Spoilers The Flash - Season 2

[The Old Mixer]

In theory, no, but I think a lot of viewers would be confused if they didn't.

Wouldn't really need to be an issue if the other shows just didn't go out of their way to reference anything going on in The Flash's setting. Ultimately, these are all separate shows whose storylines need to stand on their own...and it's not likely to be a big deal to the majority of more casual viewers, just to the likes of us.

Then it's not about fixing the universe and saving everybody else, it's just about Barry getting himself back his home timeline.

Which still works...ultimately, it's about Barry's journey, and he's the main character of his show. Thinking further on potential complications in the storyline...Barry's not likely to just instantly come to the conclusion that he has to let his parents die to fix everything...he's liable to make at least one attempt to come up with a third timeline where everything's perfect, and of course it would just make things worse.

Also, if they wanted to pull some time travel illogic from LoT, they could say that the timeline that Barry altered still exists, but if Barry doesn't fix things soon enough from his own perspective, whatever new timeline he's caused will "settle".

 

[Christopher]

Wouldn't really need to be an issue if the other shows just didn't go out of their way to reference anything going on in The Flash's setting.

That's assuming the changes wouldn't affect anything beyond Central City, in which case it's not really Flashpoint, is it? The idea is that saving Nora somehow leads to such a terrible future for the rest of the world that Barry needs to sacrifice her for the sake of everyone else.

Which still works...ultimately, it's about Barry's journey, and he's the main character of his show.

He's also a superhero, which means that his goals should be about the well-being of others, rather than merely his own comfort. Part of the reason Voyager was never as good a Star Trek series as the others was because its heroes' quest was ultimately a selfish one. The other crews put themselves at risk for the sake of others, whether to gain valuable understanding of the universe or to defend against dangers. Voyager's crew just wanted to return to the familiar and the comfortable. It was a more petty quest because it was self-directed. It was less heroic. And the Flash is supposed to be a hero. Putting his selfish interests first is what created this mess. Getting out of it should require something more selfless.

Also, if they wanted to pull some time travel illogic from LoT, they could say that the timeline that Barry altered still exists, but if Barry doesn't fix things soon enough from his own perspective, whatever new timeline he's caused will "settle".

I suppose. But it would still be clumsy.

Frankly, I don't want them to spend too much time on this story. Flashpoint is really a pretty run-of-the-mill time-travel plot: Hero tries to fix history, it goes horribly wrong, hero has to put it back. Most shows do that whole plot in 45 minutes. The only reason DC was able to stretch it out to a whole miniseries is because they used it as an excuse to explore a whole dystopian-alternate DC Universe (and then reboot to yet another alternate DCU when Barry "fixed" things). So unless this storyline shows us the screwed-up alternate versions of Star City and Team Arrow and the Atom and the Hawks and Vixen and so forth, there's not really enough story to justify much more than a 2-parter.

 

[The Old Mixer]

That's assuming the changes wouldn't affect anything beyond Central City, in which case it's not really Flashpoint, is it?

I already covered this point a couple posts ago.

So unless this storyline shows us the screwed-up alternate versions of Star City and Team Arrow and the Atom and the Hawks and Vixen and so forth, there's not really enough story to justify much more than a 2-parter.

And they can touch upon all of that strictly within the confines of The Flash. From a storytelling standpoint, it's no different than having Barry mucking around on an alternate Earth. The audience will get that these are different versions of the characters than we're seeing on their own shows.

If you don't want them to spend much time in this storyline, that's fair enough...but there's no reason that they can't if they want to, and I think that it would be anticlimactic to resolve it in a couple of episodes and sweep it under the rug. This is liable to play out for the first half-season in some form or another, though the entire story doesn't have to be confined to one alternate timeline.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm with Christopher in that I don't think the fallout from Barry's decision lasts more than a few episodes at most, because it's highly unlikely that the writers of Arrow and Legends are going to be willing to let the structure of their storytelling be dictated by what's happening somewhere else on Earth-1 for very long, mainly because it's impractical and would also be confusing for people who may only watch one specific series.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm suggesting the exact opposite...Arrow and LoT would ignore the ultimately temporary change to the timeline and go on with their own storylines.

 

[Christopher]

And they can touch upon all of that strictly within the confines of The Flash. From a storytelling standpoint, it's no different than having Barry mucking around on an alternate Earth.

No, it's hugely, fundamentally different -- because if there's no need to restore the timeline, then there's no need for Barry to undo his choice to save his mother's life. The whole crux of the Flashpoint story, the plotline this show has been setting up since literally its very first scene, is that Barry has to let his mother die to save the timeline. So if the original timeline isn't in need of restoration, if it's still puttering blithely along on Wednesday and Thursday nights and it's simply a matter of Barry getting home, then there are no stakes and no need for Barry to let his mother die. And it's a completely different story from Flashpoint.

If you don't want them to spend much time in this storyline, that's fair enough...but there's no reason that they can't if they want to, and I think that it would be anticlimactic to resolve it in a couple of episodes and sweep it under the rug. This is liable to play out for the first half-season in some form or another, though the entire story doesn't have to be confined to one alternate timeline.

Well, of course -- that's a given with the way modern TV shows are written. I'm absolutely not saying they'd "sweep it under the rug," so I have no idea how you could possibly have thought I was. I'm saying the timeline would be restored pretty quickly, though of course the character ramifications, and probably the plot ramifications, would resonate through the season. Like how season 2's plotline was an aftereffect of the wormhole Barry opened at the end of season 1. That was resolved fairly quickly, but its consequences were felt for a whole season.

