Samantha Clayton

Samantha Clayton (died May 17, 2017) was the ex-lover of Oliver Queen and the mother of William Clayton. Oliver ultimately got her pregnant, though she was paid $1 million by Moira Queen, Oliver's mother to pretend she had had a miscarriage and move back to Central City, though she never cashed the check. Oliver eventually discovered the truth eight years later. Samantha was killed by an explosion on Lian Yu caused by Adrian Chase/Prometheus' suicide, thus leaving William to be raised by his father.

Affair with Oliver Queen
In 2007, Samantha was the first of two known women with whom Oliver cheated on Laurel (the other being Sara Lance), but he accidentally got her pregnant. Oliver became distressed when he learned this and told his mother. Moira brought the girl over to discuss the matter and made her an offer; 1 million dollars to tell Oliver that she had lost the baby and another $1 million to move to Central City and never speak to him again, to which, after some uncertainty, she agreed. Later, she told Oliver the "bad news" over the phone, and he was both saddened and relieved that he wasn't going to be a dad, unaware of the truth.

Crossing paths with Oliver in Central City
In late 2014 the woman stopped by CC Jitters one day where she bumped into Oliver. She said she was sorry for what happened to Moira, who was murdered by Slade Wilson. He, in turn, apologized for not getting in touch with her after their affair, which she understood. He conspicuously failed to mention her name, nor introduce her to Felicity Smoak, Barry Allen and Iris West, who were with him at the time; he simply told Felicity she was someone he used to know. As they left, the woman called her child and told them she'd be home soon with hot chocolate, as she looked at Oliver one last time.

A year later Oliver ran into their son when he bumped into Oliver. When he saw Samantha, the girl who was pregnant with his child eight years earlier, and saw how old the kid appeared, he was shocked and realized she lied about the miscarriage. Oliver later attempted to get Samantha to admit the child was his, to which she denied, leading him to grab some hair sample from the kid's cap, and have Barry Allen to run DNA tests. After seeing the result, Oliver approached Samantha again, wanting to be a part of their son William's life. Samantha set up conditions such as William and no one else could never learn the real identity of his father, to which Oliver eventually agreed upon.

Captured by Prometheus and death
Samantha, along with William and Team Arrow, minus Oliver, were taken by Adrian Chase or one of his associates to an island called Lian Yu, where Oliver had spent 5 years, and separated. She was put in a cell near those of Team Arrow members Felicity Smoak, Curtis Holt and Oliver's sister Thea. They were found by Oliver, along with Slade Wilson and Digger Harkness, who were imprisoned on the island. However, they were soon ambushed by Adrian's associates Talia al Ghul and Evelyn Sharp, and instantly, Digger betrayed and joined them. Talia shot an arrow at Samantha's head, but was deflected by Oliver. Thea's father Malcolm and Talia's half-sister Nyssa, who were also working with Oliver, came to their aid. Knowing they were outnumbered, Talia and Digger used a smoke bomb and escaped, leaving Evelyn behind to be taken prisoner. Oliver sent everyone but himself and Nyssa to safety. While walking, Thea stepped on a landmine, but her father took her place and told them to go on. Digger would soon catch up to them, and Malcolm detonated the mine, killing them both. Without a pilot, they all waited there, and discovered the airplane that they would escape on was broken and irreparable, and that the island was rigged with explosives, which would detonate if Adrian died. Later, Oliver freed the rest of Team Arrow, and they joined them at the island, other than Oliver, who chased Adrian onto a boat, where Oliver Adrian held William hostage. Samantha attempted to search the island in search of her son, and was chased by Thea in an attempt to stop her, knowing the island was covered in explosives. Oliver freed William, but Adrian soon committed suicide, destroying the island and severely injuring Samantha, which she soon died from in Oliver's arms. The public is unaware of the true circumstances of Samantha's death; as they believe she was killed in a car accident.

Legacy
Before succumbing to her wounds, Samantha made Oliver promise to take care of William, which the latter agreed to. Her death is one of the reasons that left her son initially emotionally traumatized.

Personality
Samantha was fiercely protective of her son. When Oliver learned about William, she let him be part of William's life as her friend, on the condition that neither William nor anyone else learn the truth about Oliver being William's father. Although Oliver was no longer the spoiled brat he once was, she was still not inclined to trust him. She did try to explain to Felicity that it was her fault and not Oliver's that Oliver was not able to tell Felicity about William.

Samantha despised Moira Queen, because she was a manipulative-liar, as she never allowed Moira anywhere near her son, as she (correctly) believed the latter would be a bad influence on William. Moira's attempt to bribe the latter, caused Samantha to see the Queen family's matriarch for who she truly was; a selfish and lying-manipulative monster, something that Oliver and Thea did not want to see at first.

Samantha loved and cared for her son more than anything, she was very protective of William, so she refused to leave Lian Yu without him and tried to go back and find him; a decision that ultimately cost Samantha her life.

Arrow
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Season 6
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Trivia

 * In a way, Samantha killed herself (as she ran to find William right as the bombs went off, despite Thea telling for her to take shelter in the plane.)
 * Fans have reacted to this in two ways: finding ridiculous or humorous.


 * Samantha and members of Talia al Ghul's cult were the only people to die in Adrian Chase's suicide bombing.

Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics universe, Oliver has an illegitimate child named Connor Hawke with a woman named Sandra. Connor would go on to succeed his father, Oliver as the second Green Arrow.