Malcolm Merlyn


 * For the Arrow episode, see The Magician.

"Every warrior must learn the simple truth, that pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional."

- Malcolm to Thea Queen

Malcolm Merlyn is the father of the late Tommy Merlyn and Thea Queen, the husband of the late Rebecca Merlyn, the former best friend of the late Robert Queen, and a former close friend and lover of the late Moira Queen. He is Oliver Queen's most deadly enemy, trained as an archer with the League of Assassins, known as the Dark Archer, or Al Sa-Her (ساحر Magician). Malcolm is a wealthy and successful businessman who is CEO of Merlyn Global Group, and is a prominent figure in Starling City. Secretly, however, he is planning the "Undertaking" - fueled by the death of his wife during a mugging in the crime-infested area of Starling City called "The Glades", Malcolm plots with others to completely destroy the Glades, and the thousands of people living in it, with an artificial earthquake to avenge her. Robert tried to extricate himself from this plan or sabotage it, Malcolm had the Queen's Gambit sabotaged, killing Robert and shipwrecking Oliver and Sara Lance, inadvertently causing the events that would shape them into "The Arrow" and "The Canary" vigilantes. Malcolm continues his plans, but when the Arrow began to interfere, he becomes a vigilante called "Dark Archer" to oppose him and to frame The Arrow for any targets Malcolm may kill to prevent exposure. Ultimately, Malcolm's plan to level the Glades was largely successful, but its unforeseen consequence was to kill his son Tommy, and Moira publicly exposed him as the mastermind behind the operation. Malcolm himself was defeated by Oliver and believed dead.

It didn't take long for Malcolm to return, very much alive, and revealed himself to Moira as the reason she was acquitted of all charges relating to her participation in the Undertaking. Malcolm is now aware Thea is his daughter with Moira from their affair. Malcolm tries to get Moira to tell the truth to Thea, but instead informs Ra's al Ghul of Malcolm's survival which due to his Undertaking violating their code put him on the run. When Starling City is attacked by Slade Wilson's Mirakuru army, Malcolm returns to save his daughter and succeeds in convincing her to leave with him and the two of them leave the city together for Corto Maltese.

Malcolm began training Thea to be a warrior while caring for her as a father but also watches over her when she returns to Starling City. However Malcolm plots to rid himself of Ra's and orchestrates a battle between them by having Thea unknowingly murder Sara Lance, and forcing Oliver to take the fall so Ra's would target him instead. Malcolm also found himself in an uneasy alliance with Oliver due to his vow never to kill and inability to arrest him but is still hunted by the League of Assassins.

History
Malcolm Merlyn is the husband of Rebecca Merlyn and the father of Thomas and was a close friend of Robert Queen, his wife Moira and their friend Walter.

In 1993 his wife was murdered in the Glades section of Starling City. Earlier Rebecca tried to call Malcolm for help but he was busy and turned his phone off, unaware of the nature of Rebecca's call until two SCPD officers told him that same night what happened which sent Malcolm into a state of depression. After the death of his wife Malcolm had a brief affair with Moira Queen in his grief who was deliberately cheating on Robert, who consequently gave birth to his daughter Thea, but Malcolm was unaware of this. As he regretted betraying his wife's memory, he left Starling City and Tommy for two years.

Malcolm aimlessly traveled the world, his faith in humanity shattered, seeking a way find purpose in his life and found his way to Nanda Parbat. While there, he met a man named Ra's al Ghul  the leader of the League of Assassins who took him in and trained him under member Al-Owal. After training and serving with them for two years he was released from the league by Ra's and became the first person to ever be released, on condition that he follow the League's codes. . After leaving the League he also learned additional skills in all manner of combat eventually becoming strong enough to withstand even unbearable pain.

After returning to Starling City he then gathered with various people including his best friend Robert Queen and Frank Chen and started a plan to rebuild the Glades and free it of crime, first by forcing criminals to give up their wealth and give it to the needy keeping their names on a list. However Malcolm was estranged from Tommy and took little involvement in his upbringing leading Tommy to believe he cared for no one but himself, leading Tommy to spend most of his time at Oliver's house where he saw Oliver's father Robert as a surrogate father figure. Despite this however Malcolm did bail Tommy out when he got into trouble with authorities.

