Tommy Merlyn

"Laurel: You look handsome! Tommy: I try not to, it just keeps happening."

- Tommy Merlyn

Thomas "Tommy" Merlyn (c. February 1985—May 15, 2013 ) He was the son of the late Malcolm Merlyn and the late Rebecca, a 28 year old former billionaire "trustafarian", the best friend of Oliver Queen, the ex-boyfriend of Laurel Lance, and the former crush of Thea Queen. He was killed in "Sacrifice", saving Laurel's life.

Season 1
In "Pilot", when Oliver returns to Starling City, Tommy believes the good times will roll again but is greatly mistaken as Oliver is a changed man. In Oliver's absence, he formed an on-again, off-again relationship with Oliver's ex-girlfriend, Laurel Lance.

In "Honor Thy Father",

In "Lone Gunman",

In "Damaged",

In "Legacies",

In "Muse of Fire", He confronts his father about why his trust fund was shut off. Malcolm replies by stating he cannot use his money reasonably.

In "Vendetta",

In "Year's End", We learn his mother was killed in 1992, leading to him and his father to have a very strained relationship, because after his mother was murdered, his father left him for two years to train as the Dark Archer.

In "Burned",

In "Trust but Verify",

In "Vertigo",

In "Betrayal",

In "Dead to Rights", Tommy and Oliver's relationship begins to break down. After an assassination attempt by Deadshot on Malcolm Merlyn's life, Oliver reveals himself as Arrow to Tommy so that Tommy will trust him to save Malcolm's life. Although obviously conflicted over Oliver's revelation, Tommy keeps his identity a secret.

In "The Huntress Returns", Their friendship continues to become more strained as Helena Bertinelli's return shows Tommy how dangerous it is to be around Oliver, as well as how far Oliver is willing to go to do what's right. In turn, keeping Oliver's secret is seen to have a knock-on effect on Tommy's relationship with Laurel.

In "Salvation",

In "Unfinished Business", When a girl dies at their club, due to a Vertigo overdose, Detective Quentin Laurel's father finds evidence that implies Tommy supplied her with the drug. Even though he is later cleared, Tommy is outraged to hear that Oliver didn't trust him enough to believe he was innocent. As a result Tommy quits his job at Verdant, also terminating their friendship. Tommy then asks his father for a job at Merlyn Global Group, which Malcolm gladly accepts.

In "Home Invasion", when Laurel's life is threatened, Tommy is forced to admit that Oliver's house is the safest place to be. He asks if they can stay at the Queen Mansion until Laurel is no longer in danger. However, after witnessing how close Oliver and Laurel are, despite Laurel being with him, he realizes that Oliver still loves her. He realizes that despite everything that had happened between them, Laurel would still choose Oliver if she ever found out that he is Arrow. Once she is safely back home, Tommy breaks up with Laurel and moves out without explaining why.

In "The Undertaking", Tommy is seen as unhappy but loyal to his father, whilst also honoring Oliver's secret identity. When Laurel confronts him as to why he broke up with her, he reveals that he believes that her and Oliver are meant to be together, as Oliver still loves her.

In "Darkness on the Edge of Town", Oliver visits Tommy at his office in an attempt to mend broken bridges between them. Oliver convinces Tommy that his decision to break up with Laurel was his own, with Oliver having nothing to do with it, and that he should get back with her. However, when Oliver realizes that if he took down Malcolm then his work as Arrow would be done, he goes to see Laurel and admit his feelings to her. Tommy arrives outside Laurel's apartment at this point and sees Oliver and Laurel together.

In "Sacrifice", Tommy saves Laurel from the rubble of CNRI during the earthquake, but as Laurel escapes, the building collapses with him still inside. When Oliver arrives at the building, he finds Tommy trapped inside and impaled by a concrete reinforcement bar. Tommy reconciles with Oliver and they become best friends again before dying.

Personality
When Tommy first appears in the series, he comes across as a light-hearted, cheerful, carefree, and laid back individual without a care in the world, due to his financial access being nearly limitless. He tries to get Oliver to rejoin the party scene, picking out girls for him and taking him around town. However, his affection for Laurel was slowly changing him into a more responsible individual.

When his father cuts off his trust fund, he became angry, but then becomes more resolved in his desire to change. He applies himself more in his relationships with Laurel and Oliver, and gets a job running Verdant. He was bitter towards his father, who he perceives as power and money hungry, and uncaring, especially due to the fact that Malcolm left Tommy for two years after Rebecca Merlyn, Tommy's mother, was killed. Their relationship improves a bit after Malcolm was nearly killed by Deadshot.

He was thrown into a sea of confusion when it was revealed to him that Oliver is Arrow. He finds that he has problems trusting Oliver, whom he says he doesn't know anymore, and later quits the night club saying that he has too much self-respect to continue running Oliver's front when his best friend doesn't even trust him. Tommy then went to his father to find work.

It is implied that his later distrust of Oliver partially stemmed from jealousy and anger, as the Oliver he knows now is a far better person than he thought he would be.

In his final moments, he admitted to the inferiority complex he was feeling, reconciled with Oliver, and they became best friends again before he died.

Appearances
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Season 2

 * "City of Heroes" (mentioned)
 * "Identity" (mentioned)
 * "Broken Dolls" (mentioned)
 * "Crucible" (mentioned)
 * "League of Assassins" (mentioned)

Comics
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 * Arrow #1
 * Arrow #7
 * Arrow #17
 * Arrow #26
 * Arrow #32

Trivia

 * Originally, many believed that Tommy would become Green Arrow's enemy from the comics, the "Dark Archer", due to the name similarities. This was until it was revealed in "Year's End" that it was in fact his father, Malcolm Merlyn, who became the Dark Archer.
 * Tommy Merlyn was the fifth person to discover Oliver Queen's secret identity, Arrow. He discovered this in in "Dead to Rights".
 * Malcolm mentions that Tommy, as a child, wanted a puppy for Christmas, which he would have called "Arthur", to pair with him being a "Merlyn". This may attribute to how Merlin assisted King Arthur, as well as subtly referencing that Merlyn's real name in the comics is Arthur King.
 * It was mentioned by Oliver that Tommy once rented an entire football field just so he could play "strip kickball" with a group of ladies.
 * Tommy is the first, and currently only character, within the main cast to die.
 * In "City of Heroes", his full name is revealed to be Thomas Merlyn.