The Flash blew some minds last week with its reveal that Nora West-Allen went to the future to confront an older version of Eobard Thawne trapped in a prison. The answers on what's going on between the two will likely come in the back half of Season 5 and may lead to a change in this season's big bad or an even crazier reveal. In anticipation of that, here are some possible reasons Reverse Flash and Nora are working together.
Thawne Revealed He Knows How To Save Barry
Nora thus far seems to be an over-confident hero who makes a lot of mistakes, so it wouldn't be hard to think that she could be manipulated by Thawne. Reverse-Flash may have promised XS he knows of a way that Barry can be saved and has been instructing her to intervene in events that she believes will ultimately ensure Barry is around in the future.
In exchange, Thawne might be asking for freedom, as he appears to be in some sort of prison. For Nora, she's probably thinking this is a low risk high reward as she can just recapture Thawne with her dad once he's back in the future. Of course, she isn't accounting for how much Thawne hates The Flash, and may be oblivious to the fact that her actions may be what's actually sealing her father's fate.
Nora Found Thawne's Journal And Translated It
Perhaps Nora is smart enough to know she shouldn't trust Reverse-Flash, but not smart enough to know she's being set up by the criminal mastermind? After all, Nora almost admitted to Sherloque Wells the idea to interfere in the satellite wasn't her own, plus the whole "time is malleable" concept is something Eobard Thawne seems to fully believe.
In this scenario, XS stumbles upon Reverse Flash's journal, and out of curiosity, decides to see what her father's long-time arch-rival has been writing over the years. She stumbles upon the "malleable time" theory and sees it as an opportunity to bring Barry back. It doesn't really explain why she's now using the journal to report on Barry's movements to Thawne, but perhaps that was required on his end in exchange for the cipher to decode the secret language?
Nora Is A Brainwashed Clone
Nora West-Allen was genetically confirmed to be related to Barry and Iris, but something doesn't add up. Like, why does her knowledge of future Iris seem so twisted and out of character? It's easy to assume the loss of Barry changed Iris in a way that made her overly protective of her daughter, but what if there's another explanation? What if Nora's memories of Iris are incorrect because she never knew her?
It's impossible to know what the future is capable of, but would it be crazy to think Nora is a brainwashed clone created by Thawne using Barry and Iris' DNA? It may explain her strained relationship with Iris and why she's drawn to Thawne despite probably being warned of him several times in her life. This one is a bit of a longshot, of course, but one can never discount wild theories when it comes to the future!
Nora Is A Villain
Remember how Gideon recognized Nora? The computer revealed her to be XS "The fifth recruit of the Legion..." before Barry cut her off. Some had assumed this was a reference to the Legion of Heroes, but isn't is also possible this could've been a tease that Gideon was about to reveal Nora is a part of the Legion of Doom?
Gideon did not refer to Nora as a hero, and the whole reporting on Barry's movements to Thawne doesn't help her status as someone fighting for the good guys. Additionally, if Nora were part of some superhero team, wouldn't we have heard of some of her exploits with them by now? Of course, Nora has been somewhat stymied of discussing the future around her parents too much so that she doesn't affect things, but something is fishy there.
Nora Is Barry's And Iris' Daughter, But From An Alternate Timeline
When Barry traveled to the past and created Flashpoint, his actions caused irreversible changes to the Arrow-verse timeline. Given that time is malleable, is it possible his decisions in the present created a speedster daughter that shouldn't technically exist? Thawne didn't seem to recognize Nora despite him being around in the future, and he even mistook her name as Dawn.
This would appear to mean Nora West-Allen doesn't exist in the future, but may have come to be due to something that happened in The Flash in recent seasons. It's possible Nora's existence occurred during Barry entering the Speed Force, as she appeared not long after at the couple's wedding. In this theory, Nora has realized she's not supposed to exist and is now using Reverse-Flash's journal to record and influence events, and ensure she doesn't get erased.
Nora Is Thawne's Daughter
The Flash has made two references so far that Barry and Iris are supposed to have twins. Suppose that did happen, but one of the twins was thought to have died shortly after delivery? Except it wasn't and the other child of the couple was raised in secret by Thawne to be evil?
It sounds crazy, but this theory is loosely based on the comic book origin of The Flash villain Cobalt Blue. The Arrow-verse has a funny way of referencing iconic characters and events throughout its own storylines, so it wouldn't be too shocking. It would explain why Nora is genetically identical to her parents and why she would have an allegiance to Reverse-Flash, but not why Gideon refers to her as Nora West-Allen and not Nora Thawne.
The Flash is set to return to The CW to start the back half of Season 5 Tuesday, January 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET. For a look at what other shows are set to premiere or return in 2019, be sure to visit and bookmark our midseason premiere guide. For a look at what's still to come in 2018, visit our fall premiere guide.
