- "Thea Queen was also weak and no matter what it takes I will be strong."
- —Thea Queen in her letter to Roy Harper[src]
Thea Dearden Queen[1] (born January 21, 1995)[2] is the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn and the late Moira Queen, the step-daughter of the late Robert Queen, and the late Rebecca Merlyn, the maternal younger half-sister of Oliver Queen, and the paternal younger half-sister of the late Tommy Merlyn.
Biography
Background
Thea is the daughter of Moira Queen and Malcolm Merlyn, though Malcolm was unaware that Thea was his daughter as Thea herself was unaware that Malcolm was her father. Robert Queen however was aware but still loved Thea like his own. When Thea was a child she fell off her horse and was hospitalized. Thea (it is insinuated) idolized Oliver as a child. They used to be close and, according to Oliver, he used to chase after her when she was younger, thus giving her the nickname, "Speedy". When her father and brother were both presumed dead, Thea felt alone and disconnected from the world. She fell into a life of drugs and partying to fill the void left by her father and brother.
Season 1
In "Pilot", Thea was one of the first people to welcome Oliver home with open arms. Though she is later surprised and disappointed when Oliver expresses his unhappiness with her party lifestyle, which Oliver himself used to lead.
In "Honor Thy Father", Thea sees Oliver's scars for the first time and when Oliver refuses to talk about it, she begs him to let someone in to talk about what happened on the island.
In "Lone Gunmen", Thea is brought home by the police after a night of drunken partying that led to breaking and entering a shop. Despite being grounded, she parties at the nightclub Poison, where she bumps into Oliver, and the two have an argument. Thea discloses to Oliver that Laurel and Tommy have been sleeping together in his absence and stumbles off. Thea tones down her wild behavior towards the end of the episode, having a mother-daughter moment with Moira, and appearing at the Unidac auction.
In "An Innocent Man", Thea bonds with Oliver while they discuss Laurel, and how Oliver can get back into her "good-books" again.
In "Damaged", Thea and her family are worried for Oliver after multiple charges are brought against him by Sergeant Quentin. Thea shows how much her brother's absence has affected her when she tells Oliver that "she can't lose him again". Oliver reassures her at the end that she won't.[3]
In "Legacies", Thea is shown to have a crush on Tommy, after he comes asking her for romantic advice. Things, however, get very awkward when she realizes he meant Laurel instead of her. Thea ends up getting drunk at the CNRI benefit, and Tommy takes her home.
In "Muse of Fire", Thea called Oliver to remind him that he was supposed to have lunch with Moira, telling him to "bite the bullet and have a cobb salad with the woman". Later on she is with Moira at the hospital and later seen telling Oliver off for leaving Moira and going after the shooter. Thea stays in that night with Moira after Oliver tells her he has a business meeting, talking to Moira how she wishes that Oliver wouldn't lie and tell them what's wrong. Thea then speaks to Oliver, saying that he shouldn't keep what happened on the island a secret, and that he should tell someone about what happened.
In "Vendetta", Thea is seen asking Walter for a lift to school, commenting that they could just buy her a convertible to save them the trouble.
In "Year's End", Oliver is talking to Thea about why there are no Christmas decorations up, and she explains how they hadn't really celebrated Christmas since Oliver and Robert had disappeared. Thea is later seen at Big Belly Burger with Oliver, discussing why there is no Christmas Party when Thea's friend Shane shows up. Oliver later walks in on Thea and Shane at the Christmas Party and catches them making out with some clothes off. Oliver tells the boy, "Hit the road." She later admits she was being a "bitch", when Oliver is injured, at the hospital.
In "Burned", Thea is seen with Oliver, going through movies to watch, telling him how Moira is acting the same way now as when Robert and Oliver disappeared. Thea is later seen trying to convince her mother to leave her room and go out with her. She later comments on why Oliver is smiling, saying that his club burnt down.
