Last week on The Flash, Barry Allen’s (Grant Gustin) worst nightmare came true when Iris (Candice Patton) was killed — by his own lightning — during the battle with the Negative Forces. That nightmare was made worse when Thawne/Reverse Flash (Tom Cavanagh) returned as well, complete with his speed restored. This week, in the wake of his greatest loss, The Flash still has to deal with the return of Thawne — and still has to deal with the very real threat of the rest of the Negative Forces as well. The stakes have never been higher as we head into the Season 8 finale. Need to find out what happened on this week’s episode of The Flash? We’ve got you covered with our recap, but just know that there are full spoilers for “Negative, Part Two” beyond this point.
The episode picks up where last week’s “Negative, Part 1” left off with the resurrection of Thawne (Cavanagh). He brags about how killing Barry’s mom gave birth to the Flash and killing Iris saw the rebirth of Reverse Flash. Barry attacks him, but Nora and Bart show up from the future to stop him from killing Thawne. They point out to Barry that since they exist, Iris isn’t dead yet. Thawne disappears.
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At the Fast Track lab, the Team comes together to figure out next steps. Barry says he has to find a way into the Negative Speed Force. Barry is full of rage and absolutely certain that Iris is dead. His kids ask the team to let them talk to their dad alone. Nora and Bart ask him to let them handle it, but Barry says no. Elsewhere, Iris materializes in the time stone where she sees Damien Darhk. He tells her she’s not dead, but something far more interesting. Back at STAR, the team works on a plan to get Barry into the Negative Speed Force and Meena volunteers to be the source of the Negative lightning needed to make it happen. Cecile confronts Barry about his plan for revenge. Cecile starts hearing Bashear — the positive one — calling out for her help.
Thawne goes to the weird alternate reality from Armageddon where he was with Iris, though he knows the timeline is gone. The Negative Forces greet him there. Thawne has questions about why he’s there. They tell him that he never tapped into the Negative Speed Force, but it tapped into him, choosing him because of his hatred for Barry Allen. Thawne doesn’t want to play along, so they decide to transform him.
Damien explains the whole Negative Forces plan for Iris. She’s not supposed to be dead, which is why the stone saved her. Back at STAR, they start to try to send Barry and his kids to the Negative Speed force, but it fails. They will have to find another way. A guilt-stricken and grieving Meena freaks out and runs back to her own lab to destroy her machine, but Barry stops her. He has a plan: get Meena recharged and have her share speed with him.
At the West house, Joe is worried about Iris, but Jay and Joan show up, tracking Iris’s particle and it leads them to the time stone. They realize Iris is in the stone. Elsewhere, Cecile, along with Rosa and Mona, come together to find Bashear. He confirms that Iris’ sickness weakened them, and they tethered themselves to others such as Cecile. She can bring back the other Forces with her absorbed powers.
At Fast Track, Barry successfully enters the Negative Speed Force and finds Thawne and the Negative Forces. They continue to blame Barry for everything because he stopped Thawne during Armageddon before sending Barry back. Suddenly, there’s a huge surge of negative tachyons over downtown and Thawne arrives, now a super charged, black-suit version of himself and he starts killing people. He now has the power of all four Negative Forces.
In the time stone, Iris tries to find out what her unfinished business is. Damien helps her realize that she hasn’t hit her limit yet and that she’s a survivor. It gives her the pep talk she needs to reignite her spark and get out of the stone. Fast Track, Impulse, XS, and The Flash show up to fight this new Reverse Flash, but he tricks them into attacking Impulse, then sends everyone except Flash back in time a billion years. Bashear has Cecile put on his mask so it can reabsorb the powers and transfer them to him. She does it and after it does its work, he disappears.
Barry and Reverse Flash fight, but Reverse Flash has a clear advantage and goes to kill Barry, but it doesn’t work. The real Forces return and stop him, then team up and enter Barry, supercharging him. It’s time for a final showdown. As the fight is going down, Iris emerges from the stone at the West house. Jay, Joe, Joan, and Iris realize that the fight between the two of them is starting Armageddon, so they rush there. Barry and Iris reunite and when Barry realizes the fight will only end if one of them dies, he sits down, seemingly surrendering. Reverse Flash calls on more power to finish the job, but Barry warns him he won’t survive what he’s about to attempt. Barry does not engage, and meditates instead, while Thawne expands his power into a destructive energy wave that ends up receding and crashing back into Thawne, destroying him. With Thawne gone, Barry brings Bart, Meena, and Nora back as well. The universe resets.
Iris is cured, Barry is fine, and Thawne is nowhere in the timeline. He’s truly gone. The visitors from the future return to their time. Meena says the Bloc no longer works so she’s no longer a speedster — she was just a means to an end for the Negative Forces. Iris and Barry give Meena Eobard’s yellow tie that was left at STAR Labs. Cecile has her normal powers back, and the people whose powers she took have theirs back as well. They drink their coffee and realize they have the wrong ones and Cecile suddenly has telekinesis. At CCCM, Tinya Wazzo is meeting with Iris and Flash shows up with her mom. The pair are reunited at last.
Back at Caitlin’s apartment, the cryopod has some sort of malfunction and Mark opens it. There’s someone inside… but it’s not Caitlin or Frost. When asked who she is she replies “A friend. I think.” At home, Iris and Barry talk about what happened and she tells him he’s her lightning rod, too. She reminds him that the Negative Speed Force will have to find a new avatar eventually and somewhere in 2049, an interesting blue crystal lights up in a lab.
The Flash will return for Season 9 in 2023.
