Season 8 has been one of the best seasons so far for THE FLASH. We have been on a wild ride from the very first episode till now. This is the first part of a two-part season finale, with a shocking death predicted. And, we may be building up to one of the all-time speedster battles as we go into the second part of this finale next week. It’s an outstanding episode – wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
The Iris from 2022 who disappeared from her office sometime back in Season 8 has reappeared in 2049. We have frequent flips between 2022 and 2049, for a very important reason we’ll get to in just a bit. We’re finding the reason for Iris’ time sickness – negative tachyons. And, those negative tachyons are growing inside her exponentially.
It was Iris’ contact with the “good” forces that weakened them – since apparently ALL the forces have a negative counterpart. Not just the speed force – all the forces. And, they’ve been using Iris to move their plan forward without Iris’ knowledge or consent.
But, let’s start at the beginning. We left off last episode with the negative Deon meeting Thawne in the ARGUS Supermax facility. What happens? Deon kills Thawne! Apparently he’s been killing Thawnes in all sorts of timelines, but he has a reason for doing so – we’ll see that in a bit.
Just a quick aside for a couple of side threads. Cecile is powering up, finding that she can steal the powers of any other psychic. That’s helping in the battle, but not enough to prevent the ending to this episode. In another side thread, Mark and Caitlin are starting the experiment that they hope will bring Frost’s consciousness back to life. But, let’s move back to the main story.
Barry trusts the “man in the yellow tie” completely. And, he needs this version of Thawne, along with Meena, to fight the negative forces. Barry finds a way for Meena to share her speed with Eobard, and the three of them run into battle.
The battle is a tough one – but Barry has a plan. He builds up lightning while Meena and Eobard keep the forces occupied. And two threads come together here…
- Barry throws the strongest lightning he’s ever thrown yet at the negative forces.
- Iris is pulled by her time sickness and/or negative Deon into the direct path of that lightning!
Iris West-Allen is dead!
More than that, she dissolves into those negative tachyons – and this is where the hole bad guy plan comes together. Those tachyons flow into the good Eobard, changing him. Tearing him apart. Literally tearing him apart, to reveal…
The Reverse Flash is back! And he has his powers back! Now he is the avatar of the negative speed force, more powerful than he has ever been. And that’s been the end game for the negative forces all along. They were weakened when Barry cut Thawne off from his powers. Now, all the negative forces are at full strength – what can they do now?
That’s left for next week and the finale of Season 8!
NOTES:
- Barry is a truly smart character. But, thinking it’s a good idea to give ANYONE named “Thawne” superspeed is just not that bright. Still, it drives the story forward and the reveal was spot on.
- The episode did a perfect job of setting up next week’s final episode of the season. We have an adversary that is more powerful than any before (and that’s saying something). We have Barry, and Meena for that matter, crushed emotionally at what has happened to Iris and good Eobard. How can they possibly win? Yeah, I know – but still it’s a great place to end this penultimate episode.
SUMMARY:
A great episode with all sorts of reveals. A huge build up both in action and emotion. It’s a 10/10 for me. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!