Samantha Clayton

Samantha Clayton (died May 17, 2017) was an ex-lover of Oliver Queen and the mother of their son, William Clayton. Samantha was paid $1 million by Oliver's mother, Moira Queen, 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 and William were kidnapped by Adrian Chase/Prometheus in his vendetta against Oliver. She was later killed in Lian Yu's destruction caused by Adrian's suicide, leaving William to be raised by his father.

Early life
Samantha Clayton was born and raised in Central City.

Affair with Oliver Queen
In 2007 while at college, Samantha met Oliver Queen, who was her classmate. The two had a one-night stand, despite Samantha knowing that Oliver was dating Laurel Lance. She subsequently became pregnant and revealed this to Oliver, which distressed the latter.

Shortly afterwards, Oliver's mother, Moira Queen, invited Samantha over to the Queen Mansion to discuss the matter. Moira explained she had Samantha investigated, needing to be sure the latter wasn't making a false claim of paternity or looking for a handout. Slightly affronted, Samantha maintained that the baby was Oliver's and she didn't want money. Moira assured her she knew and made her an offer: $1 million to tell Oliver that she had lost the baby and another $1 million to return to Central City and never contact him again, allowing both Oliver and her grandchild to have a "bright future". After some uncertainty, Samantha agreed to Moira's terms. She later told Oliver the "bad news" over the phone.

Samantha returned to Central City to finish her schooling and eventually gave birth to a son, whom she named William. She was later revealed to have never even cashed Moira's check and also denied the latter access to William, feeling the Queen matriarch would be a bad influence on her son.

Crossing paths with Oliver in Central City
One day in late 2014, Samantha stopped by at CC Jitters, where she bumped into Oliver. The two were surprised to see each other again and exchanged some pleasantries. Oliver apologized for not getting in touch with her after their affair while Samantha expressed her condolences for Moira's death. Samantha then went to order and called William, telling him she'd be home soon with hot chocolate as she watched Oliver leave.

A year later, Samantha was at CC Jitters again with her son. After William returned to her side, they left for home. Unbeknownst to Samantha, Oliver watched their interaction and realized she lied about her miscarriage.

Oliver later approached Samantha as she and William were about to head out to a Central City Diamonds game and asked if William was his son. Samantha denied it, claiming she met William's father two months after their affair, but Oliver was unconvinced. After Samantha and William left for the game, he arranged for a DNA test on a piece of William's hair he plucked from the boy's cap, which confirmed his suspicions.

The next day, Oliver visited Samantha again, stating he knew William was his son. Samantha revealed Moira paid her to lie about the miscarriage, showing the uncashed check as proof, and felt it was better that her son was raised away from the Queen family's influence. Oliver argued he wasn't a playboy anymore and expressed a desire to be a part of William's life now. Samantha eventually gave him an ultimatum: Oliver can meet their son only if neither William nor anyone else ever know of their relationship. Oliver protested, but Samantha remained firm in her decision, stating that he "already asked the world of [her]". Oliver eventually agreed and promised not to tell anyone, not even his significant other, Felicity. Samantha commented that "Felicity" was a nice name and allowed Oliver to interact with William under the guise of her friend.

William's kidnapping and starting anew
Two months later one night in February, Samantha went to get William for dinner, only to find that he had vanished from his room without a trace. She immediately reported her son's disappearance to the Central City Police Department. After 48 hours, the police couldn't find any leads so CSI Barry Allen advised Samantha to talk to Oliver about the matter. Samantha then traveled to Star City.

Meeting with Oliver at his mayoral campaign office, Samantha revealed William's mysterious disappearance. Frightened and panicked, she demanded to know what was going on, accusing Oliver of putting her son in danger. Oliver promised Samantha he was doing everything he could to get William back. When she wondered what he could possibly do, Oliver revealed he was the Green Arrow, much to her shock. Oliver brought Samantha to the Arrowcave, where she met his teammates: his sister Thea Queen, fiancée Felicity Smoak, John Diggle, and Laurel Lance. Stunned to see Laurel again, Samantha apologized for sleeping with Oliver while the two were still together, but Laurel assured her it was in the past now and they will rescue her son. Samantha learned that William had been kidnapped by Damien Darhk to force Oliver to drop out of the mayoral race.

Samantha later met Mari McCabe, a vigilante from Detroit equipped with a magical totem, much to her disbelief. Mari asked for a close possession of William's to locate him and Samantha gave her his Flash action figure. Mari used its scent to track him in the city. While Team Arrow went to find William and alert the Star City Police Department, Samantha helped Felicity set up a search profile for him. As they worked, Samantha, sensing the tension between Oliver and Felicity, explained that Oliver told her how special his fiancée was to him and wanted to let Felicity in on William's life but the former refused, as she didn't know what kind of person Oliver was.

Unfortunately, Darhk had William moved before Team Arrow could rescue him and subsequently moved up his demands, much to Samantha's worry. The next day after Oliver withdrew his candidacy for mayor, she was upset that William still hadn't been released. After Team Arrow discovered they could take away Darhk's powers by destroying his idol, Oliver received a phone call informing him that William would be released in three hours at Nelson Plaza. He left the decision up to Samantha on which route to take. She urged Oliver to attack Darhk now and rescue their son.

