Tommy was Oliver's best friend who helped ease back into life when Oliver returned while dating Laurel. A selfish and reckless money spoiled brat until Malcolm cut him off completely from all his money, he worked for Oliver and became more responsible. But when Tommy discovered Oliver's secret, combined with Oliver and Laurel still loving each other, he became distant, mainly out of jealousy and anger. Tommy was killed while he was saving Laurel's life but made amends with Oliver before he died. Tommy's death served as the motivation for Oliver to become a better hero, sent Laurel into a state of depression and subsequently became an alcoholic, and fueled Malcolm's determination to be involved in Thea's life.
Publication Information
- Arrow : Tommy Merlyn
- Version : The Arrow Series
- Multiverse : Earth One
- Known As : Ex-boyfriend of Laurel Lance
- Type :
- Relative :
- Origin : Starling City, United State
- Season : Arrow
- First Appeareance : Arrow Season 1 Episod 1 : Pilot
- Last Appeareance :
- Number of Appeareance :
- Potrayer :
- Main View : Full Episod
Search for Oliver
When Oliver made an attempt to send out an email acknowledging being alive in Hong Kong but was stopped by Maseo Yamashiro yet still partially successful due to a log-in setting off an account alert, Tommy took his father's jet and flew to Hong Kong in search of Oliver Queen. Oliver was surprised to learn that Amanda Waller had ordered Tommy to be executed, but Oliver and Maseo devised a plan in order to keep Tommy alive. Oliver kidnapped Tommy and claimed that he hacked Oliver's account in hope that a family member would come searching for him, satisfied that it was Tommy, the son of Malcolm, that had come. Maseo then "rescued" Tommy posing as Hong Kong police and Tommy left believing that his best friend was dead. Oliver's return
When Oliver returned to Starling City, Tommy accompanied Oliver on various car trips to ease back into city life but strongly protests when Oliver wants to visit Laurel which as expected goes very badly. Later Tommy and Oliver are both abducted by red skull wearing men and Tommy is knocked out apparently saved by a green hooded vigilante or so Oliver tells Detective Quentin Lance. Much later, Tommy holds a welcome home party for Oliver but it is cut short by Lance when he arrives and confronts Merlyn and Queen about the vigilante showing up at their club when Adam Hunt's place was just previously attacked. After the party, Tommy meets with Laurel to ask out on a date but Laurel declines though Tommy firmly states that he intends to keep trying, much to Laurel's amusement.
Falling out with Oliver
Tommy and Oliver's relationship begins to break down. After an assassination attempt by Deadshot on Malcolm's life, Oliver reveals himself as The Hood to Tommy so that Tommy will trust Oliver to save Malcolm's life. Although obviously conflicted over Oliver's revelation, Tommy keeps his friend's identity a secret. Their friendship continues to become more strained as Helena'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.
Death
Tommy is drinking at Oliver's nightclub and confronts Oliver about the night with Laurel, but Oliver tries to tell Tommy about the Undertaking. Enraged at Oliver's lie about Laurel, Tommy doesn't believe Oliver and wishes that Oliver had died on the island. Tommy later goes to his father confirming to Tommy what he is unwilling to believe from Oliver, that he is going to destroy the Glades to avenge his mother. Then he plays a recording as Rebecca died. Malcolm was, suddenly, shouting to his son how they deserve to die. When Moira confessed Malcolm's plan and the police arrived to which Malcolm easily dispatched, Tommy grabbed one of their guns and tried to kill Malcolm with the weapon but failed and was knocked unconscious.
Artificial reality
In the Dominators's computer simulation, Tommy was still alive and had become a doctor in Chicago. According to Malcolm, he couldn't make it to Oliver's and Laurel's wedding because he was too tied up with work. He was also apparently close to Thea.
Rewritten reality
In the Legion of Doom's alternate reality, Tommy and Rebecca are still alive and he presumably has good relationship with Malcolm.
Legacy
Tommy was buried in Starling City, and his tombstone read In Loving Memory of Thomas Merlyn 1985-2013 Beloved Son. Tommy's death during the Glades earthquake had a profound impact on his loved ones. Tommy's death at first sent Oliver into depression and even re-exiled himself to the island for a time and refused to become the Hood, however, instead was unwilling to ever kill again in Tommy's memory. Meanwhile, Laurel began blaming herself for Tommy's death and also resorted to drinking and taking drugs to ignore the pain.
A hallucination of Tommy says that Oliver isn't a killer and is a hero, relieving Oliver of the guilt. He also tells that Oliver that he finally understands that Oliver kills because having fought for survival and that is what he has been doing that since he was on the island. He tells him to fight back, which Oliver does and defeats Cyrus Gold, stopping his hallucinations. Malcolm suffered great remorse in being responsible for his own son's death. When it was discovered that Malcolm and Thea were related, Malcolm strove to have a better relationship with Thea than Malcolm ever had with Tommy.
When Oliver tried to learn to use Light Magic against Damien Darhk, Oliver had to try to fight his own inner darkness; Tommy's death was one of the visions which stopped Oliver from doing Light Magic. When it was learned that District Attorney Adrian Chase was actually the serial killer Prometheus, Oliver gets taunted with Tommy's death by Adrian into killing to no avail. Malcolm joined the Legion of Doom with the goal being Tommy's resurrection with the Spear of Destiny. During the Earth-X invasion of Earth One, Tommy's doppelgänger was one of the interdimensional invaders to appear; the Legends believed Earth-X Tommy to be Earth One Tommy as an anachronism.
Related Post : Source : wikipedia / arrow.wikia
