In ‘The Flash’ recap, Barry calls for help to fight Savitar, Julian faces his worst nightmares and a prophecy is foretold…
By Damon Martin — Editor/Lead Writer
The mid-season finale of ‘The Flash’ closed on a happy moment between Barry and Iris but only after a trip to the future showed a tragic ending for one of them.
Following a season long arc that seemed to point as Dr. Alchemy as the primary villain this season, a mythical God of Speed named Savitar was finally revealed as the true big bad but how he got banished into a realm where only other speedsters can see him was also explained tonight.
In the midst of the battle against Savitar, Julian was forced to face the truth about his connection to Dr. Alchemy — a revelation that later affected Cisco as well.
Meanwhile, Wally continued his training with H.R. while the rest of the West family tried to deter him from actually chasing after Barry and the rest of the speedsters.
And finally, the family celebrated a white Christmas but judging by the foreboding doom that was predicted throughout the episode, this might be the last time we see quite so many smiles on ‘The Flash’.
With that said, let’s recap the latest episode of ‘The Flash’ titled ‘The Present’…
The Temple of Doom
The episode begins with a flashback to India where we find Dr. Julian Albert on an excavation looking for some kind of ancient relic. When his team members finally discover what they are looking for, Julian is the first person to grab the box containing the item but when he opens it a bright light shines out and everybody on the team screams in terror.
This was the moment when Julian discovered the Philosopher’s Stone — the primary weapon for Dr. Alchemy that can give metahuman powers and it also happens to be the key to summoning Savitar.
Back to present day, Barry and the gang are still trying to figure out how to stop the God of Speed while also attempting to figure out more about Alchemy. Cisco discovers through research that the weapon Alchemy uses resembles an ancient Hindu stone that supposedly gave people powers — just like metahumans.
Further research reveals that Julian wrote an extensive paper on this weapon that was called the Philosopher’s Stone and that only makes Barry even more curious about what his former partner was holding out on him. A visit to the crime lab — that’s now been rearranged without Barry employed there any longer — Julian is slightly shocked to hear about the stone but quickly bottles up any information he might have.
When the name Savitar is mentioned, Julian refuses to engage any further and sends Barry packing without any answers.
With Julian offering no help, Barry decides to look towards Earth-3 for some assistance by calling on his old pal Jay Garrick to join him in the fight against Savitar. After stopping the Earth-3 Trickster, who is very much the same villain from Earth-1, Jay tells Barry that he’s never met Savitar but was told that he was the first person to ever receive speed. Ever since that time, Savitar has been the fastest creature on Earth thus his nickname as the God of Speed.
Jay follows Barry back to Earth-1 to lend a helping hand in the battle against Savitar and the agent he always sends ahead of his arrival — in this case Dr. Alchemy.
To further along the investigation into Julian’s role into all this, Iris discovers that archeological dig he was on where his entire team ended up dead. That only makes Barry more curious about Julian’s involvement with the Philosopher’s Stone but there’s no time to look into it now because it’s revealed that Alchemy has shown up in the city, which means Savitar can’t be far behind.
Barry and Jay race to the location where Alchemy is using the Philosopher’s Stone to create a giant orb of power that will be released and create dozens upon dozens of new metahumans to help in their battle. When Barry and Jay arrive, Savitar reveals himself to the speedsters. Jay tells Barry to take care of Alchemy and he’ll handle Savitar — and by handling him, Jay gets his ass kicked all over the city but it distracts the God of Speed long enough for Barry to knock Alchemy out cold and stop from building the weapon.
With Alchemy unconscious, Barry takes off the mask and discovers that Julian is the man underneath just like we all suspected. Barry also grabs the stone and puts it back in the box — which instantly zaps Savitar back to wherever he came from and stops him from killing Jay.
The Prophecy
Back at STAR Labs, Julian is locked up and angry over accusations that he is Dr. Alchemy because he denies any connection to the villain who has been tormenting the Central City P.D. all season. As The Flash, Barry asks if Julian has been experiencing any blackouts but he balks at the question while scoffing at the hero and asking why should he trust him to help?
So Barry removes his mask and reveals his identity to Julian as a sign of trust.
