Over nine seasons, The Flash has been no stranger to both difficult loses and surprising returns and when it comes to the series finale, “A New World, Part Four”, the latter proved to be especially true. Not only did the episode see the return of some of Barry Allen’s greatest foes, but the final run also had a surprising return in the for of a lost friend that no one saw coming.
Warning: spoilers for the series finale of The Flash, “A New World, Part Four” beyond this point.
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The Season 9 premiere of The Flash delivered Team Flash one of its most difficult losses to date when it was revealed that the person who emerged from the cryo-pod (properly known as the CRC) was not actually Caitlin Snow (Danielle Panabaker) but someone else, a person the team would later get to know as Khione. Over the course of the season, the team grew close to Khione who was revealed to be not just another version of Caitlin and Frost but a goddess in her own right with powers connecting her to all living things. The flip side of Khione’s arrival, however, was that Caitlin was gone forever — there was no bringing her back.
However, it turns out that wasn’t exactly the case. After Barry (Grant Gustin) defeated the Negative Speed Force by convincing Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) to remain the avatar and for the two of them to coexist, it was time for Khione to ascend, leaving behind her mortal form to be the goddess she truly is. It meant that she was able to leave her body behind and, using her powers over nature, she was able to restore Caitlin to life, bringing her back from the dirt as it were. Khione vanished and, in her place, Caitlin returned.
Caitlin’s return was a bit unexpected, but it did allow for closure, in a sense. Barry and Caitlin had left off on bad terms at the end of Season 8 when they clashed over Caitlin’s plans to bring Frost back to life and it was something that had left Barry with a lot of guild. Now that she’s back, that aspect of things was fully resolved and leaves Team Flash whole — save of course for Cisco (Carlos Valdes) who is presumably still living his best life working for ARGUS — Valdes was unable to return for the series finale.
What do you think about Caitlin’s surprise return in The Flash series finale? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section!
