Arrow season 5 spoilers: What will Thea’s arc be later this season?

As incredible as Arrow season 5 has been at times this season, one of the more frustrating parts of it is the way Thea Queen’s been phased out of some of the story. Willa Holland’s only contracted for a portion of the episodes this time, which means in turn more challenges incorporated into the story. We’ve only seen her “suit up” on occasion, and it’s not entirely clear what the plan or the desired endgame for her is for the season.

With this said, it does look as though we’re going to get a chance to see the story for Thea play out in some pretty dramatic ways by the end of the season. Specifically, here is what executive producer Wendy Mericle had to say on the subject as a part of a new article with TVLine:

“Thea is the daughter of sociopaths, which is one of the biggest challenges any human being can really face … so she’s going to grappling with that and trying to understand: What is this in her that makes her so kind of Moira-esque, and how is she going to manage it? Ultimately, she and Oliver are going to come to the same conclusion about how to do that, by the finale.”

Will we get a chance to see Thea play a more active role in the final episodes? We hope so, since our larger fear right now is that she’s going to “go off to a conference” and not come back. That’s absolutely not something we want for her, since she holds such great significance on the show. She’s the only living character who was a major force in Oliver’s life before he became the Green Arrow — sure, you could argue that Sara Lance was, as well, but she’s not family and she’s not a regular part of this show. Arrow would not be what it was were it not for Thea’s own journey.

We’ll have faith in the writers’ ability to deliver on something good for Thea this season despite some of the obvious logistical challenges. Clearly, they know that there would be some problems when it comes to finding a way to incorporate her into the show as much as possible, but they’ve given us reasons to have faith in them with some of the stories as of late.

If you missed it, head over here to see when Arrow season 5 will be returning to The CW with new episodes.

What do you want to see from Thea’s arc before the season ends? Share your thoughts now in the comments! (Photo: The CW.)