In late 2007 Malcolm meets with various associates dedicated to fixing the Glades of crime, these included Robert and Frank. Malcolm told them of his plan to level the Glades using an Earthquake device made by Dr. Markov at Unidac Industries. Though some were persuaded by his intentions Robert was wary of Malcolm's intentions. Later after everyone had left Robert met with Malcolm to question his plan where Malcolm revealed the unthinkable circumstances of his wife's death to Robert. Later Malcolm had Frank rig Robert's boat with explosives to kill him to keep his plan in motion. This would inadvertently cause the eventual creation of Oliver Queen and Sara Lance's respective vigilante identities "The Arrow" and "The Canary". After the boat was sunk and Robert was dead Malcolm continued his plan and used the criminals on the list to instead buy sections of the Glades and hired other criminals and mercenary's to complete his mission. He also had Moira approve all scientific developments through Queen Consolidated and sub companies called Tempest and Unidac Industries. He also had Moira personally visit anyone working in the Glades who had plans that would endanger the Undertaking, all of this while using her own life and Thea's as a threat to keep her in line. In 2010 Tommy used Malcolm's jet without his permission to head to China to search for Oliver acting on a tip, and Malcolm yelled at Tommy on the phone for taking his jet without his consent.

The Undertaking


Moira meets with Malcolm, informing him that Oliver knew nothing of his father's involvement in the plan or that the Queen's Gambit was sabotaged, before he looked in his own version of the list. Malcolm is seen for the first time in person and met with Moira to discuss The Hood. He expressed that he was uneasy about him. At first Moira expected this was because he had a large amount of wealth, but he replied that it was because the Hood was targeting "The List". When Oliver was accused of being the vigilante Malcolm later invited Moira to talk with him upon short notice. They discuss whether Oliver might actually be The Hood, and he holds up his end of the argument that he strongly believes that Oliver is due to the suspicious timing and explainable absences, along with numerous officials submitting hard evidence. After this, he sends a man to kill Oliver based on his assumption but he failed when Detective Lance killed him. After the chaos cleared, Moira went to consult with him. Moira threatened to ruin his life if he ever tried to hurt the Queen family again. Though Malcolm listened he still appeared to have his suspicions.

When Moira was almost shot and hospitalized Malcolm visited her during this time, much to her distaste. He offered her friendship as they previously had, but she was hesitant. Later, his son Tommy came asking why his father cancelled his credit card while the elder was practicing fencing. Malcolm replied that he had permanently cut Tommy off from his trust fund and the family because he had grown tired of Tommy's constant laid back attitude which had grown tiresome. Tommy then argued with his father that it was his trust fund which Malcolm further reminded him is comprised of his money, before resumed his fencing.

Tired of the Hood's interference, Malcolm took up his own vigilante persona, the "Dark Archer", and killed Adam Hunt to lure him out before attending a party at the Queen Mansion where the Hood was the topic of discussion and the killing of Adam Hunt. Malcolm also appeared to still have suspicions as he asked Oliver a few questions of the Hood and his nickname, even suggesting "Green Arrow", and looked at him with suspicion when he left the room the same time as the cops after they reported Hunt's murder to party attendee Commissioner Nudocerdo. Later Dark Archer killed Nelson Ravich to again lure out the Hood and set up a trap in a warehouse which failed, then Malcolm was informed that Walter had more information on the list and consulted with Moira about the predicament and stated that action needed to be taken. Desperate to lure the Hood out Dark Archer took hostages in a factory and fought him but Dark Archer came out on top, informing Hood that he knew he was targeting the list, and almost killed him but the Hood managed to get away. Malcolm later had Walter abducted and informed Moira that he wouldn't be harmed and would be safe until the Undertaking was over. Oliver's defeat at the hands of Dark Archer gave him nightmares and scared him so much that he refused to suit up again fearing for leaving his family should he be killed. However Diggle was finally able to snap him out of his fear before Oliver became Hood once again.

Malcolm invited his son and Laurel to have dinner with him. At dinner, Malcolm quite openly mentioned to Laurel how his wife was killed, though not before trying to getting Tommy to sign over his mother's clinic, so it could be shut down. Tommy then felt betrayed again and stormed off as Laurel directly confronted Malcolm about the cut off but he told Laurel that he needs it to be stronger just like he was forced to after his wife's death. Malcolm also met with Moira to discus Carl Ballard's endangerment to the Undertaking and she agreed to handle him but demanded proof of Walter's survival first. Malcolm later came to Moira at Thea's birthday party to give her a photo of him and gave her a re-assuring touch on her shoulder, unaware Thea was watching who believed them to be having an affair. Moira met with Malcolm to inform him Carl won't be a problem anymore but Malcolm then reveals that he learned from Walter that Moira had the Queen's Gambit salvaged and orders Moira to destroy it, unaware that Diggle is spying on them in the other room. However Malcolm appeared to have voice amplifiers in the room as when Oliver and Dig played it again Malcolm's voice was cloaked.

