Arrow may never have brought on Mia Dearden but Speedy still existed within the mythology through the original character of Thea Queen (Willa Holland.) To help expand upon Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) family dynamic in the series, he was given a little sister who would become part of the Green Arrow’s journey throughout the run. While later seasons revealed that she was actually Oliver’s half-sister, Thea played a big part within Team Arrow. Thea had some traits to the Mia character from the comics but still was able to create a mythology of her own that became a great addition for the Arrowverse.
While the later seasons were lite on Thea, the young heroine made it until the end of Arrow as Oliver’s journey was wrapping up. With the series now over, there are a lot of big moments from Thea’s journey throughout the 8-year run. These are some of Thea’s greatest moments and events during her time on the show.
Leaving Starling City To Evolve Herself
The second season was an emotional roller coaster for Thea in particular as she learned that she was actually the biological daughter of Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman.) Knowing that she was the Dark Archer’s daughter and the half-brother of Tommy (Colin Donnell), it put Thea into an emotional compromising situation. As she was feeling betrayed by the people in her life, Thea made a big decision in the season finale.
Determined to find a more evolved version of herself, Thea leaves with Malcolm in a shocking cliffhanger. Thea leaves a letter behind to Roy (Colton Haynes) where she declares that she would never come back. Even though that promise didn’t stick in the long run, seeing the beginning of Thea’s evolution was a powerful moment in the character’s overall arc.
Her First Kiss With Roy
Season 1 didn’t take long before introducing Roy into the series as one of the most iconic characters in the Green Arrow mythology. Even though their relationship began a bit unconventionally, with Roy stealing her purse, Thea’s dynamic with him was one of the better plots that season. In the seventeenth episode, the characters shared their first kiss during one of Roy’s more vulnerable moments. In a scene where a doctor is about to inject him with a needle, it’s made clear that Roy is horrified of needles. To help him get distracted, Thea kisses Roy, making him forget all about the needle.
Joining The War Against The Dominators
Season 5 was one of Arrow’s bigger seasons as it became a soft reboot for the DC drama while hitting its 5-year arc for the characters. The crossover that season was one of the bigger ones for the Arrowverse with the Invasion storyline. Thea had initially hung up the hood and bow when the Dominators crashed Earth-1, but that didn’t stop her from suiting up as Speedy again.
One of the more fun moments for Thea is when she gets to join the League as they met Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) for the first time. Even though she wasn’t a teenager anymore, Thea was still the youngest hero on the team which made her reactions to things a lot more entertaining.
Her Journey in the Dominator-World
The Invasion crossover ended up taking place right as Arrow was celebrating its 100th episode. That caused the 4-show event to incorporate the milestone which was beneficial for the Emerald Archer as it had Oliver, Thea, and others trapped within the Dominator’s shared hallucination world where the heroes got to live happy hero-free lives. But with it being all fake, Thea had to eventually accept that it wasn’t true happiness that she could cling on to. Despite having bid Oliver farewell, Thea ends up joining her brother as they fought their way out.
Learning Oliver’s Secret
One of the final characters to learn Oliver’s secret was Thea herself and that didn’t happen until the third season. The second half of the season had a lot of tension as Oliver was gone for a few episodes after having been defeated by Ra’s al Ghul (Matt Nable) initially. But once he made it back to Starling City, Oliver did something that he should have done a long time ago.
In the thirteenth episode, Oliver takes Thea down to the team’s first bunker where he finally tells her that he is the Arrow. From the look of Oliver’s face, he was certainly nervous about how she would react. As Thea began to remember all the times he had to run out on her or lie, she realized that it was to save someone, sometimes even her. Instead of anger, Thea embraces Oliver and thank him for being a hero.
Thea’s Final Adventure With Oliver
Season 8 was charged with emotions from the get-go as this was the final season of the series. Thankfully, Thea made it back for a few episodes before Arrow came to an end. Knowing that his time was coming up before his destined death in the Crisis, the two siblings got to have one final adventure together. As Oliver did die in the Crisis, that’s what made their goodbye even more heartbreaking as that was truly the final time they saw each other.
Meeting Her Half-Sister
Oliver’s funeral was both emotionally powerful as it was shocking where the effects of the Crisis began to unravel for Arrow. During Oliver’s send-off, several characters were revealed to be alive after having died in previous seasons.
One of them was Emiko Queen who, pre-Crisis, was the big bad for season 7 before turning in the 11th hour. Despite her death, Crisis undid it as she is now alive and seemingly on the good guys’ side. That’s when she meets Thea as the two Queen sisters now have a bond they can develop off-screen.
Thea’s Season 6 Exit
By season 6, it had become evident that Thea was playing a lesser role. That’s why her sudden exit before the season was even over made a lot of sense. However, a positive takeaway is that she didn’t end up dying or having a mysterious send-off. The sixteenth episode allowed Speedy to leave Star City on her own adventure, leaving the door open for a potential return.
Becoming Speedy
After almost three years of foreshadowing and build-up, season three officially embraced Thea as a superhero. With Roy having left the series at that point, he left her his Arsenal costume behind which became the final step for her to become Speedy. During the commotion in the season three finale, Thea finally suits up and becomes one of the newest heroes for Starling City.
Accepting Roy’s Proposal
While the series finale was mostly heartbreaking, it did come with some positive moments for the characters. One of them was for Thea and Roy as they officially got their happy ending. Roy ends up proposing to her which, fortunately, she said yes to before the series wrapped up for good.
