Judging purely from the downward quality graph of its last few seasons and even the major portion of the final one, it feels like CW’s The Flash should have wrapped things up years ago. Even the most sincere fans of the series will acknowledge that poor writing and being overcrowded by unnecessary characters have absolutely destroyed any sort of significance the series ever had. It makes the realization all the more painful that the impeccable first two seasons of the series were trendsetting in superhero adaptations because they wore qualities like novelty, optimism, and hope on their sleeve. With the series finale releasing, the realization will dawn heavily on the fans who have invested themselves in the series for nine long years, as with the conclusion of the series, the last vestiges of the Arrowverse, the TV universe it was a part of, are gone in a flash too.
In the previous episode, Eddie Thawne discovers that after his heroic sacrifice to stop Reverse Flash all those years ago, he was resurrected by the Negative Speed Force, which wants him to become its avatar. After being thrown into different timelines by the Negative Speed Force, Barry has an emotional reunion with Eddie and urges him to fight back against the negative influences, but he might be too late to stop the inevitable. The regret of a life unlived pains Eddie, and as the negative force represented by the cobalt crystal torments and gets a hold of Eddie’s mind, he completely gives up control. As an avatar of the Negative Speed Force, Eddie will threaten the existence of the timeline itself, and Barry and the world he knows are at risk of getting completely obliterated. All of this is happening while Iris is in the hospital, as she and Barry are expecting their first child, Nora.
Spoilers Ahead
Who Summoned The Congregation Of Evil Speedsters?
The episode begins with a familiar line, the very first line that opened the first episode of the series. Barry’s voice is heard in the background as he asks viewers to believe the impossible. The next scene cuts to STAR Labs, and Cecile, who was previously informed by Barry about the danger surrounding Eddie, informs the team about the Negative Speed Force’s role in the entire ordeal. Right now, Barry speeds into the present timeline to assist Team Flash in the impending catastrophe.
At the Negative Speed Force manifestation of the West household, the chief evil speedsters have been summoned. The psychotic serial killer speedster Zoom, aka Hunter Zolomon, appears first and starts a row with August Heart, aka Godspeed. Eventually, Reverse Flash, aka Eobard Thawne, Tom Cavanagh’s version of the character, joins as well, along with the evil god of speed, Savitar. The quartet starts a heated argument to establish their superiority over each other when the person responsible for summoning them, Eddie Thawne, enters the group. Eddie reveals that he is the new avatar of the Negative Speed Force, and thus he has managed to bring all of them back from their respective timelines. Using the Cobalt crystal, Eddie transforms himself into the villainous Cobalt Blue and suggests to the group that he can provide them with the speed needed to erase the legacy of Flash once and for all.
Did Barry Manage To Save Eddie From Himself?
Barry goes to the hospital to meet Iris and informs her about Eddie’s predicament. Speak of the devil, and Eddie, or, as he now goes by, Cobalt Blue, appears in the hospital. Eddie reveals his plan to completely eliminate the Speed Force by killing Barry, which will result in the destruction of the timeline itself. Eddie plans to make a new timeline after that, where he can be hailed as the hero. Barry leads Eddie to the outside, where Team Flash (now assisted by a future version of Nora as well) arrives and flanks him. However, Eddie calls his team of evil speedsters, and the two forces collide.
Savitar takes on Nora, while Khione and Mark tackle the threat of Zoom, and Cecile clashes with Godspeed. Team Flash emerges victorious when Reverse Flash attacks Chester at STAR Labs and leaves him fatally wounded. Allegra arrives on the scene and uses her light-based powers to incapacitate Thawne. However, Chester returns to normalcy all of a sudden, and later it is deduced that he might have a metahuman defense of his own. Downplaying the mortal enemies of Flash through novice members of Team Flash was extremely humiliating and irritating, to say the least, and is part of the reason why the show turned into a mockery of itself in its later stages.
Cobalt Blue threatens Flash with the lives of civilians at stake, but thankfully, out of nowhere, Jay Garrick, the Earth 2 version of Flash played by none other than John Wesley Shipp (who played the lead in the 90s Flash series), arrives and siphons out his speed. Cornered, Eddie decides to take the entirety of the Negative Speed Force by himself, absorb all the other evil speedsters as energy, and vanish into the Negative Speed Force counterpart of Central City.
In the previous season, Eobard Thawne tried to absorb the entirety of the Negative Speed Force and ended up imploding, and Barry doesn’t want Eddie to face the same predicament. He gets into an argument with Team Flash as he is determined to save his misguided friend Eddie’s life this time, contrary to their opinion of him being a criminal. Khione advises Barry to strike a balance with Eddie and thereby the negative speed force, not by opposing it but by trying to coexist with it. Barry travels to the Negative Central City and tries to stop Eddie from absorbing the entirety of the Negative Speed Force, resulting in a scuffle between the two. In the end, Barry manages to convince Eddie by appealing to his goodwill and better judgment; Eddie relinquishes the cobalt crystal and subsequently destroys it.
Eddie still retains the powers of a speedster as the avatar of the Negative Speed Force, but now he is not controlled by the machinations of the evil source and hence agrees to coexist on different planes. Before Barry departs for his realm, Eddie wishes him and Iris well and decides to stay in the Negative Speed realm. It was Eddie’s resolve that eased Barry’s effort to turn him from the dark side and gave Eddie a chance to have a new life.
What Happened To The Legacy Of Flash?
With the threat of negative speed force gone, Flash and Co. concentrate on Iris, who delivers baby Nora in Barry’s presence. It’s a surreal moment as adult Nora meets her infant version, but viewers will surely be confused as to how that doesn’t affect the timeline.
As the team gets habituated to a rather ‘normal’ lifestyle, Joe proposes to Cecile, Khione leaves the mortal realm, ascending to godhood, and leaves Caitlin in her mortal coil. To keep the spirit of heroism, he inspired anyone true to their heart that they can be a hero; Barry decides to distribute his power among unassuming civilians by throwing his charged lightning to the horizon. The possibility of three new speedsters, Avery Ho, Max Mercury, and Jess Chambers, emerging is hinted at, and baby Nora also showcases the first sign of her inherited speedster powers. The episode ends with Barry running through Central City; a streak of lightning follows, and Barry’s smile denotes a life of fulfillment as the legacy of Flash continues through generations.
With The Flash ending his final lap, fans are bound to be engulfed by bittersweet feelings despite the disappointing final episode. With the end of Titanverse, Arkhamverse, and now Arrowverse, James Gunn has a clean slate to start his DCU and, at the same time, the opportunity to use the characters of these aforementioned universes to refer to the grand DC multiverse.