Warning: contains a preview of Flashpoint Beyond #3!
He may have tormented the Flash for years, but the Reverse-Flash just became Thomas Wayne's last hope at saving the DC multiverse from the twisted Flashpoint timeline. A preview for Flashpoint Beyond #4 reveals that Eobard Thawne is more use dead than alive to the alternate universe 'Doctor Batman.'
Few villains have the level of hatred for their enemies that the Reverse-Flash has for his noble counterpart. Once an avid fan of the Scarlet Speedster, Eobard Thawne turned to villainy upon realizing he was destined to be the Flash's greatest enemy. In order to make his nemesis suffer, the Reverse-Flash has changed history for the worse, killing Barry Allen's mother and framing his father for the crime. While he can't kill the Flash as this would erase his own history, he shows no qualms about otherwise altering the timeline as he pleases, twisting the events of the DC Universe to suit his sick desires.
Now, in a sudden twist, it seems that the Reverse-Flash could actually help restore the proper timeline for once. In a preview of Flashpoint Beyond #4 (by Geoff Johns, Tim Sheridan, Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, and Mikel Janín), the Reverse-Flash is dead, the latest victim of a mysterious villain known as the Clockwork Killer. The Flashpoint reality’s Batman Thomas Wayne finds the body of Eobard Thawne at the morgue and notes their similarities as living paradoxes. Knowing that time is running out for Thomas to return the DCU to normal, the former doctor performs an autopsy on the time-travelling rogue. Piece by piece, the Dark Knight removes cogs, gears and other various clock pieces from the Reverse-Flash's body and ponders how everything he's seen fits together. Enjoy a preview of the issue below, including a potentially disturbing depiction of Reverse-Flash's autopsy.
Reverse-Flash may be the latest check off the Clockwork Killer’s list, but Thawne has joined a long line of victims. The criminal has been murdering any character capable of manipulating time such as Captain Atom, Abra Kadabra, and Waverider. While the motivations behind the killings aren't exactly clear yet, it seems that someone has a vested interest in making sure the Flashpoint timeline is here to stay. But Eobard is definitely the most high-profile murder so far, and his death is Thomas' only true chance to save hypertime and the wider DC Omniverse.
Now that the end to Flashpoint Beyond is approaching, Eobard’s death is seemingly setting the stage for the finale. Considering Reverse-Flash's past experience being killed by Batman in Flashpoint, it would make thematic sense for Thomas Wayne to save the day at the expense of a dead Thawne. It would be doubly ironic for Reverse-Flash to help save the DC Universe in a roundabout way by helping Batman figure out who the Clockwork Killer is. Eobard Thawne has always used the timeline as his personal playground, but the Reverse-Flash's autopsy is now the key to Flashpoint's Batman discovering the truth and preventing his fractured reality taking all of time down with it.