Tommy Merlyn

"A rock, that is sweet. I want one of those t-shirts that says "My friend was a castaway and all I got was this crappy shirt"."

- Tommy Merlyn Thomas "Tommy" Merlyn (c. February 1985—May 15, 2013 ) He was the son of 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 and paternal half-brother of Thea Queen. He was killed in "Sacrifice", while 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 Gunmen",

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 and that he needs to get a job.

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 The Hood 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 The Hood. 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 The Hood 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 is drinking at Oliver's nightclub and confronts him about his night with Laurel but Oliver tries to tell Tommy about the Undertaking but Tommy doesn't believe him and wishes Oliver had died on the island. Tommy later goes to his father Malcolm who confirms to Tommy what he is unwilling to believe from Oliver, that he is going to destroyed the Glades to avenge his wife, playing a recording of Rebecca as she died and shouting to his son how they deserve to die. Later when Moira confessed Malcolm's plan the police arrived and Malcolm was able to dispatch them easily. Tommy however grabbed one of their guns and tried to kill Malcolm with it but failed and was knocked unconscious, later Tommy woke up when Oliver and John Diggle arrived to stop Malcolm. Tommy asked if Oliver intended to kill Malcolm but he told Tommy to go. Once Malcolm was killed the Undertaking procceded and Tommy headed to the CNRI to save Laurel from the rubblethe building 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.



Following his death, Tommy was buried in Starling City, and his tombstone read "Beloved Son".

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 The Hood. 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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Arrow
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 * Chapter 1: "Time's Arrow"
 * Chapter 7: "Boys Night"
 * Chapter 17: "Two Minute Warning"
 * Chapter 26: "Lapse"
 * Chapter 32: "From the Darkness"

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 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, The Arrow. He discovered this in in.
 * 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, his full name is revealed to be Thomas Merlyn.