[Woman speaking Russian]
[Rumbling]
[Speaking Russian]
[Metal grinding]
[Alarm beeping]
[Woman screaming]
[Alarm beeping]
Air traffic control's reporting a helicopter in distress.
Why is it every time I come to visit all hell is breaking loose?
[Metal grinding]
Oh, no. It's gonna hit the new seaver building.
It's okay. Barry's on it.
[Barry] What am I on?
[Alarm continues beeping]
[Stutters]
[Crackling]
[Screaming]
Always have to make an entrance, don't you, kid flash?
What can I say? It's great to be back.
[Crackling]
[Cecile] A lotus flower.
- Okay, that is seriously beautiful. - [Cecile sighs]
Yeah, I'm definitely gonna need you to teach me how to do that.
The lotus is one of the eight auspicious symbols,
meaning purity and renunciation.
A practice which I'm currently being guided through by bhikkhuni amala,
the Buddhist nun assigned to my peace corps camp.
Wow, "purity and renunciation."
Guess that means more wine for me.
[Laughing]
Just being here, celebrating with family, new friends...
- That is all the joy I need. - Look at you getting your zen on.
[Mirror clinking]
It's working.
Who is that?
That's my brother, Wally. He looks so happy. [Laughs]
[Groans softly]
I wish I was there.
[Grunts]
[Panting]
I'm sorry. I couldn't hold the window any longer.
It's okay.
It was so good to see them, even if it was just for a second.
You miss your family.
Yeah, well, I've been trapped in here for weeks...
[Sighs]
And losing my sense of time like I'm in some sort of dream.
All the while, my family is out there with that... that thing that isn't me.
I hope they don't forget about you as quickly as my Joseph forgot about me.
He used to come to my mirror every day
and try to figure out a way to get me out.
Does he know that you're still in here?
I don't know.
Barry calls me his lightning rod.
He used to say that he could find me anywhere in the universe.
Seems like there's nothing he wouldn't do for you.
I haven't seen my husband in years.
I haven't touched him in 72 months.
312 weeks.
[Chanting softly] 2,190 days.
2,190 days.
[Chanting softly] 2,190 days.
2,190 days.
- Eva, listen to me. Breathe. - [Breath trembling]
[Continues chanting] 2190...
- Hey, Iris, everything okay? - Um, yeah.
Greetings, earth-prime-lings!
- [Kamilla] Babe, you're home early. - [Laughing]
- Well, you look... - I know, right?
- Wow, hey, bud. - Hey.
[Cisco groans]
- [Caitlin] You're finally back. - I am.
Well, after a while,
all the post-crisis anomaly hunting starts to catch up with you.
That, and I wanted to wash
all the atlantean fish smell off of these clothes.
Mmm-mmm.
Hugs from here. [Laughs]
You guys shouldn't have.
[Cisco chuckles]
- Shame. - Well, it's good to see you, friend.
Wally west? What?
Where have you been? Welcome home...
"Welcome home." I see. I'm crashing your party.
You know we're always happy to have you back, crocodile dundee.
Come on. Let me make you a drink.
- Oh, you know me too well. - [Iris west] Mmm.
[Snoring]
Okay, babe, I think we should probably get you home.
Mmm, yeah. Yeah, you're right.
[Groans] It's like 4:00 in the morning in Atlantis,
so, yeah, should probably go to bed.
Yeah, we should get home and relieve the babysitter.
- Hon, I got to go back to the office. - What?
I can't get any work done since Nash moved in across the hall.
I can give you a ride. I'm working the late shift at the citizen.
Perfect.
- [Caitlin] Good night, guys. - Good night.
Bye-bye.
Uh-uh, uh-uh.
- We got this. - Okay. Won't argue with that.
- [Sighs] You ready? Let's do it. - Hmm.
- [Crackling] - [Cutlery clanking]
[Cutlery clattering]
- [Barry grunts] - [Wally] Whoa.
- [Barry exhales forcefully] - What was that?
[Stammering] Nothing. Um, it was a...
Just a hiccup. A small hiccup.
A "hiccup."
- [Barry clears throat] - Is that the first one?