Without knowing Moira, tired of being used, hired China White to assassinate Malcolm. Malcolm visited Tommy at Laurel's apartment on his 28th birthday and invited him to an awards ceremony where he was to receive the humanitarian award but Tommy refused. Later though Tommy did attended, albeit reluctant. Frank Pike read out Malcolm's award announcement before handing it to him before Malcolm gave a speech his philanthropy and charitable nature to making Starling City better, but noting that he hasn't done enough but one day he will. As he was giving his speech, the lights were turned off by the Chinese Triad. Malcolm quickly exited and found Tommy, and the two made it up to his office. Malcolm explained to Tommy about his safe room, and proceeded to open the door to it. However, before he could admit to his son his alter ego of the Dark Archer, Malcolm was shot from afar by Deadshot, who had been assigned to his assassination. Before Malcolm could die, The Hood arrived and was able to convince Tommy to give his father a blood transfusion, in order to rid his body of curare poison laced in the bullet. He woke up in a hospital bed some time later and talked to Tommy and confessed his guilt for letting him down as a child. Moira visited, and Malcolm asked her to find his would-be killer, unaware it was actually Moira.

Malcolm began a vengeance mission to find who was responsible for paying Deadshot to kill him and met with a member of the Chinese Triad to find out, promising him a reduced prison sentence. Moira with no choice pinned the blame on Frank Chen and gave evidence that he was the one who ordered the kill. Dark Archer later killed Frank as he met with Moira and wanted to kill his daughter but Moira begged Dark Archer not to which Dark Archer agreed. After quitting his job at Verdant, Tommy visited his father at Merlyn Global Group and asked for a job.

Malcolm received word that the Markov device is ready and celebrates with Moira in honor of Robert and Rebecca. Later Moira storms into a meeting Malcolm has with his Chinese employers about Walter apparently being killed but Malcolm shows her that he is alive, unaware that the Hood is listening in. Later when Walter was rescued by the Hood, Malcolm talked to Oliver about Walter if he knew anything but he didn't and told Malcolm that those who nabbed him would pay. To tie up loose ends Malcolm, as Dark Archer, visited Unidac Industries and eliminated Dr. Markov and his team, including two innocent young scientists for being witnesses, before destroying the labs to eliminate evidence before speeding off in his car. The following day, Malcolm ran in to Oliver in his company's building, while Felicity Smoak attempted to hack the system. Later, when Malcolm realized that Felicity has hacked into his system, he removed the device and had it hidden. Malcolm later paid Walter a visit at the Queen Mansion until Moira returned and accused Malcolm of wanting to kill him to tie up more loose ends, given Dark Archer's massacre earlier, which Malcolm admitted was true. Later Diggle found the device's empty container while Malcolm was personally visited by The Hood. The vigilante attempted to shoot Malcolm with an arrow, but Malcolm caught the arrow before revealing to him that he is the Dark Archer, also noting the irony of Malcolm trying to kill him at Christmas, Hood saving Malcolm a few months before and now Hood trying to kill him. The two of them engaged in hand-to-hand combat, Malcolm ultimately coming out the victor, knocking Hood out. He lifted his hood and discovered his true identity - Oliver Queen.



Malcolm had Oliver tied up before he could regain consciousness. Oliver was awoken, and Malcolm explained to him why he had done what he had before leaving, awaiting the destruction of the Glades. Later Tommy visited Malcolm to tell him that Laurel and he were over and that Oliver believed he wanted to destroy the Glades but Malcolm confirmed it much to his shock. Malcolm then played a recording of Rebecca's death to Tommy before violently yelling at him "They deserve to die! All of them!" However then Moira confessed the plan on TV and three cops arrived but Malcolm easily dispatched them and Tommy tried to kill him but Malcolm knocked him out. After this he waited, geared up in his safe room, and The Hood and John soon found him. Dark Archer fought them both simultaneously, despite being on the losing end. He threw a throwing knife at John and managed to escape to the roof. Hood and Dark Archer squared off on the roof, shooting arrows at each other, before engaging in hand-to-hand combat. He managed to get Hood in a choke hold, telling him that he would soon be joined by his mother and sister in death, remembering the last words of his his father Oliver managed to stab Malcolm through the chest with one of Malcolm's arrows, by stabbing himself through his shoulder. Oliver rose from the ground, and after receiving confirmation from Felicity that the device was disarmed, told Malcolm that his plan had failed. Injured, Malcolm revealed he had a second device stationed in the Glades. Believing he had won, Malcolm fell on his side and succumbed to his apparent demise.

