'Arrow's Roy & Thea Just Aren't Meant to Be

Roy Harper and Thea Queen’s relationship has had its ups and downs this season on The CW’s DC comic book-based hit Arrow. Each time they’ve managed to come out the other side with few remaining bruises. But they faced their biggest challenge yet in Wednesday's Arrow episode “Seeing Red”.

Roy (Colton Hayes) is used by the Mirakuru to wreak havoc on Starling City, and he’s more than up for the task. Thea (Willa Holland), who isn’t actually in the best place either, tries to come to his aid after it becomes clear that the city’s hooded hero may not be able to bring Roy back alive. She is on some levels successful. But they were already on shaky ground. Should their relationship survive this obstacle?

Some Things Are Hard Because They Shouldn’t Be

Most of their personal angst is the result of forces outside of their relationship. But this isn’t your average angst. Rob Thomas hasn’t written a song for this yet.

When we first met Thea, she was a not-so-functioning drug addict. Her brother, whom she thought died five years ago, appeared out of nowhere. Things got better, and then Arrow’s latest nemesis, Slade Wilson, brought her some devastating news – her father wasn’t Robert Queen, but Malcolm Merlyn, Arrow's Season 1 big bad. She had to wrap her head around the fact that her two biological parents were responsible for wiping out half the city via various illegal acts.

Roy meanwhile was a street kid who gets rescued by Arrow and attempts to turn his life around for the better. He befriended Thea and Oliver and does try his best to be good. But his temper always gets in the way. Things aren’t made any easier when he is injected with the Mirakuru drug which gives him super strength and healing power. A hot head is dangerous. A hot head who feels and is in most ways unstoppable is lethal.

He doesn’t have himself under control physically and she is all over the map emotionally. They are going through far too much to even attempt to focus on each other. You can’t fix anyone else if you are currently shattered in a thousand pieces, especially if you possess the power to quite literally put them in a thousand pieces.

Heroes & Villains Aren’t Relationship Material

Historically, both heroes and villains make horrible significant others for normals like us and Thea. The intense dedication it requires to either plot out a life-threatening rescue mission or the end of the world cannot be understated. They never have time for anything else. They don’t understand anything else. You’ll get caught up in the fracas. Either they’ll use you to do the “easy” part of their plan and it’ll go horribly wrong and you’ll die. Or their enemies will use you as a pawn, things will go wrong and the chances of you dying will skyrocket.

Roy should take a page from Oliver’s book and keep his love life delightfully complicated. Sure, Oliver is dating Sara, but they aren’t really serious. They share battle wounds and awesome, awesome physiques. Roy needs someone who can take care of themself, who was trained by the League of Assassins and won’t be the slightest bit frazzled by his anger management issues. Thea. Thea needs a chance to just be. We’re not suggesting that she take Laurel’s rather convoluted route to redemption, but she needs some time alone.

Images: The CW