The two-part season 7 finale of The Flash was packed with major returning characters, but that doesn’t make up for the glaring omission of Wally West. Played by Keiynan Lonsdale, Wally West, a.k.a. Kid Flash is one of the Arrowverse’s most important speedster heroes. However, he didn’t make a single appearance in season 7.
It’s been years since Wally has been integral to The Flash, but the series has still found ways to make use of him at least once every season since his debut. After joining the show in season 2 and following his dream to become a speedster like Barry (Grant Gustin), Wally joined Team Flash and assisted in their efforts to protect Central City on a regular basis. After leaving The Flash, Wally joined the crew of the Waverider on Legends of Tomorrow, but his stay with the group didn’t extend beyond season 3. After that, Wally only made occasional guest appearances in the Arrowverse. His most recent role was a post-Crisis episode of The Flash season 6, where Wally helped Barry reach the sad realization that the Speed Force was dead.
Though the death of the Speed Force was a problem that both characters would have to endure after the episode, only Barry’s bout with the loss of the Speed Force was shown. Over the course of season 6 and the beginning of season 7, Barry struggled to get the full scope of his speed back. Several episodes after the restoration of the Speed Force, Barry was given the opportunity to team up with a handful of speedsters, which is something that hasn’t happened in quite a while. One character in particular who wasn’t there to fight by his side was Wally West. Here’s why his brother-in-law’s unfortunate absence hurt the finale and why it was important for him to be there.
The Flash Finale Brought Back The Other Major Speedsters
The Flash season 7 finale gave the Arrowverse its biggest speedster alliance yet. Barry had no shortage of allies on his side for the big fight with Godspeed (Karan Oberoi). After being erased from existence in season 5 and written back into the timeline by the Crisis, Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) returned to The Flash, but not by herself. Making the trip to the present alongside Nora was Jordan Fisher’s Bart Allen, a.k.a. Impulse, Barry and Iris’s son from the future, and the fourth iteration of The Flash in DC Comics. Thanks to Bart’s highly-anticipated introduction, the Arrowverse now has all major versions of the Flash.
Bart and Nora were invaluable in the effort to beat Godspeed, but they weren’t the only ones out there in the field with Barry Allen. They were joined by Jay Garrick (John Wesley Shipp), whose post-Crisis whereabouts have been a lingering Arrowverse mystery since the event took place. There was also the Speed Force herself, played by Michelle Harrison, who ignited the “spark” of Speed Force within Iris (Candance Patton), thus allowing her to become a speedster again for a brief period. The only major speedster heroes missing from The Flash season 7 finale were Wally West and Jesse Quick (Violett Beane).
Why Wally West/Kid Flash Was Perfect To Fight Godspeed
As a resident of an Earth that no longer exists in the multiverse, Jesse Quick may be dead in the Arrowverse, but Wally West, at least, could have shown up for the final showdown with August Heart’s Godspeed army. His presence would have been a big help. He may not be as fast as Barry, but he does bring a lot to the table.
In season 6, it was revealed that due to the time he’s spent in meditation, Wally possesses an impressive amount of control over the Speed Force-generated lightning. Plus, there’s no telling what other new speedster abilities he’s acquired since Barry rebooted the Speed Force. One of them could be his “speed steal” power from the comics. Just as its name implies, Wally can use it to drain speed from his enemies and use it for himself. That would have come in handy for sure against Godspeed, especially after Team Flash was forced to give him organic speed.
Why Wally West Was Missing From The Flash Finale
The Flash’s 150th episode didn’t bring back Wally, but it did explain why he wasn’t around. Team Flash tried to enlist his aid but found out he was busy. According to the Buddhist nun who’s been helping him develop his Speed Force connection, Wally was in meditation as he worked on “handling unrest on the psychic plane,” which could mean that he was dealing with a threat unrelated to August Heart and the Godspeed civil war.
It could be that attempts were made to get Keiynan Lonsdale back on The Flash, but it’s hard to say if anything happened there. Since exiting the Arrowverse to move on to new projects, Lonsdale has returned for guest roles in the past. If the actor was asked to come back for the two-part finale, it’s possible that he didn’t have room in his schedule, given that he recently landed a series regular role on Starz’s Step Up for its third season.
Why The Flash 150 Needed Wally West
Regardless of the reason why he wasn’t included, the character of Wally West deserved to be in The Flash’s 150th episode and the season 7 finale. Even Carlos Valdez and Tom Cavanagh, who both exited The Flash this season, were on hand for the final battle as Mecha-Vibe and Reverse-Flash, respectively. This made Wally the biggest Flash character missing from the war. Similar to how the fight in the finale introduced new abilities like Jay Garrick’s helmet-throw, The Flash could have used this as an opportunity to show off some of Wally’s unique capabilities. All other speedsters got their own brief own action sequence, so it would have been interesting to see what the episode would have done with Wally.
Another issue with Wally not being there is the focus on Barry’s speedster family. Wally is a huge part of that, and that’s not something that The Flash should ignore. Even if he couldn’t be there for the Godspeed battle, he should have at least made a cameo at the vow renewal ceremony with the rest of the West-Allen family members. It’s also worth noting that not only did the show have all four of the main incarnations of the Flash from DC Comics, but it had the perfect setup to use all of them together in one episode. A scene with the Flash, the Golden Age Flash, Kid Flash, and Impulse all lined up and fighting side-by-side has never happened in live-action before, and it’s hard to say if another chance like this will come on The Flash.