Despite everyone's assumptions, Malcolm had in fact survived his brush with death he had coroners make the police believe he was dead and had left Starling City. However he still had associates in the D.A.'s office including someone close to A.D.A. Adam Donner. The League also learned of his Undertaking which violated their codes but believing Oliver to have killed him they considered the matter settled.

Pursued by the League
5 months following his apparent death, it is now public knowledge that Malcolm was responsible for the Undertaking and he was the Dark Archer. When Al-Owal attacked Oliver looking for Sara Lance, Oliver discovered Merlyn's history with the League of Assassins. When Moira was in danger of being prosecuted Malcolm returned to Starling and used "a little persuasion" to make sure she was acquitted of the charges of being associates with him. After she was acquitted, her driver brought Moira to a remote location where Malcolm was waiting, killed the driver and revealed himself to Moira. Using resources in Starling Malcolm followed Donner's investigation of links between Moira and Malcolm and became suspicions she had kept secrets even from him. A genetics test confirmed his suspicions - Thea is his daughter. Malcolm continues to privately confront Moira at the Queen household and even revealed the guilt he had towards inadvertently killing Tommy and insisting that she owes her life to him after acquitting her. Determined to play a part in his daughter's life, Malcolm demands that Moira tell Thea of her true parentage. Moira refuses and contacts Ra's al Ghul, informing him that Malcolm is alive. She reveals this to Malcolm, advising that he run since Ra's wanted to kill him personally which he did but said the matter wasn't settled.

Felicity discovered Merlyn's secret and told it to Oliver which made him distant from Moira. When Thea was kidnapped by Slade Wilson, Moira quickly suspects Malcolm's involvement. However, despite her fear for her daughter's life, she does not reveal her suspicions to Oliver or to the police. Thea is also told by Slade that Malcolm is her biological father. Thea became distant once she knew Malcolm was her father and starts calling herself "Thea Merlyn". In a limo trip back home Moira, trying to make things right with Thea and Oliver was about to confess that Malcolm was alive but was hit by Slade's truck and killed before she could say anything. When Malcolm heard what happened to Moira he made his way back to Starling City to check up on Thea.

Dark Archer arrives just as Slade's Mirakuru army lays siege on the city, just in time to save Thea from being killed by one of the henchmen and reveals himself to her before killing him. Thea out of shock and panic ran away into the subways before Malcolm catches up to her, insisting he wasn't going to hurt her begging her to come with him to safety but she refuses before being attacked by another minion. After he manages to kill him, he temporarily loses consciousness, and when he comes to, Thea is pointing a gun at him. Malcolm tells Thea that he understands her pain as he has endured it too - with Rebecca and Tommy's deaths - just as Thea did with her loss of Moira and Robert. Suddenly Thea fires two shots in his direction. As Thea feels guilt ridden for killing her real father, Malcolm comes to and reveals that he was wearing a kevlar vest. Malcolm, to Thea's disgust, told Thea that she had more nerve than Tommy. When Thea left to find Roy, Malcolm compared Roy to Moira and Oliver: they were all liars. Later, after Thea found out Roy's identity as The Arrow's accomplice, she went back to Malcolm, waiting in his limousine. She requested that he teach her how to suppress her emotions, as she never wanted to feel the same way again, and they soon departed from Starling City.

War with League of Assassins
Following them leaving Starling City, Malcolm and Thea left for Corto Maltese. The two took up residence in a mansion owned by Malcolm. He decided to train her by pouring boiling water on to her hand, to teach her that "pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional". However, she was unable to stand it, and Malcolm decided that he had to train her the same way he had been trained, by physically hurting her to the point that Thea retaliated, pointing a sword, allowing him to determine that he training had began. During this period he trained her in martial arts, swordfighting, stealth and archery. Somewhere during this period he drugged her with a plant votura that made her follow orders without remembering it. He and Thea took a plane to Starling City where he made her kill Sara Lance on a rooftop by shooting three arrows in her chest. The two then flew back to Corto Maltese where they kept training while Thea did not realized about what had happened.

