What are the chances of Sara Lance returning to Arrow?

** Warning, spoilers from season three of Arrow. Only information about things that have yet to air on the show will be spoiler blocked. Meaning things that have already happened will be freely discussed **

With recent developments in Arrow, it has become a common speculation that the Lazarus Pit will be appearing in some form on Arrow. I think few would argue that the Lazarus Pit doesn't exist in the CW-verse at this point. Malcolm Merlyn's ambiguous return from an (apparent) death in season two and RIa's al Ghul's line about having dueled somebody sixty-seven years ago are commonly cited examples of references to the Lazarus Pit in-universe. And we all know Oliver will be returning from the dead sooner-or-later, with the Lazarus Pit being the most likely venue for his return.

With all of that being said, I would like to backtrack to Sara Lance. I, like many others, was very sad to see her leave the show. And for a while, I didn't really consider the chance that she might come back to life. But recently, I've given it a bit more thought and am wondering just how possible it would be to see her alive again.

For starters, now we know for sure who her murderer is. With Malcolm Merlyn's masterminding her death, a character who may have indicated knowledge AND use of the Lazarus Pit in the past, the possibility that he retrieved Sara's body and brought it back to life is worth discussing. Merlyn is a pretty calculating guy. He seems like the type who likes to have many controls and contingencies. Having Thea kill Sara was meant to further his agenda. But if Merlyn could accomplish the desired affect of Sara's death AND revive her after death to be used as leverage in the future, who's to say he wouldn't?

We also know that episode 13 of the show will be titled Canaries and that it will feature the return of Sara (albeit, most likely via flashback).
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/arrow-season-3-spoilers-sara-lance-returns-canary-will-roy-harper-step-oliver-queen-1480063

Am I just making a large example of wishful thinking, or do others think it's possible that we could see Sara again someday?

Her death was primarily aimed towards setting Laurel on the path to becoming Black Canary. But if they could accomplish this goal without leaving Sara dead, perhaps they would indeed do so.

They were pretty good, but then she took an arrow to the everything.

I don't think Merlyn used the Lazarus pit, I think he just used trickery and survived the blow.

I think Sarah will stay dead, Laurel is gonna become the Black Canary now and they need to cut back on the revivals in my opinion.

However, I do think Tommy's body was collected by the league when they believed Merlyn had died so that they could use Tommy as a pawn. He is the heir to Merlyn global, providing them with useful resources. Malcolm will die sometime this or next season and Tommy will take the mantle of the Dark Archer/Merlyn.

Nah if everyone came back from death it will become to cheap also Sara has been dead for quite some time now the Lazarus Pit might not work on her.

Sadly, her chances of revival are slim to none. Even ignoring the fact that Laurel was always intended to become Black Canary, Sarah's body has been buried for months now. There would be a big gaping plot hole if the pits could be used to revive the long dead.

No... As much as I want her to... No...

If they wanted to revive Sara, they wouldn't waste time on a Black Canary, Laurel arc for 3 episodes...

My dear naive sock-man, bringing Sara back to life would cheapen her death and half of season 3.

I'd say that it's unlikely, but possible. Going from the OP's theory, Merlyn could have potentially retrieved Sara's body shortly after her death (after her burial) and revived her.

But again, I don't think that's the direction they intend to go. As much as I wish Sara hadn't died in the first place, I find it unlikely that the showrunners would backtrack so drastically to revive her after spending so much energy on her murder.

@the_kidd: @buttersdaman000: actually Superman brought back The Flash in a Lazarus Pit from bones soooo unless they destroy Sara's bones this is forever a possibility and I personally think she deserves to be revived her death was cheap and so is the new Canary

Only in flash backs

I'll miss her booty, but she should stay gone.