 

[The Old Mixer]

No, it's hugely, fundamentally different -- because if there's no need to restore the timeline, then there's no need for Barry to undo his choice to save his mother's life.

And that I covered three posts ago.

 

[Morpheus 02]

With the TV version of Flashpoint, I think it will be something where we will see some changes in the Arrow vs. The arrow and legends of tomorrow but just as quick guest spots in The Flash TV show. I think we will also see in that December Mega mix crossover comma where are all these things will be touched on and then resolved.

also as far as audiences are concerned, I think that there are a couple different audiences. The first audience is exclusively for that show. That audience will obviously not know the difference that Flashpoint is making in the other shows. II audience are hardcore DC people who know at least some of the background of Flashpoint and can wrap their minds around having the separate series. the last set would be those who would be confused. I think this set is relatively small, or even if not, they would not be talking about this on social media and giving this a bad rap because of perceived confusion.

I think this Flashpoint story will indeed last until the December Mega crossover. With Jay Garrick returning as well as Tom Cavanagh, I am sure we will also get a bit of Earth 2/3 mixed in there as well. I'm wondering too if that Crossover with Supergirl last season will come into play this time. The device that Barry had he might have used it a second time and that is where we'll see the other end of that Supergirl crossover from March.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I'm suggesting the exact opposite...Arrow and LoT would ignore the ultimately temporary change to the timeline and go on with their own storylines.

And Barry can always make a portal to go visit them if need be...sorry, that never gets old with me.

It makes some sense to me what you're saying to keep it within the Flash series. Really, the changes only matter as they pertain to Barry. Would anyone else even be aware that anything happened? Any changes to Star City or the like can be shown on The Flash there's no need for viewers of Arrow to have to adjust. Is there any need to see changes to Arrow from the perspective of the Arrow characters? And it's not like the status quo won't be reinstated at the end, no?

Or maybe Barry is the big bad that LoT has to defeat this season to restore the timeline? That would be something...

 

[Guy Gardener]

Barry will have to eventually go back again to make sure that his mommy does die, to unflashpoint the Berlanti-verse.

If he's killed Thawne (which he probably hasn't.) then Barry might have to go back in a yellow Reverse Flash Suit to either manipulate his other selves into thinking that Nora dies at Thawnes hands, or actually stab Nora dead himself.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

The Flash will do an altered repeat of S1 only without Barry having his powers and Arrow will show a rerun of season 3 and saving a hell of a lot if production money!

 

[The Old Mixer]

And it's not like the status quo won't be reinstated at the end, no?

Exactly.

Or maybe Barry is the big bad that LoT has to defeat this season to restore the timeline? That would be something...

If it's a more extended storyline, I definitely see potential for the LoT crew to get involved...they're riding around outside the timeline, so they may not personally be affected, but could come back to a world that is. Helping Barry to finally fix things, if they do get out of hand in a long-term way, could be the basis of the December crossover event that everyone's anticipating.

 

[DigificWriter]

I already pointed this out, but basing the crossover around this Flashpoint scenario means that there's no reason to have the characters from Supergirl involved because Barry saving his mom will have no effect on them.

 

[Photoman15]

What's to stop them from combining E-1 and E-SG? Maybe when Barry tries to go back to E-SG, something happens and the two merge (visual like the effect when the Enterprise -C comes thru the rift and the Enterprise-D bridge changes). Memories would be altered, but the LoT group may remember and maybe Barry and some of his people (Vibe, et al). But all of a sudden, they know of Supergirl and Superman and vice-versa. That may be the only difference in E-1 and E-SG, the superheroes and villains in each. Just a idea.
Crisis on 2 Earths!

 

[Nerys Myk]

What's to stop them from combining E-1 and E-SG? Maybe when Barry tries to go back to E-SG, something happens and the two merge (visual like the effect when the Enterprise -C comes thru the rift and the Enterprise-D bridge changes). Memories would be altered, but the LoT group may remember and maybe Barry and some of his people (Vibe, et al). But all of a sudden, they know of Supergirl and Superman and vice-versa. That may be the only difference in E-1 and E-SG, the superheroes and villains in each. Just a idea.
Crisis on 2 Earths!

Four.

 

[Awesome Possum]

The altered timeline could result in Supergirl being a part of the CW DC universe instead of a separate element.

 

[Nerys Myk]

DCW, dammit!!

 

[Mr. Adventure]

What's to stop them from combining E-1 and E-SG? Maybe when Barry tries to go back to E-SG, something happens and the two merge (visual like the effect when the Enterprise -C comes thru the rift and the Enterprise-D bridge changes). Memories would be altered, but the LoT group may remember and maybe Barry and some of his people (Vibe, et al). But all of a sudden, they know of Supergirl and Superman and vice-versa. That may be the only difference in E-1 and E-SG, the superheroes and villains in each. Just a idea.
Crisis on 2 Earths!

Oh no, you've just set yourself up for a scathing rebuttal...

 

[Morpheus 02]

DCW, dammit!!

Why didn't we think of that before?

And don't forget the DCFU (though with Snyder out and Geoff Johns stepping up, that might change)

Oh no, you've just set yourself up for a scathing rebuttal...

Well at least from Christopher and DigiFicWriter. Photoman15 has at least one supporter

(And Crisis on 2 Earths this year, and add another earth every year,)

 

[Awesome Possum]

Didn't season one mention that the current universe was really an alternate timeline since Reverse Flash had speed up the timeline giving Barry his powers early in order to get home quicker? I assume that Nora lived originally and Barry became the Flash in his 30s since it has been mentioned that he was always meant to be the Flash.