’s rare that a show officially changes who the titled leads are. I have no problem with this, but for two seasons, like or not, Emily Bett Rickards has had the writing as the show’s female lead. She’s the show’s ambassador to other connective shows. That won’t change either.

This is what I’ve seen, I’ve watched the character of Oliver Queen evolve from a character that had few redeeming qualities as the man he was in season one. And whether you agree or not, no two people have impacted that growth as significantly as John Diggle and Felicity. Why? Because these are the two relationships on the show that have been told from the moment they met. They’ve been the most fleshed out ties. They’ve been consistently told and aided in the evolution of Oliver Queen as a hero. And at the end of the day, THAT is the goal of the show and thereby the rationale behind who he shares meaningful scenes with.

Arrow season three lost it’s way off and on throughout the season. But many fans disagree with you over why. For instance, if you have to kill off the show’s protagonist and stall for almost half a season to tell the tale of a lesser hero that is NOT the series protagonist, there’s a problem. Not only did the telling of the Black Canary arc completely bring the show to a grinding halt as she was given time to catch up from a show that long ago left her behind and moved on without her in season 2, but it also proved that the show could and has thrived without her.

This is simply not her show and the telling of her tale was never going to overshadow the telling of the Green Arrow’s story. Once I felt the show did start looking like that, like many viewers, I tuned out. I didn’t sign up for a show that twisted itself inside out to tell the story of anyone other than Oliver Queen’s.

Something else that people need to keep in mind is the fact that this is not the comic book industry. And a TV show is big business. They can’t conduct themselves or run a show as they would a comic book that lacks the ability to convey chemistry, tone, emotional depth and nowhere near the compelling drama required for mainstream media. So I can assure you, if the network and showrunners are giving Felicity Smoak and Emily Bett Rickards the airtime and story arcs with the series protagonist, you can rest assured that they have access to demos, ratings, focus groups, and far more viewer analytics than we’ll ever know about.

So it’s naïve to think that “Olicity shippers” have the power to dictate the ongoings and choices of a multi-billion dollar network. And this is just the truth of the matter.

Furthermore, take a look around online at the reviews, at the networks, at the social media chatter of reputable news sources, actors, shows, celebrities and others that have flocked to the Oliver and Felicity part of Arrow in a manner never before seen for any other relationship Oliver has on the show. It’s undeniable that this isn’t just a “shipper” thing. It’s something that happened and progressed organically for the life span of the show. But no, let’s not acknowledge that, it makes much more sense to throw a hissy fit because the greater viewing audience is demanding something that goes against the same tired story told in the comic book Green Arrow stories for over 50 years.

Maybe these showrunners are finally grasping and realizing that Green Arrow has never become popular and taken off in mainstream to levels of other superheroes because they continue to tell his tale as a duo to other “heroes” instead of the stand alone hero that he is? This is not the Green Arrow and Black Canary show and it never will be. She’s no more important or deserves no more screen time for her story as Arsenal, Atom, Huntress, Canary, Flash, or anyone else not named Arrow.

If you can’t grasp that, go back to your comics books and allow the newly found TV viewers to Green Arrow to actually get to know him via this iteration and enjoy his origins, which by the way, never had Black Canary in them anyway. Peace.