The Flash season 7 premiere made big changes to Cecile (Danielle Nicolet) and her powers. Since season 4, Cecile has possessed metahuman abilities; as an empath, she can hear the thoughts of others and sense their emotions.
When Cecile first started displaying empath powers, it was thought that they belonged to her baby, considering that she was pregnant at the time. However, she retained her ability after the birth of her child. Due to her association with Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) as well as her powers, Cecile has been able to contribute much to Team Flash’s heroic efforts over the years. Her ability to detect certain emotions has been an asset that helped them figure out a number of mysteries. Now, The Flash is making a change to her role on the show.
In a scene where Cecile questioned Top (Ashley Rickards) to help with their Mirror Mistress problem, important revelations were dropped about the nature of her powers. When Top proved to be more formidable and more clever than she originally thought, Cecile was forced to take drastic measures to get her to talk. Right after telling Top about how her fear held her back, Cecile telepathically attacked her mind, and made her heart race. Cecile explained that the reason she reminded herself of her fear was so that she could inject it into Top. What this suggests is that Cecile can now weaponize her emotions by telepathically projecting them into the minds of her targets.
The extent of what Cecile may be capable of in the Arrowverse is indicated by what Top can do and what she said about her own abilities. Top admitted that she started out as an empath, but her abilities grew from there. Since Cecile’s eyes changed color in the same way that Top’s did, that means her powers are quite similar (if not the same). Cecile and Top may share the same potential. If that’s true, Cecile’s powers can develop to a point where she too can put a person in a state of vertigo, but that remains to be seen.
The confidence that Cecile demonstrated in The Flash season 7 premiere shows that she was well aware of what she can accomplish with her empath powers. She just hasn’t used them because – just as she explained to Top – she was afraid of what she would become. Her trepidation about using them on that level is understandable, given that it allows Cecile a frightening amount of control over other people.
It’s a power that’s much more aggressive than the one that Cecile normally uses, and it’s also one that could easily be abused. With that in mind, it makes sense that Cecile would avoid it as much as possible. But, now that she’s used it once, she may find herself relying on it more often in The Flash season 7 and beyond. Hopefully though, Cecile will exhibit greater restraint than Top, and not allow it to corrupt her as her story moves forward.