Barry’s world had already been turned upside down. But, the longest day of Barry Allen’s life keeps getting worse by the second. When we left everyone last, Barry had traveled into the future to find [REDACTED] standing next to an adoring Iris West! What more can happen to our once-Scarlet Speedster? Wanna know more? Follow us after the jump!
SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
NOTE: This review is posting prior to this episode being aired in the Pacific Time Zone USA. If you haven’t seen the show yet, STOP HERE and come back after watching. You’ll be glad you did!
Okay folks, you want something intense, you’ve got it throughout this 5-part event! Here we are in part 4 of “Armageddon” and we shift almost completely away from Despero to the Barry’s most dangerous enemy…The Flash!
What? Yes, Barry has been turned into the Reverse Flash by Eobard Thawne! Thawne has completely taken over Barry’s life. He set up a “Negative Flashpoint” that changed everything. Thawne made multiple timeline changes, not just one:
- Thawne was the one setting things up all along to drive Barry crazy. He killed Joe West, setting him up to die in the train accident. Thawne even put on Barry’s face to attack Central City. He made sure Barry would run to Black Lightning to give up most of his speed.
- Then, Thawne went back in time to assure that HE was the one hit by lightning and chosen by the Speed Force. Team Flash belongs to him.
- Thawne courted Iris West, eventually becoming engaged to her.
- Acting as both Flash and Reverse Flash, Thawne teamed with Damien Darhk to wreak havoc, killing off Cisco and Ray Palmer and doing much more.
- Then, he fixed things so that Barry would become the Reverse Flash in this timeline, complete with yellow uniform.
And there’s much more. But the biggest thing of all was this: Thawne went back in time and killed Barry Allen as a child! After taking away everything in Barry’s life, he set to erase him from the timeline. Barry has until midnight before the timeline sets itself firmly and erases him.
It turns out that Thawne partnered with Damien Darhk to do a lot of the terrible things now blamed on Barry. At this point, Barry has no choice but to team up with Damien Darhk to defeat Thawne/Flash and reset time. They grab a device that could help Barry run back in time and set things right, but in the process Darhk realizes that something is wrong with his “partner”.
The only thing that saves Barry from Darhk is his explanation of what happened to the timeline. In the original timeline, Darhk sacrifices himself to save his daughter. In this new timeline, his daughter died. Realizing that Thawne’s changes made that happen, Darhk actually agrees to become the hero here, to help put things right…even though it means his own life.
Through all of this, Iris is beginning to doubt Thawne. Barry’s pleadings have started to get through to her, and in the end she actually turns against Thawne, giving Barry a chance to go on this mission to reset the timeline.
AND HERE’S WHERE ARMAGEDDON KICKS IN!
Barry needs to reach Mach 20 to get this done. But, that means racing around the world at such speed and pressure that all the cataclysm of Armageddon would happen. He has to hit the right speed before the worst happens. Otherwise he will fail to reset the timeline, and the world will be destroyed just as Despero had said!
The race is on, and Thawne is catching up. It’s only when Iris somehow helps Barry reconnect with the Speed Force that he is able to hit the right velocity and reset time.
If the event ends here, everything is wonderful again. Joe is alive (though still off-camera), and the world is restored. That’s just in time, as the old time line was going to cost all of Team Flash their lives. Even better, Barry is able to convince Despero to go back to 2031 and to find out two things: one, that Thawne was really behind it all; and two, that Despero merely left 2031 too early, that the world did not come to an end. Despero heads out, promising to come back to kill Barry if he’s wrong. So, crisis avoided and all is well, right? Not quite.
Thawne, now back to his Reverse Flash colors, has shown up in the Time Vault. He is far from done – and there is no telling how far he will go. That’s where we leave it for tonight.
NOTES:
- SO many things are happening throughout the episode that this post could go on for days. Don’t worry, not happening. But, let’s just say you’ll see Alex Danvers, Batwoman, and Ryan Choi as the Atom (in his classic costume) at their fighting best, along with the rest of Team Flash.
- Damien Darhk doing the right thing? That story thread actually works exceptionally well.
- Barry Allen and Eobard Thawne in each other’s colors was mind-blowing. Well done!
- Grant Gustin is knocking it out of the park in this event series. Great acting from Grant and all the cast.
SUMMARY:
Thawne has it all for a while, and Barry is pushed to the limit and beyond in this episode. It was SO powerful that I have no idea how they can top it next week. But, I can’t wait to see it! As for this episode, I’m giving it a 10/10. Of course, that’s just my opinion. What do YOU think? Leave your comments below!