Warning: spoilers ahead for The Flash episode of the DC TV crossover, called "Invasion!"
The superhero event of the season has officially kicked off on The CW with the latest episode of The Flash, where the evil alien race known as the Dominators landed a ship full of baddies down in Central City, prompting Barry Allen to gather his super friends and prepare for battle. The best of the best from Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl dropped by The Flash for a team-up so filled with superpowers, skills, and spandex that one episode definitely wasn't enough.
Luckily, we still have two more hours of crossover action ahead of us with Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, but we're first going to need to wrap our heads around all of the most mind-bending reveals that emerged from The Flash's big crossover. Let's break them all down.
Martin Stein Has A Daughter
Legends of Tomorrow fans have been watching Martin Stein struggling with the fact that he seems to be gaining new memories from a timeline that he and the Legends inadvertently changed. He has been seeing images and feeling love for a girl he had no knowledge of, and the big question has been of her identity. Now, we know. Due to changes to his personal timeline, Martin Stein and his wife had a daughter, Lily (Christina Brucato), who apparently lives in Central City and loves her parents very much. Oops?
Oliver Truly Respects Barry
The bromance between Oliver and Barry has had its ups and downs. Sure, Oliver once gave Barry a mannequin for storing his suit in Star City, but he also shot Barry in the back with arrows to teach him a lesson. Although the Emerald Archer was still pretty surly to everyone in "Invasion," he did show that he truly respects his speedster buddy. He gave Barry a whole speech about how meddling with the timeline to create Flashpoint was a totally understandable thing to do, confiding in the speedster the story of Robert Queen, and he even let Barry be in charge for a minute or two without interfering. If that's not love from Oliver Queen, I don't know what is.
The Government Knew About The Dominators
As it turns out, the arrival of the Dominators didn't come as a total surprise to everybody on Earth. The Dominators actually first dropped by the planet back in the 1950s to experiment on humans, and various government agencies have been expecting their return ever since. The feds didn't even want ARGUS involved in the Dominators' arrival, but Lyla luckily took matters into her own hands and reached out to Team Flash. Now that the president has seemingly been assassinated, our heroes may need to lead the charge in battling the Dominators for the sake of all humankind.
Barry Is Faster Than Kara
A big question that many of us have been asking ever since Supergirl hit the airwaves last year has been of whether or not the Girl of Steel is faster than the Scarlet Speedster. They kinda sorta raced when Barry popped over to Earth-38 during Supergirl Season 1, but it wasn't until Kara turned temporarily evil in "Invasion!" that we saw them really chasing each other, and we have our answer. The Flash is officially faster than Supergirl. But we probably shouldn't expect Barry to ever bring that up in an egotistical sort of manner to her. But she did try to kill him...
H.R. Will Help Wally Become Kid Flash
Wally West finally finally got his Flashpoint superspeed powers thanks to Doctor Alchemy, but Team Flash hasn't been too enthusiastic about him gearing up as Kid Flash. Without any allies from his family or his friends, Wally turned to H.R. to ask for help training to become a superhero. And though the other-dimensional genius-of-sorts initially denied the young metahuman any counsel, H.R. later changed his mind after watching Wally nearly get himself killed trying to help the other heroes in "Invasion." Whether his assistance will help or harm Wally's path to true heroism is anyone's guess, but there's one guess that's safer than Wally will probably be.
Why Arrow's Crossover Episode Is So Crazy
This year's big Arrow crossover also happens to be the series' milestone 100th episode, and a lot of key players from seasons past signed on to appear. Given that a lot of those key players died horrible deaths, Arrow fans have been wondering just how they could be back in the middle of a crossover that is all about fighting aliens. "Invasion!" revealed that the Dominators have mind control powers over humans, and the cliffhanger featured key members of Team Arrow being transported out of Central City and into outer space, where Oliver, Thea, Diggle, Sara and Ray will evidently spend most of the Arrow episode in a bizarro world created by their own minds.
West-Allen's Future Is In Jeopardy
Barry brought Oliver in the S.T.A.R. Labs Time Vault for their bromantic interlude, and Oliver finally saw the future-newspaper headline about the Flash vanishing in the middle of a crisis. The newspaper has popped up in all three seasons of The Flash so far, and there have been small changes each time that Barry meddled with time. The writer of the article was previously Iris West-Allen. In "Invasion," Iris' name is nowhere to be found on the newspaper. The future of the iconic comic book romance West-Allen is now uncertain, since Flashpoint is evidently the gift that just keeps on giving.
Future Barry's Full Warning To Rip Hunter
Early in Legends of Tomorrow Season 2, Martin and Jax discovered a voice-message warning from future Barry Allen to Rip Hunter, referencing an impending war. That message finally became widespread knowledge in "Invasion!," and everyone learned Future Barry sent the message to Rip to warn that no one to be trusted after Flashpoint changed so many people's lives. The entire crew of superheroes heard the message in "Invasion," and so Barry was benched for the big showdown against the Dominators. Of course, his benching (and Oliver's refusal to go into battle without him) actually saved the day after the rest of the good guys were mind controlled, so it wasn't all a bummer for Barry. But how will Barry's new knowledge move the story forward?
Tune in to The CW on November 30 at 8 p.m. ET to see the Arrow chapter of the big crossover, and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest small screen superhero news. You can catch The Flash on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
