Thea Queen has been a main character on Arrow since Season 1. Willa Holland decided to step down as a series regular with Arrow Season 6, with “The Thanatos Guild” being her final episode on the show. As big fans of Thea Queen we couldn’t have asked for a better ending to her character arc on Arrow. Here’s why:

Righting Her Father’s Sins

One of the main themes from Arrow Season 1, that still stays true to the series today, is Oliver righting his father’s sins. Which is why Season 1 used “The List” as a way to utilize the “villain of the week” narrative structure in a new, unique way. Fighting these enemies on his father’s list pushed Oliver to become The Hood and ultimately a hero.

When Thea decided to leave the show, it was for similar reasons. Malcolm left certain Lazarus Pits intact, and now she wants to destroy them all so no one in the League of Assassins can live forever. Her father, like Oliver’s before him, has become Thea’s motivations in doing good in the world and leaving Star City to become her own kind of hero.

A big chunk of Thea Queen’s character journey and especially her narrative as Speedy has been connected to Malcolm. Becoming Speedy helped her fight against becoming her father, even though the sword in her quiver and her fighting style showed that she could never escape her father’s large-casted shadow. Thea eventually realized that the violence that came along with being Speedy led to the very thing she was trying to escape – becoming her father. She hung up the hood and left Team Arrow, and ever since then it felt like a piece of Thea had been missing – like, she’s holding back.

The Season 5 finale wrapped their father/daughter story perfectly as Malcolm sacrificed himself for his daughter. Malcolm was known to be a trickster and backstabber as a villain, but when it came to his daughter he always tried to do his messed up version of the right thing. This moment helped Thea truly understand her father, and led her to use his connection with the League of Assassins to do something better in the world. She finally knew what direction she wanted to take her hero journey, after being lost for so many seasons. Ironically, just like Oliver, they both are using their fathers’ pasts to help find their own identities. Every day they fight to be better than the men who brought them into the world.

Boyfriend In Distress

The finale not only put a perfect bow on Thea’s complicated relationship with her father, but also her dangling romance with Roy Harper. In the episode “Doppelganger” it was revealed that Roy was being held captive by Season 6’s main villain, Ricardo Diaz. Thea, without hesitation, put on her Speedy outfit, came out of retirement and saved Roy. In the first few seasons of the show, Thea had played the damsel in distress on more than a few occasions. So it was a nice twist to see Thea play the hero and save Roy.

And how many times have we seen a female character have to leave everything they are doing for the sake of the male character? It was so great to see the reverse with Thea’s finale episode. It’s Roy who decided to drop everything and follow his girlfriend into the sunset. Roy is not there to be Arsenal, but instead just an emotionally supportive boyfriend – physically Thea can protect herself. How refreshing is that?

One Last Piece of Advice

Thea and Oliver have had one of the most important relationships on Arrow, especially since when they became the only Queens left on the show. It wouldn’t be a finale episode for Thea without these siblings giving advice to each other. It’s Oliver that pushes Thea in the right direction in following her gut, but Thea doesn’t leave without giving her own piece of advice to Oliver. Before she enters the car with Nyssa and Roy she tells Oliver to stop stringing Diggle along in thinking he will take over being Green Arrow if Oliver truly wants to continue wearing the hood.

Run, Speedy, Run

It will be sad not to see Thea Queen this upcoming season, but it was great that Season 6 gave us two episodes to fully focus on the end of Thea’s journey. I do hope we get a chance to see glimpses of what Thea and Nyssa have been up to in a future guest spot, but if this truly is her ending, we couldn’t ask for a more fitting conclusion for the character. From the start of the show, Thea had always been searching for herself — either through drugs, opening a nightclub, or becoming a vigilante — and now she’s finally found something that can help her become her own hero.