Legacy (The Flash)

For other uses of "Legacy", see Legacy.

"I always wanted to be a hero, to use my extraordinary abilities to help people. That's why I came here: to meet my family, stop Cicada, help fix the Flash's legacy, and save him from disappearing in the future. I believed I could do the impossible, but I never imagined it would turn out like this. I'm glad it did. I wouldn't change anything about my time with you, my sweet parents, the most important people to me in the world. I wish I could be there to celebrate every new chapter, to witness every success. Just know... that no matter where I go in my life, you'll always be by my side. Because of you, I know I will never, ever, truly be alone, and I will feel your love and support like a warm hug comforting me, wishing me to be the best person I can be. Thank you for everything... for making me a hero and for loving me even if I wasn't perfect. Please remember that I love you both and I always will, no matter what the future brings."

—Nora West-Allen's message to her parents

"Legacy"
Information
Season 5 » Episode 22
Episode number	114 of 184
Original airdate	May 14, 2019
Written by	Story by: Lauren Certo Teleplay by: Todd Helbing Eric Wallace
Directed by	Gregory Smith
Guest stars
Patrick Sabongui as David Singh Sarah Carter as older Grace Gibbons/Cicada Victoria Park as Kamilla Hwang
Chronology
Preceded by	"The Girl With The Red Lightning"
Followed by	"Into the Void"

"Legacy" is the twenty-second and final episode of the fifth season of The Flash, and the one-hundred-fourteenth episode overall. It aired on May 14, 2019.

Synopsis

Barry faces off with his oldest, and most formidable nemesis, Reverse-Flash.[src]

Trivia

• This marks the last appearance of Jessica Parker Kennedy and Chris Klein as series regulars.
• This is the only season finale in the 2018-19 season of in shared multiverse to not feature Mar Novu/The Monitor.
  • However, like this season's finales of the respective seasons of Arrow, Supergirl and DC's Legends of Tomorrow, this episode still prepared for the Crisis on Infinite Earths; Thawne says to Barry "see you at our next Crisis", referencing Crisis on Infinite Earths as he knows that in the new timeline (created by Team Flash destroying Cicada's dagger), the "Crisis" will now happen in 2019 instead of 2024, as shown at the end of the episode by the date on the newspaper in the Time Vault changing from 2024 to 2019.
  • Despite the threat, Thawne never appeared in that crisis. Instead, he resurfaces afterwards during Nash's struggle with all the Wells doppelgangers inhabiting his body, which Nash refers to as "Crisis of Infinite Wells".
• This is the first-season finale to end with a post ending title scene.
• Barry gives Nora the same speech Jay gave him after he stopped him from trying to fix Flashpoint in "Paradox". This is the second time he tells her this, the first time being "Cause and XS".
• Thawne notes that Ralph should be dead, referencing to the events of the Season 1 episode "Power Outage", where he revealed that Ralph was one of the people who died from the particle accelerator, for which he was until Barry created Flashpoint.
• Nora being erased from existence was alluded in the Season 5 premiere, "Nora", when Barry says that she could possibly "Marty McFly herself out of existence", referring to the protagonist of the 1985 film Back to the Future, who accidentally interferes with his parents' first meeting whilst traveling back in time, nearly erasing himself from existence.
  • The way Nora disintegrates when being erased from existence is similar to how Eobard Thawne disintegrated when he was killed by Black Flash in the DC's Legends of Tomorrow episode "Aruba".
• Eobard mentions the time he murdered Cisco in an erased timeline, referring to the season 1 episode "Out of Time".
  • He even mentions that Nora was like a daughter, in a similar way that he spoke about Cisco in that episode being like a son to him, saying that she taught him what it was like to have a daughter.
• Cisco mentions the thought of playing Gaga to wake Ralph up which refers to when he and Caitlin played the Lady Gaga song "Poker Face" to wake Barry up in "Pilot".
  • That method of waking people up was also shown in "The Flash Reborn" and "Godspeed", also as a reference to "Pilot".
• At the end of the episode, Ralph opens a case file marked with the name Dearbon. This is a reference to his wife in the comics, Sue Dibny, whose maiden name was Dearbon.
• Thawne mentions that " this is the second time that I've been stuck somewhere for 15 years", a reference to Season 1 when he was stuck in the 21st century from 2000 to 2015.
• Eobard splits himself in two, a reference to what Godspeed does in the comics as his signature move saying "God has the ability to be in all places at the same time", but in doing so his aspects become much weaker which is why Thawne pulls himself back.
• Future Grace's hideout is located in the woods where Orlin tried to kill Cisco in "The Death of Vibe".
• After Cicada's dagger disappears in 2049, and Eobard escapes from containment at Iron Heights, a silhouette of his suit, made up of the dagger's outline and his yellow prison jump suit can be seen.
• The way Thawne guessed that Nora and Barry are present before turning around after escaping is very similar to the way he did in "What's Past is Prologue" when he sensed Barry and Nora's presence.
• When Thawne finished killing the guards, his hair reverted to black. This is caused by his disguise as Harrison Wells who had black hair. During his imprisonments, his power of disguise faded and his hair became brown like his original appearance. With the powers fully restored when he escaped, his disguise were fully working again.
• This marks the third time that Barry has lost a loved one; his daughter. The first was his mother who was killed by Thawne fourteen years prior to the "Pilot" and the second was his father, who was killed by Zoom in "Invincible".
  • Furthermore, in what is now an erased timeline, Barry also lost Iris after she'd been murdered by Savitar.
  • In all of these instances, an evil speedster had been directly responsible for the death of a person Barry loves.
• Team Flash's actions of destroying Cicada's dagger not only brought the Crisis earlier, but also Oliver Queen's presumed death.
  • In "You Have Saved This City", Mar Novu resurfaced to collect on the bargain Oliver made to save Barry and Kara in "Elseworlds, Part 3" which has been revealed by Novu that Oliver dies during the Crisis.
• Eobard Thawne getting Nora to help Team Flash to destroy Cicada's dagger may be an example of a time loop. He says that Nora and Barry helped him escape prison. He then explains that when they traveled to the Time Vault (when they went back in time in "What's Past is Prologue" and made him fix the damaged Speed Force transmitter vial), he asked what it's for. Barry said that it's to drain dark matter. Eobard then wanted to know whose dark matter they're trying to drain; Barry argued that it isn't Thawne's business, but Nora then blurted out that they're trying to stop Cicada. Thawne then remembered this years later when he ended up in prison with the dagger strapped to his chest, dampening his powers. He goes on to explain that he then knew that he had to get Nora to trust him so that a different Cicada would be created; one they could stop (since Team Flash never managed to defeat Cicada in the original timeline), which is the reason Thawne sent Nora back in time in the first place; to ensure that the dagger would be destroyed, making it possible for him to escape his confinement to avoid execution.
• In a deleted scene, Nora mentions the Flash Museum's chapter on Zoom, saying that it was called The Race of His Life. This was the title of the Season 2 finale; and season 2 of the series is when those events took place.

Goofs

• Because Barry destroyed Cicada's dagger in 2019, this should mean that it's never used to dampen Eobard's powers while he's in prison. This means, when he ends up getting put in Iron Heights on death row in the new timeline (in which the dagger had been destroyed in 2019), the prison staff should just take different measures to dampen his powers while he sits on death row, allowing him to be executed without any problems.

Gallery

Videos

The Flash Legacy Promo The CW

The Flash Legacy Scene The CW