After 6 months Malcolm saw his daughter able to take down multiple trainers and congratulated her. When Oliver arrived looking for Thea and arrives at the mansion Malcolm readied his bow but Oliver was called off. Malcolm later spied on Thea as she talked to Roy. Thea later requested to head home and proved her training's worth by fighting Malcolm with swords and disarmed him, but Thea implied that he let her win. Malcolm returned to Starling City after Thea in order to watch over and protect her. He also bought shares for Verdant and the nearby foundry (the Arrowcave) to help Thea put it back in business, which makes Malcolm the owner of Oliver's base. Nyssa also informed Oliver of Merlyn's survival after believing him to be Sara's killer. After following leads Nyssa tracks Malcolm and fights him and Oliver tags him with an arrow but doesn't kill him much to Laurel and Nyssa's anger. Malcolm later privately contacts Oliver and pleads his innocence in Sara's death knowing that killing her would only provoke Nyssa and Ra's and Oliver believes him. Laurel however begs Nyssa to kill Malcolm at any cost but she kidnaps Thea to lure him out where Dark Archer, Arrow and Nyssa fight each other and Dark Archer manages to defeat Nyssa but Arrow holds an arrow to him. Malcolm admits his high body count but protests that he didn't kill Sara and Arrow contemplated killing him for his past crimes but was unable to due to his vow and let him go and proclaimed Malcolm to be under his protection until Sara's true killer was found. Later Malcolm contacted Thea to tell her that he would protect her at any cost.

Malcolm continues to train Thea without Oliver's knowledge and allows her access to his wealth so that she could buy herself an apartment while rebuilding the club, much to Oliver's chagrin. He later spied on Thea and saw Oliver at her apartment, much to his annoyance. Malcolm was later contacted by Thea after Oliver visited her loft as the Arrow to find out if she was responsible for Sara's murder, he later confronted Oliver in Verdant and after being attacked, he revealed that he had Thea kill Sara through a plant called votura which thrives in Corto Maltese which was used to erase her memory of the incident. His whole plan was to make Ra's al Ghul focus on the killer and force Oliver to confront Ra's as he did not want to put Thea in danger, his aim that Oliver would kill Ra's al Ghul so he would no longer be hunted by the League.

Malcolm continued to train Thea in her apartment but she expressed worry over Oliver for not calling as it had been days since he did so, but he promised her to look into it as he regarded Oliver as family. Malcolm then visited Felicity, Diggle and Roy in the Arrowcave to ask them if they'd seen Oliver which they denied and Malcolm suspected Oliver's death at Ra's hands. Malcolm then visited the site where Oliver and Ra's had dueled but only found a sword with Oliver's blood and returned to Starling in the Arrowcave to inform the team of the news and present the sword. Though Malcolm offered his condolences but Feliciy and Diggle scolded Merlyn for getting Oliver killed. Malcolm then arrived in Thea's apartment where she threw a letter opener at him (which he caught). He informed her they were leaving Starling forever, but decided not to reveal her brother's fate to her.

He later visited her at her apartment expecting her to be packing. However she was gone and he found her at Verdant. He asked her why she was not packing and she told him he did not explained why they had to leave, and said she wasn't leaving unless he told her why. He later went to her apartment were Roy confronted him who told him to stay away from Thea and said he would not allow Thea to go with him. Roy also scolded him for manipulating her into killing Sara and told Malcolm he would lose her forever, but Malcolm told him it was a family matter, and he wasn't family. Malcolm later met her at her apartment and apologized to her, and told her the truth. He explained Ra's wants to kill him and his family for the undertaking, but later Thea told Malcolm they weren't leaving and told him not to be afraid of Ra's just like he taught her not to be and to face Ra's together. Malcolm agreed and they decided to stay.

Personality
Before his wife's death, Malcolm was a much kinder man who loved his wife and son very dearly, and was a devoted businessman and humanitarian, striving to save Starling just like his wife, Rebecca. After his wife's death, he shut his son out and went away for two years, later revealed that during his time of grievance he had an affair with Moira which guilt riddled him so much. He returned as an apathetic, calculating, and ruthless man. He believed what he was doing was right and is for the greater good, and will do anything, regardless of the number of lives he ruins and will kill anyone who gets in his way to see his goals fulfilled, which makes him somewhat of a sociopath. He truly believed in the righteousness of his cause, projecting this in his acceptance speech for "humanitarian of the year". He also truly loved his wife, still wearing his wedding ring so many years after her death.

