The Flash is facing the biggest crisis he’s ever encountered. It’s literally time altering and a matter of life and death for Barry Allen (Grant Gustin). In “A New World, Part Three,” the mystery of Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) starts to unravel as Team Flash continue their search for Barry. With Iris (Candice Patton) in labor, it’s up to the newest members of Team Flash to figure out where Barry is and how to get him back.
Some things you need to know about Eddie Thawne. Eddie was once Joe West’s (Jesse L. Martin) partner at the CCPD. He fell in love with Iris and they were engaged when he died. Eddie sacrificed himself to save the Flash by shooting himself in the chest so Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh / Matt Letscher) could not be born. Despite his sacrifice, Eobard returned time and time again as the Reverse Flash. Barry killed Eobard and left the Negative Speed Force without an avatar.
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NEW WORLD, PART THREE: CHANGES
Eddie Thawne is alive … in 2049. How? Why? Those are questions that everyone has. And to confuse Eddie further, portals, also known as singularities, open up when he gets upset. He goes to the Flash museum to look for the Flash to help him get answers. Instead he finds Nora … Blond Nora West Thawne and regular Nora West Allen (Both played by Jessica Parker Kennedy). Blond Nora says she’s his daughter, but Eddie says he doesn’t have a daughter. She’s there to tempt him to join the negative side. Regular Nora saves him from Blond Nora. 2049 Team Flash determines that he is in fact Eddie Thawne and has traces of radiation on him.
The Negative Speed Force is simultaneously attacking Barry’s past and present. It’s also using people Barry loves to hurt him. And to make matters worse, the Speed Force Nora (Michelle Harrison) is being attacked by the negative forces so she can’t help Barry. This time the Negative Speed Force takes possession of Nora West Allen.
Eddie is fully aware that Nora is Barry and Iris’ daughter. The possessed Nora taunts him with the fact that Barry and Iris got together after Eddie died. She says Barry stole Eddie’s life. But he can have that life now. All he has to do is destroy the Flash … her dad. At first Eddie is so confused and doesn’t want to hurt anyone. Nora pushes the right buttons to make Eddie feel like an idiot for saving Barry’s life so long ago. Especially since he killed himself for nothing. The Reverse Flash still came back time and time again. What a waste. Nora overwhelms Eddie and he leaves to get air.
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TIME TRAVELING
Back in 2023, Iris is still at the hospital. Her contractions are steady but she’s nowhere near giving birth. (That will happen next week.) Speed Force Nora, or Big Nora as XS Nora calls her, shows up and is in pain. The negative forces are beating her up, so it’s up to Team Flash to save Barry. How? No one knows. But Big Nora does know that Barry is heading to 2049. If Barry dies, the timeline will be erased. Speed Force Nora abruptly disappears, screaming in pain.
During a conversation about Negative Speed Force’s possession of Mark (Jon Cor), Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) says she could have used her power to boost Mark’s empathy so he could fight off the crystal. This gives Chester (Brandon McKnight) the idea that Cecile might be able to boost her own consciousness into her future self. They give it a try and Cecile bounces back quickly. She finds out, in the future, that she’s too busy being a superhero to even see Joe and Jenna. That makes her question if being a superhero is a mistake. Chester goes after her and says she has to trust in herself that her future is right for her. He reminds her that her power isn’t her empathy, it’s her heart, her dedication and her virtue.
DADDY’S LITTLE GIRL
Barry shows up in 2049 and quickly learns about Nora’s possession. He won’t hurt her, so the Negative Speed Force threatens his life. Eddie catches Nora as she is about to kill Barry, giving Barry time to run away with Eddie.
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Barry takes a moment to thank Eddie for saving his life. Eddie is still overwhelmed and trying to put the pieces together. While they think things through, Barry realizes that Eddie was resurrected by the Negative Speed Force to become its new avatar. He explains to Eddie what the avatar is, but Eddie isn’t sure that it’s a bad thing. The Negative Speed Force crystal showed him a better life. He gets frustrated with Barry, which is what the Negative Speed Force wants. Eddie asks what happens to him if he chooses not to be the avatar. Does he go back to being dead? Barry isn’t sure, but offers to help him, no matter what happens.
Eddie starts talking crazy, saying he’s not sure if the voice he hears is the crystal or himself. He realizes the mistakes he made when he was alive. He was a nobody and after he died, everyone forgot about him. And Barry thanked him by stealing his life. He has a chance to change all of that by choosing the crystal. Then he can be the hero, get the girl, and have the family he deserves.
Barry says that won’t happen because that life isn’t Eddie’s. Iris is Barry’s wife. Nora is Barry’s daughter. Eddie has a chance to start over. Barry asks, What would Iris want him to do? And this confuses Eddie again. They hear Nora yelling for the Flash to bring Eddie to her. She threatens to destroy the city, so Barry has to leave, but he trusts Eddie to make the right decision.
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DESTINED TO BE TOGETHER
Eddie goes to see Iris to get help making his decision. Iris is shocked, but happy to see him. Eddie sees a photo of the West Allen family and it changes to a photo of Iris, blond Nora and Eddie. Eddie knows what he wants, and is convinced that Iris wants it too.
Iris lets him know that she lived the life she was destined to live … with Barry. She wants to help Eddie. But her past, present and future is with Barry. Eddie gets upset and threatens the West Allen Family and everything they love.
At the same time Flash is facing off with possessed XS, 2023 Cecile tries to project her consciousness back to the future. The Flash and XS fight through Central City and when they get a chance to stop, Barry tries to reach Nora. The Negative Speed Force is stronger and throws Barry to the ground. Cecile arrives in time to stop Negative Nora from killing the Flash. Negative Nora knows that Cecile won’t hurt Nora’s body, but Cecile has the power to push the Negative out of the girl.
Cecile helps Barry up and says her superhero name is Virtue. Nora hugs her dad and apologizes for hurting him, but he knows it wasn’t really Nora. They see red lightning light up the sky and wonder if Eddie made his choice.
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STRONGER TOGETHER
Back at 2049 STAR Labs, 2023 Cecile and Barry explain everything to the 2049 team. Chester gets readings on the red lightning and says it’s actually not lightning. The timeline is starting to fracture, fast. Barry asks Cecile to inform the 2023 team about what happened.
2049 Iris arrives to talk to Barry. Barry is amazed at how good she looks. He has so much he wants to talk to her about but they don’t have time. Iris tells him about her encounter with Eddie. They don’t know how to stop what’s coming but Barry promises to protect their family. He has to go, but first Iris tells him that they are still happy. And continue to face challenges together. Barry is happy to hear that and abruptly disappears again.
Meanwhile, Eddie is back at his lab, crying. He doesn’t understand why the Negative speed force brought him back, only to show him what he can’t have. The crystal appears and calls out to Eddie. He takes a long look at it and only sees Iris. The crystal says Iris is waiting for him. All he has to do is accept their power. Eddie sees four figures in the crystal. Zoom, Reverse-Flash, Savitar and Godspeed. They want to end Barry Allen’s legacy forever. Eddie reaches his hand out and a singularity opens up.
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News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
