Tommy Merlyn

Tommy Merlyn (c. February 1985- c. May 2013 ) He was the son of the late Malcolm Merlyn and the late Rebecca Merlyn, a 27 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 is later killed In "Sacrifice", Saving Laurel Lance'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 forms 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 later goes to confront 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", Oliver is confronted by a very dangerous vigilante archer. This vigilante archer not only uses a new very distinctive arrow, but Oliver doesn't know this masked man is actually his best friend's father, Malcolm Merlyn. 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 (Currently for unknown purposes).

In "Burned",

In "Trust but Verify",

In "Vertigo",

In "Betrayal",

In "Dead To Rights," That 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", However, 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, find 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, and as a result quits his job at Verdant, effectively terminating their friendship. Tommy then asks his father for a job at Merlyn Global Group, which Malcolm gladly accepts.

In "Home Invasion", Despite all this, when Laurel's life is threatened Tommy is forced to admit that Oliver's house is the safest person to be around and 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 and Oliver's relationship with her being marred by their tumultuous history, He realizes that Oliver still loves her, and because despite everything that had happened between them Laurel would 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 Arrow. 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 but as Laurel escapes, the building collapses and he is trapped in the rubble where he is impaled by a concrete reinforcement bar. Oliver returns and 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 the fact that his financial access was 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 was 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 trust him, as Oliver suspects him of embezzling funds from the night club for illegal (which technically is true) and harmful use, while Tommy actually uses the money to bribe an inspector from inspecting the night club, which might reveal Oliver's secret base. Tommy then went to his father to find work.

It is implied that his later distrust of Oliver partially stems from jealousy and anger, as the Oliver he knows now is a far better person than he thought him would be. He is jealous that Oliver is superior in every way over him and angry that he cannot now compare to his best friend in any way. He goes so far to break up his relationship with Laurel because he cannot stand the fact that he can be together with her due to Oliver's sacrifice, saying to Oliver that had Laurel knew the true Oliver, she would choose Oliver over him any day.

In his final moments, he admits to the inferiority complex he is feeling, reconciles with Oliver, and they become best friends again.

Oliver Queen
Oliver Queen is Tommy's best friend.

Malcolm Merlyn
Malcolm Merlyn was Tommy's father.

Laurel Lance
Laurel Lance is Tommy's ex-girlfriend.

Appearances
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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 mononymous enemy from the comics, Merlyn, or The "Dark Archer", due to the name similarities until it was revealed in "Year's End" that it is in fact his father, Malcolm Merlyn, who becomes The Dark Archer.
 * Tommy Merlyn was the fifth person to discover Oliver Queen's secret identity Arrow, he discovered this 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 main cast to die.