Team Flash have their hands full in The Flash season finale, “Legacy.” All season long, the team has been dealing with the aftermath of the Enlightenment. With the arrival of Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) came a major change in the timeline. The identity of Cicada changed, twice, but their objective remained the same: kill all metahumans with a power dampening dagger.
Nora adjusted to being a speedster, but not without some mishaps. All she wanted to was to meet her father, stop Cicada, stop Barry Allen/Flash (Grant Gustin) from disappearing, and become a hero. Too bad she went to Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) for help. He may seem sincere, but he never helps without helping himself first.
At the end of the last episode, Ralph/Elongated Man (Hartley Sawyer) tried to stop the Flash from destroying Cicada’s dagger. It has something to do with Thawne. Earlier Ralph had been thinking really hard about Thawne and his true intentions for helping Nora, but couldn’t figure it out. Something about the dagger triggered the answer. So here we are.
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Cicada II
Ralph jumped in front of the dagger to stop it from being destroyed and scrambled himself in the process. Before passing out, he says three words: Cicada, Thawne, Dagger. Cicada II (Sarah Carter) grabs her dagger and flies away.
The team takes Ralph back to the lab where Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) can examine him. She says his cells have basically turned inside out. Nora is pouting because Ralph messed up her plans. But they have to wait for answers. Or Sherloque (Cavanagh) can find them.
In the confusion of everything, Cisco (Carlos Valdes) forgot about a date with Kamilla (Victoria Park). Cisco has been struggling to keep his private life and his superhero life separate. Things are going well with Kamilla, but Caitlin encourages him to tell her the truth about who he is.
At the CCPD, Joe (Jesse L. Martin) and Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) update Captain Singh (Patrick Sabongui) on the Cicada II situation. All of the metahumans are in a safe location, but Cicada II is missing. Barry and Nora are investigating the station when they find a wood chip. There is no wood in the general vicinity, so they assume Cicada II brought it in with her. They take it to Cisco for testing.
Playing with Time
Cicada II retreats to the cabin where her young self Grace Gibbons (Islie Hirvonen) sleeps. Cicada II talks through her thoughts with Uncle Orlin (Chris Kline). They come up with an idea to use the time sphere to go back to the past. In particular, the night the particle accelerator exploded and release the meta virus. Orlin tells her to destroy the metahumans before they destroy the world.
Cisco starts the testing as Barry checks on Ralph. Caitlin can’t figure out how to reverse Ralph’s cells. Nora is still salty that he busted her plan to stop Cicada. Sherloque returns with an explanation. He informs the team that Thawne’s plan was to defeat Cicada and destroy the dagger is because that dagger is the only thing keeping him in prison.
In the future, the warden is using the dagger to drain Thawne’s powers. The warden is ready to execute Thawne, but first, he gives Thawne a parting gift. A chain with a ring on it. What are the chances that the ring has a suit in it?
Connecting the Dots
The team puts all of the pieces together. Thawne manipulated Nora to create a new timeline with a new Cicada. That brought about a new Cicada, that was more dangerous than the first and the only way to stop her is to destroy the dagger. Then Thawne would be free. So who do they stop, Cicada II or Thawne? Barry won’t let hundreds of metahumans die, so the plan remains the same. Stop Cicada II and destroy the dagger.
Cisco leaves for his date with Kamilla while they wait for the result about the wood chip. He tells her that he created the meta cure, he works at STAR Labs, and he shows her his vibing powers. She knows who he is, but she’s not scared. Actually, Kamilla is perfect. She sees no problem with him not telling her the truth right away. And she wouldn’t get in the way of him being Vibe if that’s what he wanted.
Nora got pretty upset to learn that Thawne was using her. Barry consoles her and says it’s okay to make mistakes. Now she has to decide what kind of hero she’s going to be. One who takes the do-over, or one that lives with the mistake and moves forward. He says sometimes they just have to live with the consequences of their mistakes.
