^This

Nice write up. :)

I thought this was a given considering the first few eoisodes of season 1 made it a point to make sure everyone knew her nickname was SPEEDY.

Trying to suffer through the show although I don't particularly enjoy it, but why with the gender switching? Speedy is a dude, not a chick. Its just odd to have red arrow and speedy, as speedy is red arrow who is also arsenal. Why mess with stuff like that? It seems like a quick grab for some sexual tension and a cheap ploy at drama. I am digging Diggle though, that guy is the man. I still think they only created him to fill the token black guy quota but he is really coming into his own as a character and making me glad they decided to include him in the comics.

@Batmaniac@Firstavenger, there is also a female robin but if you make her the first Robin it is not accurate, thats what I'm trying to point out, and just fyi, there is a female version of almost every hero, but just because they exist doesn't mean it would be accurate to have Supergirl star in a Supergirl movie in which she was the first kryptonian to land on earth and has the same origin as Kal, it would not be accurate. Just like Speedy in the show.

@batmaniac, i would argue making the female speedy the first speedy is the same thing. Since no Speedy existed before her, she has supplanted the first speedy. Just like if they did a story where supergirl was the first kryptonian, even if kal did exist, its a gender switch in my book. If a female character takes a male characters origin its a gender switch. In the case of arrow, female speedy has male speedy's origin. Just because a female character exists you cant just give them the males characters origin. you can't just go batgirl exists but what if she were the one whose parents got killed. That would be making batman a woman. The first speedy GA knew was a man. Now it is a woman speedy as his first speedy, gender switch.

No need to argue semantics.

^@Loki LOL. I have no problem with them making her Speedy instead of Cheshire as some have suggested. My issue is her constant whining. Plus, she hated "liars" and people who betrayed her but she ran into the arms of a sociopath who directly destroyed half the city and indirectly killed his own son. How could you remotely think you could trust that man? Then whine how Oliver "lied" when she obviously has substance abuse issues. It seems Thea has replaced Laurel as the sad, depressing sappy character. It seems in this show they kill off all the strong women i.e. Moria and Sara. It's lucky Felicity is so mild-mannered.

@LeonardSnart, so if I took she hulk and made her the first hulk and made Bruce her cousin it would not be a gender change?
And what I'm saying is in the comics Speedy, the original Speedy is a boy and it is not the case with Arrow. Although Roy exists in Arrow even if Ollie tried calling him Speedy and Roy said no, it doesnt matter. Roy was never Speedy. Not once. You can say its the same character but they just left the Speedy part out, effectively making the second Speedy the first Speedy. But who was the first Speedy? Roy not a girl. In the show a girl is named Speedy and is the first incarnation of an originally male character.
There was a female Bucky too, but to make her the first Bucky would be a gender switch because she was not the first Bucky, even if Bucky is already the Winter Soldier. If we see a character named Bucky who is a girl represented as the first and original Bucky it is a gender switch in my book, regardless of if the original holder of that mantle exists in a different stature, if they were not the first as it should be it is a gender switch.
There was a female Robin but to make that Batman's first Robin would entirely change everything about the character, it is not so black and white as you make it seem with gender changes, its not only if the exact character and origin are turned into the opposite sex. Like I said earlier, if all you changed is that Supergirl arrived on Earth before Kal, she would now inhabit Kal's position as the premiere superhero, even if her origin remained the same. So even though you altered her origin, making her take Kal's place as first Kryptonian would effectively be a gender switch because we have her Instead of. Anytime we have a woman instead of, its a gender switch.

@Arrowverse, it is a change of gender to the first robin. Not Dick Grayson, the first Robin. Everything else about dick is dick graysons origin, but the moment he put on the costume as Robin that became Robins origin. Im talking about the title, not the origin, yes what you said about Tim would be a gender change even if the origin is different. If they made up a girl out of nowhere to be speedy, it would be a gender change even though she had her own origin, Robin would be a girl, not a boy as originally. Outsude of the origin. I never said they made Roy a girl which is what you seem to think. They changed the moniker Speedy into a girl. Leave origins out of it and you will understand, its not rocket science, a girl replaced a boy period. Its very odd to me that you can't understand this concept, girl instead of boy. Those words are what happened on Arrow and the litteral defintition if gender swap. I get that you like the show, but it's not infallible and it did gender swap the first speedy, not Roy, the title of the first speedy.