Malcolm is a charismatic person, able to project his own beliefs and self-righteousness into his words. His acceptance speech for the humanitarian of the year award was so compelling it even managed to catch the attention of China White. Malcolm seemed to have a slight ego as Robert Queen said that Malcolm had "something of a God-complex" and had a hostage read out that he will kill them if The Arrow "doesn't surrender to his authority". He blames all the people living in the Glades for his wife's death, not just the person who killed his wife, but also the ones who walked past his wife while she was dying which unfortunately results in his own son's death. Like Oliver, he is prone to emotional outbursts, although this rarely happens due to him being calm and level-headed. Malcolm also has no guilt and remorse using people for his personal gain and then killing them once they became loose ends to keep them from going public with information he wouldn't otherwise want to be public information. Malcolm is also tactically intelligent, as once the Undertaking was nearing, but the Arrow was endangering his mission, he began his own "anti-Arrow" persona as the Dark Archer knowing that the police would blame the Arrow and people would lose faith in him. He was shown to be quite confident in his fighting skills as he beat The Arrow multiple times in combat. He mentioned the reason he came out on top was because he knew what he was fighting for. Malcolm is calm in battle and willing to fight anyone that is a threat to himself or the ones he cares for. So far the only person he is afraid of is Ra's Al Ghul.

Despite his insanity, ruthlessness, and cold heart he still loves his son dearly and wants what's best for him but has a rather harsh way of showing it which often leads to Tommy pushing Malcolm away, such as cutting off his trust fund to "jolt him into adulthood". In Season 2, he is deeply upset about causing the death of his son making him desperate to have a relationship with Thea. He started to pressure Moira in telling Thea the truth and was convinced she needed him as her father. The only reason he stopped this was when she informed one of the few he feared Ra's Al Ghul about his survival. This forced him to flee. He was willing to return to Starling City after Moira was killed to check up on Thea, despite still being hunted by the League of Assassins, and tried many times to get her to safety and eventually succeeding. Malcolm, like Tommy, does love Thea but when training her was willing to hurt her to push her enough to fight back and managed to train her to tremendous skills after 6 months, but does go easy on her and originally wanted to take a less aggressive approach to her training. Malcolm can be very convincing as he continually stressed to Oliver that he was not responsible for killing Sara and swore on Thea he did not do it. Even when Oliver had a bow aimed at him and when Nyssa kept trying to kill him having not believed him, and was completely honest about the body count on his hands admitting it was too numerous to count.

It was later revealed he had been lying after all. As he had drugged Thea and made her kill Sara to force a reaction of the League of Assassins. Knowing Oliver would try to protect his half-sister he used this to create a duel between Oliver and Ra's. He hoped Oliver managed to somehow kill Ra's al Ghul, which would make the League stop hunting him. In the process he had lied and manipulated everybody including his own daughter. This caused Oliver to ponder whether Malcolm is even capable of loving someone, as his actions only seek to serve himself. However despite Oliver's beliefs Malcolm is devastated by his death and revealed to Thea that he regards him as family, truly believing Oliver's desire to save Thea would be enough to kill Ra's. Malcolm does seem to care about Oliver despite his twisted nature. One example was the next to last season 1 finale when he defeated the Hood and expressed regret upon learning he was actually Oliver.

Malcolm is shown to have a deep interest in various warrior cultures. This was shown as his office was decorated with Asian statues and Japanese swords. In his secret room he had racks of swords and other weaponry from multiple cultures.