Trapping Cicadas
Cisco returns to the lab and there is no change in Ralph. He mentions that Ralph was in the same condition when he first got his powers. Caitlin created a stabilizing enzyme that put him back to normal using vulcanization and muscle memory. Sherloque suggests that Cisco blasts Ralph with a vibrational jolt to kick start his consciousness. Cisco is skeptical, he’d rather play Gaga and wait, but he blasts Ralph just as Sherloque asked him to. Ralph wakes up screaming and talking jibberish, but he’s back to normal.
An alarm goes off and everybody runs to the control center. The wood chip results are back and it’s a wood that is only located in Collins Woods, one of the largest parks in Central City. Nora came up with one that will stop both Cicada and Thawne.
The plan is to use Cecile to track Cicada’s hate. Flash, Killer Frost, XS, and Joe will follow Cecile into the woods. Once XS can get into the cabin, she will enter young Grace’s mind and try to convince her to take the cure. If she complies, Cicada will cease to exist and they don’t have to destroy the dagger to get rid of her. Meaning Thawne never goes free. Nice plan!
Psychic Connection
Cicada II senses they are close and goes outside to meet them. Joe surprises her with a tachyon device that transports her to STAR Labs inside Thawne’s trap. Cisco, Ralph, Sherloque, and Iris (Candice Patton) wait in the lab with guns pointed at the chamber.
Cecile helps Nora connect with young Grace. Grace isn’t happy to see Nora and Cicada I is there to defend her. Nora pleads with Grace to listen to her. She asks the kid to wake up and take the cure so she doesn’t become a monster. Cicada I closes in on Nora, telling Grace not to listen to her. Cicada I attempts to strike at Nora, but Orlin Dwyer stops him. Grace is confused because all three are talking to her, telling her what to do. Grace doesn’t want anyone else to die and agrees to take the cure.
Meanwhile, Cicada II is trapped in the chamber and fighting back hard. She has to use her powers to beat down the energy field that separates her and the lab team. It doesn’t take her long to break free and return to the cabin, just as Nora injects Grace with the cure.
The Silence of the Cicadas
Cicada II attacks everyone, pushing them away from young Grace. As soon as Cicada II gets near Grace, the dark matter reactivates. The shard in her head is a part of the dagger and has enough dark energy to counteract the cure. The only way to defeat Cicada II is to destroy the dagger. Cicada II uses her powers to incapacitate Flash and pull XS towards her. She tells Flash that he took away her family and now she will take his.
Cicada II prepares to stab Nora when Cisco vibes the mirror gun to Flash. He shoots the dagger, causing it to disintegrate into nothing. Cicada II tries to grab it and she disintegrates as well. And in 2049, the dagger disappears off of Thawne’s chest just as the speed force is released into him. The room explodes with light and Thawne is free.
Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash
Thawne quickly disposes of the guards and the warden. He takes the ring off the chain and throws it in the air. There is a suit in that ring, just like the Flash. But then time stops and rewinds to just before Thawne kills the guards. Flash and XS arrive ready to stop Thawne from escaping. They know everything and recap Thawne’s plan back to him. They left one detail.
Earlier in the season, episode eight to be exact, Barry and Nora traveled to the past to retrieve certain items to make a gun. This gun would dampen the power of the dagger so they could apprehend Cicada I. They encountered Thawne in the time vault where they revealed their need of an instrument that would drain dark energy. Nora blurted out that they were trying to stop Cicada. That gave Thawne the idea to destroy the dagger in the past so he could escape. Thawne says he is the only speedster who can manipulate the timeline to get what he wants and put things in motion to ensure that he gets away.
Thawne runs and the father-daughter duo runs after him. They end up in the middle of Central City. Thawne tells Nora that she can’t save Barry. He will always disappear. That is his legacy. Thawne runs at the speedsters and a breach opens up. The time sphere comes through with all of Team Flash on board.
Team Flash vs. The Reverse Flash
Thawne greets the team one by one but gives special attention to Cisco. He apologizes to Cisco for phasing through his heart. He says if he hadn’t done that, Cisco would never have become extraordinary. Cisco says he doesn’t need powers to be extraordinary.
