Many Faces of the Future: A Multifaceted Theory for Season 3 of The Flash

SPOILER WARNING for Season 3 of The Flash:

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. We go through this every season. The Flash picks up in the Fall by being introduced to his biggest foe, the nature of which is unknown to both the audience and the characters, only to slowly unravel by the conclusion in the Spring. It’s good to hear the showrunners will be changing things up next season. Even though we’re enduring yet another guessing game (don’t get me wrong, it’s a good time!), this season’s build-up feels different from the previous two, and to me, is what will make it the strongest of the three. We’ve yet to see a sure-fire hint as to who Savitar is, and the latest the audience reveal has been is fifteen episodes in, now being pushed beyond eighteen. The unmasking is one thing, but the aftermath of it all is just as, if not more important in that it establishes the cliffhanger that leads into the season to follow.

First and foremost: Who is Savitar?

Since we have been given no truly substantial hint as to who Savitar is, the God of Speed could be anyone, even someone we haven’t met. However, The Flash is known to typically bring things full circle, so the character is very likely to be someone we’ve met with some sort of motivation that Barry is the cause of. With that in mind, we must think about what this season revolves around: the death of Nora Allen, as well as the various changes made to the pivotal event that have shaped everything we’ve seen this season. We know everything happens as it normally should with Nora, Barry, and Henry, but there is one character from that night whose timeline has been inconsistent: Eobard Thawne. He somehow transcended time (not without being pursued by the Black Flash, of course) and went on to challenge the Legends as part of the Legion of Doom. With that in mind though, what else could have been changed because of this? Then, I remembered something. Out of all the characters we see in Flashpoint, there is one we never see that I and I feel all of us were curious about…

Flashpoint Harrison Wells

Harrison Wells was the one character we didn’t see in the Flashpoint timeline, and there’s something to be said about that. Cisco Ramon bought the building that once belonged to S.T.A.R. Labs for Ramon Industries, leaving Wells without a place to make the advancements he aspired to. With this setback, who knows what could have become of him in this timeline? Savitar does mention, in episode fifteen, that when Barry created Flashpoint, he “unwittingly provided” him “with the means” for his “return”. Barry didn’t think about what could’ve happened to the original Harrison Wells, but whatever he was doing and whatever he was going to do in that timeline, he likely made advancements without having to keep up with running S.T.A.R. Labs. He could have discovered the multiverse and saw into the parallel timeline in which he was killed by Eobard, Eobard getting his powers to be just like The Flash. Not only that, but maybe changing Flashpoint back caused damage to the timeline or harm to Wells himself. This drives Wells insane to the point where he replicates speedster powers/Philosopher’s Stone, but becomes stronger than ever, navigating the multiverse to find the Barry responsible for the most changes made to time. In episode nine, Savitar calls H.R. “the fake Wells”, and in episode fifteen, says he “survives”, maybe because Flashpoint Wells cannot bear killing himself. There’s a smaller detail in that maybe Flashpoint Wells would also call Wally “Wallace” just like H.R., or a bigger detail in that H.R. could be the Flashpoint Wells that came to their Earth with a created alternate personality after being driven insane, fooling them even more than Wellsobard did, but I digress. Now, you’re probably wondering, how could all of this going to come to light? The answer lies with the following:

The Future Central City Citizen Front Page

When we all first saw this, one thing came to mind: Crisis on Infinite Earths, much like the end of Season 2 caused us to think of Flashpoint. Well, all of this seems to be coming to fruition in a matter of weeks because, in episode nineteen, Barry travels to this date in the future. The show did its own version of Flashpoint, so I believe it will do its own version of Crisis on Infinite Earths, but the “Earths” in this situation being the timelines we’ve seen play out in the show. Somehow, between now and the end of the season, the timelines will merge together, creating deus ex machina of sorts for all characters, good and evil, setting up not only season 4, but the rest of the seasons as well. There will then, instead of infinite, be 52 divergent earths (Kara’s Earth to be left unchanged). Here is my ideal amalgamation of the timelines/fates for the characters:

• Barry will have defeated Savitar and deal with whatever universe they’re in
• Iris will be with Barry, but will have some family/relationship issues…
• Killer Frost will remain a consistent villain, as she should, staying true to the comics
• Eddie will be resurrected, but has a vengeance towards Iris and Barry…
• Cisco will be searching the multiverse to find…
• The fate of Harrison Wells and his doppelgängers is unknown to me
• Joe will assist in the search through the multiverse to find…
• Wally will be on another divergent Earth once again where he is The Flash
• Ronnie will return to the team to help track down Caitlin
• Reverse Flash makes it home to the future, preventing the singularity from Season 1
• The Rogues will be united together as one, the members being unknown to me
• Henry and Nora Allen will remain dead
• Jesse will remain a speedster on one of the 52 divergent earths
• A comic-accurate Zoom (Zolomon) will briefly appear to fight Wally on his Earth

It is quite far-fetched, “tinfoil hat” even, but makes some sort of sense, could be more easily explained as it comes to life on television, and will leave plenty of good storytelling for seasons to come!

If you have any questions regarding this theory, talk to me, Mike Guimond, on Twitter and look out for more content from me at Geek Motivation!