The Flash: Here’s What Caused the “Death of the Speed Force”

As the title of this week’s episode of The Flash hinted, the Speed Force, that limitless source of energy for Barry Allen and his fellow speedsters is dying. It’s something that fans have seen little hints and teases of since the show returned from the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths” with Barry’s speed healing not being quite right and his powers glitching here and there. In “Death of the Speed Force” we finally find out exactly what is going on and why it might just be the end of the lightning for not just The Flash, but Kid Flash as well. Here’s what went down.

Spoilers for The Flash, “Death of the Speed Force” below.

The Flash wasted no time on Tuesday getting to the heart of things. Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) returned and soon let Barry (Grant Gustin) know that something was wrong with the Speed Force. He’d been able to communicate with it in his mind, but things had gone silent. After Barry spent some time in denial, Wally took him to see for himself and they find a desperate scene. Terrible lightning storms are flashing all around and the manifestation of the Speed Force that happens to look like Barry’s mother, Nora Allen (Michelle Harrison) is lying in bed dying. She tells Barry and Wally that it was Barry’s actions that caused this.

Barry assumes that it was his attacking the Speed Force during his battle with Bloodwork that caused things, but it turns out that was not the case. Barry returns alone and sits with the dying Speed Nora who reveals it wasn’t the fight, but Barry bringing the Spectre’s energy into the space when he was trying to save the universe. Barry is devastated, but Speed Force Nora isn’t upset with him. She tells him that choosing him was the best thing she ever did and that she loves him. She tells him she loves him before dying in his arms.

It’s a bitter pill. Barry’s “Crisis” actions saved the universe, but now has left a situation in which he and Wally will lose their powers once their remaining reserves of energy run out. This is a huge problem and it’s one that brings home the real cost of “Crisis”. It’s ultimately not the merged world that is Earth-Prime or the changes to reality or even the loss of Oliver Queen that ends up being the real fallout for The Flash. He’s now facing the loss of his powers something that sets the stage for a complicated and wild remainder of the show’s sixth season.

“One would think the true fallout of ‘Crisis’ is the death of Oliver Queen and not having your mentor — you know, Obi-Wan is gone, Luke must rise up, become a hero — and that happens, don’t get me wrong, but that’s not the real fallout of ‘Crisis,’” showrunner Eric Wallace said in a previous interview. “The real fallout of ‘Crisis’ has yet to be seen. That is the heart of our story, and that is the heart of what is going to lead Barry on a very emotional journey that he is not prepared for. That’s one of the things having Keiynan back as Kid Flash does for us: [It] directly addresses — because Keiynan will be in one of our episodes in ‘Graphic Novel #2’ — [and] is to help Barry deal with the real fallout of ‘Crisis.’”

And that emotional journey? It will take him closer to his old enemy, Reverse Flash, than ever before. After Eobard Thawne possesses Nash (Tom Cavanagh) in the episode, the villain says he plans to use Barry’s power loss to destroy him. As the episode ends, though, Barry decides he’s going to do something Thawne himself did for speed power: create his own, artificial Speed Force.

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