Why The Flash Armageddon's Final Chapter Ruined The Storyline
Matthew Perez Audiences thought The Flash had returned to form in season 8, but the Armageddon event's final chapter erased the goodwill inspired by the new season.
Warning! SPOILERS for The Flash season 8, episode 5
The final chapter of The Flash Armageddon event ruined the storyline for several reasons. Chief among these was the script's illogical pacing where the character motivations shifted from scene to scene, but the episode also suffered from the disappointing - and largely pointless - inclusion of the new Green Arrow, Mia Queen. The largest problem, however, was that the episode found the heroes so focused on saving the life of an ungrateful Reverse-Flash that they failed to think of another death they could have easily prevented and seemed to kill another villain in the process.
The main plotline of the The Flash crossover Armageddon event found Barry Allen in a literal race against time, thanks to a time-traveling alien named Despero, who informed him that he was destined to go crazy and destroy the Earth in 10 years time. After trying to prove his innocence and turning to Black Lightning to help him remove his powers, Barry ran into the future to see for himself what caused him to turn evil. This led to the revelation that the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, had altered the timeline so that it was he who became The Flash in 2014, creating an alternate timeline he dubbed the Reverse-Flashpoint.
Barry was able to restore the timeline, with the unlikely assistance of a resurrected (by Reverse-Flash) Damien Darhk, but "Armageddon, Part 5" revealed that his problems, and the problems of the restored Earth-Prime timeline, were far from over. Despero was still out for blood and Thawne was once in again in danger of erasing himself from existence, leading him to beg his sworn enemy and the rest of Team Flash for help. Throw in the sudden arrival of the future Green Arrow, Mia Queen, and the final chapter of Armageddon became a muddled mess that took the shine off the rest of the storyline.
The Conflict To Save The Reverse-Flash Was Forced
The chief conflict of The Flash season 8, episode 5, "Armageddon, Part 5" centered around the demands of the Reverse-Flash, Eobard Thawne, that Team Flash save him from being erased from reality and two classic superhero moral dilemmas. First, does the hero's duty to preserve life apply to unrepentant villains who will almost certainly go on to endanger others? Second, is there any real difference between actively working to end a life or allowing someone to die through inaction?
Team Flash eventually decided that saving lives was what they did and that they couldn't start making distinctions regarding who was worthy of salvation, deciding instead to remove the Reverse-Flash's powers. Unfortunately, the debate over the sanctify of life seemed hollow given that the characters most vocal about heroes not killing were those members of Team Flash who had killed in the past to save lives. This included Iris West-Allen, who delivered a hypocritical pep talk to Mia Queen about how her father ruined his life killing people to protect his loved ones, when Iris killed the villain Savitar to save Barry Allen in The Flash season 3 finale. Joe West similarly threatened to disown Barry and Iris if they let Thawne die, when he had killed the first Weather Wizard in The Flash pilot episode. While this might have been acceptable had Iris and Joe acknowledged their past actions and how they informed their current attitudes, the writing only served to make them seem self-righteous.
Mia Queen's Cameo Was Completely Pointless
Arrowverse fans were thrilled when it was announced that Katherine McNamara would be returning to the role of Mia Queen as part of The Flash Armageddon event. Unfortunately, the new Green Arrow's inclusion in "Armageddon, Part 5" was little more than a cameo that wasted Mia Queen completely. The young hero was made to look incompetent, only escaping a violent death at the hands of the Reverse-Flash because Thawne was holding back so as to secure Team Flash's good graces. Her arrival in 2021 was also completely accidental, as she had "tracked Thawne's scent by mistake" while trying to find her kidnapped brother, William. The episode failed to advance Mia's storyline from her final appearance in Arrow and only served to leave fans hungry for the resolution to her story they have long been denied.
Despero's Motivations Kept Changing & Ultimately Didn't Make Sense
Despero was a continual presence throughout The Flash Armageddon event. Originally presenting himself as an heroic outlaw who adopted the Earth as his new home after being exiled from his home planet by a tyrannical leader, it was revealed in "Armageddon, Part 5" that the alien telepath Despero was the real tyrant. This sudden twist was revealed when Barry guessed that Despero must be a despot since he "killed to get what he wanted," as Despero claimed that he did whatever was necessary to preserve the greater good. Ignoring the question of why an alien warlord would feel the need to pretend to be a hero, there was little else about this eleventh hour revelation that made sense.
Early on in "Armageddon, Part 5," Barry asked why Despero didn't just kill Thawne himself and was so insistent that the Reverse-Flash be allowed to fade out of existence naturally. Despero pointed out that Thawne had recovered his powers after being depowered and defied death repeatedly in the past and that the only sure way to avert the Armageddon event of the future was for Thawne to have never existed in the first place. Despite this, after Team Flash decided to save Thawne's life and remove his powers, Despero declared that he would take matters into his own hands and murder Thawne, despite having said it would be completely pointless to do that earlier in the episode.
Nobody Cared About Despero's Possible Death
Barry Allen's plan to fight Despero was another nonsensical element of "Armageddon, Part 5." Reasoning that the mystic Flame of Py'tar which gave Despero his powers was still a flame and would react like any fire when confined to a vacuum, Barry plotted to channel Despero's energy into the atmosphere using a combination of his speed and the energy-redirecting properties of a Particle Eradication Distributor, which Chester Runk built into The Flash's new gold boots. The plan left Despero powerless and cursing The Flash for having doomed the Earth, before his body burst into flame and he seemingly died. For all of Barry Allen's kvetching throughout the episode about not being able to allow the Reverse-Flash to die, he seemed oddly unperturbed that his actions might have killed another villain.
Team Flash Made No Effort To Save Damien Darhk
Another oddity in the script for "Armageddon, Part 5" lay within Team Flash's failure to try and save Damien Darhk, as they had saved the Reverse-Flash. The resurrected warlock, who helped The Flash to undo the damage caused by the Reverse-Flashpoint so that his daughter would be resurrected, had used a soul-destroying sword to bring about his final death in Legends of Tomorrow. Despite this, Darhk somehow continued to live, appearing in Joe West's home shortly after Barry Allen had restored the timeline. Darhk later disappeared after giving his Time Stone to Joe West, and was given a chance to say goodbye to Nora before she was resurrected in his place. While the brief scene gave father and daughter the closure they didn't get the last time Damien Darhk died, it was still odd that Team Flash didn't put any effort into trying to saving the life of a repentant villain after doing so much to save their greatest enemy.
