In ‘The Flash’ recap, Savitar’s true identity is finally revealed as Barry Allen comes face-to-face with his greatest rival…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
“I am the future Flash”
Those are the words echoed by Savitar back in an episode titled “The Wrath of Savitar” when the God of Speed all but revealed his identity to the rest of the team except nobody saw it coming.
Well nobody except some sleuthing fans on the internet, who figured out that Savitar’s taunt didn’t come with a comma — “I am the future, Flash” — but instead he was just telling Barry Allen that he is the future Flash.
On the latest episode of ‘The Flash’, Savitar’s identity was finally revealed to be a future version of Barry Allen, which explains why he would never kill his younger self in the present day as well as how the tragedy of Iris’ death will eventually drive him mad enough to turn from hero to villain.
It explains the message a future version of Barry Allen sent to Rip Hunter and the Legends of Tomorrow warning them not to trust him because he knew this was about to happen. It explains why Savitar was always one step ahead of Team Flash because he already knew exactly what was going to happen before they even did it because he was there.
It also explains when the team connected Julian to the machine to have Savitar speak through him, why he told Iris that he was sorry she had to die but it was either her or him. That means Iris’ death directly leads to Barry’s dark turn to become Savitar at some point in the future.
Of course we don’t know why Barry Allen — past, present or future — would kill the woman he loves but the executive producers behind ‘The Flash’ promise that it will be revealed in next week’s episode.
For now let’s recap the latest episode of ‘The Flash’ titled ‘I Know Who You Are’…
Cold War
Following his trip to the future, Barry returns armed with the knowledge that a theoretical physicist named Tracy Brands will help him create the device that will trap Savitar in the Speed Force, thus rendering him a prisoner rather than a threat to kill Iris.
Unfortunately while Tracy Brand will one day become a Nobel prize winning scientist, she’s currently a grad student who is one fireball away from torching all of her research and cashing in her research grants for a job behind the counter serving burgers and fries.
Still, Barry and the team know that with some gentle nudging that perhaps she can begin working on the device that could trap Savitar sooner rather than later.
The team showing up to meet with Tracy is interrupted when Killer Frost has the same exact plan, except she doesn’t mean to save the scientist — she wants to kill her. Savitar has marked Tracy for death and he’s using Killer Frost as his weapon to do it.
Thanfkully, Barry gets the upper hand on her after she tosses Cisco around the room like a rag doll.
While H.R. flirts with Tracy in an attempt to get her to work with them, Killer Frost makes another attempt on her life later that same day. Barry once again intervenes and gives chase to lead her into a trap where she will run directly into Cisco, who is waiting for her across town.
Once again, Cisco is unable to pull the trigger to stop Killer Frost, which results in her stabbing Barry to slow him down so he can no longer give chase. It’s clear that Savitar knows Tracy Brand is instrumental in trapping him and he’s pulling out all the stops to ensure she never gets the chance to do so.
I Hate Everything About You
Back at headquarters, Julian admonishes Cisco for twice having the chance to stop Caitlin from doing harm, yet he couldn’t pull the trigger. Cisco erupts and says that he’s afraid of killing her because while she may be Killer Frost on the outside, he knows his best friend is still trapped inside the same body.
Cisco insists that he’s never going to be able to kill her and if one of them has to die, he’s willing to sacrifice himself.
Meanwhile, H.R. continues to work with Tracy as she tries to accept her fate as the person who stops an all powerful speedster while she’s still very much developing her own cognitive abilities as a scientist. Thankfully she’s got an entire team ready to support whatever she needs because Tracy’s invention — whatever it might be — is the key to stopping Savitar before he can kill Iris.
As for Joe — he’s been enjoying his time with Cecile as they get closer and closer but when she slips out an unprompted “I love you” it sends him into a panic. Joe doesn’t know how to react in large part because he’s shut her out of so much of his life — including the parts where Barry is the Flash and his son Wally is Kid Flash.
The fear about letting Cecile in all the way leads Joe to make a rash decision when he breaks things off with her for good. Just as she’s leaving the house, Killer Frost shows up yet again this time to kidnap Cecile while passing along a message to Team Flash.
They trade Tracy for Cecile or she dies.
The showdown is set as Joe, Barry and the rest of the gang prepare to save Cecile while hopefully also stopping Caitlin from hurting anybody else. When they show up and confront her, Killer Frost already has the place scouted out including the hiding spot where Cisco is waiting to blast her from above.
No matter what Barry says to try and reach Caitlin, Killer Frost echoes him word for word as if she’s already heard this speech before. Finally, Killer Frost blows the platform where Cisco is standing and it would have killed him except he was able to open a portal to soften the fall to the ground. Barry once again tries to stop her himself, but she freezes him to the ground before doing the same to Joe’s gun when he tries to take a shot.
Finally, Cisco is forced to take out Killer Frost as he blasts her with an energy burst before they end up in a stand off with each of them firing at the other. This time around, Cisco gets the better of her before blasting Killer Frost across the room, knocking her unconscious.
Cisco goes to take a vile of her blood in hopes that Julian can somehow cross engineer a solution to transform Killer Frost back into Caitlin. Before the team can scoop her up and put her into a holding cell, Savitar rushes in and runs away with Killer Frost in tow.
Whatever plan he has yet to unfold, Killer Frost plays a part.
Thankfully, Cecile is saved but the team loses Caitlin and they are no closer to figuring out Savitar’s identity much less stopping him from killing Iris as the clock counts down that much closer to her demise.
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Back at STAR Labs, H.R. sits down with Tracy as she begins configuring an idea on how to stop Savitar. Based on her calculations, Savitar wears his suit because he runs so fast that he generates a tremendous amount of energy around him. The suit absorbs that energy but what if she could find a way to use that against him? Perhaps transforming the energy so it could trap him with his own speed?
As for Joe, he makes up with Cecile and tells her that he broke up with her because he wasn’t sure anybody was ready to be subjected to the crazy life he leads outside of the police station. She forgives him and he professes his love for her before telling her all of his secrets, including the Flash and Kid Flash’s secret identities.
Once he returns home, Joe tells his family about his reconnection with Cecile and how he’s truly happy to have found love again. After all, what would life be like without love?
Those words send a shockwave through Barry’s soul as he starts to play back interactions in his head from the past few months since his first interaction with Savitar. From his taunts about how he created himself to being the “future Flash” as well as realizing that a monster that vile would most certainly come from someone devoid of love.
Barry rushes out of the house and he finally confronts Savitar as he realizes who is hiding behind the suit.
As the mechanical suit moves away from the person inside, a future Barry Allen steps out — including a scarred face and a tormented soul — as he confronts his former self from the past. Barry now knows that Iris’ death will lead to Savitar’s creation, but he’s no closer to finding a way to stop himself from killing her.
Only three episodes left this season as ‘The Flash’ returns next Monday night at 8pm ET…
https://youtu.be/8WkCNhlKLM0
