The CW has released photos for "Pay the Piper", the upcoming eighteenth episode of The Flash's sixth season set to air on Tuesday, May 5th. The episode will see the return of Godspeed, a dangerous speedster who first made his appearance on The Flash in Season 5 as well as that of Hartley Rathaway/Pied Piper (Andy Meintus), a former Team Flash foe turned ally who is now turned foe again thanks to the events of "Crisis on Infinite Earths". While the episode photos do not reveal anything specific about either Godspeed or Pied Piper's returns, they do give a glimpse of Iris' (Candice Patton) and Kamilla's (Victoria Park) continued Mirror Dimension predicament as well as what appears to be Team Flash's efforts to deal with Barry's (Grant Gustin) rapidly dwindling speed.
"It's an episode where we're going to see some changes because of 'Crisis,' and Hartley Rathaway, Pied Piper, is going to be back," Gustin said. "In that episode, Godspeed is back."
As we saw in "Grodd Friended Me," Hartley is back to being a villain. In that episode, when The Flash arrives at a jewelry store robbery, he discovers that it's Pied Piper doing the stealing. When the Flash asks about this situation, Hartley suggests that it's something that the hero and his friends -- presumably, Team Flash -- did to him that shifted him into a life of crime. It's something that Gustin himself confirms, noting that "Barry kind of did Hartley dirty" but says that he will need to find a way to fix things in order to stop Godspeed.
"Hartley really isn't a friend when he comes back, but Barry's going to need to find a way to reconnect with Hartley and try to fix what 'Crisis' changed and stop Godspeed, and try to save the city," Gustin said.
The upcoming episode will also end up serving as the penultimate installment of Season 6, though it wasn't originally intended to. The coronavirus pandemic-related production shutdown on the series has resulted in a slightly shorter season for The Flash, one that will end on cliffhanger, just not the one originally envisioned.
"There was going to be a big Thawne cliffhanger at the end of what this season would have been, but that's not going to be the cliffhanger we get," Gustin recently told TV Line. "[Episode] 619, 'Success Is Assured,' is going to end up being our finale, so we're going to have a different cliffhanger than originally planned. But the cliffhanger at the end of 619 does serve as a pretty good finale."
You can check out the official episode synopsis and scroll on for the photos!
"GODSPEED AND PIED PIPER RETURN – When Godspeed returns, Barry (Grant Gustin) turns to Hartley Rathaway (guest star Andy Mientus) for help. However, things get tense quickly after Barry realizes one of the changes from Crisis is that The Flash and Pied Piper are now enemies. Meanwhile, Iris (Candice Patton) tries to escape the Mirrorverse.
Amanda Tapping directed the episode written by Jess Carson."
The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW. "Pay the Piper" will air on May 5th