Julian finally realizes that he can tell Barry the truth about his past — apparently his sister Emma died when he was younger and her death tore his entire family apart. One night, Julian’s sister returned from the dead to visit him while explaining that if he found the Philosopher’s Stone they could all be reunited. So Julian went on the expedition to find the stone but he only remembers entering the chamber where his team found the box before blacking out and waking in his hotel room.
After seeing reports that the entire team was dead, Julian panicked and moved to the United States where he took up forensic science and started working with the police. Now every time he blacks out, Julian hears the voice calling to him — the voice of Savitar.
In the lab, Cisco is investigating the box containing the Philosopher’s Stone when he sees a vision of his dead brother Dante. The same thing happens to him that did Julian and Cisco follows suit by opening the box, which brings Savitar out of whatever captivity he’s trapped in.
Barry rushes in to battle Savitar, but once again he’s far over matched. This time, Wally decides to intervene and distracts Savitar long enough to keep Barry from getting killed while Caitlin convinces Cisco to close the box back. When he does, Savitar disappears again, which saves Barry and Wally.
While Joe and Iris are angry that Wally helped out at all, Barry is more concerned about Savitar’s appearances and how they can stop him. Cisco deduces a way to hook up Julian to a machine that will allow him to connect to the box holding the Philosopher’s Stone so Savitar can speak through him without releasing the creature.
When they do, Savitar speaks to them with an ominous tone while revealing that he knows everybody’s name and far more about them than he’s willing to tell right now. Savitar also gives them an eerie prophecy for the future involving the team members in the room including Barry, Wally, Iris, Joe, Cisco, Caitlin, and H.R.
“I know your destinies. One shall betray you. One shall fall. One will suffer a fate far worse than death. This is the knowledge I have for you about your everlasting damnation.”
Savitar also reveals that in the future, the Flash trapped him in this purgatory where he’s been stuck until finally figuring out a way to travel to this time in the past. That’s why he has such a grudge against Barry and why he’s going after him now to stop him from trapping him in the future.
The connection gets cut off while the entire team feels a few chills from the icy encounter with Savitar. Finally, Barry and Jay figure out that the only way they could possibly stop Savitar is to get rid of the box containing the Philosopher’s Stone because apparently it can’t be destroyed. Burying it won’t work so the only plan would be to throw the box into the speed force itself where it will be trapped for all eternity.
One Shall Fall
Jay helps Barry to enter the speed force while carrying the box with the Philosopher’s Stone inside. While Barry is able to toss the box away, he’s also transported back out of the speed force to a time five months into the future.
Barry arrives and spots Savitar holding up Iris in his clutches while his future self begs for him to let her go. Savitar does no such thing and stabs Iris through the heart. She dies in future Barry’s arms after Savitar races away.
Barry suddenly flashes back to the present time line when he tells Jay what just happened. Jay explains that speedsters are never supposed to go to the future because it’s constantly evolving and changing and there’s no way to tell if what happened in his trip will actually take place. Still, Barry is shaken because the newspaper clipping that Eobard Thawne brought back with him from 2024 showed that the headline was no longer written by Iris West-Allen — and that’s only a further sign that Iris may not be around after the next five months.
Jay insists that Barry enjoy the here and now while he can so he returns home to spend Christmas with his family.
Joe finally kisses his new girlfriend Cecille before the entire family gives Wally his big present — it’s the Kid Flash suit he’s always wanted. Not sure when Cecille was let in on the family secret but apparently she’s in the fold now. Regardless, Wally accepts that he’s going to be called Kid Flash but now he’s officially a speedster ready for action.
Barry asks Iris to leave with him so he can give his present to her.
The two of them arrive in a giant loft apartment with no furniture inside. Barry presents Iris with a key and says that he’s already put a deposit down and signed the lease with both of their names attached. He tells Iris that he loves her and only wants to wake up to see her face every morning and the same thing before he closes his eyes at night.
The two of them embrace and kiss — a happy moment that may soon be shattered if Savitar’s future comes true five months from now.
Thanks for watching! New episodes of #TheFlash return January 24. pic.twitter.com/plT35N0XWX
— The Flash (@CW_TheFlash) December 7, 2016
‘The Flash’ returns with new episodes on January 24, 2017!