[Diggle] Barry.
[Crackling]
Are you all right, man?
No. I mean, I've had a few little things...
[Groans] It's still sore.
My speed healing was weird for a little bit.
But, I mean, it's fine now.
It was just my body still recovering from crisis. [Chuckles]
- Barry. - Yeah?
I didn't just come back to see famin.
Lately I've been sensing that there's something wrong with the speed force.
[Mimicking Yoda]
A disturbance in the speed force you feel?
[Normal] That's a terrible Yoda.
Bhikkhuni amala helped me discover a way to communicate with the speed force,
to seek guidance
by projecting my consciousness into it while leaving my body behind.
Damn. I've never been able to do that. Just usually comes to me.
As your mother, right? Yeah, I remember from the lightning storm.
For me, it's different.
It's more of a voice inside my head, guiding me.
But a few months ago, that voice just went quiet.
Now, every time I try to reach out, shence.
When was the last time the speed force came to you?
Uh, [sighs] I mean, it's been a while.
But, um, listen. [Stammering] I don't think there's
anything wrong with the speed force.
You know, I mean, if there was, it would let me know, you know?
Besides, I'm sure there's a simple explanation for all this.
Trust me.
One oat milk vibeaccino, extra hot,
with two sugars and three short sprinkles of cinnamon, to go.
[Clicks tongue]
[In Russian accent] I said three sugars and two sprinkles of cinnamon.
[Speaking Russian]
Alexi?
[Woman in English] I thought you'd go down easy
in that fancy helicopter of yours.
I guess now...
[Speaking Russian]
- Fnda? - [In English] Hello, Maria.
[Speaking Russian]
[Gasps]
[Bones cracking, ersh snapping]
Maria!
[Screams]
Maria volkova, Russian socialite.
One minute she's here, sipping java, and the next minute she's a mummy?
This is the same woman I saved from the helicopter.
But she was young, she was full of life.
Well, based on her signal joint t-cell receptors,
she was 110 years old when she died.
Damn.
So, the helicopter accident, that wasn't random? Someone targeted her?
Not just any someone. You see the kinetic energy levels on the body?
- [Wally] Yeah. They're almost zero. - [Beeping]
Like someone removed it all.
Therefore slowing down the victim.
Which is how Maria was aged so many years.
I mean, in real time, it would have been like a second passed,
but for her, it was almost a century.
Why does this feel so familiar? Wasn't there someone who could like...
- If you're thinking it's turtle... - Yeah.
It's not.
This meta doesn't just slow down time.
She can create potential energy force fields around individual victims,
aging them centuries in the blink of an eye.
This wasn't turtle. This was turtle 2.0.
Sorry. I was just waiting for you to come up with a better name.
No, it's "turtle 2.0." Less is more.
Well, what matters is her real name. Mrs. Frida novikov.
We busted her for running an international drug ring
out of her apartment.
- We deported her back to Russia. - Well, apparently she didn't stay put.
Everywhere I went on my trip, I heard stories about novikov.
I came home early to check out her old haunts
and maybe find a clue about what she's up to.
[Scoffs] I just didn't expect she'd come back home, too.
Well, we better figure out why she's back before she ages anybody else.
- Yeah, I'm gonna go pull her file. - Okay.
Thanks. I'll see if I can work up a way to take the wind out of her sails.
Forgood.
[Computer calculating]
The prodigal hacker returns.
Regale me with the adventures of the great globe-trotting ciscolorian.
[Laughs sarcastically]
I'll tell you all about it later.
Right now, I'm trying to stop a meta who can slow down time
by reworking the velocity x formula
to speed her up and neutralize her kinetic energy meta power.
So, I'm gonna focus on that.
Knock, knock, doc. I just need your... I need to know...
If on your trip,
you saw anyone else from any other earths.
- Other people? - [Nash] That's right.
- From other earths? - That's right.
Uh, okay. Not really,
because any doppelgangers who managed to make it here,
they would all be dead by now due to neurological degeneration.
What if they were already dead?
- You got to be kidding me. - What?
The great myth-buster suddenly believes in ghosts.
