‘The Flash’: Has “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Always Been Thawne’s Endgame?

With “Crisis on Infinite Earths” coming to the Arrowverse this fall, fans have been trying to figure out exactly how the game-changing event will come to pass. Much of that focus falls on Nora West-Allen, whose presence in the current timeline and collaboration with Eobard Thawne theorized to be bringing about the Crisis a few years ahead of schedule.

However, while that very well be the case, a better question to ask may not be “if” but “why”. On the surface, it appears that the “why” is pretty clear. Nora is teamed up with Thawne to prevent the Crisis from happening and, thus, saving her father. The idea that they could actually cause it to happen ahead of schedule could just be an unhappy by product of meddling with the timeline. But what if Thawne’s intentions are anything but good — and let’s be real, this is Thawne so it’s likely — and Crisis has always been his endgame?

If you really think about it, it’s a surprisingly logical possibility. From his introduction in Season 1, Thawne has been out to destroy Barry Allen/The Flash. It’s literally part of the genesis of the show, with a Thawne-masquerading-as-Wells setting into motion the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator that gives Barry his powers in the first place. All Thawne wants is to destroy Barry. As Thawne comes from the future — he was born in 2151, according to The Flash canon — he already has existing knowledge of the Crisis so he knew even before coming to Star City circa 2014 that he would be rid of Barry come 2024.

Since Barry becoming The Flash is a central component of Crisis — the future newspaper notes that it’s The Flash who vanishes in Crisis, specifically — Thawne would have to ensure that Barry actually became the speedster in order to get to Crisis and be defeated. Beating The Flash before then would have been just icing on the cake for Thawne, especially since he already knows on a larger scale how things play out. He just had to get to Crisis.

This makes “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Thawne’s endgame. It was always the goal.

So, you might be having a “cool theory, bro, but…” moment right about now and it’s warranted. If Crisis is Thawne’s endgame and he knows it’s coming why would he be pairing with Nora? Valid question and it ties into the concept of self-preservation. Thawne wants to win. He doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want to lose and if Crisis happens on the track of the original timeline it seems like Thawne does, in fact, “lose”. During the Season 5 premiere of The Flash, we got a look at a newspaper from 2049 that reflects on the Crisis 25 years after it happened. The Flash is still missing, but there’s an indication that Reverse Flash, a.k.a Thawne, goes missing as well:

“The details of Flash’s disappearance remain murky. A 2026 Congressional Commission repeated the Citizen’s initial reporting. Hours after the sky turned red, the Flash and his allies fought the Reverse Flash. The ensuing street battle caused the most destruction this city has ever seen. It was not until the Flash and Reverse Flash disappeared in an explosion of light that the chaos ceased.”

Given the moments from the future that we’ve seen as Thawne works with Nora, it’s pretty obvious that Thawne somehow returns, but he ends up in jail. That’s not winning on Thawne’s part. With this in mind, if Thawne is able to somehow alter the way Crisis happens, it gives him a chance to defeat Barry — by making him disappear in Crisis — while also somehow managing to not end up in prison. If this is the case, it could explain why he’s working with Nora. He doesn’t want to help her save Barry. He wants her to create a situation where he has better control of what happens after Crisis.

By that line of thinking, Thawne is also fulfilling what he cryptically told Barry during “Crisis on Earth-X”, wondering aloud what face he’d wear the next time the pair met. If Crisis really is Thawne’s endgame and he’s using Nora to bring it about on his terms, then the face Thawne is “wearing” is that of Barry’s own daughter. It’s a chilling prospect, but one that is oh-so-fitting for Eobard Thawne.

What do you think? Is “Crisis on Infinite Earths” Thawne’s endgame? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.