'Crisis on Infinite Earths': The Flash's upcoming death might be a fake-out as fans ponder over ways to keep him alive
“In order to save billions,” says the Monitor, in no uncertain terms, “the Flash must die.”
Even though it’s probably better for the show if Barry Allen does die, as we’ve covered here. Fans are already figuring out all the different loopholes in the Monitor’s statement. The Monitor’s meaning leaves no room for interpretation, but the hows and whys of it are a little less certain. Finding a way for The Flash to escape got a lot harder, however, as Episode 2 of this season saw Barry Allen viewing a billion different futures. The only one that saves the multiverse is the one where he dies.
That would seem to seal Barry’s fate, but since Barry is as vague as the Monitor about the hows and whys of his death, there are still a number of ways he can come out of the Crisis. A Reddit user pointed out that the Flash can, through complicated and localized time travel, create living, breathing duplicates of himself. As this involves a slight manipulation of the timeline, it would not be a part of the billion futures Barry foresaw, as those would all be complete timelines in their own right. As other commenters are quick to point out, however, this is a risky proposition, as the last time Barry did that it led to the creation of the villain Savitar.
More simply, the timeline could be altered after the Flash has sacrificed himself. In the comics, the Crisis spanned not only all of space, but time as well, meaning hiding out in the past would not save anyone from the annihilation. Following this logic, it stands to reason that once the Multiverse is saved, it’s saved across all time - you could pluck Barry out from the past and place him in whatever the multiverse is like post-Crisis. Both options attract time wraiths on top of other risks, but it could be worth taking the chance to keep Barry alive.
If time wraiths are too much of a risk, a good, old-fashioned resurrection is not a bad idea. Both Thea Queen and Sara Lance have been resurrected by the Lazarus Pits. There was a bit of an adjustment period, but overall they seem to have recovered from death quite nicely.
Lastly, the Monitor’s phrasing could prove to be pivotal here. “The Flash” must die. There are 52 Earths, each with their own Flash. None of them look like Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen, yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. If that’s the case, then the Flash of another universe dying may be the death that Barry Allen of Earth-1 saw, thinking it was his own.
Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen is still the heart of the show, and it seems unlikely that any death he undergoes isn’t going to stick as long as the show keeps going. When dealing with superheroes, there’s always another way out of death. As Iris points out, Barry might have seen a billion futures, but what about the billion and first?
The next episode of ‘The Flash’, ‘There Will be Blood’, airs on the CW on October 29.