[Laughing]
No, I'm not talking ghosts. I'm talking survivors.
Oh, "survivors."
- [Nash] Yeah. - Sure. Spooky.
Look, survivors, ghosts, whatever you want to call them, it's not possible.
Crisis made sure of that, remember?
You wouldn't have been able to see anything like that.
All right, fine. We”, then you missed something out there.
- I missed something? - You missed something because...
Do you know how many hours, how much time and energy I spent
cataloguing everything I saw out there?
I need your help finding an answer that makes sense.
Okay, so draw up your little velocity f...
And help me track something that really matters.
I'm trying to find a criminal I've been after for weeks. That matters.
To you. Well, I guess on all your travels,
you finally learned to focus on someone else besides yourself. Not.
[Object clatters]
- Nash? Need something? - Nope.
[Wally] Barry's acting like nothing is wrong.
[Sighs] I shouldn't get frustrated. Amala says pride is the enemy of peace.
You know, I don't think Barry will ever have
the same relationship with the speed force that you do.
- Not after what happened. - What do you mean?
Well, I don't know the full story,
but last fall, Barry and the speed force had an incident.
He did not tell me that.
Maybe he's trying to work up the nerve.
Maybe. But if that disturbance you're sensing is real,
do you really have time to waste here?
[Shutter clicks]
Okay, you two are seriously the best-looking siblings in the world.
The abhidharma teaches us to avoid self-infatuation.
But I may need you to fonnard me a copy of that one.
[Laughs]
- See you later. - [Kamilla] Bye.
Pretty cool camera, right?
I asked Cisco to pick it up from quimby labs in Germany,
but he definitely made some modifications.
You need to delete that photo right now.
We shouldn't be taking photos of citizen employees.
I mean, if that got online,
another of black hole's assassins like hoshi could track our moves.
Right. Sorry.
Hey, did you talk to Joe? He was gonna pull novikov's file.
What happened between you and the speed force, Barry?
[Sighs] Wally, I...
- I'm working a case, all right? I... - [Wally] If something bad happened,
that might be what's causing all these problems with our powers.
[Stammering] You don't know what you're talking about.
I believe that you can solve this, Barry, if you face the speed force.
- I can't. - Why not?
- It doesn't want to talk to me. - How do you know that?
Because an enemy infected my mind with nightmares and visions.
- [Crackling] - [Both grunting]
When it... When it tried to help me, I attacked it.
So, if you think the speed force wants to hear from me...
- Barry... - [Stammers]...Then you don't understand
- what the speed force wants. - Barry.
We're already here.
[Thunderclaps]
We're in the speed force. You took me in here?
Something is wrong.
We need to find it.
- [Crackling] - What the hell is that?
Wally.
This is my old room.
[Groans]
[Barry] What's... what's going on?
What's happening to the speed force?
We are dying, Barry Allen.
That's not... how... How is that possible?
Because of what you did.
[Breathing raggedly]
[Thunderclaps continue]
No. No, Wally, we have to go back. I have to talk to her.
- I have to talk to her. - Barry, what did you do?
[Wally] The speed force, it's dying. This is why our powers are broken.
This is what we have been sensing this whole time.
[Stammering] Look, it's not possible.
All right, I mean, the speed force is an infinite source of energy.
It's like gravity or light. It doesn't just die.
No, it didn't just die, Barry.
She said it's dying because of what you did.
[Sighs]
Barry, this is your fault.
Ramsey was infecting me. I didn't have a choice.
I'm not even talking about what you did to her.
I'm talking about what you did after.
You betrayed the speed force months ago. And you didn't say nothing then.
You didn't say nothing when you came back from crisis, either,
and you started noticing something was wrong with your powers.
You could have told me, Barry. We might have gone into the speed force.
We might have saved it before it was too late.
- [Stammering] I didn't... - But instead, you blew me off.
Again and again.
Wally, I didn't... I didn't know anyone else was affected.
- Oh. - All right? I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
Barry, you don't get it. We are all connected.
When I used to talk with the speed force,
sometimes it would show me visions of different futures.
Different possibilities of how things could go.
[Sighs] There was always one common thread.