Thawne starts to run, but every member of Team Flash blasts him to block his way and knock him back. Flash and XS run through a breach to give one final punch. XS grabs Thawne and the negative force comes out in her. She ready to kill him, but Iris stops her. Thawne says she was so close, but it would have never worked.
Untimely Goodbye
Nora’s hands start pixelating. A new timeline is beginning. One where Nora doesn’t exist. Thawne says they created the new timeline when they destroyed the dagger. He apologizes to Nora for trading her in, but he had to be sure that he could go free.
Flash runs at Thawne and throws him up against a wall ready to hurt him. Thawne says there is a way to save Nora, but she has to go into the negative speed force. If they don’t go now, they all lose her forever. Thawne knows he will choose to save Nora over arresting him. He says to Barry, “See you next Crisis.” And Flash runs away with Nora. As soon as they are gone, Thawne runs away.
Barry and Nora run into the negative speed force, but Nora stops. She says it’s too late. If she goes back into the negative speed force, she will be full of hate and anger, just like Thawne. Nora doesn’t want that to be her legacy. She says this is her mistake and she has to live with the consequences. Barry and Iris are upset and they all hold on to their daughter. She thanks them for everything and disappears.
Mourning
The team goes back to the lab where Joe and Cecile are waiting. Everyone remembers Nora and the good things she did for the team and the city. Sherloque says his goodbyes and returns to his Earth.
Joe and Cecile get a message from Captain Singh to go to the station and bring Barry. Iris tells him to go so she can be alone. Everyone leaves with them. Iris spots Nora’s journal by the monitor and begins to cry.
Cisco tells Caitlin that he doesn’t want the extraordinary thing about him to be his powers. He asks Caitlin to give him the cure. She reminds him that there’s no going back but he’s sure. Caitlin says she and Killer Frost will miss Vibe before giving him the cure. A single tear falls down Cisco’s cheek after it’s done. He says he’s scared but hopeful.
Singh tells Joe, Cecile, and Barry that Grace is going to a good foster family. He thanks them for their help in stopping Cicada. And to tell them that the mayor has offered him the job as Chief of Police. Singh offers Joe the job of a Captain of the CCPD. He says Joe will have a lot of help and looks at Barry, calling him Flash. Singh is a detective…so of course, he knows.
Legacy
Barry returns to the lab and finds Iris in the time vault. They talk about what happened and both of them are proud of Nora. Iris says she was the best of both of them. Barry calls Nora her Legacy. Iris shows him the journal and he finds a small disk inside. They put the disk into the control center and a video from Nora pops up.
Nora knew something might happen to her. She says she’s not sad. She always wanted to be a hero and that’s why she came to the past. To be a hero. She says she wouldn’t change anything about her time with them.
As she talks we see Cisco and Kamilla together, Sherloque waiting for Renee, Joe settling at his new desk with Cecile, Caitlin looking at her gift from Cisco, and Ralph going over a file labeled, Dearborn.
Nora thanks her parents for everything and for making her a hero. And especially for loving her, even when she wasn’t perfect. Iris and Barry cry as the look at Nora’s face on the screen.
Later, in the darkness of the time vault, an incoming time flux happens. Iris’ newspaper pops up on the screen, but this time the headline reads, “Flash Missing – Vanishes in Crisis.” The date changes from 2024 to 2019.
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Thoughts
WOW! That was a crazy, intense finale. I’m most surprised that Nora is gone. Yeah, she wasn’t my favorite, but I honestly thought she would just go back to her time to live her life. I didn’t expect her to fade away and be gone forever.
And that headline…Ugh! Nora may have accepted that to live with the consequences, but everyone will pay the price if they can’t stop that headline from happening next season. I’m so pumped for the fall. The first half of the season will build up to the crisis crossover. And I know nothing will be the same afterward.
Thanks for reading!
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.
