Warning: SPOILERS for The Flash episode “A New World, Part One” are ahead!
Many of the most popular superheroes have an arch-nemesis, i.e. a villain who ranks above the other members of their rogues gallery. Batman has The Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor, and for The Flash, specifically Barry Allen, that tile belongs to Eobard Thawne, a.k.a. Reverse-Flash/Professor Zoom. That’s especially been the case in The CW’s The Flash, with Thawne, whether he’s played by Tom Cavanagh or Matt Letscher, having been an antagonist presence in the life of Grant Gustin’s Barry for the entirety of this TV series’ run. But we’ve now hit the beginning of the end of The Flash’s ninth and final season, and following last week’s episode bringing back Stephen Amell’s Oliver Queen and potentially securing the survival of the Arrowverse, this week’s episode brought Thawne’s storyline full circle.
As someone who’s both watched The Flash since the beginning (and was also watching Arrow when Grant Gustin debuted as Barry Allen in the middle of Season 2) and especially likes Reverse-Flash as a character, I was amazed by how well “A New World, Part One” brought Matt Letscher’s version of Eobard Thawne back one last time and and put a bow on him having gone back in time to kill Barry Allen’s mother. Having said, I’ve also been thinking in the aftermath about how I wish this episode, or an earlier one, had resolved a different Reverse-Flash-related plot thread, But before I get into that, let’s go over what went down between Barry and Thawne in this episode.
How The Flash Brought Reverse-Flash’s Storyline Full Circle
Through circumstances tied to a mysterious blue crystal that’s also somehow connected a still-alive Eddie Thawne in the future (who seems to be on the path to becoming Cobalt Blue), Barry Allen was transported to the year 2000, specifically the day that his mother, Nora, was brutally murdered. Soon after spending some time with Nora and Henry (he didn’t reveal who he really was in order to not break the timeline), Barry ran into Matt Letscher’s version of Eobard Thawne. While Barry was initially unsure about why his adversary was there, their conversation made him realize this was the younger Thawne who’d come back to kill Barry as a child. Meaning, from Thawne’s perspective, this isn’t too long after the events of Season 2’s “The Reverse-Flash Returns.”
The Flash Boss Had To Change His ‘Spectacular’ Plan For The Final Season. Here’s Why
After bidding goodbye to his parents, and following a tussle with Joe West, who was being controlled by that blue crystal, Barry ran after Thawne and attempted to persuade him not to go through with his plan. As Barry knows, the yellow-garbed speedster may win this “battle,” but in the end, he’ll never the “war” between them. But Thawne refused to listen to him, so Barry had no other choice but to now play his role in events that, from his perspective, happened long ago.
Season 9 Barry became the older Barry fans had seen many seasons earlier fighting Reverse-Flash and saving his 10-year-old self from his arch-nemesis. Additionally, viewers got a reshot moment of the older Barry waving off the version of himself from the Season 1 finale from saving Nora Allen. Knowing how things played out before, as well as remembering how catastrophic Flashpoint was, he knows that as tragic as this is, Nora Allen needs to die.
After rushing his adolescent self to safety, Season 9 Barry caught up with Eobard Thawne, who’d now lost his speed after killing Nora. Thawne realized that Nora’s death was a fixed point, and that Barry knew everything that was supposed to unfold and let it happen so as not to disrupt the timeline. While Thawne vowed revenge against Barry for leaving him stuck at the beginning of the 21st century, Barry already knows how the rest of Thawne’s story goes. So instead, he thanked his adversary for helping him get closure and peace for this traumatic night. Our main protagonist then disappeared again in a flash of blue light, leaving Thawne to scream in rage. He was now set on the path The Flash fans know all too well to Harrison Wells’ identity, create the particle accelerator nearly a decade earlier than it was originally established, etc.
The Reverse-Flash Plot Thread I Wish The Show Completely Resolved
“A New World, Part One” is my favorite episode of The Flash in years, not just because of its Reverse-Flash-related material, but also getting to see Nora and Henry Allen for a final time, as well as getting a compelling tease for the series’ final main antagonist. However, after thinking about the episode for a little while, I realized that there is one Reverse-Flash-related plot thread that I wish could have been complete dealt with before The Flash ended. To be clear, I’m not saying this should squeezed into this week’s episode, but looking at the show overall, it would have been nice to see Thawne meet Barry for the first time earlier in the run.
Back in “The Reverse-Flash Returns,” Eobard Thawne, who by that point didn’t known Flash and Barry Allen were one and the same, shared that he turned to villainy after he realized he was destined to become Flash’s greatest enemy. For years, that sufficed as the explanation for why Thawne hated Barry so much, but then came Season 8’s “Armageddon, Part 5,” which delivered the following conversation:
Viewers now knew that Eobard hated Barry just because the latter spoiled what was supposed to be the former’s heroic debut nearly 200 years in the future. As Barry noted, that’s a sociopathic reason to start a vendetta against someone, but hey, whatever works. Unfortunately, we never saw this moment, as Barry never traveled more than a few decades into the future. Chronologically, we never see the Eobard who recreates the particle accelerator accident, gains super speed and tries to initially become a superhero. For the entire time we’ve seen him on the show, plus Legends of Tomorrow, he’s been an antagonist in one form or another.
Now granted, the Barry Allen whom Eobard Thawne despised technically doesn’t exist anymore. That Barry didn’t become Flash until 2020 or after, as that was when S.T.A.R. Labs was originally established, and he also vanished during the Anti-Monitor Crisis that originally occurred in 2024, but was moved to 2019 following Cicada’s defeat in Season 5. Even with all the timeline changes and alterations that happened in the revamped Crisis, Eobard remembered what happened in the timeline he came from thanks to his paradoxical nature. Consequently though, this means that the Barry we’ve been following along with in The Flash may never go to the future and save that crowd that Eobard intended to save given everything that’s been changed.
But even if that’s the case, The Flash could have at least included a scene where Eobard flashed back to that pivotal moment in his life, where we could have gotten a taste of what life in the late 22nd century is like and seen what specific accident that led to the original Barry swooping in and unknowingly stealing Thawne’s thunder. (Also, why was Barry that far into the future in the first place?) To be clear, I’m not saying that the fact that this particular plot thread was never followed up on detracts from my enjoyment of how Reverse-Flash’s character arc unfolded. It simply would have been the cherry on top of the narrative sundae.
In any case, Matt Letscher’s time with Eobard Thawne is over, and there are three episodes left to go in The Flash. That being said, although the Season 8 finale saw Tom Cavanagh’s older version of Thawne being wiped from the timeline, I can’t help but think the show we’ll find a way to bring him back, or at least a younger version of Thawne when he looked like Harrison Wells, before all is said and done. If that happens, we’ll let you know, but until then, just remember that The Flash’s final episodes are still slotted in the 2023 TV schedule for Wednesdays at 8 pm ET.
