- "I am Gideon, an interactive artificial consciousness."
- —Gideon to Barry Allen[src]
Gideon is an interactive artificial consciousness (A.I.) used by Eobard Thawne and Team Flash. She was hidden in the Time Vault inside S.T.A.R. Labs. Though Gideon was used by Eobard, she was created by Barry Allen in the future.[1] In order to manage her operating system, one needs the Reverse-Flash ring, the Time Vault or the mobile Gideon unit.
Fearing the risk of exposing Barry Allen's identity, Gideon erased the data about S.T.A.R. Labs in the internal servers and deactivated.
However, after Damien Darhk helped Barry to undo the alternate timeline created by Eobard Thawne, Gideon was restored back into existence.
Biography
Original multiverse
Creation
At some point in the original future, Barry Allen/The Flash created Gideon to help him in his tasks as the Flash.[1]
In the hands of Eobard Thawne
At some point in the future, Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash somehow gained access to Gideon, using her during his trip to the past.[2]
After he ran back in time to the year 2000, during which time he killed Nora Allen, Eobard was informed by Gideon that his connection to the Speed Force was no longer present and that he couldn't travel back in time to his home, leading him to steal Dr. Wells' identity, create S.T.A.R. Labs as well as the accident that made Barry Allen the Flash early.[3]
Gideon's operating system was later installed in Thawne's hidden Time Vault in S.T.A.R. Labs at some point before or during 2013. On December 11, 2013, Gideon was activated in response to the appearance of 2018 Barry Allen. Accompanying Barry was his future daughter Nora, whom Gideon identified as XS and noted was the fifth recruit of a group called the Legion, only to be interrupted by Barry, who ordered her to recalibrate the Speed Force transmitter he inserted into its console to extract dark matter from the impending particle accelerator explosion and to leave no record of this.[4]
Following the particle accelerator explosion, where Barry Allen was struck by lightning and became "The Flash" ever since, Thawne would visit the Time Vault to oversee an article from 2024, reporting of the Flash's disappearance in a Crisis,[5] As "Dr. Wells", Thawne used Gideon to record and catalog his notes about Barry Allen and his progress as a speedster. However, "Dr. Wells" later used it to search for the Flash in future newspapers after Barry's abilities were repressed by Blackout, to no avail. After Barry regained his powers, Thawne updated his log with Gideon and was able to find the article from 2024, reporting that the future remained intact.[6]
Sometime later, Gideon recommended that Eobard stop using the tachyon device to absorb the Speed Force, but he wished to elevate the absorption to maximum.[7]
When Firestorm was about to go nuclear, Eobard entered the Time Vault to retrieve a gun to shoot Firestorm. Gideon remarked that the weapon was rather crude. Thawne then had a change of heart and asked Gideon if the tachyon device could be converted into a quantum splicer. Gideon answered that it was theoretically possible, but doing so would delay his timetable.[8]
After Barry traveled back in time while trying to stop Weather Wizard, Eobard asked Gideon to show him the future via the 2024 article, to ensure that it hadn't been changed.[9]
When Barry, Cisco, and Caitlin discover the Time Vault and the 2024 article, they met Gideon, who identified Barry, mentioning his future position as director of CCPD's CSI division and a founding member of something, but was interrupted by the latter before it could name the group. Barry then asked Gideon if it knew Eobard's true identity, but Gideon failed to understand his question. He then changed the question, asking what the Reverse-Flash was doing in their time. Gideon answered that he wanted to kill Barry as a child but the latter escaped, so he killed Barry's mother Nora out of anger. He then asked what Eobard wanted from him but Gideon only said that the endgame was Barry to be the Flash. As Eobard approached, Cisco feared that Gideon would tell him of their discovery, so Barry asked Gideon if it could show them its operating system to erase its memory. However, Cisco took one look at Gideon's operating system and realized he couldn't do it, so Barry asked Gideon hesitantly to keep their meeting a secret. Gideon agreed, and much to the astonishment of Barry, explained that it was he (Barry) who created Gideon. As Barry whisked himself, Caitlin, and Cisco, out of the room, Eobard entered and was casually greeted by Gideon. He asked if everything was alright, and Gideon said that everything was fine.[1]
Inactivity
After Team Flash discovered Reverse-Flash's true identity, Eobard Thawne deactivated Gideon for safety purposes, presumably to avoid the Flash using her against him.
Reactivation
Three years later (exactly 1078 days later) she was activated once again, this time by Harrison Wells from Earth-2. Gideon asked him how can she help, and Harry said that a lot has changed in the last three years.[10] After building a Thinking Cap to increase his likelihood of defeating Clifford DeVoe, Harry, desperate to outsmart DeVoe, forced Gideon to inject dark matter into the cap despite her warnings. After doing so, Gideon scanned Harry's brain and revealed that the overload of dark matter fried his neural synapses, which in turn would cause Harry's intelligence to gradually wane until he lost all function.
Gideon was later hijacked by DeVoe using Kilg%re's powers, enabling him to hijack S.T.A.R. Labs' satellite to replace one of five that Barry destroyed for his Enlightenment. He also plugged in a vial of dark matter and Neil Borman's former miniaturized cell-turned nuclear fusion battery into her console to transmit the energy to the satellites.[11]
After Nora became a member of Team Flash, she kept in contact with Eobard Thawne (that was somehow imprisoned in Iron Heights Prison in 2049) through her journal, with Nora sending information to Eobard's cell through Gideon's limited time travel capabilities in regards to information, using a specific form of "time text", that is supposed to survive through the changes of timeline.[4]
Mobile Gideon unit
- Main article: Mobile Gideon unit (Earth-1)
In 2019, the Monitor destroyed the plinth containing Gideon and Nora's goodbye message. Barry was able to salvage enough parts to help rebuild Gideon and connect to her through an ear piece so she could help him travel into the future to witness to coming crisis. She reveals he was hit by antimatter while in the Speed Force and that Jay Garrick of Earth-3 could help Barry as he knew more about antimatter.[12]
New multiverse
- Main article: Mobile Gideon unit (Earth-Prime)
After the Crisis, Barry was tweaking the mobile Gideon unit, while asking the Time Vault Gideon to update him on everything that changed after Crisis. She calculated all of the changes (numbering 3.725 trillion), causing Chester P. Runk to freak out about the mobile interactive artificial intelligence unit and he tweaked its hypothalamic connection, which caused Barry to freak out.
