‘The Flash’ Season 9, Episode 11: Recap & Ending, Explained: Is Eddie The New Negative Speed Force?

The series concluding story arc of CW’s The Flash, titled “A New World,” introduces its second part with the eleventh episode of the series, which gives us a glimpse into the other side of the narrative of the prime timeline. In the previous episode, we saw Barry getting teleported to the year 2000 by the influence of mysterious blue energy, and he had to relive the fateful day of his mother’s death at the hands of Eobard Thawne. Going parallel with this narrative is the story of Dr. Malcolm Gilmore, who looks exactly like Eddie Thawne and, in the previous episode, got struck by lightning, after which he came across a case file that turned out to be the death report of Eddie Thawne. In the second chapter of the final saga of the series, viewers get more of an idea about Khione’s powers as the mysterious blue energy hunts down Team Flash and torments Dr.Gilmore.

Spoilers Ahead


What Is The Connection Between Dr. Gilmore And Eddie Thawne?

The episode begins right from the point where the previous one ended, as well as began. The first shot zooms in on a bunch of blue roses, which fade away, and we see Dr. Gimore entering the CCPD headquarters. All the members of the force are visibly shocked at the sight of him as he tries to report the past incident to an officer. The on-duty Captain Korber sees him, freaks out, and invites him to her office to have a chat.

At her office, Korber remarks about his resemblance to Eddie and asks Gilmore for an ID. While presenting his driver’s license, Gilmore sees the printed lettering on the ID disappear and reappear on their own. Gilmore shares his experience with the captain about getting struck by lightning and recovering the file right beside him, which intrigued him to know more about Eddie Thawne. Seeing her confused, Gilmore reconsiders his decision and almost leaves when Korber stops him in his tracks and states that, as a detective, Eddie was much revered by her and other colleagues, and they never got over his untimely death. This is the reason they are struggling to wrap their heads around the fact that someone who looks exactly like him has entered CCPD. Gilmore asks her about the reason for Eddie’s death, which had been redacted in the death report he found, and Korber replies, saying no official clarification had been stated about that either. All of a sudden, Gilmore starts hearing a demonic voice asking him to find someone, and getting freaked out, he leaves.


What Is Team Flash Up To?

Iris and Team Flash are left confused and anxious after Barry’s sudden disappearance into the blue mist. Barry has vanished without a trace and has gone completely off the grid. While Iris fears the worst about Barry’s fate as a future version of her daughter Nora stated in previous season that Barry ‘hadn’t’ been in her life, Chester deduces that the presence of a particular cobalt isotope is somehow related to the being that abducted Barry. Mark drops by the STAR labs and meets the team, and he states that he will help them find Barry, while Chester invests his efforts to triangulate the STAR labs satellite to find traces of the cobalt isotope.

Iris goes to her media house with Allegra to check on the database to locate Barry, and as Allegra moves outside, she is knocked unconscious by an unseen assailant who is seen to be affiliated with the blue cobalt fume. The fire extinguishing gas valves of the office are left open by the perp, which asphyxiates some of the office workers, and Khione arrives at the scene to help them out by using her nature-based powers. However, in the process, she almost turns the people into plant abominations, which creeps them out, and Mark watches it from right by her side. An unconscious Allegra is brought back to STAR Labs along with Team Flash, and they speculate that Barry’s abductor has started hunting them down too.

Mark turns out to be the one being controlled by the cobalt element, and he systematically starts separating the team members one by one. After sending Iris and Cecile into the Time Vault, Mark discourages Khione by vilifying her for transforming people without their consent and discourages her enough for her to flee the scene. He also redirects Chester to check up on Allegra and ruins the satellite triangulation process, and lastly, after taking care of Cecile, he confronts Iris. The negative speed force talks through Mark and states its reason for its appearance as being to finally kill Iris and her baby, thereby causing the ultimate harm to Barry, who is the champion of its rival, the positive speed force. At the nick of time, the embodiment of Speedforce, appearing as Barry’s mother, Nora Allen, thwarts Mark’s attack and buys the team some time to regroup. However, she states that she cannot stay in this form for a long time and that the Speedforce cannot trace Barry anywhere because the connection between them has been disrupted. Nora warns the team of impending danger and encourages Khione to embrace her destiny by recognizing her potential. Turns out, Khione is a primal natural elemental of some form, as, after the disappearance of Nora, she confronts Mark, possessed by the negative speed force, and successfully manages to purge the cobalt energy crystal out of him by completely disintegrating him first and then regenerating him.

Just when it seems the threat of the negative speed force is over, Iris goes into labor. She laments Barry’s absence at such a crucial moment, and miraculously, Barry appears in the same way he vanished in the first place. This scene connects directly with the previous episode when Barry teleported from a past timeline. Barry and Team Flash go to the hospital to admit Iris, and Khione shares her wish to move outside the team later to utilize her true potential. The negative speed force deals a cruel hand as Barry once again disappears in blue mist.


Dr. Gilmore’s Investigation

As Gilmore wanders in Central City, the ominous presence continues to intimidate him by repeatedly urging him to find someone. He sees a vision of Eddie’s love life with Iris West and subsequently goes to find her. Gilmore ends up in Iris’ media house and tries to find information regarding Eddie when he suddenly stumbles across a picture of Iris and Joe, which triggers a vision that shows Gilmore Eddie’s last moments. An ominous hunch comes to Gilmore’s mind as he rushes to Eddie’s grave.

A nearly deranged Gilmore starts digging up Eddie’s grave frantically; Korber appears at the spot and requests him to stop. Gilmore states that he feels strangely connected with Eddie as he receives visions and ominous warnings related to Eddie, to which Korber replies that it’s just a coincidence. Gilmore starts laughing maniacally, as what she said directly contrasts with Eddie’s last words: “No such thing as a coincidence.” Gilmore opens the casket of Eddie’s coffin and finds it to be empty. Right at the moment, a floodgate of memories flashes in front of him as a vision, which consists of Eddie proposing to Iris, Barry revealing his secret identity to Eddie, and Eddie’s self-sacrifice to stop Eobard Thawne, his descendent, by shooting himself to death. Before the vision ends, time seems to go backward.


Is Eddie Thawne The New Avatar Of Negative Speed Force?

The episode ends with Gilmore claiming to Korber that he is Eddie Thawne; as proof, he pulls out a bullet from his chest, which now seems to be wounded and bloodied, and as Eddie questions the captain whether she now believes him or not, a bolt of red lightning strikes Eddie’s coffin.

The constant reminder of the blue rose in Eddie’s narrative aligns with the cobalt isotope-laced negative speed force, which leads us to believe that Eddie Thawne can be its new avatar. Even after Eobard Thawne died in the previous season, the negative Speed force energy still existed, and now we have selected someone with very personal ties to the Flash. If it wasn’t for Eddie’s sacrifice, Barry, Iris, or Joe wouldn’t have been alive to begin with. It is also a good aspect that the show is taking a proper approach to showcase Eddie’s descent into an antagonistic role, and hopefully, the next episode is going to show the stakes for the final showdown.


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Siddhartha Das
Siddhartha Das
An avid fan and voracious reader of comic book literature, Siddhartha thinks the ideals accentuated in the superhero genre should be taken as lessons in real life also. A sucker for everything horror and different art styles, Siddhartha likes to spend his time reading subjects. He's always eager to learn more about world fauna, history, geography, crime fiction, sports, and cultures. He also wishes to abolish human egocentrism, which can make the world a better place.

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