Thanks to arrowshieldfan for the heads up.
Barrowman, when we interviewed him at SDCC 2015, indicated that Merlyn will probably like to keep a peaceful relationship with Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) and the archer’s allies. He’s not entirely certain why Merlyn can’t bring himself to kill the group of heroes, but he suspects it could be because they were friends of his deceased son, or maybe he even views the group as family:
“This is how it works for me. My Malcolm, I believe I have a soft spot for every one of those people on that team. And I haven’t figured out why. Maybe it’s because of Tommy knowing most of them or it’s because I look at Oliver being like a son. Or my daughter, I knew I was training her to be part of it. I will protect them. But if I have to kill someone, I will. It’s as black and white as that. But don’t mess with them. Don’t get in the way, because I will put my neck out on the line to protect them. That’s what I think. That’s what makes it work for me. If that happens, I don’t know.”
Barrowman also commented on Merlyn’s manipulative ways. The villain is regularly pulling peoples’ strings and appears to be intrepid, so, to many fans, it was surprising to see Merlyn become a total coward when he was forced to face Ra’s al Ghul. To some, it showed just how much people should fear Ra’s al Ghul. But others – including Barrowman – couldn’t tell if Merlyn was faking it in an attempt to buy himself more time. Is there more to what Merlyn is often saying? Barrowman explained he attempts to deliver lines in a way which keeps viewers – and even himself – guessing about the character’s true intentions:
“Not much scares Malcolm. Ra’s scared Malcolm when he was in front of him. But I always, again, play it like do we really believe that Malcolm is scared or is he a great manipulator? When you watch him…Which I love when I watch him myself, because I do watch myself, I love watching him going, “I don’t really know if I believe you are telling the truth.”
“This is how it works for me. My Malcolm, I believe I have a soft spot for every one of those people on that team. And I haven’t figured out why. Maybe it’s because of Tommy knowing most of them or it’s because I look at Oliver being like a son. Or my daughter, I knew I was training her to be part of it. I will protect them. But if I have to kill someone, I will. It’s as black and white as that. But don’t mess with them. Don’t get in the way, because I will put my neck out on the line to protect them. That’s what I think. That’s what makes it work for me. If that happens, I don’t know.”
Barrowman also commented on Merlyn’s manipulative ways. The villain is regularly pulling peoples’ strings and appears to be intrepid, so, to many fans, it was surprising to see Merlyn become a total coward when he was forced to face Ra’s al Ghul. To some, it showed just how much people should fear Ra’s al Ghul. But others – including Barrowman – couldn’t tell if Merlyn was faking it in an attempt to buy himself more time. Is there more to what Merlyn is often saying? Barrowman explained he attempts to deliver lines in a way which keeps viewers – and even himself – guessing about the character’s true intentions:
“Not much scares Malcolm. Ra’s scared Malcolm when he was in front of him. But I always, again, play it like do we really believe that Malcolm is scared or is he a great manipulator? When you watch him…Which I love when I watch him myself, because I do watch myself, I love watching him going, “I don’t really know if I believe you are telling the truth.”
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