Thea Queen

Early life

Thea Queen was born on January 21, 1995 in Starling City to Robert (Jamey Sheridan) and Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson)^[2] (although it is later revealed that Thea is Malcolm Merlyn's (John Barrowman) biological daughter^[3]) and the younger half-sister of Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell). Though Malcolm was unaware that Thea was his daughter, and Thea was likewise in the dark, Robert Queen was aware but still loved Thea like his own.

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

Thea is introduced as a senior in high school who is grateful to have her big brother back, but his disappointment in her lifestyle and the secrets he keeps from her about his five years away cause her to slip even further into drug use. On her 18th birthday, she is involved in a car crash while on Vertigo and is subsequently arrested and sentenced to community service for 500 hours at CNRI (City Necessary Resources Initiative) under the supervision of Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy).^[2]

Later that year, Thea falls in love with Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), a lifelong street criminal who she meets when he steals her purse.^[4] Though he initially has no romantic interest in Thea despite an obvious physical attraction to her, mainly out of resentment because of her wealth, Roy later begins to genuinely fall in love with her.

Season 2

After the Undertaking and Oliver's disappearance, Thea takes over his club, Verdant, while maintaining her relationship with Roy.^[5] That year, after learning of her true parentage from Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett),^[6] losing her club to Isabel Rochev (Summer Glau) (who had taken Queen Consolidated out from under Oliver),^[7] breaking up with Roy (now a member of Oliver's team and under the influence of Mirakuru),^[8] and the death of her mother,^[9] Thea decides to leave town. While waiting for her train, she is attacked by a Mirakuru-enhanced soldier and rescued by Malcolm, who reveals himself to still be alive.^[10] After discovering that Roy worked with the Arrow, Thea, betrayed once again, decided to go with her father and leaves Starling City and her family behind, with no intentions of coming back.^[11]

Season 3

Thea begins the season in Corto Maltese receiving combat training from Malcolm, though she soon decides to return to Starling with Oliver. She also reopens her nightclub after Malcolm secretly buys the foundry from Queen Consolidated for her. She learns Oliver's secret identity as the Arrow when he shows her his hideout under the nightclub and begins to distrust Malcolm after learning that he already knows about Oliver's secret. After Thea is told that her father used her as a pawn against both Oliver and Ra's al Ghul (Matt Nable) by drugging and manipulating her into killing Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), she arranges for him to be captured by the League in retaliation. She reconciles with Roy but is nearly killed by Ra's and is brought back to life in the Lazarus Pit in exchange for Oliver joining the League of Assassins. Thea blames herself for letting her brother join the League. Roy breaks up with her when he leaves Starling City after faking his death, hoping that Thea can make a life of her own without him. He also leaves her his red costume which she wears to become a vigilante herself as his successor.

Season 4

Thea works with Oliver and his friends in the fight against the terrorist organization H.I.V.E. By Oliver’s request, the team refers to her in the field as "Speedy" (over her insistence to be called "Red Arrow").^[12] Despite the enjoyment of being a vigilante, Thea's behaviour has become increasingly volatile and reckless when in the field, which Oliver realizes is a side effect of being in the Lazarus Pit. In addition, Thea helps Laurel to bring Sara back from the death in hopes of making amends towards the Lance family. Because of this, Thea is telepathically linked with Sara after her resurrection upon the Lazarus Pit. It is also revealed that Thea's Lazarus Pit side effect is able to counterattack Damien Darhk's life force drain in addition relieving her bloodlust temporarily. Thea is dying as the result of the Pit's restorative effect waning. With Tatsu Yamashiro's help, Nyssa al Ghul gives Oliver the 'Lotus', an elixir used by the Crescent Order that permanently reverses the effects of the Lazarus Pit, saving her life. She helps Oliver to become a new candidate for mayor and meets a new boyfriend Alex Davis. Damien Darhk's wife, Ruvé Adams, eventually brainwashes her boyfriend into kidnapping her to a miniaturized H.I.V.E. facility built from stolen technology belonging to Oliver's ally Ray Palmer.

After she fell under Malcolm's influence again and threatened to kill Darhk's daughter after being released (including the death of her boyfriend at the hands of Lonnie Machin), Thea decided to leave the team as she didn't like what she was becoming.^[13]

Season 5

Having retired from life as a vigilante, Thea continues to help Oliver in a civilian capacity as his Chief of Staff (Oliver having been appointed Mayor after the death of Ruvé Darhk) and has proven herself to be an able politician, often picking up the slack for Oliver, who simultaneously worked as the Green Arrow.^[14] She hired Quentin Lance, who had been fired from the SCPD after revealing that he had previously collaborated with Damien Darhk, as the city's Deputy Mayor, having some daughter-father figure relationship and helping him to beat his alcoholism.^[15]

Thea temporarily came out of retirement as Speedy when she saved Oliver from Tobias' thugs and when the Dominators attacked Earth.^[16]

After Oliver's near-impeachment, Thea decided to resign as his Chief of Staff, fearing that she was relying too heavily on dirty politics, including tarnishing a reporter's reputation and considering blackmailing a city council member for his vote.^[17]

Thea, along with the rest of Team Arrow, was captured by Adrian Chase and taken to Lian Yu.^[18] After stepping on a landmine, Thea was pushed off of it by her father, who had joined forces with Oliver to rescue her; he later detonated the landmine to take out Digger Harkness and some of Chase's henchmen, leaving Thea devastated over the loss of a man whom she hates. Chase later destroys the C4-rigged Lian Yu by shooting himself dead, with Thea still on the island.^[19]

Season 6

Five months after the destruction of Lian Yu, Thea is alive but has been left comatose since the incident.^[20] In the episode "Thanksgiving", she awakens,^[21] and returns to vigilantism in the episode "Doppelganger".^[22] In the episode "The Thanatos Guild", Thea decides to leave Team Arrow to travel the world to destroy Ra's Al Ghul's remaining Lazarus Pits alongside Nyssa and Roy.^[23]

Potential futures and alternate realities

In the simulated reality created by the Dominators, Thea's parents were still alive, her brother was getting married to Laurel Lance, and she was the owner of Verdant. She was also apparently close to Tommy Merlyn (Colin Donnell), now a doctor in Chicago, although it wasn't made clear if she knew that he was her half-brother.^[24]

In an alternate reality created by the Legion of Doom with the Spear of Destiny, Malcolm had it so Thea adored instead of hating him.^[25]