The Flash is no stranger to killing off major characters and, after six seasons, it’s even come to be expected. Some characters have been resurrected in the form of a doppelgänger from another earth or a loophole that allowed for their return somehow thanks to “Crisis on Infinite Earths” or Barry Allen time traveling to the past and changing the timeline.
However, in most cases, the deaths on the show are fairly permanent. On average, The Flash has killed off at least one character per season. While it’s usually a villain who dies, no one is really safe (even if it’s only a temporary death like Cisco’s was in Season 1). Looking back on the last six seasons, here is every major character death that has happened on The Flash so far, ranked from the first to the most current.
Nora Allen (Season 1)
The death of Barry’s mom was essentially what kicked off his story in The Flash Season 1. She was killed off by Barry’s forever nemesis Reverse-Flash, stabbed in the chest after the villain time-traveled to the past (and got stuck there). Michelle Harrison’s Nora Allen was the first major character to die on the show and has since become the one whose death has been revisited the most since the pilot. What’s more, the speed force itself has appeared to Grant Gustin’s Barry several times wearing the visage of his mother. And so, when the speed force died in Season 6, it was like watching Nora die all over again. Talk about brutal.
Eddie Thawne (Season 1)
Rick Cosnett’s Eddie Thawne was a series regular during The Flash’s first season, but it seemed like he was always destined to die. In the show’s early days, Eddie was nothing more than a temporary roadblock standing in the way of Barry and Candice Patton’s Iris from getting together. However, after it was revealed that he was Eobard Thawne’s ancestor, Eddie sacrifices himself in the hopes that he would stop Eobard’s nefarious plans by erasing him from existence entirely. The plan succeeded and Eddie died saving Team Flash and Central City.
Eobard Thawne/Reverse-Flash (Season 1)
Ah yes, Eobard Thawne. The villain known as Reverse-Flash has been a thorn in Barry’s side from the very beginning of the show. At first, he masqueraded as the real Harrison Wells before his true identity was later revealed. The character has been played by both Tom Cavanagh and Matt Letscher to great effect throughout the series, but this is one character who never seems to die completely. Remember those loopholes I was talking about earlier?
In Season 2, Eobard does return and his reappearance is explained by way of a time remnant, created by Reverse-Flash extracting another version of himself from the timeline to preserve his survival. The villain has appeared several times throughout the seasons, but Eddie's death at the end of Season 1 did effectively kill off OG Eobard no matter how many times he shows back up to wreak havoc on Barry's life. Time travel, am I right? Perhaps he'll meet a more permanent end in The Flash Season 7, but only time will tell.
Ronnie Raymond (Season 1)
Caitlin spent most of The Flash Season 1 believing that her fiancé Ronnie had died in the particle accelerator explosion. However, Robbie Amell's Ronnie Raymond was able to merge with Martin Stein to become the superhero Firestorm. But, in the aftermath of Reverse-Flash's defeat, Ronnie and Stein flew into a wormhole to stop a singularity from obliterating Central City. In the Season 2 premiere, flashbacks detail what happened on that fateful day and that, while Stein survived the singularity and its subsequent explosion, Ronnie did not. Amell later returned in Season 2's "Welcome to Earth-2," playing his original character's evil doppelgänger. However, his return was short-lived and he was killed off by the villain Zoom.
Henry Allen (Season 2)
It wasn't enough that The Flash killed off Barry's mom, but the show had to off his dad as well. This death is tragic because, after wrongfully being convicted for the murder of his wife, Henry was finally out of prison and back in Barry's life. However, things were going a bit too well and Zoom had to ensure that the scarlet speedster paid the ultimate price. And so, during a dinner party at the West house, Zoom shows up to kidnap Henry, taking him to Barry’s childhood home.
While there, Zoom taunts Barry for a bit while holding his father hostage. Henry tells Barry that everything will be ok and that he loves him right before Zoom vibrates his hand through Henry's chest. It was a tragic twist that honestly didn't need to happen. Luckily, John Wesley Shipp was able to return to the show in Season 3, playing the real Jay Garrick/The Flash of Earth-3.
Francine West (Season 2)
The Flash Season 2 introduced Wally West as Iris' long lost brother. However, before Wally's arrival, Joe revealed to Iris that he had lied to her about her mother Francine being dead for most of her life. In fact, she was alive and living in the neighboring city. Iris became angry with her mother for leaving her behind only to raise another child and keep him a secret. Unfortunately, Francine had only returned because she was sick and needed Joe and Iris to take Wally in.