In "Trust but Verify", Thea believes that her mother is having an affair with Malcolm Merlyn. On her 18th birthday, she gets into a car crash and is taken to the hospital. At the end of the episode, it is revealed Thea crashed because of a drug, called vertigo, was in her system. Because she was driving under the influence of drugs, she was arrested.
In "Vertigo", Due to the rampant use of Vertigo in Starling City, the judge overseeing Thea's trial decided that the best way to discourage the drug's use is to sentence Thea to hard time, by showing that not even the rich can escape the law. Oliver decided to take down The Count so as to take heat off her. He also talks to Laurel about getting her father to use his connections to help Thea. Detective Quentin Lance was able to get Thea a deal where she had to work community service for 500 hours, and be under the watch of a guardian, Laurel. The plan was for her to work at CNRI. Thea refuses the deal just to spite her mother, who she thinks is cheating on Walter and cheated on her birth father, as well. Oliver decides to convince her otherwise by revealing that their father cheated on their mother. Thea forgives her mother, when she overhears her mother confirm what Oliver revealed to her about their father. She then decides to take Laurel's offer and work with her.
In "Betrayal", Thea is at CNRI with Laurel, complaining about how long she has left to work, hearing about how Cyrus Vanch is being released.
In "The Odyssey", Thea is seen at the end of the episode, stating that she's been trying to ring Oliver all night as Moira was attacked by the vigilante.
In "Dodger", Her purse gets stolen while she is out with Laurel. The thief who stole it was Roy Harper. Thea takes pity on him and drops the charges. She then tracks him down at his home in The Glades.
In "The Huntress Returns", When Thea goes to see Roy again he brushes her off, but saves Thea from some thugs. In doing so, he gets stabbed, and Thea has to take him to the hospital where he has to get a shot, which Roy is scared of. She tells him to take his mind off of it, to he responds by he doesn't like sharp things. When the doctor is gives Roy the shot, she kisses Roy to distract him from it.
In "Salvation", She and Roy are in a romantic relationship, and Thea sees Roy being kidnapped by The Savior. When he is interrogated, she is watching and Oliver goes up to her. She is crying, and Oliver promises that Roy won't die.
In "Home Invasion", When Roy tells her he has to find The Hood, Thea tells him she will help Roy.
In "Darkness on the Edge of Town", Thea continues to help Roy find the Arrow but Oliver tells Roy not to and Thea agrees with him but Roy doesn't, leading to them briefly splitting.
In "Sacrifice", after hearing Moira's revelations, she goes to the Glades to help save Roy. She throws an empty glass bottle at a gang member who was about to shoot Roy. When Roy sees people on a bus trapped, Thea tells Roy not to help because the device could go off any second. Roy tells her he can't leave anyone behind and tells Thea to get out of the Glades.
Season 2
In "City of Heroes", 5 months after the earthquake, Thea got her act together taking over Oliver's role as owner of Verdant, and still in a relationship with Roy Harper. However, they tend to fight due to Roy trying to fill in The Arrow's role. When Oliver came back Thea was happy to see her brother again, who was impressed by how much his sister changed. Thea shut him down when Oliver attempted to persuade her to visit Moira in prison. Later Roy also made the same attempt, only to be shut down as well. When Verdant later got attacked by The Hoods, looking for Oliver, Roy made an attempt to fight the attackers, to no avail with The Hoods kidnapping Thea in the process. While in captivity, when The Hoods argued what to do with Thea, Thea realized that Moira was a victim of circumstances and that she had no choice but to follow Malcolm due to her fear of him. When one of the Hoods decided to kill Thea, Oliver, as The Arrow, managed to save her. Later Thea visited Moira in prison telling her about her near death experience, and reconciled with her mother.
In "Identity", After Roy was arrested during his self attempt to fend off the hijackers, Thea gave Roy a ultimatum, which he later telling her that he chooses her and done being the hero, unknown to her lying about stopping trying to be a hero.
