The Flash’s latest episode kicks off Crisis On Infinite Earths earlier than expected

While the Crisis On Infinite Earths event will begin with CW’s Supergirl in December, The Flash is setting the groundwork for it. Continue reading for our recap of A Flash Of Lightning.

In The Flash Season 6, Episode 2, Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) begins contemplating how to circumvent the Multiverse crisis approaching. The Monitor (LaMonica Garrett) informed him that he’d die during the event but Barry refuses to believe him.

Most of the episode follows Barry Allen as he struggles with the reality of his death but he still attempts to stop the destruction awaiting Earth-1. And his first thought is to travel forward in time past the crisis. The problem is that a barrier is in his way.

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When Barry attempts to run through the Speed-Force, he encounters a barrier which starts at the date of the crisis. This barrier has never existed before and Barry doesn’t know what it is. Yet, he still tries to run through it. Unfortunately for him, the wall is made of antimatter.

The moment Barry makes contact with the antimatter, he’s shot out of the Speed-Force and has sustained a pretty serious wound to his leg. The red glowing mark isn’t a normal injury as it leaves Barry in excruciating pain. He doesn’t understand what happened so his next option is to visit Jay Garrick.

On his Earth, Jay explains the particulars of antimatter to Barry and then warns him of what could happen if anymore touched him. Jay’s warning should be heeded but we have a feeling that Earth-1’s Flash will have to run through the antimatter barrier, evidenced by the future glimpsed in “A Flash Of Lightning”.

Following his foolhardy attempt, Barry Allen and Jay Garrick use a specially-designed device that can allow a speedster to send his consciousness into the future. But when Barry takes the trip, he gets more than he bargained for.

What else did Barry see inside of the Speed-Force?

Inside of the temporal space, Barry can see billions of futures and the Multiverse is destroyed in all of them except one—the one Barry he pays the ultimate sacrifice in—the same one that the Monitor believes is destined to happen. And while he may be correct, villains usually neglect to mention crucial information about how to prevent catastrophes from happening.

Assuming that is the case, Barry may be able to prevent the crisis from destroying the Multiverse, without having to sacrifice himself. It’ll require some clever thinking on Team Flash’s part but there’s no reason they can’t think of something. Perhaps Barry can use a time remnant to avoid being erased.

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For those who don’t recall, Barry used a temporal duplicate to stop Zoom in The Flash Season 3. This could come into play seeing as how at least one version of the Flash needs to die. Of course, that doesn’t mean the present-day Barry Allen has to be the one who bites the bullet.

In the comics, Flash disappears during a similar event and it is the true Barry Allen who gives his life. However, the TV adaptation doesn’t have to kill off its main character for the same to happen.

On the other hand, sacrificing himself could be a red herring altogether. Barry has faced death several times before and he’s always figured out how to stop those dark futures from coming to pass, well, at least most of them. Our guess is he will be erased upon touching the antimatter but the Monitor will revive him once everything said and done. That way fans aren’t deprived of a pivotal moment from the comics and the CW show doesn’t lose its main lead.

Do you think the Flash will use a time remnant to avoid dying during the “Crisis On Infinite Earths” event? Let us know in the comments.

The Flash airs Tuesdays on The CW.