Nostalgia hit me and I have been rewatching Arrow and one of the things that had bothered me about Olicity (while being an Olicity fan - still am lol) is the way Felicity broke up with Oliver after him not telling her about William in S4.
It felt rushed and it didn't put Felicity in a good light but now that I have watched Arrow in its entirety I can finally see where this is coming from and it even gives me another perspective on Olicity.
Putting aside Felicity's fear for abandonment and the way she immediately kept jumping the gun whenever there was a secret concerning Oliver (proof how she immediately told him about Thea's parentage secret) I think that Felicity was also kind of ...right in the end?
Yes she was projecting her fears and in a hypocritical way some times as she had confessed too but deep down she knew who Oliver Queen was better than anyone.
I mean it in the way that Felicity had understood Oliver's thought process and his tendency for sacrifice better than literally anyone (even Diggle) and she knew once he set him mind on something he would go secretly about it and take charge. She knew him better than anyone and she was in panic trying to protect herself from losing him because deep down she knew there would be only stolen moments of happiness and then he would be gone and she would not be part of the decision because Oliver was the kind of hero that would do the unthinkable for the greater good. And that would mean her emotional devastation.
If you think about it when it comes to their foundation of trust it all starts falling apart in S3. The secrets and the actions chosen when Oliver decided to join the league of assassins in S3 and kept it a secret had consequences. He was ready to die on that plane and kept it a secret. Felicity barely processed that and forgave him at once when they left together to live their happy ending but that doesn't mean that she didn't get a clear and very terrifying insight on how Oliver operated and how his mindset was set in stone when it came to being a hero and what he would do for his mission.
I think what hurt Felicity the most (and was the catalyst for their breakup) was Oliver's decision to record the video for future William and it was a decision that didn't include her at all even though he had asked her to marry him so his decision (whatever that would be) would affect their future family. Plus it surely triggered Felicity's father issues and abandonment issues.
If you come down to it her biggest fear was losing Oliver and she would rather break up with him to save herself from future pain by ironically breaking up and losing him. But it was unfathomable to Felicity that she could have the perfect relationship with him and it would be snatched away and that Oliver would be a ticking bomb of secrets that could blow up at any moment.
Did they give all that in the most soap opera way once the spinal implant worked and she walked away. Yes.
But let us see how the future worked after that.
In order for Oliver to catch Diaz he gave himself up and went into prison which was a decision he made on his own in secret without including Felicity and that would affect and define their future lives. He kept that a secret and by the time it was revealed he had ensured that Felicity would not have the ability to change this because if there was one person that could stop Oliver from making those decisions was Felicity (as we saw when Oliver considered to join Hive and Darkh but Felicity put some sense to him).
And this was a pattern. A disturbing one till the end.
For his heroic sacrifice in the Crisis Oliver made one more a SECRET deal where he literally exchanged his life without telling Felicity even after he made it until the Monitor came to retrieve him. Which of course ended in what Felicity feared the most and she lost him. Living the life of a single mother as hers had.
This was his default setting and I think Felicity saw that from the start and eventually she had to accept it and come to peace with it in order to be with him but that does not change that in the end she had been right. Oliver kept secrets and made altering life decisions without including her.
His intentions were noble but that was the root of all of Felicity fears and problems with their relationship which in the end came full circle.
I feel they could have handled all that way better (storytelling wise) but once you see the full picture it works.
And yeah in the end Olicity got their HEA in the afterlife but that does not mean that they had an easy life. It was happiness from stolen moments while they were alive and then it was grief and separation and the price they had to pay for the life they were leading and the greater good.
