So Savitar is Barry Allen! Hands up if you were surprised. I don’t think too many people were surprised. There was a bit of a curveball in Episode 19 when we saw Killer Frost show tremendous willingness to help Savitar after seeing who he was under the armour; leading many to believe it was somehow Ronnie Raymond or even a version of Caitlin Snow herself…wild ideas, but never really plausible. But! The past is the past, which is rare with The Flash, but it is and so we don’t need to revise it again because we now know that Savitar is Barry Allen. What I love about this reveal is that although it was expected it generates so many questions that fans were ready to ask upon the grand reveal. Questions like:
When is Savitar created?
Which version of Barry Allen is he?
How key is Flashpoint to the finale of the movie?
What motivates Barry “Savitar” Allen to kill Iris West?
What motivates Barry “Savitar” Allen to befriend Caitlin “Killer Frost” Snow?
How does Savitar become so powerful?
What role does the Philosopher’s stone provide?
How does the Flash stop Savitar?
The first of these is most important and I think leads to the explanation of the rest of them. So, when is Savitar created??? When? When? When? Well, let’s narrow it down by looking at the evidence. Firstly, Savitar tells Flash (through Draco, I mean Julian Albert) “you are there when I am created”. This suggests to us two things, firstly that his creation has not happened yet in the current timeline, which would seem to rule out the time remnant Barry Allen from the end of Season Two and the defeat of Zoom sequence, which is reinforced by Savitar’s knowledge of Flashpoint and the events currently taking place…sad for fans of this theory, I’m sorry. It also suggests that the Flash and Savitar are two separate people (or two separate but present Barry Allen’s), although this is only confirmed when considering further evidence.
That further evidence comes in the form of episode 19; Barry Allen from February 2024 is not Savitar. Therefore if the Barry Allen of this timeline is due to change into Savitar he has not done it by February 2024. But there is the issue; “if” he does…further to this the message received by Rip Hunter in Legends of tomorrow which came in the form of a warning issued by Barry Allen of 2056. Now time is even less of a fixed construct in the Legends of Tomorrow show but if we assume the timeline is not changed since this message as it was post-Flashpoint as far as we know, then the Barry Allen of 2056 is not Savitar either, unless he was then changed back. But I am going to ignore that here. Therefore, this says to me that Barry “Savitar” Allen exists outside of the current timeline, he is not part of the linear movement of time or an intended participant in this timeline further evidenced in the most recent episode (episode 20) when the Flash says to Savitar “you’re all about time”, which will become more relevant later.
This means that, Savitar will be created…soon. This is because Savitar actually says so…again, through Julian Albert. Plus given what we know about the future of the timeline we know that he is trapped four years from the present day so he must be created soon in order to be trapped…and obviously there are only three episodes left so he needs to get a shifty on.
So we know that Savitar will be created soon and he is not like Eobard Thawne (the Reverse Flash) who has travelled into the past for hundreds of years in order to confront Barry Allen. But as you can see this discussion of when he is created reveals another interesting question. Which version of Barry Allen is he? Given the discussion of when he was created, I conclude that he cannot be a part of the current timeline and exists outside of the usual laws of time, which I believe will become more relevant later. So which Barry is this? The answer, I believe was given to us in episode 19. 2024 depressed Barry Allen said to 2017 Barry Allen, “you’re even going to create time remnants of yourself and he’s going to destroy them all (mostly)”. I add the brackets because I think that it is what he says, it does read to be very peculiar grammatically but correct me if I am wrong, I know it will support my point so I could be biased.
So here it is, the Flash creates time remnants, a concept we are familiar with and these are forms of Barry Allen which are additional to the time line and operate outside the laws of time and would therefore fit as the origin of Savitar, given my analysis. So this is where the opportunity lies for Savitar to be created, but there is more that supports this. In a confrontation with the Flash Savitar tells him he would kill him but he needs him to suffer a little bit more. At the time we all read that to believe that Barry needed to suffer the death of Iris West as a form of torture and this was what Savitar wanted. However, I do not believe it is so simple, I believe Savitar needs Barry to try and save Iris to the strategy of creating time remnants and, in effect, force Barry to create Savitar. Further, reinforcing the significance of the Flash’s line “you’re all about time”, as Savitar is literally a construct of time. I also think this could be reflected in the “flash-forward” that the team keeps revisiting of where Iris dies, as this has been such a focal point in the season I do believe we have made some assumptions about it. I am going to go out on a limb here and say we are not watching Barry Allen of the timeline, but in fact watching a time remnant failing to save Iris. Why? I here you ask, the reason, other than for the convenient success of my theory, is due to one of the other questions I asked, namely, why befriend Caitlin Snow? I believe it is so that she can distract the actual Barry Allen, doing so by attacking Cisco for example. We saw Cisco defeating Killer Frost in episode 20 but it was a sequence that did not reflect the original sequence of Cisco losing his hands that we saw in episode 19 so I believe we have been lulled into thinking that this problem is resolved. Plus Flash said he was going to do something about it and he played no real part in Cisco defeating Frost so I am not convinced this is over, as that promise has not been fulfilled. 2024 Flash and his knowledge could have contradicted this but the writers have left this open as a possibility and I think this is the path we are going to see them go down. The Flash has also shown a faith in his time remnants as shown at the end of season 2, and his idea of Wally saving Iris, so he does not have to personally save her.