The mission was successful and Samantha happily reunited with William at the SCPD as Oliver, Thea, Laurel and Captain Quentin Lance watched on. William asked Samantha for a Green Arrow action figure. Sharing a look with Oliver, she agreed that "the Green Arrow is pretty amazing".

Afterwards, Oliver had Samantha and William go into hiding to protect them from Darhk. The two soon relocated to a different city under new aliases.

Captured by Prometheus and death
Over a year later in May 2017, Samantha and William were kidnapped by Adrian Chase/Prometheus and brought to Lian Yu. Shortly after, they were separated and Samantha was imprisoned in a cage alongside Thea, Felicity, and Curtis Holt. The group was soon found by Oliver, Slade Wilson and Digger Harkness. Oliver asked Samantha about William, but she didn't know his whereabouts. Suddenly, they were ambushed by Adrian's allies, Evelyn Sharp and Talia al Ghul, with Harkness revealing he was also a member of Prometheus' team. A fight broke out, during which Talia shot an arrow at Samantha, but Oliver blocked it. When Nyssa al Ghul and Malcolm Merlyn arrived, Talia and Harkness escaped and left Evelyn behind. Samantha, Thea, Felicity and Curtis were freed and to be escorted by Malcolm to Adrian's' plane, which they would use to escape Lian Yu.

As they walked, Samantha confided in Felicity that she will not get on the plane without William, despite assurances that Oliver will find him. Samantha then asked if her ultimatum was the reason Felicity and Oliver broke up, but Felicity negated this, claiming it to be "complicated". Slightly amused, Samantha pointed out their kiss from earlier and stated it seemed simple enough to her. Suddenly, Thea activated a landmine on the island. Malcolm pushed her off and took her place. Upon seeing Harkness and Talia al Ghul's cult pursuing them, the group was forced to flee. From a distance, they witnessed the explosion from Malcolm setting off the landmine.

After discovering Adrian's plane, Curtis and Felicity uncovered a network of hundreds of C4 bombs on the island. Samantha wondered if Felicity could defuse them, but the latter informed her didn't have the equipment to do so and could only try to locate the trigger. Later, the group was joined by Slade, Nyssa, Diggle, Quentin, Dinah Drake and Rene Ramirez, with Oliver having gone after Adrian to find William. They then discovered that Adrian's plane was sabotaged. Felicity reported this to Oliver, who urged them to head to an A.R.G.U.S. ship on the other side of the island. Slade pointed out they wouldn't make it in time, so they instead decided to take refuge in Adrian's plane to shield themselves from the explosions. But Samantha, still worried about her son, refused to join them and ran off to find William. Thea chased after her, trying to get Samantha to come back to the plane. Suddenly, the bombs detonated after Adrian killed himself, and the two were caught in the explosions.

Samantha was fatally wounded while Thea was rendered comatose. Oliver and Slade eventually found the duo. As a dying Samantha collapsed, Oliver assured her that William was safe, much to her relief. He insisted that she would be okay and William needed to see her but Samantha, aware of the inevitable, simply requested that Oliver be a father to their son, which he promised to do. She then succumbed to her injuries and died in his arms. Samantha's body was presumably brought back to Central City for her funeral.

Legacy
Oliver honored his final promise to Samantha and officially took William in.

Emotionally traumatized and devastated over Samantha's death, William remained distant from Oliver for months, blaming him for not saving his mother. He also grew worried he would lose Oliver as well due to the latter's life as Green Arrow.

The truth of Samantha's death was left unknown to the world, as she is believed to have died in a car accident.

Personality
Samantha deeply loved and cared for her son, William Clayton, having worked hard to provide for him as a single mother. She was fiercely protective of William, which also made her stubborn and narrow-minded; when Oliver Queen wanted to be involved in their son's life, Samantha was not inclined to trust him even though Oliver was no longer the spoiled brat he once was and tried to continue keeping her son away from him. When William was kidnapped, Samantha immediately placed the blame on Oliver, angry with herself for letting him into her son's life. However, Samantha still proved to be somewhat reasonable as she was willing to let Oliver be a part of William's life under the guise of her friend.

Samantha was shown to have a sense of pride and self-respect; she was upset and annoyed when Moira Queen initially suspected her of looking to cash in on the Queen family's influence through her pregnancy. Moira's attempt to bribe Samantha resulted in the latter despising the Queen matriarch for her manipulations and refusing her access to William.

Upon learning Oliver was the Green Arrow and witnessing him save William from Damien Darhk, Samantha realized he truly was a better person and finally acknowledged William as his son too. She even requested Felicity Smoak to not be too hard on Oliver for keeping William a secret, asking her to remember that it was the former who pushed him into making that choice. Samantha also trusted Oliver to rescue their son from Adrian Chase and didn't hold him responsible for their kidnapping.

Samantha was fearless when it came to keeping William safe; she refused to leave Lian Yu without her son, even when the island was facing imminent destruction. In her dying moments, Samantha only cared about William's well-being and upon learning he was safe, she peacefully passed away.

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Behind the scenes

 * In the DC comics universe, Oliver has an illegitimate child named Connor Hawke with a woman named Sandra Moonday Hawke as a result of a fling in college. Connor would go on to succeed Oliver as the second Green Arrow.