In "Broken Dolls", During Moira's trial both Oliver and Thea were stunned, when the A.D.A Adam Donner wants to seek the death penalty for Moira, Oliver later encourages Thea that they both gonna help their mother to fight for her life. Later they both watch the news of the Lances kidnapping.
In "Crucible", During the events of cash for guns Thea meets Sin. When the events were crashed by The Mayor both Roy and Thea evaded getting shot by hiding behind a car, when Sin get shots Thea went to get help for her. Later both Roy and Thea stayed in the hospital by Sin's side, when She comments to Thea that she is dating a moron and Thea agrees and Sin admits to Roy that she likes Thea.
In "League of Assassins", Thea is furious at her mother when she decides to take the deal that Adam offered for her, she and Oliver encouraged her to fight for her life, later when Thea and Oliver visited her again, they assured her that she will not lose them and they will stick by her no matter what secret Moira is hiding, which led Moira to agree to refuse the deal.
In "Keep Your Enemies Closer", Thea went to the police station to bail Roy out of prison, Later when Moira's lawyer visited Thea in the club telling her the her relationship with Roy a known felon is hurting Moira's case, which promoted Thea to break up him, Later when Thea was visiting her mother, surprised to see Roy is there, telling Thea that she has flourished during last year and it had a lot to do with Roy assuring that her personal life is not going to effect her case, bringing Roy and Thea back together.
In "State v. Queen", Thea, Oliver, and Roy were present during Moira's trial's opening. When Thea was brought to the stand Adam Donner questioned Thea for not visiting her mother. He even told her that she she felt angry at her mother which was the reason that it took long time for Thea to visit her mother. Later in the club Roy who notices Thea's anger bought her boxing gloves and told her to punch him as a release. During the second half of the trail when Moira refused to testify, both her children questioned her reasons which led Moira to admit having an affair with Malcolm much to Thea's dismay. Later Thea and Oliver await for the verdict when Oliver ran off to Count Vertigo much to Thea's surprise. After Oliver came back to the court Thea and Oliver were overjoyed when Moira was found not guilty and acquitted of all charges.
In "The Scientist", Thea and Oliver welcomed Moira home before heading out with Roy to meet Sin, Roy was surprised that Thea, not only approve but also decided to join Roy and Sin search for Sin's missing friend, Max. The three later head to his house to investigate only to find out that his disappearance related to Sebastian Blood, during Moira's party, when Roy received a call from Sin about her friend, Roy left the party and insisted Thea to stay with her mother. After the party Moira was about to tell Thea the truth about her parentage but changed her mind and settled for saying that she loves her.
In "Three Ghosts", After Roy got shot with an arrow, Thea locked herself in her room along with Sin which made a concerned Moira who asked Oliver to check on her, upon the finding out the truth Oliver removed the arrow from Roy's leg and warned the three of them, to stay out of trouble. Sin asked Thea if she is gonna let it go, which she refused stating that she is doing things her way. Later both Thea and Sin seek Laurel's help in regard Max's case, later when Laurel came back with information regarding the blood drive, telling them that that they can't get a warrant to investigate more regarding whether Max was on drugs or not. After Roy woke up in Thea's room, Thea and Sin are seen rushing in to see him, concerned that he was chasing down The Arrow.
In "Blast Radius", Thea was present during Oliver speech about Blood, which she joked about Oliver friendship with Blood, due to his relationship with Laurel. Oliver then changed the subject asking Thea about Roy's condition, which she joked about how Roy came to work on time. Later when Thea came to check on Roy, she noticed him acting strange when she confronted him he pushed her off, but admitted that she is the one who is helping him getting through the hard time which led the two to make out, but Roy was injured by a falling glass, later during Blood's Unity Rally, when it was attacked by "Shrapnel" Thea witnessed Roy save Moira, which she confronted him later about it but didn't give her a straight answer leaving Thea confused.
