In The Flash’s 15oth episode, Jay Garrick’s helmet quietly played a part in a scientific procedure performed by Team Flash - here's why. More than just a cosmetic addition to his comic-accurate costume, the iconic helmet has practical purposes in the Arrowverse. A staple of the Golden Age Flash’s look since his first comic book appearance in 1940, it’s no surprise the Arrowverse incorporated it into its own version of the Crimson Comet. Interestingly, the winged helmet appeared on The Flash long before John Wesley Shipp’s Jay Garrick ever did.
Popping out of a wormhole in the season 1 finale raised questions from Team Flash about its meaning, but to fans, it was a blatant hint at the original Flash from DC Comics. Then in season 2, the show seemingly introduced Jay (Teddy Sears) complete with his classic look, but this character turned out to be the evil imposter, Zoom. Later, the true Jay Garrick stood revealed as an alternate Earth doppelganger of Barry’s father. After bursting onto the scene, Earth-3’s Flash emerged as a key ally to Barry (Grant Gustin) and Team Flash. His status became a mystery when “Crisis on Infinite Earths” happened, with viewers wondering for more than a year about his place in the reborn multiverse.
Flash finally brought him back for episode 15o as a target of the Godspeed army. After allying with Team Flash, he used his neural hyper-collider machine to send Barry into August Heart’s consciousness. During this scene, Barry could be seen wearing Jay’s helmet. As for why that was necessary, this was explained during Jay’s last guest appearance in season 6. When they used the neural hyper-collider to project Barry’s mind into the future, Joan Williams explained the helmet would channel the tachyons into his brain and ignite his synaptic pathways so his consciousness could reach into the future. In other words, the helmet itself is what makes this experiment work.
Exactly what tech provides the helmet with this ability hasn’t been made clear, but there have been other instances where it’s been proven it has a real purpose in the Arrowverse. For example, Jay was able to rely on the helmet to reflect bullets when he fought Mark Hamill’s Trickster in a season 3 episode. The comic book version of the winged helmet doesn’t have any scientific uses, but it too is seen as an asset to Jay.
Previously worn by his father during World War I, it can be thrown at his opponents like Captain America’s shield. And similar to its Arrowverse counterpart, it can shield Jay from ranged attacks. It may be that after The Flash’s Jay Garrick gets his helmet back from Barry in the season 7 finale, he’ll get a chance to demonstrate more of its capabilities against Heart’s army of Godspeed clones.