The Flash Season 5: 7 Biggest Questions After Episode 12

Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Flash season 5, episode 12!

In The Flash season 5, episode 12, the team tried to take a different approach to defeating Cicada. Rather than fighting the villain, Team Flash entered the brain of his niece Grace with the goal of waking her from her coma. However, things didn't go according to plan. First Nora went off on her own, leading her to get stuck inside Grace's mind. Then Barry and Iris had to go rescue her, through Nora's memories, forcing them to face more emotional feelings about the reality of a Barry-less future.

In the end, the trip seems like it might have caused more harm than good. It turns out that Grace hates metahumans just as much as her dear old uncle. When Grace found out who Nora was she attacked the speedster, vowing to protect Cicada. She might be in a coma, but Grace has heard every word an absorbed a lot of the hateful things Orlin has been saying against metahumans.

Needless to say, a lot is left up in the air after the latest episode of The Flash season 5. Here are the questions we have about "Memorabilia".

7. Is Grace a Metahuman?

Grace might hate metahumans like her uncle, but what if she is one? This episode of The Flash revealed that Grace has a piece of shrapnel from the satellite lodged in her brain, an object with an extreme amount of dark matter inside it. We already know that any object that comes in contact with the satellite fragments gives that object powers turning it into Meta Tech. So, in this case, if the object is Grace's brain, wouldn't that give her metahuman powers? What if the dark matter has caused her to become telepathic? Could Grace be the real threat here?

Grace has every reason to hate metahumans. She watched her parents die from a meta attack and almost lost her own life. If she does have powers, maybe she is using them to subconsciously control her uncle and Dr. Ambres. Grace believes her uncle is a hero: what if her mind took that literally and turned him into Cicada, the man who kills metahumans? She could also be influencing Dr. Ambres into helping Cicada and fueling his anger. This could also explain how Grace can hear everything around her even while in a coma and why her defenses were so strong during Nora's intrusion into her mind.

6. Why Is Barry Already Abusing the Metahuman Cure?

Barry and Iris The Flash season 5 episode 12 Flash museum

In The Flash episode 10, when the metahuman cure was first brought up, Caitlin made the team promise they would never use it on anyone against their will. Two episodes later, Barry is already vowing to use it to stop Cicada. Seems like viewers were right to question the purpose of such a cure even existing. Will the team stop him from taking such drastic action? Or will their minds change knowing what they now know from the future? In The Flash Museum of the future, Barry learns that he never stopped Cicada and over 152 people were killed as a result. Surely such news is having an effect on Barry's mindset.

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It's a slippery slope if Barry wants to start using the cure on every bad metahuman he faces. Hopefully, Caitlin and Cisco are able to talk sense into him, unlikely as that seems with his future and his city on the line. And if it's revealed that Grace has powers as well would Barry take the same action against a child, even knowing what Iris did to Nora?

5. When Does Nora Find Out Barry is The Flash?

Team Flash The Flash season 5 episode 12

When Nora was a child Iris told her that Barry was The Flash's number one fan. At some point, Nora comes to learn the truth, as well as about her own powers. Is this something Iris tells her or something Nora discovers on her own? Nora now knows that Iris did everything to protect her and keep her from ending up like Barry, but in the future, that's a lesson she hasn't learned yet. Is discovering the truth about her father another thing that pushed Nora towards Eobard Thawne?

Knowing more about Nora's past can help illuminate the relationship between her and Thawne. How she came to work for him and why he is helping her defeat Cicada are still two of The Flash season 5's biggest questions, and each episode has brought us only slightly closer to an answer. The question also remains of how much the future will change now that Nora knows how much Iris truly cares.

4. Does Iris Starting The Central City Citizen Two Years Early Change the Timeline?

Iris and Barry The Flash season 5 episode 12

By the end of the episode, Iris has decided to start the Central City Citizen. Nora notes that the newspaper was originally founded in 2021 and that Iris is changing history. From Nora's journal we've learned that "the timeline in maleabe", but what do all the changes to the future mean? Now that the paper has been created earlier does that mean the Crisis date is moved up as well? Could The Flash season 5 finale already see Barry vanishing in a crisis?

The Flash has played fast and loose with the timeline this season, and when it's all over the future could look very different. The characters don't seem too concerned about their actions or about Nora long overstaying her welcome in the past though. It will be interesting to see what happens when their actions finally catch up to them.

Page 2 of 2: Questions About The Flash Season 5's Future

Sherloque Wells The Flash season 5 episode 12

3. Why Doesn't Sherloque Reveal Nora's Secret?

The multiverse's smartest detective Sherloque Wells should've put all the pieces of the puzzle together by now. He's read Nora's journal and seen the two different handwritings. He knows she has a secret. And now he knows that Nora's defense mechanism took the form of the Reverse-Flash. He even gives Nora one last chance to tell the truth. But when she lies again why doesn't Sherloque reveal who Nora is really working for? Is he planning on blackmailing her with the information? Or does he really want her to tell the truth on her own (which would certainly be easier on her parents)?

Speaking of Barry, why doesn't he question Nora about the Reverse-Flash inside her memories? He must know something is off, so why would Nora choose that form to protect her memories? However, he chooses to ignore the signs once more. Is he truly blind about Nora's faults or does he just not want to see what's right in front of him?

2. Does Grace Become Cicada in the Future?

At the end of The Flash season 5, episode 12, Grace is intent on making Nora pay for lying to her. She is seen talking to someone wearing Cicada's costume - only it isn't her uncle, but a young woman. Is this a look into Grace's future? Does she become the next Cicada? Is that why Barry still hasn't defeated Cicada in the future, because there is another one? And most importantly, does all this happen because of Nora's meddling?

It seems that Grace could be more a more important character than she originally appeared to be. She's not just Orlin's niece, she could be a villain in her own right - a potentially deadly one with a vendetta against Nora.

1. Is the Red Death Coming to The Flash?

In the Flash Museum, Barry watches a video of Captain Singh speaking about Cicada. He says that the villain is more deadly than any of the Flash's previous villains, killing more people than Zoom and the Red Death. Is this The Flash's way of teasing an appearance by the comic book character? Could he be the big bad of The Flash season 6?

In the comics, Red Death is the result of the Flash and Batman fusing together into one body. Bruce Wayne, torn apart by the death of his parents and not being fast enough to save them, attaches the Flash to the hood of the Batmobile and drives into the speedforce. He gains Barry's powers while Barry's mind is trapped inside Bruce's body. With the Arrowverse expanding to include Gotham and Batwoman, featuring the villain wouldn't be completely out of the question, and it would certainly be a unique way to introduce Batman.