The answer to Barry Allen’s Speed Force problem in The Flash season 7 could come in a surprising form: Gideon. Gideon is the name of the futuristic artificial intelligence onboard the Waverider in Legends of Tomorrow. It’s also the AI that Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) relied on in The Flash season 1. In the present day, it can be accessed by Barry (Grant Gustin) and his friends through the Reverse-Flash’s once-secret Time Vault at S.T.A.R. Labs.
It could be that Gideon will factor into a recent dilemma that’s been plaguing Barry Allen in the Arrowverse. During “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, the seven Paragons were stuck at the Vanishing Point with no clear way out. When Oliver Queen appeared to them as the all-powerful Spectre, Barry asked for help in using the Speed Force so that they could all escape. After warning Barry that his actions could have consequences, Oliver touched Barry’s head and used his power to give him a way into the Speed Force. It wasn’t until after the Crisis that Barry truly understood the impact of what Oliver did. Spectre’s energy leaked into the Speed Force and essentially poisoned it until it slowly died.
The death of the Speed Force dealt Barry with a huge blow that he suffered from throughout the back half of The Flash season 6. By the end of the season, Barry still has some of his speed, but it’s dwindling with every day that passes by. Though Barry knows it will soon be gone, he has yet to give up being the Scarlet Speedster. Barry is now committed to coming up with a replacement for the Speed Force. So far, his efforts to achieve this goal have hit complications, but Barry is sure to continue down this path when The Flash returns in 2021. How he’ll manage it remains to be seen, but a new theory on Reddit postulates that his solution will actually be Gideon.
Barry Allen Builds Gideon In The Arrowverse
Reverse-Flash didn’t wage war on Barry Allen completely on his own. Providing him guidance was Gideon, a highly-advanced AI. Somehow, Eobard acquired Gideon while he was in the future and brought it back with him to the present when he took over Harrison Wells’ life. At various points in season 1, Reverse-Flash went to Gideon in secret to consult her, as her knowledge of the future, the Speed Force, and more made her an invaluable asset. Exactly how Eobard got his hands on something like Gideon isn’t altogether clear, but where she originated from has already been established. It was confirmed in The Flash season 1 that it was Barry Allen who built her, but why and when he will design her has never been revealed. Barry has been operating as the Flash for six years now, but still hasn’t made any moves toward building Gideon. Regardless, Barry’s AI is presumably the same one that the Legends have installed on their ship in Legends of Tomorrow. It could be that in the future timeline that the Waverider hails from, Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) received Gideon from someone associated with Barry.
Barry Allen Is Working On An Artificial Speed Force
As previously noted, Barry has yet to begin work on Gideon at this point in his timeline. For the most part, the hero has gotten the assistance he’s needed from allies like Cisco (Carlos Valdez), Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker), and Ralph (Hartley Sawyer). However, the loss of the Speed Force could be what prompts Barry to build something as massive and complex as Gideon. The only thing Barry has on the horizon that’s comparable to the scale of what Gideon is in the Arrowverse is his Speed Force solution. After taking into consideration that Eobard Thawne is able to get by with an artificial Speed Force, Barry has come to the conclusion that he can do the same thing. With Cisco’s help, Barry is working hard to build his own Speed Force, but it’s hard to say what this new system will be, or how it will fulfill its purpose in the Arrowverse.
How Gideon Can Fix Barry’s Speed Force Problem
In previous episodes, it was shown that The Flash’s Gideon had a solid understanding of the Speed Force. She could interpret messages in the Speed Force and was also capable of analyzing the speeds of both Eobard and Barry. It’s likely that she was programmed to have this level of knowledge for a specific reason. It may be that the Barry of the future designed Gideon because he too no longer had the Speed Force and had to make an artificial one. What he came up with may have been Gideon. If Gideon is indeed Barry’s artificial Speed Force, that would make sense of why built her, and why she knows so much about the Speed Force. Furthermore, this new Speed Force being represented by an artificial intelligence feels like a logical move, because the original was a sentient entity that had the ability to think. It’s difficult to imagine Barry’s replacement being an adequate replica if it couldn’t do these things.
There’s a question of how Gideon could fill this role for Barry in The Flash season 7 and beyond. Like the real Speed Force, Gideon would be an entity that Barry can communicate directly with. If this was the case, Barry would have greater control over his new Speed Force than he ever did with the original version. That’s because as its creator, Barry would be able to shape it to suit his needs. Barry could rely on Gideon to study, maintain, and control his speed levels. By having a direct line to Gideon, Barry can keep a close check on everything that happens with his speed.
Legends of Tomorrow and The Flash have both shown that she’s familiar with time travel and detecting changes in the timestream. It could be that this is all part of her design. Barry and Cisco may end up determining in season 7 that they could benefit from giving her these capabilities. There were times when Barry would struggle with landing in the right place in the timeline when using his speed for time travel. Through Gideon, Barry could become much more precise when traversing the timestream, and more aware of the possible consequences of his actions. Based on what is known of Gideon in the Arrowverse, it certainly seems plausible that she could be what fixes Barry’s biggest problem in The Flash season 7.