Moira Queen

"From the moment your children are born you worry what the world might do to them, but you never stop to think what you might do to them, that we can be our worst enemy"

- Moira to Oliver Queen

Moira Dearden Queen (c. 1964 — April 2014) was the wife of the late Robert Queen, the mother of Oliver Queen and Thea Queen, the ex-wife of Walter Steele, a former friend of both Malcolm Merlyn and the late Frank Chen, as well as Malcolm's former lover, and an old friend of Jean Loring. After Walter was kidnapped by Malcolm, she became the new acting CEO of Queen Consolidated. In, after Oliver convinces her to do the right thing, she holds a press conference and confesses her involvement in a conspiracy to destroy the Glades and everyone in it, against her free will, she testified that the mastermind of this conspiracy was Malcolm. After this, she is arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. In, Moira was released from prison, by Malcolm's help, and it was revealed that Thea is the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn. She was running for mayor of Starling City but was murdered by Slade Wilson in front of Oliver and Thea in his own mission of vengeance against Oliver.

Season 1
In, When her son returns, she goes to the hospital and is told by Doctor Neil Lamb that "the Oliver you lost, may not be the one they found". After Oliver is abducted, she voices concern over his safety and hires John Diggle to be his bodyguard. However, at the end of the episode, she is shown to be the one behind Oliver's abduction, after his arrival.

In, she is first seen accompanying Oliver with the rest of her family and Tommy Merlyn to go to court to get Oliver legally resurrected. Later on, as Oliver is taken to his father's company, Walter and Moira try to convince Oliver that he needs to be the one to run the company though they do so unsuccessfully. After Oliver ditches his body guard Diggle once again, she expresses to Oliver that she lost him once and doesn't want to do so again, so she wants Diggle to accompany him when he goes out. As the episode ends she is seen getting into a limousine with a unknown man, it is here revealed that the ship Oliver and his father were on didn't shipwreck but was sabotaged by Moira and the unknown man, later revealed to be Malcolm Merlyn.

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In, Moira is further questioned by Malcolm Merlyn, who points out to her that The Hood isn't going after the rich, but is actually going after the people on "the List". Later at some Quentin arrives with multiple police officers and arrests Oliver accusing him of being the Arrow.

In, when Oliver is in the interrogation room Moira and Walter barge in and stop it while talking to Oliver about attorneys to use but Oliver wants Laurel. Though hesitant at first Moira then does ask Laurel but she declines but eventually decides to do so and Moira is present to see it in court, though Oliver isn't arrested he is put under house arrest. Furthermore Oliver decides to have a house party much to Moira's concern. She is later interrogated by Malcolm who suspects Oliver of being the Hood because of the evidence but Moira assures him that he is not. Moira later visits Walter who tells her that he has found the remains of the Queen's Gambit and Josiah Hudson was killed trying to move the wreck but Moira tells him not to look any further into the matter. When Moira returns a gunman has attempted to kill Oliver and Moira openly blames Quentin for accusing Oliver publicly and making him a target, Oliver is then cleared of charges when Quentin states that the Hood was seen elsewhere at the time and Moira apologists for his family's troubles but calmly tells him to get the hell out. She later visits Malcolm, knowing that he sent the gunman to kill Oliver and had Josiah killed, and threatens to destroy everything Malcolm was worked toward. Later Walter leaves but doesn't know when he'll be back much to Moira's concern.

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In, she burned the book that held "The List". She later had a brief meeting with Malcolm Merlyn which Diggle eavesdropped on and recorded, learning about the Undertaking that they have planned. Oliver who earlier was hesitant to believe Moira had such a undertaking planned, believes so after hearing a recording. Oliver confronts Moira as The Hood to ask her about the Undertaking.

In, She shot The Hood in self defense and nearly killed him. Later, Moira is questioned about The Hood confronting her by Quentin Lance.

In, She tries to leave The Undertaking. At the end, she asks the Chinese Triad, represented by China White, to kill Malcolm for her.

In, Malcolm charged Moira with discovering who tried to have him killed.

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In, When Malcolm seemed on the verge of being able to determine who paid the Chinese Triad, Moira betrayed her co-conspirator Frank Chen and set him up to be killed by Malcolm so that Malcolm would not discover she was the one behind the assassination attempt. She then begged that the life of Frank's daughter be spared, and Malcolm, as the Dark Archer, agreed.