There was always a speedster that would pick up our mantles.
Like a chain of lightning, stretching through centuries.
I saw my kids...
Running with their kids.
I saw Nora.
But now that chain of lightning...
It ends with us.
Okay, Wally, [stammering] It's not too late, though, all right?
I mean, we still have our speed. We can go back in there.
- I can save her. - No. You saw it, Barry.
The speed force is beyond repair.
And if you think that I'm gonna bring you back in
after everything that you have done...
Wally.
- You need to find another teacher. - Wally. We... we...
[Sighs]
[Grunts]
[Laughs]
[Electricity buzzing]
[Sighs]
[Low rumbling]
[Gasps]
The tachyon enhancer's ready.
I can't project my consciousness into the speed force,
so I need you to monitor my position while I enter it physically.
[Gideon] Certainly, Barry Allen.
[Sighs]
Okay, start the protocol.
[Crackling]
[Thunderclaps]
Ah, my beautiful boy.
- You came back. - Of course I did.
You said the speed force is dying.
I see this lightning everywhere. I can fix it, though.
You just tell me what to do and I'll do it.
- It's too late. - [Barry] I won't accept that.
I caused this. I... I have to save you.
You didn't hurt me.
[Stammering] I attacked you. Do you remember?
Barry. Barry, that's not why I'm dying.
A few months ago, a substance entered the speed force.
Something that we'd never encountered before.
We tried to contain it, but it contaminated us.
It upset the balance of our energies.
- The green and white lightning. - It is infernal power...
Beyond the laws of our nature.
[Thunderclaps continue]
You said you're in tune with the multi-verse.
Does that include the speed force?
You could give me the energy boost I need.
During crisis, I made the spectre give me his energy
so I could enter the speed force again.
I am responsible.
I did this.
I killed the speed force.
[Continues breathing raggedly]
I didn't know. I didn't know. I never would have... I'm sorry.
- I didn't know. - Barry Allen, we forgive you.
You did the right thing. You saved our universe.
You never could have foreseen what that caused.
[Groaning]
You only have a few steps left before we're gone from you entirely.
But I know you will use them well.
The lightning chose you.
And it was the best decision that we... I ever made.
You showed us the greatest force of all.
[Sobbing]
I love you.
I love you...
My beautiful...
My beautiful boy.
[Gasps, exhales]
[Whispering] Mom?
Mom. Don't go, mom.
The speed force is dead? I don't even know what to say.
- Do you still have your powers? - From what I can figure out,
[exhales] We still have a residual amount
of speed force inside us.
But the more we use up, the less we have left, until...
Until it's gone forever?
Oh, my god, son. I didn't...
I can't even imagine what you're going through.
- And Barry. - Dad, this is his fault.
He could've come to me months ago. We might have fixed things.
But instead, he had to do what he always does,
and assume he's the only one that could handle it.
But, Wally, did you even need to tell him like that?
I mean, we both know that Barry will beat himself up all by himself.
He will.
[Exhales forcefully]
I guess that wasn't very zen of me at all, was it?
Wally, sit down. Please.
[Sighs]
Do you remember what you were like when we first met? 'Cause I do.
You were petulant, stubborn. Every little thing pissed you off.
You didn't want a father, or a sister or a brother.
But look at the man that you are now,
the sensitive, intelligent, compassionate man
that you have become.
And it's not because of some mystical energy source out there.
It's because you did the work.
Now your responsibility is to continue to do the work to be that man.
Do you understand me, son?
- [Exhales] - [Joe] Yeah?
Captain, we've got the other informant waiting in custody.
Thank you.
[Sighs] This is the Frida novikov case.
She got deported because two of our informants
were part of her smuggling ring.
One of them being your friend from the helicopter accident, Maria volkova.
That's why novikov targeted Maria. She's out for revenge.
Well, the other informant I'm gonna put in WITSEC soon.
I will find you later, okay?
Hey. Whatever you're going through with the speed force and your powers,
Barry is going through the same thing. Remember that.
- I love you. - I love you.
[Exhales]
[Cisco] Not right now, cait. I'm busy with the mobile Barry unit.