Vanessa Williams’ Francine died midway through Season 2 from MacGregor's Syndrome. What’s more, there wasn’t all that much closure for Iris or Wally (who didn't share any scenes with his own mom). I'm still bitter that the show didn't do right by her or her storyline and played into stereotypes by having Francine be a drug addict. Sadly, she's never reappeared on the show since her death.
Hunter Zolomon/Zoom (Season 2)
Teddy Sears’ Hunter initially joined the team under the guise of Jay Garrick, but he was eventually revealed to be Zoom, the vicious speedster from Earth-2 who had broken Barry's back and wanted to drain his speed. In the Season 2 finale, Zoom challenged Barry to a race so as to use their combined speed (amplified by a machine from Mercury Labs) that would destroy the multiverse’s other earths. Barry employs the use of time remnants to best Zoom. However, instead of exacting revenge, Barry leaves Zoom’s fate in the hands of the time wraiths, who whisk Zoom away, never to be seen again.
HR Wells (Season 3)
Tom Cavanagh has played so many versions of Harrison Wells at this point, but HR Wells stands apart from the rest because he sacrificed himself to save Iris in The Flash Season 3. After Iris is kidnapped by Savitar, HR Wells uses his face-changing device to take her place at the last minute. And so, when Savitar goes to kill Iris, it’s HR Wells posing as the intrepid reporter that he stabs instead. The death is so believable that even I (and Barry) thought that Iris had died there for a second.
Savitar (Season 3)
Savitar was one of the most gruesome villains on The Flash, so it was shocking when it was later revealed that the villain was none other than Barry himself. Or, rather a time remnant of Barry created to stop a future version of Savitar who lived and then became Savitar himself. If you have a headache right about now, that’s because the entire explanation for why any future version of Barry (corrupted or not) would want to kill Iris just to piss off present Barry makes no sense. Anyway, after causing so much mayhem and tragedy, the team battles Savitar, but it’s Iris who deals the final blow, shooting him in the back and erasing him from existence.
Clifford DeVoe/The Thinker (Season 4)
The Flash’s fourth season introduced Clifford DeVoe (Neil Sandilands), who became known as the Thinker. DeVoe’s plans were to devolve human intelligence to the beginning of evolutionary times and start from scratch, powering his own mind to teach the world in what he called the enlightenment. Of course, plans like that never end well. Barry and Ralph entered DeVoe’s mind to find what remained of his good side. While that weakened him, it was his wife Marlize (Kim Engelbrecht) who ultimately pulled the plug on the chair that was hooked to his mind, ending his life.
Nora West-Allen (Season 5)
Jessica Parker Kennedy’s Nora West-Allen joined The Flash in Season 4, appearing first as a mystery waitress at Barry and Iris’ wedding. She interacted with the characters at several points throughout the season before being revealed as Barry and Iris’ future daughter at the end of the Season 4 finale. Nora’s plans in Season 5 boiled down to defeating the villain Cicada and saving her dad from dying in 2024 (an event that was later moved up in “Crisis on Infinite Earths”).
After destroying Cicada’s dagger and setting off a chain of events that rewrote the timeline, Nora chose to take responsibility for her actions and opted to disappear from existence rather than tap into the negative speed force. Naturally, as Barry and Iris’ future daughter, there’s hope that we’ll see her again at some point down the line.
Cynthia Reynolds/Gypsy (Season 6)
Portrayed by All Rise actress Jessica Camacho, Cynthia was first introduced in Season 3 of The Flash and she and Carlos Valdes’ Cisco had fantastic chemistry. They began a long-distance relationship (she lived on Earth-19) shortly after and things were good for a while. However, at the end of Season 4, Cynthia and Cisco decided to call it quits. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to such a fantastic character. But, in a surprising twist, the villain Echo killed Cynthia in The Flash Season 6 after she attempted to bring him in for his crimes. It was unfortunate that Cynthia had to die at all, much less offscreen.
Harry Wells and Jesse Quick (Season 6)
Harry and Jesse were introduced in Season 2 of The Flash and had quite a long run on the show. The last we saw of both characters was in Season 4, but considering Harry’s proclivity to show up at any given point, it was expected that we hadn’t seen the last of my favorite version of Wells.
However, following the events of “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” the multiverse collapsed and was reborn into Earth-Prime, with a dash of other earths sprinkled here and there. With the reshaping of the multiverse, Harry and Jesse are presumed dead and didn’t make it out when the earths merged. We know that Stargirl exists on an entirely new version of Earth-2, but it’s unlikely that the show will interact with the rest of the Arrowverse anytime soon and that means Jesse and Harry are truly gone for good.
The Flash will return for Season 7 in January 2021 on The CW. The cast and crew is expected to begin filming the season soon. In the meantime, be sure to check out our 2020 fall TV premiere guide for more viewing options.
