The Flash: “Paradox”

Last week, I wrote about the new alternate timeline of “Flashpoint,” the Season 3 premiere episode of CW’s The Flash. In Tuesday’s episode, “Paradox,” Barry finds out that much more has changed than he initially realized. Some of the major changes to the timeline include:

  • Iris has never forgiven Joe for telling her that her mom is dead.
  • Diggle no longer has a daughter. Instead he has a son, John Diggle, Jr. [Is this the same John Diggle, Jr., from”Star City 2046″ (Legends of Tomorrow)?]
  • Cisco’s brother Dante was killed in a car accident and Cisco is angry at Barry for not traveling back and saving him.
  • Cisco does not give nicknames to the metahumans they come in contact with, although it is unknown if this is a result of his brother’s death.
  • There is a new CSI, Julian Albert, sharing a lab with Barry at the police department, whom Barry does not get along with.
  • Caitlin Snow is beginning to exhibit Killer Frost’s powers.

Unsure of how to make things right, Barry decides to again travel back to the night of his mother’s death and fix things. Before he can make any changes, he is pulled from the timestream by Jay Garrick, who is the Flash in another dimension and Henry Allen’s doppleganger. Jay explains to Barry that the timeline is similar to a coffee cup. If he breaks it he can glue it back together, but he can’t get rid of the cracks. The more times it breaks, the more cracks there will be. Similarly, Barry can keep trying to fix the timeline, but the more he interferes, the more things will change. Barry realizes that the only choice he has is to leave things in the past alone and try to fix things in the current timeline by changing the present. He gathers the team and explains things to them, taking the first steps toward fixing their problems.

At least for the time being, it appears that the entire Arrowverse will exist in Alternate Timeline 7. As far as Barry was able to tell, the only major change outside of Team Flash and Central City is Diggle’s daughter is now a son. Last night’s Arrow episode seemed to agree as no major changes were apparent. I guess we’ll just have to keep watching and see if anything comes up.

On a side note, despite his death in Legends of Tomorrow, Leonard Snart AKA Captain Cold is scheduled to appear in several episodes across the entire Arrowverse. Perhaps Barry’s meddling with the timeline negated his death?

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