Abilities

 * Peak of human physical condition: As a highly skilled assassin, Malcolm is shown to be in top physical condition. In all three of his confrontations with Oliver, Malcolm has demonstrated to be quite a match if not a superior fighter. In their first confrontation, Malcolm was strong enough to severely injure Oliver and was able to break three of Oliver's ribs by kicking him in the abdomen repeatedly. He has also demonstrated sufficiently high enough strength to break Oliver's bow in half with a single strike and knead a steel beam with a single kick. His reflexes allowed him to catch an arrow shot at him by Oliver during their second confrontation (a feat only the highly skilled Billy Wintergreen, Slade Wilson, Al-Owal, Oliver Queen, and the formidable Helena Bertinelli and Roy Harper have demonstrated). He was also shown himself to be able to dodge an arrow and fire one directly after Oliver tried to shoot him in their first confrontation. Despite defeating him on two occasions, Malcolm claims that due to his youth, Oliver is faster than he is. According to Moira, one of the few individuals skilled enough to overpower Malcolm in a duel is Ra's al Ghul.
 * League of Assassins training: Malcolm has gone through the training all League members do. He likely possesses skills with a variety of other melee weapons such as swords,
 * Master archer: As the Dark Archer, Malcolm proved himself as an expert archer with astounding archery skills, a feat acknowledged by Oliver seeing how tightly grouped the arrows shot to Adam's body were.He was able to shoot three arrows at once and pin Nyssa to the wall by her clothing without injuring her. He was successfully able to catch Oliver off guard and wound him. Because of this, Malcolm's archery skills can be considered equivalent if not superior to Oliver's. He uses a customized compound bow. He was even able to combine his CQC techniques with his archer abilities to pin down Nyssa without killing her.
 * Master hand-to-hand combatant/Martial artist: Malcolm has shown to be a highly skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand combatant, most likely learned from the League of Assassins during his time in Nanda Parbat. He was able to incapacitate two Chinese Triad members (disarmed one and kill the other with his own gun). Malcolm was able to best Oliver in hand-to-hand combat once, even knocking him out after a brutal fight in their second encounter. In a third encounter he was able to fight both John and Oliver at the same time. He was able to fight a Mirakuru-enhanced henchman at close range, landing multiple strikes without taking a hit. While being attacked by Nyssa al Ghul he dodged her sword strike and tossed her to the floor in mere seconds. He seems to have surpassed his teacher Al-Owal and most members of the League in hand-to-hand combat. Given the show's timeline, Malcolm may have been training for nearly 20 years. However, according to Moira, one of the few individuals skilled enough to overpower Malcolm in a duel is Ra's al Ghul, which Malcolm himself does not deny.
 * Stealth: As a highly trained assassin Malcolm was shown to be highly skilled in stealth. This was shown as he was able to approach and kill targets without being noticed. After his first fight against Oliver he escaped the scene without being seen.
 * Skilled tactician/Genius-level intellect/Great business acumen: In his daily life, Malcolm was the CEO of Merlyn Global Group, overseeing its daily activities and ensuring its success as a multi-billionaire corporation. Malcolm has proven himself to be remarkably clever when it comes to devising plans and battle strategies, He even managed to catch Oliver off guard on at least 2 occasions and was almost able to kill him. One of Malcolm's plans involves the deaths of thousands of people living in the Glades, However, after he found out Oliver is The Arrow, and that he knew about The Undertaking and the Markov Device, he accelerated his plan to level the Glades that same night. As a fail-safe for his master plan (and in an attempt to maximize devastation upon the area) he had a second device placed in the east sector of the Glades, devoted to leveling this sector. After being injured in his final confrontation with The Arrow, he faked his own death and left for 5 months. After this he managed to stay hidden from the League of Assassins and foiled any attempt of getting traced. In an attempt to kill Ra's al Ghul he even drugged Thea and made her kill Sara to force Oliver to confront Ra's al Ghul in a trial of combat. Malcolm is highly aware of his surroundings and was aware of Oliver's presence in his office. He was also aware of Roy following him.
 * Master swordsman: Malcolm is trained and highly skilled with a variety of swords. In "Muse of Fire", Malcolm was shown fencing with experience, also in "Trust but Verify", Malcolm's secret room where he keeps his Dark Archer equipment was shown to house several racks of swords of various kinds. Furthermore, In "Sacrifice", he was able to easily dispatch 3 heavily armed police officers using a scimitar. In "Corto Maltese", he was shown having trained Thea in swordfighting.
 * Indomitable will/High tolerance for pain: Using his will he is able to ignore pain and can pour hot water over his hand without flinching.
 * Network: Malcolm has a very high network of people all over Starling City, including one in the coroner's office, which he used to fake his death.
 * Toxicology: Malcolm was able to use votura to create a drug that made Thea kill Sara without remembering it.

