Maybe Thea & Roy Should Stay Apart for a While

Finally, Arrow fans! Thea Queen is back safe and sound in Starling City. Well, as safe and sound as a person can be after enduring six grueling months of training and psychological who-knows-what at the hand of their mass-murdering millionaire father. It's hard to really gauge how much Thea has changed since that first moment she got into Malcolm Merlyn's limo and asked to leave Starling City, but in Wednesday night's episode of Arrow "The Magician," we should see the first glimpses of how she treats the loved ones who lied to her throughout the show's first two seasons. While we can all contemplate whether Thea is hiding a dark side, I am mostly interested in seeing more interactions between Thea and her former boyfriend. Could Thea and Roy ever reunite? Probably not for a while, but maybe that's a good thing.

When Thea ran away from Starling City, she left Roy a heartbreaking and yet empowering letter basically stating that she never wanted to feel pain or weakness, like she had quite frequentily in the last few years, again. Thea has not only been lied to, but she's witnessed tragedies that would forever scar anyone, especially someone of her age. And when it comes to Roy, his list of the transgressions against Thea is pretty long, despite keeping things from her because he loved and wanted to protect her.

Let's get one thing straight. It was not at all cool the way Roy forced Thea to end their relationship. Treating her like dirt and then purposefully kissing another woman so he would get caught is heartbreaking and soul-crushing, especially when you remember how close Thea and Roy had become during their relationship. To be fair, he needed to find a way to end things for good because, as Oliver told him, Thea needed to stay out of danger. But still, low blow.

While sometimes Thea could be a bit demanding of Roy's time, it was with good reason. He was often in dangerous situations and Thea was just worried about him, the same way he often worried about her. The only reason the couple met in the first place was because he stole her wallet. Roy was in a tough situation who stole to get what he needed, and help those he cared about. Then he became a bit of a punk who wanted to be Starling City's Robin Hood, and has finally settled into his role as a superhero sidekick. Most of Roy's transformation came because Thea helped him grow into a more responsible adult, someone who could take care of himself and others. Now it's time for Thea's own transformation.

Willa Holland, the actress who plays Thea, has stated in interviews like the one above that she doesn't believe Thea and Roy will reunite anytime soon, but that there's always hope for their future. And if she's right about this succession of events, I have to applaud the Arrow writers. I don't think Thea and Roy need to get back together just yet.

First we need to find out just how much her training with Malcolm and time away from Starling has changed Thea. Hopefully it's a positive change, and Thea has come to realize she's a very strong woman who can take care of herself even in the hardest of situations. If she and Roy do get back together, I hope that instead of focusing on trying to protect each other through lies, they just provide honest love and support.

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