Eobard Thawne is Harrison Wells

[Warning: Spoilers ahead for Tuesday’s episode of The Flash, “Out of Time.”]

Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is officially a man out of time.

Dr. Wells (Tom Cavanaugh) murdered Cisco (Carlos Valdes) for discovering his Reverse-Flash secret in Tuesday’s episode of The Flash. In an emotional scene, Wells revealed that his real name is Eobard Thawne, and that though he loved Cisco like a son, he had to kill him. Things were also bad for Joe (Jesse L. Martin), who was been kidnapped by the vengeful Weather Wizard (Liam McIntyre). Even worse: the villain created a massive tidal wave that could wipe out Central City.

See more ‘The Flash’: Every Major DC Character on The CW Series

But Barry will now have the opportunity to stop Cisco’s murder before it happens. In the final moments of the episode, Barry ran so fast that he traveled through time to several days before everything went very wrong.

The big episode leaves plenty of burning questions, and executive producer Andrew Kreisberg, Cavanagh and Candice Patton (Iris) answered some of them after a press screening Monday, which The Hollywood Reporter attended.

How much will Barry fix?

Kreisberg teased that “the fun” of next week is seeing the ramifications of Barry’s actions and how they will change what viewers have already seen. Not everything will be undone by the time travel (though it’s safe to assume Cisco will be saved, as he’s been shown in previews for future episodes).

“This episode allowed us to sort of give people a tease and a taste and make some big reveals,” said Kreisberg.

Who is Eobard Thawne?

Wells confessed to Cisco that his real name was Eobard Thawne, and that he’d been stuck in the past for fifteen years. He called Iris’ boyfriend Eddie Thawne (Rick Cosnett) a “distant” relative, which Kreisberg confirms was not a lie.

“There’s some great scenes coming up between Tom and Rick, that starts to become a storyline,” said Kreisberg.

The revelation puts to rest a fan theory that Eddie might actually be Eobard Thawne (AKA Reverse-Flash and Professor Zoom), who in comic book lore is a man from the 25th century who gets stuck in our era.

What does Wells want?

Wells killed Barry’s mother, but as he told Cisco, he actually wanted to kill Barry that night 15 years ago. Viewers do not know why Wells wanted to kill Barry, but at this point, all he cares about his getting home, though if he can kill Barry in the process that’s a bonus.

“Imagine if one of us was transported back into the past with no antibiotics and no internet and no indoor plumbing,’ said Kreisberg. “Every day in this time is an assault on him.”

Is Wells evil?

Kreisberg said Wells is not an “evil man” and that he even has reason to see “himself as a hero.”

“There’s nothing he says in that scene with Cisco that isn’t the truth,” said Kreisberg. “He’s sorry he found out. He’s sorry it has to happen, but it does have to happen and there’s a scene in episode 16 which kind of mirrors this scene, that I think really speaks to that.”

Cavanagh sees Wells as a man is just “trying to get home.” He has genuine affection for the STAR Labs team and their mission — at least while it serves his own purposes.

“As we see in this episode, it makes it a little more heartbreaking when the next phase of the plan starts to happen,” said Cavanaugh.

Will Iris uncover Wells’ secret?

Iris’ journalism mentor Mason (Roger Howarth) is poised to publish an expose on Wells, connecting him to a number of murders around town.

“For Barry, the wheels are turning for him, as far as what’s going on with Dr. Wells. Iris is going to continue to go after that story because Mason has piqued her interest,” said Patton. “For Barry, he wants to keep her out of harm’s way and this is directly putting her back into harm’s way by going into a situation with Dr. Wells that he’s not even quite clear about.”

What’s next?

Wells had future knowledge about these characters, and will start to share some of that knowledge. Episode 17 will also flashback to the beginning of the series, and show it from different perspectives, including Wells’.

“Toward the ends of the season, a whole bunch of new questions will pop up and that will drive the series forward. Most of the questions that we proffered at the beginning of the season will be paid off,” said Kreisberg.

Stay tuned to The Live Feed for more from The Flash.

The Flash airs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on The CW.

Email: Aaron.Couch@THR.com
Twitter: @AaronCouch

Reinaldo Massengill

Update: 2024-09-28

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