Fast Enough (123)

[Wyrminarrd]

I'd prefer the black hole just being a bi-product of the Flash crashing into the hydrogen molecule and that they simply didn't shut down the wormhole in time.

[Peterking72]

Maybe time travel paradoxes are solved in this shows universe by having events that take place before the paradox still having happened, even if the future events that caused them to happen won't happen. This goes against my personal view of how time travel should logically work if it was possible (which it very probably isn't) but it would allow things to work out right for the show.

The logic would then simply be that events in the present can't alter the past, only time travelling to the past so that it becomes the new present can it be changed.

That doesn't explain how Eddie Thawne was able to alter the timeline. Because Reverse Flash/Eobard was from the future, so technically for him it was his past that got changed causing him never to be born in the first place. Another paradox is that even though he was erased, memories of him still intact in everyone's mind.

I have another theory to how the show can handle this. It still has flaws though and maybe some paradoxes I overlooked, but here it goes:

So we have a timeline. It has a beginning and an end, yet immeasurably long. The beginning and the end are connected forming a perfect circle. The multiverse is a sphere consisting of these circles that form it's surface. The inner space of the sphere is filled with pathways (wormholes) connecting every reality with every another reality. They are present as microscopic singularities in the space time continuum of each reality. They are intertwined.

I think that's why Barry was able to peek into different realities when he traveled back in time. It is also worth noticing that his journey to the past was much longer (and needed outside help) than the one in Out of time. Also when Barry traveled back one day he re-lived the past day again staying in that timeline. When he traveled to the past to try to save his mom, he came back. When Harrison Wells traveled back he stuck here unable to go back. Maybe there is significance in this. So if someone stays behind, he/she continues to alter the past simply by being there. Wonder what would happen when the time from which he jumped back would came in that alternate timeline. ( Let's say Barry goes back, saves mom, stays there, watches himself grow up, become the Flash, but that other him never has to go back because his mom is alive) So if that happens he would remembers things that others never experienced because it never happened in their timelines and could give them viable intel in case if he chooses to reveal himself to them, which I doubt he would. By Barry coming back he still knows what he knows, so does others and it's the same timeline. It's still a changed one simply because he traveled back and saw himself. That event also changed other realities and his future which the future Barry came back from.
I also wonder now that Eobard was erased, would future Barry still go back or remember him. If it is the same timeline he would remember but doesn't have to go back. If it's another timeline/reality he would still have to go back.

Also they never explained if Eobard was erased from their timeline in which he went back and lived trough/changed or also from his original (unchanged) future timeline which future Barry went back to stop him. If he was erased from both, then tat means that Barry's mother should be alive and the future/present should reset. But Barry's mother is still dead so there must be still an Eobard in one or both timelines which is a paradox. The showrunners said that the real Harrison Wells will be featured in some form. That feeds in to the paradox as well, because how can he be alive when Barry's mom is dead. Somehow that just doesn't feel right. They better be ready for a convincing/believable explanation if they bring him back.

Also him coming back would be causing some wacky situations:

Take 1: Action!
-Wells: Someone already built S.T.A.R. labs and used my name to it? What the hell is going on here? How I am not remembering all this?
-Barry: Dr. Wells, we need to talk. You better sit down.
-Caitlin: Do you want a cup of (iiiceeeeee!!!!!!!!!) tea?
....

Take 2: Action!

Wells: Hi guys, I'm back!
Barry: You killed my mom! (mistaking him for Eobard). Supersonic punch!!!
Dr.Wells: What the F...! ---Splash---
Cisco: Why did you do that Barry? He was the original (good) Dr. Wells.
Barry: My bad, sorry guys! Have to go! --woosh--
Cisco(to Caitlin): You do the cleaning up.
Caitlin: -Freezes Cisco into an ice cube.-

[Peterking72]

@Britta: I totally agree on that point where they going to explain away everything with speedforce shenanigans.

Also them making Barry try to stop a wormhole by running very fast in the another direction (A WORMHOLE for F*'s sake) makes me believe that the showrunners think we are complete morons and just about ready to believe anything.

Season 2:
Me sitting home watching episode 1: Narration summing up what happened in the cliffhanger: Blablablablabla..SPEEDFORCE..blablablabla.. Barry... Blablablalbla..shenanigans...DERPDERPDERP!

[Spimman]

Was anyone else annoyed that it didn't actually show Barry\Flash reverse the singularity? We know he is going to stop it and save the world from being torn apart so why not show it? This wasn't a cliffhanger, it was an episode that cut off half a minute early

With the exception of the very end I really liked this episode and this initial season. I'm glad to see Cisco coming into his role as a metahuman and hope they continue to build on the foundation for next season!

[garhkal]

I too hope they build on Sisco being a meta, and what he can do.

[Wyrminarrd]

That doesn't explain how Eddie Thawne was able to alter the timeline. Because Reverse Flash/Eobard was from the future, so technically for him it was his past that got changed causing him never to be born in the first place. Another paradox is that even though he was erased, memories of him still intact in everyone's mind.

-

It actually does since the theory is all about how the past can't be changed by events in the present but the universe still edits out all impossibilities from the point in time they happen (in other words the present).

In this case the paradox actually happens when Eddie dies. The universe realizes that Eobard can't exist since he will never be born but since it can't edit itself backward it only fixes things from when the paradox event happened. This causes Eobard to cease to exist after Eddies death but everything that Eobard did in the shows past still happened and all the characters memories of him stay intact. This would then be the universes inbuilt defense against paradoxes since any time traveler who goes back in time to kill his grandfather will not be erased until after the grandfather dies.

Its an ugly way to explain what appears to be happening on the show but since it solves everything without actually creating any paradoxes I'm going to go with this explanation until the show says otherwise (which it almost certainly will ) Its not a perfectly logical answer but it still makes a kind of sense.

Btw, wasn't Barry trying to close a black hole at the end of the episode and not a wormhole? As for why they didn't just show him stopping it I´m guessing that there will be consequences involved with stopping it, something like Barry getting stuck in the wrong time or alternate timeline.

[Spimman]

Btw, wasn't Barry trying to close a black hole at the end of the episode and not a wormhole? As for why they didn't just show him stopping it I´m guessing that there will be consequences involved with stopping it, something like Barry getting stuck in the wrong time or alternate timeline.

If we assume this to be true, wouldn't that have been a better cliff-hanger? Him stopping it and then coming back to see a few things have drastically changed?

Ending it with him running in wasn't well thought out.

[garhkal]

Perhaps they are thinking if he runs fast enough, he can close it before it gets too big. BUT that imo has many issues.. How will he survive the gravity?

[P-90_177]

If we assume this to be true, wouldn't that have been a better cliff-hanger? Him stopping it and then coming back to see a few things have drastically changed?

Ending it with him running in wasn't well thought out.

Fairly sure it was a move of desperation in the face of a potentially world destroying black hole.

[Mrja84]

I really hope season two gives us a brand new history to all the characters and does not take it away.

Finally, we have Barry admit that growing up with Iris as brother and sister didn't help him feel comfortable pursuing her. That I could get behind, if only they started the season with a conversation like that!

Jay Garrick! Killer Frost! Previously filmed scenes from Legends of Tomorrow!

Filming for LoT doesn't start until August (google it), so it is likely that they will use some of the scenes from the trailer for the show ala The Flash reusing footage from Arrow's Flash centric episode. Which leads to me wondering, why they felt they needed to do that unless they already filmed the pilot, but full production starts later.