In addition, this fits with any explanation for the facial scarring we see on Barry “Savitar” Allen. 2024 Allen didn’t have any facial scarring and this would fit into his description of Savitar “destroying” the time remnants as this could easily be a battle scar. It also looks like a bit of an electrical burn, although I am not sure, I just say so because of the explanation of a potential Savitar weakness. The static build up could be dangerous, and the discharge of this could have left this time remnant with quite a nasty facial scar.
So in summary, Barry “Savitar” Allen, is created by Barry “Flash” Allen during his attempt to save Iris by creating time remnants. Cool. But! The biggest criticism of this idea is what is going to motivate Barry Allen to kill the woman he loves whether he is crazy or not. Here is the answer…he doesn’t want to. Again, through dialogue the Flash has with Savitar, again, through Julian Albert, Savitar apologises to Iris for having to do it but describes the situation as either her or himself. Which all fits with the time remnant theory. If Savitar does not threaten Iris the Flash will not create time remnants to try and save her, and if Savitar does not kill Iris then the time remnant will not be motivated to become Savitar.
So my final question is, what motivates Savitar. For this I believe we have to look at the comics. The Future Flash storyline essentially follows the Flash of twenty years in the future who is now alone with almost everyone he ever cherished now dead or absent. He blames himself for all the destruction he has caused and goes back in time to kill his previous self. That is what motivates Savitar he wants to kill the Flash. That is his aim, that is his goal. Why? All we have to do is look at the disasters being the Flash has caused. Being the Flash was the motivation behind his mother’s murder. His actions as the Flash led to Ronnie Raymond dying during the creation of a singularity above central city that caused tremendous destruction. His actions as the Flash led to Zoom seeking revenge and killing his father. The creation of Flashpoint killed Cisco’s brother. The creation of Flashpoint turns Caitlin Snow into a murderous villainess. The creation of Flashpoint leads to the death of the woman of his dreams. This is the main weakness to my theory, because I do not see why Flashpoint would trigger Iris’ death, maybe it is time or the speed force punishing him? Who knows? However, before Flashpoint she was due to be alive in 2024, after Flashpoint was reset she was due to die. Flashpoint is key here, how, I can only hope I am right and we will be shown…I hope I am right. Despite this simple motive, Savitar cannot kill Barry before he has ensured he has created himself, otherwise he creates his own Paradox, can future himself kill himself before he himself has been created within the timeline? Cue time collapsing in on itself and minds melting. This also explains why Savitar cannot simply leave the timeline and travel back in time to simply stop Barry before he has his powers, because otherwise he would not have the power to stop them. He needs to ensure his own future and then go.
So this is my theory on the creation of Savitar. Savitar is a time remnant of Barry, created by Barry to defeat Savitar. Savitar is motivated by a sense of revenge on Barry but cannot take action until he has ensured his own future. He does not wish to kill Iris, but it is the only way he can ensure that Barry Allen does not “hurt” anyone else. Savitar can be likened to an ‘accessory to time’ that sees what life could have been like and that he has lost his place and purpose and blames the original Barry Allen for making these choices.
Let me know what you think, do you agree or not? Final word on a couple of point, I know its been a long read. This also leads me to think the Savitar is not simply imprisoned in the speed force, as a time remnant he is not supposed to exist and so the speed force will want to take him out of the timeline. I think his real punishment, as a time remnant with no exact place in the timeline is that he experiences time in a single loop. Let me try to explain. Imagine a conveyor belt. Savitar is created through the actions of the Flash. This is like joining the conveyor belt half-way down. He rides the conveyor belt as it moves forward, as time moves forward in a linear motion. He is then trapped in the speed force, likening to stepping off the conveyor belt. The speed force does not move in conjunction with the timeline and is somewhat just space around the timeline. He escapes at the point before he is created and has to ride the conveyor belt until he is created again halfway down. If he fails to kill the Flash after this point, he steps off the conveyor belt and is dropped back into the timeline at the point of his release. Within the speedforce he may be experiencing some horrifying memory like his mother’s murder, but his real torture is never escaping this loop in time. He is just removed and reinserted at the same points in time. As a time remnant, he does not belong in the timeline and as a speedster he does not experience time in linear sequence so this then becomes his torture. Quite cool I think.
Finally, I promise. How do you defeat him. I do not believe you can beat him in a fight, I expect he will have a plan for the trap and this will not work this time, giving him a potential victory. This means that, to my mind, there is only one way to defeat him and that is to stop him being created. This means that either not creating the time remnants or not having Iris die. Due to the fact the audience will want to see Savitar created, or at least have his creation suggested, I think it will in fact come down to Iris not dying. This is also supported by the photos circulating the internet suggesting there is a funeral and somebody dies. There have been suggestions it could be Caitlin or it could be Joe West. I am holding out for Caitlin returning, and I think in every story of heroism there needs to be a father figure or wise old head and Joe fits that mould so I am hesitant here. I think it is more likely to be Julian Albert as he is a more minor character and he probably has a score to settle with Savitar. That or H.R. Wells, as we have got a new Wells with each season and him dying would be an excuse to get a new one. Either way this seems to be the method that shall be used to prevent the time remnant from going murdering crazy and turning into Savitar. Season Over. I must mention that I have no idea how Savitar will become so powerful, and what role, if any, the philosopher’s stone has yet to play; maybe these two points are related but they certainly need to be explained. Let me know your ideas. Where do you think this other Barry comes from, maybe another timeline? How do you think he will be defeated? Thanks for the long read and the patience. Catch you next time speedsters!
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