This might be a huge stretch because it was most likely a retcon, but I keep thinking about Wally and Roy's relationship during their teenage years. I mean, Wally introduced Roy to the team and they were both super cheerful with a bit of sarcasm from time to time. They got along well and that was the end of it, right?
But then they didn't. Suddenly, they were at odds, and sure, maybe it was just a writer stirring up drama. But what if there was an in-story reason? What if they saw a bit of themselves in each other, and they hated that? Maybe, things started going bad between them when things started going wrong between Oliver and Roy. Both of them felt like there was something wrong with them and Roy thought that was why he had problems with Oliver and same thing with Wally and his parents. They both felt bad, but do you think they would open up about it? Of course not, just unknowingly mirroring each other's behavior and trying not to notice.
Roy looked at Wally and noticed their similarities, but most importantly the diffrences. Because even if Wally was stubborn and distractible, Barry was always caring and just there for him. So Roy, who already had some huge abandonment issues, only strengthened his belief that his fallout with Oliver may have been his fault. If things worked out for Wally, why didn't they work for him?
Meanwhile for Wally? He knew his parents didn't love him. And yet, as flawed as Roy's relationship with Oliver may have been, Oliver did love him. And sure, Wally got along great with Barry, but no matter how much he wished for it, Barry wasn't his dad. He didn't know him for his whole life, and maybe if he did, would he cares as much? Barry was a better mentor than Oliver for sure, but Oliver was a better parent that his own.
Maybe, they projected their insecurities onto each other. Roy envied Wally’s seemingly perfect mentorship with Barry, while Wally could have envied Roy’s relationship with Oliver-not his mentor, his dad. They unknowingly made each other feel bad, jealous, inadequate, and that made them lash out at each other for no reason at all.
And now, maybe their friction wasn’t just teenage drama. Maybe it was just two kids struggling with feelings of inadequacy and longing for something they thought the other had.
