The Man in the Mask Revealed in Our The Flash Season 2 Finale Recap!

Henry Allen is dead: to begin with. There is no doubt about that. Barry weeps over his father’s body and is goaded by Zoom into becoming “more like him.” The pair enter one of their infamous “run around after each other” matches with Zoom creating a Time Remnant version of himself, which Barry beats the snot out of until Jay kills it and departs. Days later, they bury Henry Allen and Barry promises on his grave to take from Zoom what he took from him. At the West house that night, Wally thanks Barry not only for what he’s done for him, but the entire city. With the team assembled, they need to come up with a plan. A few points come up, like how Zoom used a Time Remnant, why Cisco is vibing destrcution on Earth-2, but Barry has to get some air before they have anything concrete. Iris joins him outside and he confides that he finally got over not saving his mother while in the Speed Force, but now he doesn’t think he can. On cue, Zoom appears and challenges Barry to a race.

Even Team Flash can’t believe Zoom just wants to race, but he’s got other plans: a stolen Magnetar from Mercury Labs that can be weaponized and when fully powered, destroy the Multiverse. Just accept it. Barry says he’s going to do it, but when he goes to leave, Joe follows him and asks him not to do it. Joe knows he wants to kill him, especially with the state he’s in. Then, in a rather surprising move, Joe and Wells tranq Barry and put him in the pipeline. The entire team took a vote and decided this was the best way to proceed, though Joe has doubts. Their plan to take down Zoom is thus: Caitlin will distract him, Joe will hit him with the boot (depowering him), Cisco will open a breach to Earth-2, and they’ll push him through; then Wells will destroy the Magnetar. As they prep, Jesse asks her dad what they’re going to do next, because she wants to go back to Earth-2. She knows how he cares for everyone here though, and says he can stay if he wants.

The team sets up the plan, and it starts with Caitlin. She lures Zoom out of working on his machine with promises of “I’m sorry” and “I want to be bad.” He doesn’t buy it though and tries to kill her. Good thing Team Flash repurposed that hologram tech and used it here. Joe still fires off the boot and latches it onto Zoom’s neck. Cisco opens the breach, but Joe’s gun jams and he can’t get him shot through. Joe thinks in the moment and runs forward, tranquilizing the villain, but as Wells sends him once more into the breach, Zoom grabs Joe and brings him too. Cisco tries to vibe Earth-2 later to find them, but he can’t get a lock since they’re still moving. They call Wally to the lab and tell him what happened. He’s pretty mad, but once he learns they locked up Barry too, he’s furious.

In Zoom’s lair, Joe is strung up and he asks who the man in the mask is. Zoom tells him he’s another speedster he found on one of the other Earths he discovered, but when he tried to take his speed it didn’t work. So instead he borrowed his name, Jay Garrick. Back on Earth-1, Wally lets Barry out of the pipeline and they confront the team. They all still agree Barry isn’t ready to handle this and if he’s only out for revenge he will lose to Zoom. They’re running out of time though. Cisco vibes Barry onto Earth-2 where he agrees to race with Zoom, but only if he brings Joe back with him.

Team Flash is ready at the Industrial plant for the race. When Zoom arrives (with Joe in tow) they tell him they know he’s planning to destroy the Multiverse. Twirling his mustache, Zoom tells them not exactly. His real plan, since Earth-1 is the center of the entire multiverse, he can send out a shock wave and destroy all of the other Earths, leaving himself with Earth-1 as his home. Barry and Zoom prepare for the race, the rules being if the machine powers up before Barry can stop him, he wins, but if he tries to save Joe at any point, he’ll kill everyone.

The pair begin the race, running in circles and charging the machine. Barry thinks back, however, and creates a Time Remnant of his own who continues racing Zoom, while he saves Joe. Zoom exits the machine since Barry “broke the rules,” to fight/kill him. The Time Remnant runs around the machine, sacrificing himself for the Multiverse as he runs in circles and destroys it. Barry gets the upperhand on Zoom and has him where he wants him. There was more to Barry’s plan than just creating a Time Remnant, his going back in time just a few seconds brought out the Time Wraiths, who descend on Zoom and pull him into their dimension (The Speed Force? Some in-between time place?)

As Barry explains Time Remnants to Wally, Cisco and Dr. Wells work to get the mask off the man from Zoom’s lair (how he got into STAR Labs is a mystery) and he reveals himself as Jay Garrick, but he sure does look a lot like Barry’s father (see photos below!). Barry leaves in a fit and recalls his father saying his mother’s maiden name was Garrick, but he still doesn’t know how to handle this. Jay puts on his version of The Flash suit (where’d he get that?) but reveals the helmet wasn’t part of his suit, since Zoom added that hoping to inspire hope. He decides to take something from Zoom this time and adds it to his wardrobe. The hero then asks for a ride back home to his home, Earth-3*. Cisco says they can get him to Earth-2, and Dr. Wells says he can help him from there. That’s right, he’s going back home with Jesse. The team all say their goodbyes and Wells, Jesse, and Jay leave for Earth-2.

That night, the team is hanging out at the West house, but Barry goes outside to cool off again. Dude’s been through a lot. Iris joins him, again, and Barry says he can’t stop thinking about his dad’s doppelganger. He’s lost so much over the past few weeks he can’t help but feel terrible. Iris, picking the worst time of all, says maybe if they were a couple he could feel whole again. Barry politely declines, but only because he has something he needs to do. Iris tells him she’ll be waiting for him when he gets back, and that she loves him. They kiss, and Barry tells her he loves her too. She goes back inside and Barry stares at his friends, and says to himself “I have to do this.” Barry runs, and opens a wormhole to the past and travels… to the night his mother was murdered. He sees his future self run out with his younger self, and enters the house right on cue to stop the Reverse-Flash from murdering his mother. He looks up and sees the version of himself from Season 1 that went in the past (and decided not to save her) and then he disappears Back to the Future style. Barry leans down and comforts his mother, telling her she’s safe.

So season three of The Flash will seemingly be inspired by the events of “Flashpoint” if that ending was any indicator. The gist of that event is Barry went back in time and stopped his mother from dying, but to disastrous effects in the rest of the DCU. Some notable examples being: Captain Cold is the hero of Central City, the Justice League doesn’t exist, Wonder Woman’s Amazonians and Aquaman’s Atlanteans are engaged in a worldwide war, Bruce Wayne died in the alley and not his parents inspiring his father to become Batman (and his mother The Joker), and Superman was found by the military and kept in an underground base for years; among others. What will change in the series? Who knows, but the multiverse is their oyster.

*In the DC source material, Earth-3 is the home of counterparts to the primary characters that are their opposites. So the Justice League is The Crime Syndicate and all its members are evil, and Lex Luthor, The Joker and other villains are heroes. So is this version of Jay Garrick actually good or is he pretending to be good and is actually the evil version of The Flash from Earth-3, Johnny Quick? I doubt it, because that would annoy people, but specifically calling out “Earth-3” is something that carries a specific meaning to comic readers.