[3][4] She is emotionally scarred by her father's unjust imprisonment and a childhood spent in the foster care system, and she commits many morally questionable acts motivated by her obsessive desire for retribution against the woman who destroyed her family.

Thorne usually appears calm and calculating, but as the series progresses, she begins to reveal vulnerabilities that impedes her efforts to get vengeance.

[5] In Revenge, Thorne serves as a modern female version of Edmond Dantès, the main character of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, the novel that inspired the series.

Thorne has been left shares in Nolcorp, which she liquidates to the value of $40 billion and is a fund for her revenge against the Grayson family, making her the second richest character in the series after Nolan.

Commentators cited the 2008–2012 global recession as making viewers more receptive to Thorne's efforts to get revenge against a group of privileged elites for the harm they caused her family.

The character's "girl next door" appearance is attributed as contributing to this appeal, with show producer Mike Kelly suggesting that it means viewers are "rooting for her even though she's doing something that's kind of diabolical.

During this time, Conrad Grayson, Victoria's husband, laundered money to a terrorist group, Americon Initiative, which they used to bring down Flight 197.

She spends several years researching the members of the conspiracy and creating an elaborate fake back-story by changing her name to the one of her former cellmate, to seek revenge.

Nolan Ross, a billionaire software developer and friend of David Clarke, recognizes Emily as Amanda and deduces her plans for revenge.

Emily, however, sets her up to take the fall for her other takedowns, causing the Grayson head of security Frank Stevens to throw her off her balcony, although she survives.

Her attempts to send Amanda away fail, and her former cellmate stays in the Hamptons and becomes involved with Emily's old friend Jack Porter.

Emily burns down the house of her antepenultimate target Mason Treadwell, an author who wrote a faux tell-all about David Clarke, destroying his work.

Emily discovers that Victoria hired a contractor named Lee Moran to attack Daniel in order to have him released on bail.

Three months earlier, Emily returns to the Hamptons after a long absence and begins to investigate what happened to her mother, Kara Wallace Clarke.

At a Memorial Day party, Charlotte tells Emily that Victoria isn't alive and in hiding before she is taken back to rehab at Conrad's doing.

Victoria double-crosses the white-haired man (Gordon Murphy), who was helping her and Charlotte to disappear, causing him to seek out Emily for assistance.

Emily learns that Conrad has bought half of the Stowaway, Jack's bar, and urges Amanda to buy it back.

The two of them rescue Jack, though in an ensuing fight Nate destroys the boat and mortally wounds Amanda, who dies in Emily's arms on the water.

Her thirst for revenge reignited, Emily sets out to identify and locate both "the Fa1c0n", a hacker employed by the Initiative, and Patrick, the secret firstborn son of Victoria.

Afterwards, Aiden and Nolan bankrupt the Graysons against Emily's wishes, which activates the stolen Carrion program and shuts down the power across all of New York, commencing the Initiative's next attack.

Emily learns that Takeda was tracking an assassin named Gregor Hoffman, who she finds posing as an IT tech at Grayson Global.

Emily reveals her final plan to Nolan and Jack: fake her death, and frame Victoria for her murder on her wedding day.

Lydia Davis, thought to have died in the plane crash at the end of season 1, returns and uncovers evidence that Emily has plotted against them.

Barely surviving, Emily is discharged into Victoria's care, where she meets Niko, Takeda's daughter, who poses as her nurse.

With all other options exhausted, Emily abducts Charlotte and holds her for ransom, but then releases her sister and has her extract a confession from Conrad, which is then broadcast on television.

Feeling guilt, Emily changes her public narrative of Daniel's death to one closer to the truth and reveals her true identity to the world.

After her reputation is publicly ruined, Victoria ends her own life by detonating Grayson Manor while inside, but leaves evidence suggesting she was murdered.

In a voiceover, she remarks that karma spared her from suffering the consequences of her actions, and asks the viewer to consider her story as they embark on a journey of revenge of their own.

[23] Co-authored by Ted Sullivan (a writer for the show) and Erica Schultz, and illustrated by Vincenzo Balzano, Dustin Nguyen, and Felix Ruiz, Revenge: The Secret Origin of Emily Thorne was published September 2, 2014.

[24] The story is set in Switzerland years before the events of the television series and follows Emily/Amanda on her first revenge mission, aided by her mentor Takeda.