In, Moira welcomes Tommy and Laurel into her home, while they are hiding from the assassin who is trying to kill the child they are watching over. When she is talking to Laurel later, she admits that she liked who Oliver was when she was dating him.

In, during flashback sequences, Robert confides in Moira about the Undertaking and she tries to convince him not to do it. In the present, she is online shopping with Thea when Oliver comes in to tell them that Walter was dead. She goes straight to Malcolm and is furious with him for having Walter killed. Malcolm calls someone to turn on the camera, and she is shown that Walter is actually alive. Oliver hears her admit that she was part of the Undertaking.

In, Walter is distant from Moira as he realizes that she was behind his kidnapping. He files for divorce soon after. Oliver later talks to her, and they are both kidnapped by John, disguised as The Hood. She confesses her involvement in the Undertaking, after John hits Oliver multiple times.

In, Oliver convinces Moira that she had to do something. She holds a press conference where she admits her culpability in the Undertaking out of fear for her family's life. After a statement in front of the Starling City press, she is arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.

Season 2
In, Moira is serving time in Iron Heights Prison, and awaiting trial for her involvement in the Undertaking. Thea outright refuses to visit her at first, as she is still angry with her. After his return, Oliver visits Moira in prison, where she warns him not to trust Isabel Rochev. It is also implied that she suggests to Oliver to go to her ex-husband, Walter Steele, for help to save the company from falling into Isabel's hands. After being kidnapped by The Hoods, Thea realizes Moira was only trying to protect her and Oliver from danger, and visits her and they share a tearful exchange and hug.

In, Thea visits Moira in Iron Heights prison and picks out a few clothes for her court appearance. Later that day she appears in court and then is threatened with the possibility of the death penalty however it was not decided. Later in her prison cell talking to her lawyer she says that her Thea and Oliver are in a good place and that she should stop digging into it as there are some questions that must never be answered.

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In, Moira is put on trial for her involvement in the Undertaking and the resulting deaths of 503 people in the Glades. Laurel Lance tries to dissuade Moira from testifying in her own defense after discovering ADA Adam Donner has a "trump card" that will swing the jury against her. Moira later confesses to her children that Donner's trump card is the fact that she once had an affair with Malcolm Merlyn.

During the trial, Moira decides to take the witness stand. Laurel cross-examines her and reveals the affair with Merlyn in open court. However, the jury finds Moira not guilty on all counts despite the apparent strength of the prosecution's case. After she is released, Moira is taken by her driver to meet a very alive Malcolm Merlyn, who informs a stunned Moira that it was he who manipulated the jury to get her acquitted, and that he knows Thea is his daughter. It is implied that hers and Malcolm's affair was not as brief as she claimed it to be.

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In, Moira and Thea attend Alderman Blood's unity rally for the citizens of Starling City. When the bomber Shrapnel attacks the rally, a lighting tower falls and nearly crushes Moira, but she is saved by Roy Harper, revealing his Mirakuru-enhanced strength to Thea.

In, she has dinner with Walter and one of his colleagues, who try and convince her to run for mayor against Sebastian Blood, whose policies they believe would threaten the corporations of Starling City. At first, she believes both of them are in way over their heads as she doesn't believe anyone in Starling City would vote for her as a result of the Undertaking. However, Walter later points out that 43% of the people in Starling City do not blame her for the Undertaking, and that everyone loves a redemption story. After talking with Thea, who agrees with Walter and believes that Moira would make a great mayor, Moira soon agrees to run, but tells Walter (who is revealed to be aware that Thea is not Robert's daughter), that her OBGYN knows about Thea's true parentage and must be silenced throughout her campaign.

In, Moira is confronted by Felicity, who has figured out Thea's true parentage. Manipulating Felicity's feelings towards her son, Moira convinces her not to tell Oliver the truth.

She kicks off her mayoral campaign, with Oliver and Thea by her side. Later she then meets with Sebastian Blood, who tells her to get out of the mayoral race; she refuses and warns Blood not to underestimate her.

An angry Oliver later meets with Moira, furious that she has hidden the truth about Thea from everyone. Moira pleads that she was doing it to protect their family, but Oliver declares that their relationship is over.

Moira also appears in a flashback sequence, visiting Quentin and Laurel Lance in order to tell them that Sara was on the Queen's Gambit when it sank.

