Timeline Remnant

Okay, timeline remnants do exist in the DC Comics universe. It’s as convoluted as Flash made Eobard Thawne’s return sound, but they do exist. I’ll try to give a short-short break down of how they worked in the DCU.

During Zero Hour: A Crisis in Time, Jay Garrick aged rapidly by a chronal energy attack. He and the rest of the Justice Society of America aged to or near death. When the DCU was wiped out during Zero Hour, the heroes found a means to turn back the clock, recreate the Big Bang, and fix most of what happened. Lives and timelines were repaired. The only people who stayed dead were those who died outside of the flow of the time stream.

DC didn’t call these individuals timeline remnants, but the concept was the same. These folks were displaced from time’s flow and not subject to the self-correcting forces that occurred after Zero Hour. This also explains how Rip Hunter and Booster Gold can operate from Vanishing Point, a place outside time and space.

Vibe’s Sunglasses

Wells modified Cisco’s shades in this week’s episode and that affords him the ability to use his vibe powers at will. We knew this was coming but it was nice to see.

9:52 PM

The time Team Flash needed to beat in order to save Tina McGee was another 52. The CW shows can’t help but make as many references to 52.

Vibrating through walls

Barry used this power for the second time this week. The first time Barry vibrated through a wall was when he vibrated through a truck to rid himself of a wristwatch bomb.

Big Belly Burger

Here we go with another reference to Big Belly Burger. Apparently, they exist on every Earth. Me thinks we’ll see another Big Belly Burger.

Cosmic Treadmill

Cisco caught a glimpse at a treadmill while vibing this week. That could be the Cosmic Treadmill.

No one of consequence

Leave to Cisco to give us a pop-culture reference. Here he quotes The Princess Bride. The Reverse-Flash asks Cisco, “Who are you?” To which Cisco responds, “No one of consequence.”

Hunter Zolomon

Earth-1’s Jay Garrick calls himself Hunter Zolomon. This was a huge revelation.

There’s more than one character who called himself Reverse-Flash or Professor Zoom. The first, Eobard Thawne, is a time-traveling supervillain who drew his powers from the speed force. He had comparable speed and powers to Barry Allen but used his abilities for evil. He sounds familiar doesn’t he?

The second Reverse-Flash/Zoom was named Hunter Zolomon. He’s the Reverse-Flash who worked as an aide and friend of The Flash. He didn’t have super speed. He manipulated the pockets of time around him—sounds like The Turtle but in reverse—and it looked like he moved at super speed.

Zolomon gained his powers after Gorilla Grodd injured him, leaving the future-speedster paralyzed. Zolomon wanted the then-Flash Wally West to travel back in time (by using the Cosmic Treadmill) to prevent the injury from happening, but Wally turned down Zolomon. When Zolomon tried the treadmill himself, the resulting explosion granted him his powers. He wanted to make Wally a better hero by teaching him personal loss and so Zolomon targeted Barry’s loved ones.

I wonder why Zolomon was introduced on an episode entitled “The Reverse-Flash Returns.”

Did you miss our Flash “The Reverse-Flash Returns” review? Here’s a link. Thanks for reading.