It’s hard to imagine Malcolm Merlyn as a male equivalent of Cersei Lannister (of Game of Thrones fame). But if you think deeply and wrap your mind around this idea, you will reach the conclusion that Malcolm Merlyn is indeed akin to Cersei Lannister as both share many similarities in terms of their character arc and temperament. Malcolm Merlyn was the Ra’s Al Ghul (heir to the demon) until the league was disbanded by Nyssa Al Ghul, Cersei was the Queen of Westeros until she lost it to Margery. Both have lost their sons – Tommy Merlyn and Jofferey. Both have been consumed by murderous rage – Malcolm wanted to wipe out “Glades” off the Starling city’s map through the “Undertaking”, Cersei (along with Tywin) ordered “Red Wedding” to wipe out Robb Stark’s forces.
In the last episode titled “Genesis”, we finally understood what ”Project Genesis” is all about on which the HIVE has been diligently working to carry out their sinister agenda. We saw how Damien Darhk ripped off Rubicon (a code that can protect any country from nuclear attack) from Laila’s skin that she had injected herself after Amanda Waller was killed at the hands of Shadowspire when they were trying to steal it from A.R.G.U.S. She explained Team Arrow that if Rubicon is manipulated by Darhk, he could have the power to actually control the world’s nuclear stockpile. Damien Darhk greenlit the final phase of Genesis which is about total destruction of the world as we know it through a nuclear holocaust and mark a new beginning. There have been elaborate arrangements made for evacuating people before the planet is enveloped by mushroom clouds. Malcolm Merlyn ensured that her daughter Thea would remain safe as she is now in a perfectly habitable city beneath an aerial dome which separates it from above. He is willing to go to extreme lengths to keep his daughter safe, that’s perhaps his only redeeming quality like Cersei Lannister. The only difference is he has managed to keep his daughter safe, while Cersei could’nt even attend Myrcella’s funeral at King’s Landing.
