Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 3.

The third part of The Flash’s Armageddon crossover event revealed a shocking wedding between Iris (Candace Patton) and Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) in the future. It would seem that despite Reverse-Flash’s history as the Scarlet Speedster’s greatest enemy, he will one day tie the knot with the woman Barry (Grant Gustin) loves. Apparently, what Barry saw ties in somehow with Despero’s claim that the Flash is responsible for causing Armageddon in 2031. This turn of events, however, raises serious questions as to why Iris would even consider marrying Thawne in the first place.

If Despero (Tony Curran) is to be believed in Armageddon, Barry is the only one who’s to blame for the destruction of the Earth, and not one of his villains. According to Despero, “madness” supposedly brought upon by personal tragedies will lead to Barry turning on the world and becoming a villain. However, there was always a feeling that something else had to be going on, given Barry’s long-held reputation as a hero. As Iris suspected, it was revealed in the episode that someone secretly used the Negative Still Force to manipulate the timeline, presumably to frame Barry for kicking off the events of Armageddon. A trip to the future in the episode’s ending indicated that the puppet master was Reverse-Flash, who was shown at an engagement party with Iris.

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From the looks of things, Iris and Thawne will become a married couple in this new timeline. As for how this could happen, the most logical explanation is that Thawne’s time travel shenanigans are at the root of it. Considering everything that Thawne has done, Iris falling in love with Reverse-Flash just isn’t feasible (regardless of what ultimately happens to her marriage with Barry). Thawne must have made so many changes to his history that 2031 Iris isn’t completely aware of who he is or the atrocities he’s committed. It could be that Reverse-Flash took Barry’s place in many of the most important moments of their lives in an effort to manipulate Iris’ feelings.

The Flash Season 8 Reverse-Flash Iris

Reverse-Flash’s intense hatred of Barry makes sense of his reasons for pursuing this outcome and draws comparisons to the Silver Age version of the character. In the classic comics, Reverse-Flash wanted everything that Barry had and tricked Iris into thinking that he was Barry so that she would marry him. It’s likely that The Flash’s Thawne is similarly motivated. It’s doubtful that love had anything to do with Thawne's plan in Armageddon.

Marrying Iris could have been one of many ways that Reverse-Flash is getting revenge on Barry in The Flash season 8. Having suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Barry in The Flash season 7 finale, Thawne could have been desperate to wreck Barry’s life all over again, this time by taking everything from him. Disgracing him, turning his friends against him, blaming him for Armageddon, and marrying Iris all seem to be part of one carefully planned-out scheme to ruin his oldest enemy. To stop this future from coming to pass, Barry may have to find a way to undo the damage done to the timeline without making things any worse.

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Episodes of The Flash air Tuesdays on The CW