Chester's change did, eventually, give Grodd the opportunity to piggyback off of the unit and send Barry into his mindscape. In order to save Barry from Grodd's mindscape, Chester synched Gideon's quantum intelligence network with Barry and Grodd's bio-analytics.[13]
When Barry entered the Speed Force with the tachyon prototype, he was wearing the unit and tasked Gideon with monitoring his position.[14]
In the Med-Bay, the Team Flash tend Barry as they try to figure out what is going on with him. Chester uses the mobile Gideon to diagnose his current situation. Gideon clarifies that the particles that were suddenly entered into Barry’s mind is overloading his cerebral cortex which is causing it to overload and shut down and that he is only alive due to his Speed Healing.[15]
When Barry asked Gideon to check the chances of his plan to get Iris out of the Mirrorverse working, she asked him if he had warned the other team members about it and he hung her up.[16]
In the hands of Eobard Thawne
Gideon's history in the new multiverse appears to remain the same, with her informing Eobard of his depleted speed after he was stranded in the year 2000.[17]
Godspeed war
When the Godspeeds invaded S.T.A.R. Labs, Chester P. Runk entered the Time Vault and, upon Gideon's suggestion, had Gideon broadcast a recording of the Godspeeds' signals throughout S.T.A.R. Labs.[18]
After the Godspeed war, Barry checked with Gideon to make sure the timeline was on track despite Nora and Bart's visit to the past.[19]
Armageddon and destruction
After a demolition team went to do inspections on S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry had her disguise the passages that could lead to the inspectors discover the work of Team Flash with holographs. To prevent the data of the internal server to be revealed, Gideon deletes all the information, including herself. Since Barry learned there are no options to save her, he showed sadness over her having to sacrifice herself. Gideon expressed that it was an honor working with Barry before self-destructing.[20]
Restoration
After Damien Darhk helps Barry Allen to undo the alternate timeline that was created by Eobard Thawne;[21] Gideon was restored back into existence.[22]
Nora West-Allen has a version of Gideon on her bracelet similar to what Eobard Thawne had when he arrived in the 21st century.[23]
Personality
Gideon is kind, caring, polite, well-mannered and respectful. Although she generally follows the orders of Eobard Thawne without hesitation. But she is more loyal to Barry Allen than Eobard; due to the fact that Barry is her creator.[1]
Capabilities
Functions
- Knowledge of the timeline: Gideon has a vast knowledge of the timeline. Gideon has also cataloged the changes caused by the Crisis.
- Artificial intelligence: Gideon has the ability to make moves and think herself for making commands and thinking as much as a human.
- Knowledge of the Speed Force: Gideon is capable of measuring the speed of a user of the Speed Force. Being able to see Barry Allen's max speed and Eobard Thawne's speed levels and his traces of the Speed Force.
Appearances
The Flash
Novels
- The Flash: The Tornado Twins (mentioned)
Trivia
- Gideon understands languages other than English, responding to Cisco congratulating Barry in Hebrew on Barry's future marriage to Iris.[1]
- It is assumed that Gideon was inactive in the Time Vault for roughly three years until Harry reactivated her in "Null and Annoyed".
- This is inferred through the fact that Gideon mentioned to Harry (while believing he was Eobard) that 1078 days had passed since they previously spoke, placing that date around the time of the Season 1 episode "The Trap".
- Gideon seems unaware that different Earths' versions of Harrison Wells are not Eobard Thawne.
- This is inferred through the fact that Gideon mentioned to Harry (while believing he was Eobard) that 1078 days had passed since they previously spoke, placing that date around the time of the Season 1 episode "The Trap".
- In "Godspeed", Nora counts the wall frames she counts seven and then skips one and chooses the one after it, showing that Gideon is located in the 9th wall frame on the right side of a hall in S.T.A.R. Labs.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "The Trap"
- ↑ "The Reverse-Flash Returns"
- ↑ "Tricksters"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "What's Past is Prologue"
- ↑ "Pilot"
- ↑ "Power Outage"
- ↑ "The Sound and the Fury"
- ↑ "The Nuclear Man"
- ↑ "Rogue Time"
- ↑ "Null and Annoyed"
- ↑ "Think Fast"
- ↑ "A Flash of the Lightning"
- ↑ "Grodd Friended Me"
- ↑ "Death of the Speed Force"
- ↑ "All's Wells That Ends Wells"
- ↑ "The Speed of Thought"
- ↑ "A New World, Part One"
- ↑ "Enemy At the Gates"
- ↑ "Impulsive Excessive Disorder"
- ↑ "Armageddon, Part 2"
- ↑ "Armageddon, Part 4"
- ↑ "Death Falls"
- ↑ "Into the Still Force"
Other versions of Gideon (time vault) | ||||
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To see other versions of this character, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Gideon. | ||||
New multiverse | ||||
Earth: Time Vault • Waverider • Bishop's Waverider | ||||
Original multiverse | ||||
Earth: Time Vault • Waverider • Wellenreiter artificial intelligence | ||||
Transmultiversal multiverse | ||||
Earth: |