Equipment

 * Customized Compound Bow: Malcolm. as the Dark Archer, uses his signature weapon of choice: A Customized Compound bow. The brand of this particular bow is unknown however the structure of the riser and limbs suggests that it is highly likely to be a bow manufactured by PSE.
 * Customized Hunting Arrows: Malcolm creates and designs his arrows himself. The arrows he used have arrow heads with three "Teflon-coated titanium blades" on each arrow, with the blades serrated for splitting bones, and the shaft itself is made of "specialized polymer stronger than typical carbon fiber". As such, it is safe to assume that the arrows he uses are deadlier than those used by The Arrow.
 * Trick arrows: In "Streets of Fire", shortly after his return, Malcolm uses an explosive arrow to save Thea and seemingly kill one of Slade's Mirakuru henchmen.
 * Quiver: An arrow container strapped to Malcolm's back.
 * Throwing Knives: When fighting Oliver and John, Malcolm utilized double bladed throwing knives.
 * Swords: Malcolm first used a scimitar to kill two police officers, during his third fight with Oliver. Malcolm was shown using a scimitar against Oliver, though he was very quickly disarmed by Oliver.
 * League of Assassins Costume: Malcolm wears a costume, used by the members of the League of Assassins, as his villain alter-ego, the Dark Archer, to hide his identity from his victims. The majority of the materials it's made out of are unknown, with the exception of Kevlar.
 * Voice Filter: Malcolm uses this device to change his voice regardless of who he spoke to as the Dark Archer. This could be for the purposes of intimidation as it changed his voice to a deep, low growl.

Arrow
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Season 3
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Arrow

 * "Prey"
 * "Fathoms"
 * "Hunters"

Trivia

 * Prior to, Malcolm was simply known as the "well-dressed man". His identity as Tommy's father was discovered in that episode while he was practicing fencing. Malcolm, at the time, was masked, when Tommy confronted him about his empty credit cards. Malcolm took off his mask to reveal his face to the audience, confirming his identity. His first name however wasn't revealed until.
 * In, after Oliver claimed that the vigilante needed a new nickname other than "The Hood", Malcolm suggested the name "Green Arrow", a clear reference to the vigilante's original DC comics name. However, Oliver disliked the name, stating that it was lame.
 * The arrows Merlyn uses resemble the ones used by Smallville's version of Green Arrow, portrayed by Justin Hartley.
 * In DC comics this character's real name is Arthur King who uses the name Merlyn as his super villain alias.
 * His first name may be a reference to Malcolm McDowell who voiced the Merlyn character in the Green Arrow animated short film.
 * Alongside Billy Wintergreen and Helena Bertinelli, Malcolm Merlyn was one of the only three characters in season 1 shown to be swift enough to catch an arrow in mid air. However, while Helena and Billy only performed this once, Malcolm performed this feat twice.
 * It was revealed in the end of, Malcolm spent two years in Nanda Parbat when Oliver was around 9, and Tommy was around 8 where he received mentorship from another individual. It is most likely (confirmed in the DC comics) that it is where Malcolm learned archery and how to fight. This would explain why he was able to almost best Oliver in their first fight and defeat him in their second fight as he has been training a lot longer. Therefore he has at least 20 years of experience on him.
 * In, everyone in Starling City became aware that the Queen's Gambit had in fact been sabotaged by Malcolm, as well as The Undertaking being his conspiracy.
 * In "League of Assassins", Oliver learns that Al-Owal, the Assassin sent to capture Sara Lance, was the one who trained Malcolm Merlyn in Nanda Parbat.
 * Malcolm is currently the longest surviving antagonist in the series since their first appearance on Arrow.
 * Malcolm is one of the only characters to have bested Oliver in combat more than once, and one of even fewer who have managed it without the aid of Mirakuru.
 * Malcolm is the only person so far to be shown beating someone injected with Mirakuru without explosives or trick arrows.
 * While training Thea he was seen wearing a hakama and Japanese clothing. He also referred to Japanse philosophy. This implies he probably has had training in martial arts outside the League of Assassins.
 * While a member of the League of Assassins, Malcolm was known as "Al Sa-Her" (in Arabic: الساحر), which in Arabic means (the) Magician. This name was possibly chosen by Malcolm as a play on his surname "Merlyn," (which is a variant form of the name Merlin) due it coming from the legendary figure, Merlin, who is best known as the wizard (or magician) featured in Arthurian legend. It's also a reference to the comics, since Arthur King (the Dark Archer's civilian identity) presents himself as "Merlyn the Magician" during his debut.
 * Malcolm has knowledge of the A.R.G.U.S. supermax on Lian Yu where Oliver currently has Slade imprisoned, and claims that even that would not be enough to hold him.
 * He is the second main antagonist to be credited as a main character followed by Slade Wilson.