SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Arrow episode “The Thanatos Guild”. Proceed with caution.
After six seasons, Arrow finally said goodbye to Thea Queen. After the League of Assassins came looking for Thea in “The Thanatos Guild”, Thea saw her exit and left Star City with Roy Harper and Nyssa al Ghul. Thea’s exit comes on the heels of her miraculous recovery from an injury that left her in a coma for most of the season.
Thanatos Guild
The episode kicked off with a flashback to the Season 2 finale, where Thea agreed to let her biological father, Malcolm Merlyn, train her. That moment set Thea on her quest to not only become a superhero, but the future daughter of Ra’s al Ghul. The episode then cut to the former daughter of R’as al Ghul, Nyssa, taking her fight to the lingering members of the League of Assassins. These members then decided it was time to find Thea and use her to uncover a League map.
Farewell to Thea
Thea and Roy were ready to leave Star City at the beginning of the episode. Their plans were thwarted when Athena, a League follower, attacked them. Nyssa came to their rescue and explained Malcolm’s hidden map. Team Arrow recovered the map, and after Nyssa tried to solve it on her own, Thea and Felicity agreed to help her. They found the map, but it was blank. Unfortunately Athena knew what the map required: Thea’s blood. After defeating Athena, Thea used her blood to reveal the location of three Lazarus Pits.
Thea and Nyssa’s shared bond as daughters of the demon outweighed Thea’s desire to live a normal life. So Thea and Roy decided to help Nyssa destroy the remaining Lazarus Pits together. This exit left the door wide open for both Thea and Roy to return to Star City, if they chose to return. Thea and Oliver exchanged one last family goodbye, and Thea left Oliver as the last original member of the Queen family in Star City.
First Daughter of Arrow
Thea’s presence on the show has been felt since day one, when she ran down the stairs and into her big brother’s arms as he returned from the island. Since then, Thea has owned her own night club, she’s suited up as a hero alongside her brother, and she has had her world rocked by witnessing the deaths of her mother, Moira, and her father, Malcolm. Thea also served alongside Oliver in the Mayor’s Office and played a key role in his election.
Thea’s emotional journey on the show has been a profound one. While she began as an innocent, kind, and distraught teenager, she blossomed into a full-blown superhero. Her journey was not easy, however, as she had to endure League of Assassin training and resurrection by the Lazarus Pit. The pit gave her an uncontrollable blood lust, but she was able to overcome it.
While Thea’s exit from the show is sad, she can always come back. If one thing is true about the Arrowverse, it’s that familiar faces never stay away for long. Until then, Thea will continue her mission with Nyssa and Roy. Hopefully she can experience her own kind of happily ever after with Roy while tracking down the remaining Lazarus Pits.
Arrow airs Thursdays on The CW at 9PM.
