The Flash: Barry Allen Finally Figured Out How to FIx the Timeline - CBR - Comic Book Resources

Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #762 by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Steve Wands, and Hi-Fi Designs, on sale now.

Having the ability to go back in time and alter history, if done to change things for the better, sounds like a good idea. This would allow someone to go back and stop a war, stop terrorists before they strike, or prevent a house fire before the match was lit. But as Barry Allen proved in Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert's Flashpoint, changing the past can have a deadly ripple effect worse than the original event.

In The Flash #762, Barry takes down his lifelong nemesis Reverse-Flash and changes the past with no immediate downside. While it appears as though Barry was able to wipe his adversary from existence without damaging the timeline, he may have set a dangerous new precedent moving forward.

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The Flash and Reverse-Flash engage in their final fight in The Flash #762. After Thawne tells Barry that one of his new powers is the ability to whisper "at a hypnotic frequency," Barry realizes that Thawne has been responsible not just for murdering his mother, but for creating enemies like Godspeed and driving a wedge between himself and the rest of the Flash family. In a final move, Barry vibrates at the right frequency and infects Thawne with a little of his Speed Force energy, grounding Thawne back in reality and erasing his life as Reverse-Flash. Now, Thawne has no memory of ever being Reverse-Flash and many of the actions he influenced have been reversed.

For example, the tombstone of August Heart fades away suggesting that the man who became Godspeed has been returned to life. It looks as though the Flash has finally successfully altered the past with no negative consequences. This is a good thing insofar as things that weren't meant to be have been reversed, but this could set a bad precedent wherein Barry thinks he can do this again with similar positive effects.

In 2011, while grieving over the death of his mother at Thawne's hands, Barry went back in time to prevent the tragedy from ever happening. This single action created the Flashpoint event, wherein Barry caused serious damage to the timeline. Barry wakes up in the Flashpoint timeline to discover that even though his mother, Nora, is alive, several heroes no longer exist, including his own alter ego.

The Reverse-Flash tells Barry he's responsible and that he didn't run to an alternate reality, but that Barry actually changed the timeline itself. The Flash eventually fixes the timeline, but in the process removes ten years of history from every DC character's memory.

This is why Barry's success in The Flash #762 could be dangerous. By positively altering and fixing the things that Thawne caused, Barry may try to alter the past again if he deems it necessary. Granted, his goal was to take down Thawne and not change the past, but his success showed him that it can be done. It doesn't appear Barry learned his lesson from Flashpoint. Those who successfully change the past are prone to try to change it again.

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Scott Shoyer (71 Articles Published)

Scott Shoyer is an avid comic book collector & reader, a writer, and a podcaster in the Austin, TX area. A former chef in high-end restaurants and food salesperson, Scott is now doing what he truly loves: writing. He has four novels and four short stories published so far. When not writing, you can hear Scott on the Kirby's Kids podcast.