In "Blind Spot", Thea refused to talk to Roy due to him lying about what is going on with him. Later she helped Sin to pick a dress for her "date" with the Starling Slasher whom Roy later put in a hospital. Afterwards Thea came to the hospital after Sin called her, Thea told Roy she is not judging him, and that she is there for him which led Roy to break down and run away. Later in the club Thea confide in Oliver about her issues with Roy.
In "Tremors",
In "Time of Death",
In "The Promise",
In "Birds of Prey", Thea received a bracelet from Roy at Verdant. The day after, at Verdant, Roy went up to Thea and said that he wanted to break up with her, making her shocked and confused. Thea realizes that Roy is going through something and wants to be there for him. She went up the stairs and caught Roy kissing another woman. She was hurt by seeing this and threw the bracelet she got from him on the floor and walked away. During the evening, she told Oliver what she saw. Thea told Oliver that everyone is lying to her and Oliver is the only one she can trust. When she was heading home, Slade's car stopped and he offered her a ride home, which she accepted.
In "Deathstroke", Thea is kidnapped by Slade Wilson and is told by him that Malcolm Merlyn is her biological father. The news makes her break down in shock and tears, and thus wrecking the relationship between her and Oliver.
In "The Man Under the Hood", a furious Thea refuses to sign a form to protect the Queen family's assets from Isabel Rochev, and tells Oliver that she's irreparably damaged because she is the daughter of two mass murderers. Later, she angrily moves out of the Queen mansion and abandons her family.
In "Seeing Red", Thea continued to a keep distance from her family ,even trying to keep her mother from doing her rally at the club which Thea was reluctant gone through it since she signed a contract, Later in the club Thea was put under Diggle's protection by Oliver much to her annoyance, they talked about family and she should give them a second chance when the news about Roy attacking a polices officer, Thea met up with Sin who told her about Roy's incident, later during the rally Thea made a speech to lure Roy in which worked Roy attacked the rally when Thea tried to get though Roy, he ended up attacking her however she was saved by The Canary and The Arrow, who assured her that they gonna help Roy. Later when the Queen family talked on their way home Moira said they need to start over, when Moira was about to tell them something about Malcolm, their limo got crashed into, when Oliver woke up at the sight of Moira and Thea tied up with Slade forcing him to choose between the two, when Slade was about to kill Thea, Moira stood up and offered herself, Moira's last words were "Thea I love you, close your eyes baby." Slade kills Moira with a sword much to Thea's horror, after Slade taunts Oliver he unties Thea which she rushed to her mothers side.
In "City of Blood", Thea attends her mother's funeral and is visibly upset that Oliver was unable to attend. Isabel later comes to her club to reclaim it, as it was built upon property owned by Queens Consolidated, then she tells Oliver that she doesn't want to give Isabel the satisfaction of kicking her out of her own home and that she needs a change of scenery. Oliver agrees and lets her go. Thea packs her things in a backpack, takes one more look around her home, ignoring a call from Walter, she leaves. Just as she is about to board the train, one of Slade's agents attacks the station.
In "Streets of Fire", Thea attempts to flee but is saved by her biological father, Malcolm Merlyn. Malcolm tries to talk to her but Thea runs off, wanting nothing to do with him. They are both attacked, but Malcolm is able to subdue the mirakuru soldier. Thea grabs a gun off the ground near a dead cop and shoots Malcolm as he tries to reason with her,
In "Unthinkable", Malcolm is shown to still be alive and reiterates that he needs Thea by his side, going as far as to compare her qualities to everything his own son lacked. Thea leaves and reunites herself with Roy. Deciding to help everyone else, Roy tells her to stay at his house and pack her things. Upon discovering that Roy is secretly the Arrow's sidekick, which he kept from her all along, she ultimately decides to start her life over. Leaving a goodbye note to Roy, Thea decides to go with her father and leaves Starling City and her family behind, with no intentions on coming back.
