Oliver Queen’s sacrifice in “Crisis on Infinite Earths” didn’t just save the Multiverse but it also changed the timeline. The creation of Earth-Prime changed things for those living on the new world, something Arrowverse fans have seen most directly on Supergirl – after all, on Earth-Prime, Lex Luther is somehow seen as a hero. And one of the major hallmarks of this brave new Earth is that those who weren’t there when it was created aren’t aware they are living different lives. Except, the heroes have been filling in those closest to them and tonight’s Arrow series finale expands on who knows about the lives lived before in a significant way.
Spoilers for tonight’s Arrow series finale, “Fadeout”, below.
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The finale wastes no time revealing most, if not all, of the people closest to Oliver are aware of the previous, pre-“Crisis” timeline. Moira Queen, Quentin Lance, and Tommy Merlyn, all restored to life by Oliver when he rebooted the world, are all aware of a life before this one in which they had died in various tragic circumstances. It also means that they are aware of the changes between their current lives and the ones before. Quentin remembers that his daughter, Earth-1 Laurel, died a hero. Tommy remembers that he died as well as that, in the new reality he was, at some point, married to a Laurel that no longer exists. They all know the truth.
What’s interesting about this, though, is that because Moira knows the truth the rest of the world may now inadvertently know it as well. The reveal that Moira is aware of the timeline in which she dies comes in her part of the Emerald Archer documentary. Moira directly talks about how the world they are living in now is not quite the same as a previous one and calls Earth-Prime a “gift” from Oliver. While the mechanics of how there could have been a completely different reality is something she doesn’t explain – and indeed likely doesn’t know herself – she still reveals that it’s a thing. With that being part of the Emerald Archer documentary, it means that the world would also know that the life that is now isn’t the only one that was.
It’s something that in a sense clashes with how Supergirl addressed the memory of the previous timeline and reality. In Supergirl‘s midseason premiere, “The Bottle Episode”, it’s explained that J’onn didn’t restore everyone’s memories of the pre-“Crisis” timeline because of the impact it would have on relationships and that it would quite literally blow people’s minds. While one can argue that revealing a previous reality existed isn’t quite the same, there’s something to be said about knowing something existed without knowing the details is itself complicated and distressing. It’s that element that makes the revelation that more and more people know a pre-“Crisis” world exists something that could make for a curious future plot point in the larger Arrowverse down the line.
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