'Crisis on Infinite Earths': How the Multiverse is reborn from the ashes of the Vanishing Point
Spoiler alert for Part 4 of 'Crisis on Infinite Earths'
The purpose of the original 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' was to make a complicated comics continuity — which at that point contained multiple histories, earths, and timelines — and merge them all into one, coherent universe. The CW has just done the same for all of their Arrowverse shows, bringing them together on Earth-Prime, although we've seen that while some Earths are merged, others still exist distinctly. The CW's effectively had its cosmic cake and ate it, too. But given that the entire multiverse was destroyed in Part 3 of the crossover, how exactly was everything brought back?
It turns out the Paragons were selected to bring back the most important elements of their shared superhero universe. Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), now armed with the power of the Spectre, does have all that he needs to restart creation, but there's only one place he can do that, and that's the Dawn of Time.
The Dawn of Time appears not to be the literal start of time. The Dawn of Time as we see in this episode was created by Mar Novu's (LaMonica Garrett) visit to the start of all creation. A swirl of cosmic, positive energy, Mar Novu opening a portal through time apparently also broke the boundary between his universe and the anti-matter universe, which allowed the Anti-Monitor (also LaMonica Garrett) to create his own zone.
The Dawn of Time appears to be a place from which universes can be born, with the right power. The Anti-Monitor was there to create his own anti-matter universe, but after losing to the Paragons and the Spectre in battle, it was Oliver Queen who managed to use his powers to get the process of positive matter universal creation jumpstarted. The start wasn't enough as it was only a spark. It would be up to the Paragons to "fan the flames."
Using the Book of Destiny, the reality reshaping device that Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) still has a page from, the heroes are able to bring back their universe by combining their wills into a laser-sharp focus. As Oliver brought up in the Speed Force, there is nothing stronger than connection, and memory. The Paragons were the ones who shaped the new multiverse into being, and were able to bring a noble universe full of heroism back by remembering the universes through their own unique filters of Hope, Love, Courage, Honour, Humanity, Destiny, and Lex Luther's idea of Truth.
Doing so allowed them to bring back the world they knew, although it wasn't a perfect recreation. For starters, the connections shared between the heroes created a new Earth that reflected that connection and all the heroes' different universes have merged into one Earth. Though Black Lightning (Cress Williams) wasn't a part of the Paragons, apparently he left enough of an impression on the Flash (Grant Gustin) for him to bring that universe in as well. A new history has cropped up on this Earth, a world where the heroes have teamed up quite often, where a Justice Society once existed, and one where Lex Luthor is apparently a world-renowned hero worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize.
The other universes have also been reborn, though they are probably all offshoots of Earth-Prime, all reflections of the Paragons' Earth that will lie at the heart of a new multiversal map. What matters, though, is that all the lives that were erased have now been restored, and The CW's Arrowverse has a new status quo, going forward. The Crisis has been averted, and a new age dawns.