Thea leaves with Malcolm
Personality
Thea can be reckless, impulsive, and immature, but she has a good heart and always tries to do the right thing, and looks up to her older half-brother Oliver. When she meets Roy Harper, the young criminal, she quickly forms a strong romantic attraction, and she is shown to be extremely devoted to him, repeatedly bailing him out of jail. After Roy is saved by The Arrow, Thea goes along with him to meet the man who saved his life. This shows that Thea, while young, reckless, and impulsive, has a strong sense of loyalty and camaraderie for those she loves.
After working with Laurel, her partying and drug abusing days seem to be exchanged for a more dutiful and emotionally responsible personality. In Season 2, though Thea was originally opposed to being a vigilante like the Arrow she eventually warmed up to it when Roy saved Sin, though Thea still tried to be involved as possible. When Roy is injected with Mirakuru, which Thea isn't told about and becomes more aggressive, Thea begins to feel pushed away as Roy doesn't talk about it. When Roy breaks up with her she becomes extremely depressed. Furthermore when Thea finds out Malcolm Merlyn is her biological father, she becomes angry towards Oliver and her mother Moira, for keeping the secret from her. She can tell when someone is lying to her and hates secrets, particularly when she knows her family and friends have them and refuse to admit it.
Season Overview
In Season 1, Thea was a reckless and immature drug addict, with temper issues, but when she gets arrested for taking the drug "Vertigo" is sentenced to community service with Laurel Lance and starts a relationship with a street criminal, Roy Harper - her time spent at CNRI made her more responsible, and she genuinely falls in love with Roy, eventually managing to persuade him to a life away from crime.
In Season 2, she owns Oliver's club Verdant , and is in a stable relationship with Roy but is irritated by his need to be a vigilante also like the Arrow. Increasingly it is revealed multiple secrets have been kept from Thea, from almost everyone she loves and trusts the most, beginning when Slade Wilson abducts and tells her that Malcolm is her father, and that Oliver and Moira knew. Also, Thea breaks up with Roy when he cheats on her (though it was to keep her safe from his Mirakuru abilities). These events left her estranged from her half-brother and mother until recent evens which saw her mother killed by Slade.
When Starling City is attacked by Slade's Mirakuru army, Malcolm returns to save his daughter. Originally wanting nothing to do with him, Thea reaches her breaking point when, in a final attempt to reconcile with Roy, she discovers he is secretly the Arrow's sidekick, which he kept from her all along. After all these lies uncovered, she decides to start her life over. Leaving a goodbye note to Roy, Thea decides to go with her father and leaves Starling City and her family behind, intending never to come back.
Appearances
Arrow
Season 1
Season 2
Comics |
Trivia
- Oliver uses her apparent old nickname, Speedy, a reference to Green Arrow's sidekick in the comics who also happened to have a drug problem.
- The character Thea is not specifically found in the comic books. She is however based on a composite of Roy Harper and Mia Dearden, characters from the comic books who both take on the identity of Speedy.
- An archery trophy can be seen in her room in "Pilot". This concept recurs in "Sacrifice" when she throws an empty bottle with great accuracy to save Roy from a thug with a gun.
- Andrew Kreisberg posted an image of Thea's hospital bracelet in a then-upcoming episode of Arrow on Twitter. The bracelet states her birthday as "21-01-1995", or January 21, 1995.[2]
- In "Vertigo", during the start of the court case, it is mentioned from the judge that Thea's middle name is Dearden. In the comics, Oliver Queen had a sidekick Mia Dearden, the second Speedy.
- Thea rarely uses Oliver's full name, instead calling him "Ollie".
- Thea has had 3 love interests so far which are listen in order: Tommy Merlyn, unaware that he was her half-brother at the time, Shane Colvin and Roy Harper.
- In "State v. Queen" it is revealed that Thea is Malcolm Merlyn's biological daughter and Tommy Merlyn's half - sister.
- In "Legacies" Thea developed a crush on Tommy and tried to kiss him unaware that he was her half-brother. She would later realise this in "The Man Under the Hood".
- When Thea was attending school she would often like to intentionally be late and sometimes be on time "to spice things up".
Gallery
Promotional images
Season 1
Season 2
