The Flash season six raced onto our screens this week with a premiere aptly titled ‘Into The Void’.
Aside from the literal black hole that threatened to destroy Central City, this void also refers of course to the hole left behind by Nora’s death. Unfortunately, it looks like this isn’t the only tragedy looming if the premiere’s final scene was anything to go by.
But is everything really what it seems?
Just as Barry and Iris finally found time to honour Nora, The Monitor casually dropped by at the end of the episode with a bombshell that will change everything for the show moving forward.
We’ve known since day one that The Flash will mysteriously vanish in a future “Crisis”, but now that the Arrowverse crossover is just weeks away, the circumstances surrounding his disappearance have been revealed, and they’re… Well, they’re not great.
According to The Monitor, Crisis On Infinite Earths will now take place five years earlier on December 10, 2019, and this is when Barry will save the lives of billions by making “the ultimate sacrifice”.
Anyone who’s read the original Crisis comics might have suspected this would happen because Barry Allen died in those too. Still, this news probably came as a shock for TV fans who presumed Oliver prevented Barry’s death when he made a deal with The Monitor last year during Elseworlds.
The Flash is pretty surprised by this development too, so he tries to argue with the prophecy, and this in turn prompts The Monitor to drop a rather ominous message:
“In order for billions to survive this coming Crisis, The Flash must die.”
So does that mean The Flash is really dying in the upcoming crossover? And if so, how will the show carry on without him?
While it’s possible that The Monitor might just be bluffing as part of a larger plan, a closer look at what he says hints that something else might be going on instead.
Notice how The Monitor never actually says Barry Allen will perish. It’s The Flash who must die, and while yes, Barry is The Flash, he’s also not the only Flash.
As the crossover’s name suggests, ‘Crisis’ will involve an infinite number of Earths, and so there’s potentially an infinite number of Flashes too.
