Proof Marcus & Ophelia Should Date On 'The Royals'

There are plenty of couples to 'ship on The Royals . We've got Jaspenor (or Jeleanor—they've got a few good couple names, really), Beleanor (Beck and Eleanor, and yes, that does kind of sound like it should be the name of a character on Game of Thrones), the queen and Captain Lacey (well, spoiler alert, maybe not so much anymore since he was shot during the finale), and of course, Liam and Ophelia. But, out of all of these, there's one couple that we've never talked about before. I'm calling for an official petition for 'shippers of what I like to call Marphelia, or Marcus and Ophelia, because they are perfect for each other and need to get together, like, yesterday.

I've been saying for a while now that Marcus, Prince Liam's personal bodyguard, is basically the unsung hero of the show, and that I'm pretty desperate to learn more about his backstory. (Hopefully we will in Season 2.) But, before we really get to know Marcus, the writers would need to give him a bit of a more prominent role in the show, don't you think? I mean, he's pretty much always in the background, but I'd love to see him get involved in some of the scandy romance The Royals writers cook up. And, since it seems like Liam and Ophelia might be donezo, this is the perfect opportunity for Marcus to swoop in the like the beautiful Irish dreamboat he is. Don't believe me? Let's change that! Here are seven reasons Marphelia should totally be a thing.

Marcus Is Kid-Tested, Father-Approved

Ophelia's dad has made it relatively clear throughout the entire season that he doesn't entirely approve of Ophelia's relationship with Liam, probably because he think she's unnecessarily putting herself in harm's way. Meanwhile, Marcus is one of Ted's most trusted agents, and he's been working for him for a while, so it's safe to say that Ted likes him. And, at least if her dad approves, Ophelia will have one less thing to worry about in this new relationship.

Marcus Needs A More Prominent Storyline

Like I said, I really want to learn more about Marcus, but I don't think we can really jump into anything without putting him in the spotlight just a bit more. What better way to do that than to give him a nice little romance? His character's happy, the fans are happy—it's a win-win. You hear that, Royals writers? A WIN-WIN.

Ophelia Deserves To Be With Someone Who Will Always Put Her Interests First

After all, I'm sure the only reason Liam decided to fly Ophelia to New York for her dance audition is likely because Marcus called and told him it was important to her. Liam was perfectly happy to let Ophelia give up her dream to be with him. Marcus wouldn't be.

Marcus And Ophelia Are Both Total Badasses

Yeah, remember when Ophelia threatened someone with a ceremonial bow and arrow to get Ashok his car back? And then accidentally shot Ashok in the leg? Liam isn't badass enough for that. You know who is? The guy who pulled the arrow out. Who was that? Marcus. It's easy math, y'all.

Ophelia Wouldn't Have To Give Anything Up To Be With Him

If she wants to be with Liam, she'd have to do essentially what Helena did to be with Simon: Give up everything in her own life in order to be the future Queen of England (because, honestly, we all know that this whole King Cyrus thing isn't going to last for too long). With Marcus, she wouldn't have to do that. She could have a loving relationship, as well as everything else she wanted for her life.

Maybe Marcus Knows What Really Happened To Ophelia's Mom

I feel like I sound like a broken record whenever I talk about this, but I'd really like to know the specifics of what happened to Ophelia's mom. They always skirt around it, and especially with the rise of this Domino entity, I think it's important to know the terms of all of the deaths of every character that's even marginally related to the royal family. Since Marcus has been working at the palace for a while and seems to have unrestricted access, he might know something about Ophelia's mother that we don't. Oh, and he also did this to one of the guys who harassed Ophelia:

So, you know, #RelationshipGoals.

Even Gemma Thinks They Should Be Together

If you need some context, this happened right before Marcus said goodbye to Liam and Ophelia as they were essentially eloping at the end of the season finale. Gemma may be manipulative, but she's also perceptive—if she thinks Marcus and Ophelia would work, then I'm all ears.

Basically, if we don't get at least one Marphelia scene during Season 2, I'm going to be verrrry disappointed. Mostly because I won't have more opportunities to say Marphelia. And, that's a pretty fun couple name, if you ask me.

Images: Screenshot/E!; Giphy (2); queenhelenas (7)/Tumblr