Let me get this straight.
You were trying to bioengineer a formula to stop a meta-human,
and rather than call your friend, who's a bioengineer,
- you went with Bluetooth? - Yeah.
I'm trying to stop turtle 2.0 here.
Yeah, I know. It's all you've been doing.
You don't have any time for me.
You totally blew off Nash when he asked for your help.
I mean, you might as well still be on your trip.
Yeah, well, maybe my trip didn't turn out exactly as planned.
[Laughs] What are you talking about?
You got to raid Egyptian tombs and explore Atlantis.
I thought after all those adventures, I would come back different.
Like Wally, or like you and frost. But I went around the world and I...
And I feel like I'm back where I started.
Cisco, I know you feel responsible, but we're gonna stop turtle 2.0.
I promise. We're team flash. It's what we do.
But in the meantime, I wonder if maybe you don't have
some other responsibilities that you'd like to address.
Ones that are a little closer to home.
[Sighs]
Yeah. You're right. You're right.
[Sighs]
While I'm doing that,
maybe my friend, the bioengineer, would like to take over.
Absolutely.
[Wally] I've been looking for you, man.
[Barry sighs wearily]
I thought maybe you'd be home.
[Sniffles]
[Sighs heavily] I'm not ready to tell Iris.
I'm not ready to tell anyone.
I found out what really happened to the speed force.
[Sighs]
It died because of what I did in crisis.
I took the spectre's energy so I could enter the speed force.
His energy started a meltdown, and now it's gone, Wally.
For good. Because of what I did.
You were trying to save the universe.
Any hero would have made that call.
I would've made that call.
[Barry sighs]
Amala told me a story once about a mother who lost her only son.
She was so heartbroken, she asked the Buddha to bring him back to life.
He said he would...
But he had one request.
A mustard seed, from a family that had never lost a loved one.
So, she went from neighbor to neighbor asking for seeds,
and when she would ask, "has anyone in your family lost someone?"
The answer was always yes.
The Buddha was trying to have her understand
that as much as she suffered, she wasn't alone.
[Sighs]
When I found out the speed force was dying...
I forgot how much you were suffering, too.
And I'm sorry. I am.
I did this. I deserve your anger.
So do something with it.
We can't punish ourselves for the mistakes we've made.
That's a closed door.
But we can take responsibility for our actions.
No matter how great the obstacle to overcome.
Amala teach you that, too?
No. You did.
- [Comm beeps] - [Caitlin] Guys, we've got a problem.
Facial recjust picked up Frida novikov outside c.C.P.D.
[Alarm beeping]
You really think one criminal is worth all this backup?
If this file is right, I don't think novikov is gonna give up,
and I'm not putting another informant into WITSEC unless we're prepared.
[Gasps]
Pomedlenneye, captain. Slow down.
Where is Olga zhuravlev? I know she's here. Bring her to me.
So you can turn her into a pile of bones?
I'm just taking from her what she stole from me. Time.
Now, you have five minutes to bring her to me, or you all will die.
She has Joe.
Cisco was working on a way to stop novikov.
So where is he?
[Nash] Come in.
I wanted to apologize for being a jerk.
But I want to make it right.
So, what do you say we do some multi-versal ghost-busting?
Uh, crisis. A gift that keeps on giving, huh?
[Cisco chuckles]
You're not Nash.
[Bones crack]
Hello, Cisco.
[Grunting]
- Thawne? - That's right. Now, where were we?
[Gasps]
Goodbye.
[Breathing heavily]
[Both grunt]
You're in Nash's body. No powers.
[Both grunting]
[Cries out]
I don't need my powers to kill you.
[Gasping]
- [Taser crackling] - [Screaming]
Nash?
[Panting]
But he's so full of hatred.
That's not Nash.
The new velocity x is ready to use on novikov.
I just have to put it into an injector gun.
- [Barry] Okay. - But we can't run it there.
If we do, we use up speed, and we have no idea how much we have left.
Yes, we can. We just have to use it responsibly.
[Computer calculating]
Okay, the fastest route to c.C.P.D. Is in a straight line. We can run it.
We just have to phase as we go.