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In, she is shown having an interview about her mayoral campaign. Thea interrupts the interview to states that Moira can no longer use Verdant for her campaign rally. Moira reminds Thea that she signed a contract, further alienating her daughter. Moira's campaign manager advises her that Moira cannot be a candidate and a mother at the same time. Later, she is shown telling Sebastian Blood that she is dropping out of the mayoral race, even though she is ahead in the polls. Sebastian requests an explanation, and Moira replies it's because her family needs her. Later, she is getting ready for her speech at the rally. Oliver comes in and demands to know why she is dropping out. She says that she needs to be with Thea. Oliver says that she should show Thea that she is a good person by changing Starling City as mayor. Moira then reveals that she has known that Oliver is the Arrow after the events of the Undertaking, and says she has never been so proud of him. She makes her speech and decides to keep running for mayor. Then, she flees along with everyone else in Verdant when Roy Harper comes in. Later she is shown in a limousine with Thea and Oliver. Thea says that Oliver and Moira should tell the truth. Moira is about to reveal something to Thea and Oliver about Malcolm Merlyn (presumably that he is still alive) when the car is hit. Moira is then shown tied up with Thea and Oliver, and Slade Wilson asks Oliver to choose which one of them should be killed. Moira volunteers herself. Slade states that Moira has true courage, and that it is sad that it wasn't passed on to Oliver, and then kills her with his sword.

Throughout the episode, Moira appears in a flashback sequence from seven years ago. Oliver finds out that he has gotten a girl pregnant, and Moira resolves the situation by giving the girl two million dollars to never contact Oliver again and say that she lost the baby.

Personality
Moira was oftentimes ruthless, in an ends-justify-the-means sense. She had her own son kidnapped, but tried to justify it as doing so to prove he knew nothing about the Undertaking, and thus saved his life. She attempted to have Malcolm Merlyn killed, so that she would be out from under his thumb, she and her children would be safe, and to prevent the deaths of innocent thousands. When the attempt failed, she betrayed her co-conspirator and old friend, Frank Chen, to avoid her own implication and so she and her children would not be killed. Malcolm, as The Dark Archer, killed Frank. Despite evident and prevalent flaws, it should be noted that Moira convinced The Dark Archer to spare Frank's daughter, however she disregarded the fact, that Frank Amanda was only family left alive, and this did not stop from her from orphaning Amanda.

It becomes increasingly evident, as the series progresses, that Moira was in way over her head. After Oliver revealed how Robert really died, and how he sacrificed himself so he could live, she finally does the right thing, realizing she cannot live with the guilt of being an accomplice in killing innocent people in the Glades.

In Season 2, Moira showed guilt and remorse for her involvement in the Undertaking, for being partly responsible, the the deaths of 503 including Tommy, she almost went through with the assistant district attorney, agreement, just so her children would not find out about her affair with Malcolm, and that Malcolm was Thea's biological father, when Moira discovered that Malcolm was still alive, instead of being terrified of Malcolm like she used to be, she stood up to him, even when as far as to turn him in to Ra's al Ghul,  just so he would not be in Thea's life, also prevent him from telling Thea he is her biological father, this would later be in vain as Thea found out anyway, just like in Season 1, Moira was in way over her head, she puts those she cares about in danger by not telling anyone that Malcolm is still alive, when Oliver found out that Malcolm, was Thea's biological father, instead of admit her mistakes she try to justify this action of hers, as to protect Thea form Malcolm, but Oliver corrected Moira, saying she was a liar that all she ever was, and disowned her,

Moira later a admitted that Oliver, was right after Thea was kidnapped by Slade.

In , she knew that Oliver was The Arrow. She later was kidnapped along with Oliver and Thea by Slade Wilson. Slade then makes Oliver choose who to kill the same way Ivo did for Shado and Sara. Slade decides to kill Thea but, instead Moira sacrifices herself. Slade kills Moira with his sword into her heart, leaving her to die.

Appearances
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Comics
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 * "Time's Arrow"
 * "Prey"
 * "Fathoms"
 * "The Pieces Missing" (flashback)

Trivia

 * In the DC comics, both of Oliver Queen's parents die during a hunting accident in the safari, when they are both mauled by lions.
 * On Smallville, the name of Oliver's mother was Laura.
 * Moira Queen was the nineteenth person to discover Oliver Queen's secret identity; The Arrow. She revealed that she had known of Oliver's secret identity after the events The Undertaking, she revealed this to Oliver in.
 * Moira is the second character, after Tommy Merlyn, within the main cast to die.