What’s Next for Roy Harper?

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR ARROW SEASON 1 and 2

Since episode one, Arrow has been breaking new ground for DC Entertainment and the CW as it successfully created a world full of colorful characters, and is rife with multiple stories that cause the viewers to anticipate it each and every week. Based on the exploits of billionaire Oliver Queen, played by Stephen Amell, (A.K.A the Green Arrow, even though he hasn’t reached that point yet) Arrow has brought the character to new heights and has succeeded in avoiding many of Smallville’s failures.  While Ollie is certainly the focus of the show, many of his supporting cast members have begun stepping into the spotlight. One such character that has made his presence known to Green Arrow fans since appearing in the middle of season one is Roy Harper, played by Colton Haynes.

Roy came onto the scene in episode 15 of season one and was a seemingly unimportant character after he robs Oliver’s sister Thea, played by Willa Holland, of her purse. Thea soon tracks down her Harper and discovers that he had stolen Thea’s purse to support his ailing mother. Since this first appearance, Roy has gone through some very dramatic character changes. He was at first the stubborn hood rat who constantly denies Thea’s help after she sees the deplorable conditions that him and his mother live in. Then he reluctantly accepts her help, forms a relationship with Thea, becomes her “on again, off again” boyfriend and her coworker. But the most important role change that Roy has undergone is his desire to join Ollie in his crusades against crime and corruption in Starling City.

In episode 18, entitled “Salvation”, of the first season, a new vigilante takes the city by storm as he kidnaps powerful figures that have “failed Starling City” and executes these people during a live broadcast over the Internet. Things take a turn for the worst for the Queens as this new vigilante decides to kidnap Roy and give him the same treatment. Oliver of course saves Roy and puts an end to the vigilante’s acts, but Roy did not leave his ordeal unscathed. His experience caused him to open his eyes and find a new calling in his life, a calling that comes as no surprise to Green Arrow fans. Since this event, Roy has committed his time and body to helping clean up the streets of The Glades and searching for any way to contact the Green Arrow. Roy’s actions were strongly opposed by Thea, leading to the “on again, off again” relationship that I mentioned earlier. Season two has brought even bigger developments for Roy as he has finally established a role in Arrow’s operation as an informant, and his way of contacting Ollie is in the form of a small red arrow.

Colton Haynes

With this season’s high-octane action and storyline, specifically for Roy, it’s not hard to tell that Roy’s formal introduction into the sidekick role is certainly on the horizon, and with Roy’s recent encounter with Brother Blood and his resulting powers, there’s no denying that Oliver will begin to watch him more closely and most likely bring him into the fold in an effort to steer him in the right direction. However, there has been an interesting conflict with Roy’s character progression that has been apparent to long-time Green Arrow fans since episode one. In Roy’s character progression from the classic comic books, Roy first appeared as Oliver Queen’s sidekick under the name Speedy in More Fun Comics #73 and stayed under that name for the next fifty years. It was then that Roy left the emerald archer’s side and joined the Teen Titans under the new name Arsenal in The New Titans #99, and later joined the Justice League as the Red Arrow in the pages of Kingdom Come #2.

Drugs are bad mmmkay.

Assuming that Arrow will somewhat follow Roy’s classic story line, as they have with Oliver and the show’s recent guest The Flash, this raises the conflict of the name “Speedy”. Since the first episode, Oliver has referred to Thea as “Speedy”, a nickname that he gave to her early on in their childhoods, and Thea has since lived up to the nickname with her quick wits and drug abuse scandal, which was a reference to Roy’s battle with drug addiction throughout his pre-New 52 story lines. This conflict now raises the question, what variation of Roy Harper will we see once Colton Haynes picks up the bow? The way I see it, there are two routes that the writers can take.

The first route, while it may cause some adverse reactions from the fanboy community, is to skip Roy’s time as Speedy and go straight into Arsenal. Colton Haynes’ portrayal of the character is that of someone who is long past the early stages of adolescence, especially with the actor’s age of 25, so portraying him as the spritely young Speedy may be a bit too corny and certainly not work well with the show’s established continuity and gritty nature. Bringing Roy straight into Arsenal would give the character much edgier and more action-packed tone and would fit much better with Colton’s portrayal of the character, as well as Stephen Amell’s darker take on the Green Arrow. The addition of a much stronger sidekick would also be much more beneficial for Oliver with the introduction of superpowers in Arrow’s world.

Another route that the show could take is a much more somber one, the death of Thea. Thea has no connection to any characters from the Green Arrow comics aside from her nickname and her middle name Dearden which is a reference to the most recent Speedy, Mia Dearden, so killing her off of the show would not be that ground breaking of a move. Besides being Ollie’s sister, she is not that important of a character when compared to the rest of the main characters. If Thea dies in one of the future episodes, most likely as a result of one of Brother Blood or Slade’s schemes, it would push Roy even further into action and would most likely expedite his sidekick process, causing Oliver to make some bold choices.  Then, as a way of honoring Thea’s memory, Roy adopts the name “Speedy” but takes a role much more similar to Arsenal, and the two create a new dynamic duo hell-bent on putting a stop to Brother Blood and avenging Thea. This could possibly be the route that the writers are planning on taking as Slade made it clear that he aims to destroy everything that Oliver loves when it was revealed that he is now stepping into the role of Deathstroke and orchestrating all of Brother Blood’s plans. Another factor that could lead to Thea’s end is the fact that she was found to be Malcolm Merlyn’s biological daughter. His grief over not knowing this, and his connections to the League of Assassins could also bring about Thea’s demise.

Don’t do drugs kids.

With the return of Arrow tomorrow night, we will surely begin to see a clearer picture of these character’s futures as the show’s best season yet continues to unfold. The next episode “Blast Radius” will most likely focus more on Roy and Oliver’s state of being following their encounter with Brother Blood, but it appears that we could get an answer to Roy and Thea’s futures within the coming months. Don’t miss the episode airing at 8 pm EST on the CW, and be sure to check back here for our review of the episode later on in the week.