- For her daughter of similar name, see Laurel Lance.
- "Come over to academia, the fun never ends"
- —Dinah Lance[src]
Dinah Lance is a professor of Greek and medieval history at Central City University. She is the mother of Laurel Lance and Sara Lance, as well as the ex-wife of Quentin Lance. After Sara's apparent death, she left her husband and surviving daughter. However she returned in 2013 to make amends with her family and to tell Laurel that she believed Sara to still be alive. Dinah never blamed Oliver for Sara's apparent death, unlike Quentin or Laurel at the time, as she felt the most guilty after Sara's death for letting her go with Oliver on the Queen's Gambit.
Biography
Season 1
In "Dead to Rights", Dinah sends Laurel a text which Laurel doesn't bother to respond and even check the message. Dinah appears at Laurel's door, saying that Sara might still be alive.
In "The Huntress Returns", she tells her ex-husband, Quentin Lance, that Sara is still alive. When Quentin is hesitant to believe, Dinah shows that the island Oliver was on had many islands surrounding. She then brings out a photo of a woman on one of the islands in a Starling City Rockets hat who looks similar to Sara Lance. Laurel learns from the Chinese Embassy that the girl is in Starling City and contacts her. They learn the girl in the photo is Jenn, a girl who went to Zhengjiu for a year which is Mandarin for Salvation. Later, Laurel asks how Sara brought the hat to the trip because Dinah was so sure the girl was Sara because of the hat, not because she looks like Sara. She admits she was there when Sara was packing and that she let her go without attempting to stop her and begins to think she was responsible for Sara's death. She visits Laurel one last time to return to Central City which Laurel tells her mother she can call anytime if she wants to talk, forgiving her.
Season 2
In "Heir to the Demon", when Laurel apparently overdosed, Dinah returned to Starling to visit her with Quentin and Oliver. However, later she was kidnapped by a member of the League of Assassins to be used as leverage to get Sara to return to them, mainly Nyssa al Ghul. Much later Quentin found Dinah with Sara confirming what Dinah had thought all along, that Sara was still alive. However Sara then passed out from self poisoning. Out of rage Nyssa tried to kill Dinah and Quentin until the The Arrow intervened. After the fight was over Quentin and Dinah had a proper reunion with Sara as Laurel arrived in shock. Though Dinah was overjoyed that Sara was home, Laurel wasn't and even threw a glass of wine at her out of rage in front of Dinah.
In "Time of Death", Dinah, along with Quentin, attends Sara's "Welcome Back" party at the Queen Mansion. There Moira says how happy she is for Dinah now that she has Sara back and that she understands how painful must had been for her to believe her daughter was dead for all these years. Later, she and Quentin seem to share a moment but they get interrupted when Quentin is called away to a bank robbery. The next day, at Laurel's place, the whole Lance family is invited for dinner, in Quentin's attempt to get back together with his ex-wife. When Quentin talks to Dinah about leaving Central City and coming back to Starling, Dinah admits to being happy with her new life and her job there, not wishing to move back. When Quentin tries to persuade her even further, she admits to also being in a relationship. An awkward silence follows, but then Sara and Oliver, who also attends the family dinner, congratulate her.
Season 3
In "The Climb", at the Starling City Police Department, Dinah pays a visit to her daughter and her ex-husband. She asks Laurel where Sara is, and pressures her to telling the truth. Laurel reveals that Sara is dead, but begs her mother to not tell Quentin. Later at the cemetery, Laurel and Dinah visit Sara's grave. Laurel promises her mother that she will find Sara's killer, no matter what it takes.
Season 4
Following Sara's resurrection and John Constantine restoring her soul, Sara contacted her mother to let her know she was alive, to which she was overjoyed. Sara later came to visit her. When Damien Darhk killed Laurel Lance, Dinah came back to Star City and was once again in grief. She went to her funeral with her ex-husband Quentin. She told Quentin that Laurel will come back just like Sara did but Quentin, who had hoped for the same thing before Oliver talked him out of it, no longer thought so. During the funeral, Oliver revealed to everyone that Laurel was the Black Canary which shocked Dinah because she never knew that Laurel became the Black Canary after Sara was the Canary.
Personality
Dinah is kind, caring, selfless, intelligent, compassionate, she is also a reasonable person, as she did not blame Oliver for Sara's apparent death, because she knew Sara's apparent death was an accident.
Dinah is a loving mother, as she loves both of her daughters, Laurel and Sara very much, She was devastated when her younger daughter died, although Dinah loved her then-husband, Quentin, but she couldn't handle what he had become, so she left and divorced him, 6 years later, the two reconciled.
Abilities
- Maternal instincts: Dinah is shown to have strong maternal instincts when it comes to her children. The entire 6 years Sara "died" she still maintained the feeling Sara was alive somewhere but when Sara actually died, she then lost those feelings, leading her to believe Sara had died without needed to be told.
- High-level intellect: Dinah is very intelligent, as she is a professor of Greek and medieval history at the Central City University.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
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The Flash
Season 2
- "Legends of Today" (mentioned)
DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Season 1
- "Last Refuge" (pictured)
Trivia
- In an erased timeline Dinah, presumably, along with everyone in Central City, was killed by Vandal Savage using the Staff of Horus in his efforts to kill Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders. However, due to Barry Allen changing the time continuum this disaster never occurs.
Behind the scenes
- In the DC comics, Dinah Drake Lance is the original Black Canary from the Justice Society of America.