It's ready.
- You with me? - Always.
[Crackling]
Time's up, captain. [Laughs]
Novikov, stop. You don't have to do this.
I know I don't have to. I want to.
[Both grunt]
[Grunts]
[Crackling]
[Grunting]
[Gasps]
Zip off again and I'll age him 1,000 years.
Listen to me. Listen.
We can't do anything to make up for the time that you lost.
But if you take responsibility for the time that you have left,
you won't lose any more. I promise.
Please. Let us help you.
I don't want your help.
We know. Thanks for the tip, flash.
[Screaming]
[Grunts]
[Handcuffs click]
Let's see how you handle our version of time.
[Barry panting]
[Barry] I held her in my arms.
I watched her die all over again.
The speed force is dead because of me.
Because of my choices. I just wanted to save everyone.
- Save you. - And you did.
Barry, none of this is your fault.
Now I won't be able to save anyone.
[Barry sighs]
What am I supposed to do without my speed?
Maybe this is for the best.
What?
Everything happens for a reason, right?
Maybe you weren't supposed to be the flash forever.
I mean, don't you think
that after everything the speed force has put you through,
all the pain, all the heartache, all the death...
Don't you think you deserve a real life?
Barry, all the world's problems on your shoulders,
that shouldn't have been your burden to bear.
- You're serious? - [Iris west] I am.
This could be our chance to have a normal life.
To start a family.
You deserve to be happy just like everyone else.
- Don't you want that? - [Comm beeps]
[Cisco] Barry, we need you in the pipeline right now.
There's something you need to see.
[Cisco] Somehow he's taken over Nash's body.
- Hi, flash. - Thawne.
- What do you want? - What do I always want?
To kill you.
And I'm done being patient.
I can't wait to slit your throat.
When I do... when I get out...
Believe me.
I will get out.
I'm going to kill you.
And then I'm going to kill your family.
And then I'm going to kill your friends.
I'm going to kill all your friends.
Starting with your new pal, Nash.
Whatever you've done to him, we're gonna stop you.
[Eobard scoffs]
But isn't it true...
That in a few short weeks, you're going to be powerless to stop me?
Right? Because your speed force is dead.
I can feel it.
That's what you get, Barry, for trusting such a puny, pathetic force.
That's why I built my own. And I'm coming.
I'm coming for you.
We're done here.
[Eobard] Tick-tock.
[Chimes, shutter unlocks]
[Shutter locks]
Hey.
What did he mean, the speed force is dead?
[Barry sighs]
[Joe] Hey.
You sure you want to go already?
If I'm gonna get to the next peace corps project in time, I got to get going.
Well, it'll be a whole lot faster if you just got a flight.
I know, but I need to walk.
I need to have an open mind,
be ready to embrace new ways of helping others without my powers.
Hmm, I'm so sorry about that, son. I obviously didn't want...
Your trip home to end like that.
It's okay, dad.
Even if things don't unfold the way you expect it,
don't be disheartened or give up.
The one who continues to advance will win in the end.
[Laughing]
[Joe groans]
You sound more like a parent than I do now.
Oh, you know, it's a zen thing.
[Both chuckle]
- I love you, dad. - I love you, too. Too damn much.
- You be careful, okay? - Mmm-hmm. Yes, sir.
Dad, keep an eye on Iris for me, will you?
Hmm.
There's something different about her.
Just make sure she's okay.
Yeah. Yeah, of course.
- Bye-bye. - Bye.
The spectre energy, hmm.
Okay. Yeah, well, that's just energy we don't understand yet.
That's something we can figure out, right?
Absolutely. We can run some tests, figure out how to track it.
Thanks, guys, but I... I want your help with something else.
I've been thinking about what Thawne said.
You mean, how he's gonna kill us all? Yeah, me, too.
How he built his own power source. The negative speed force.
If he can make one, then...
So can w6.
I need your help to build an artificial speed force.
That's how I can get my speed back.
[Camera beeps]
Thought I deleted this.
- Iris? - Yeah, I'm not Iris.
[Gasps]
- Sorry you had to find out this way. - Wait. No.
[Sighs]