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This week's The Flash episode "The Wrath of Savitar" has surely given us a lot to discuss in regards to Savitar. Whereas before I expected his origin to stay irrelevant, just like in the comics, with the main mystery being how to prevent Iris's death, this episode makes me want to change my position.

The Clues[]

1) Savitar is someone from Team Flash

"We got rid of the Philosopher's Stone."
"Did we?"
—Barry and Savitar[src]


These two lines change everything we knew before about Savitar. Whoever he is, he was involved in throwing the Brahmastra into the Speed Force. He also knows that Wells/RF was Thawne, and mentions Zoom. Jay Garrick could also be on the table (those Speed Force legends sounded fishy), but that's less likely, because of...


2) Savitar has intricate knowledge of Cisco's trip to Earth Two

"You've always been small. Reverb told you that you could've been a god, but instead you'd rather work as... TECH SUPPORT!"
—Savitar to Cisco[src]


Savitar somehow has knowledge of Cisco's talk with Reverb, who was "Cloud City Vadering" him. He knows the intricate parts of that speech and how it is connected to Cisco's motivations. The only ones who heard Reverb's speech were Barry and Cisco himself.


3) Savitar knows that HR is not a real Wells

"Still here, pretender? Still trying to find your place? [...] You know, the sad thing is that you live. You survive my wrath. The coward."
—Savitar to HR[src]


Savitar already called HR "a Fake Wells", and here he continues foreshadowing that HR's true identity will soon be revealed, and it's not Harrison Wells at all. Abra Kadbara stealing Wells's face seems more likely. It also means that "HR" and "Savitar" know each other, which also points to the plot of the upcoming Abra Kadabra episode, where the villain proposes the Flash to reveal Savitar's true identity in exchange for releasing him from some sort of prison.

That probably means that HR is not Savitar though. He wouldn't know about Reverb anyway.


4) His existence is connected to the lives of Barry and Iris

"You wanna tell me why we are enemies?"
"Because we had to be. Only one of us could live. You thought that Thawne and Zoom were your biggest foes, but... But it's me. It's always been me, Barry. You took everything from me! [...] I am only this way because of you. ALL OF YOU!"
—Barry and Savitar[src]
"Iris... Trying to show that you're not afraid. But I know you are. I'm sorry that you have to die. But it's you. Or me. [...] Barry, you've suffered your whole life. Your mother. Your father. Trust me, you'll never get over THIS."
—Savitar to Barry and Iris[src]


This is also big. Savitar needs for Iris to die, and for Barry to survive for some reason. This somehow ties into his origin story. He is sorry for Iris's death, but it's a "kill or be killed" situation for some reason. Despite needing Barry to survive for some time, he also says that either he, or Barry, can exist. Additionally, he attributes his fall to villainy to the actions of Team Flash is a whole (bar Wally, who isn't there, BTW)


5) Savitar desires adoration and worship

"Savitar is ten steps ahead of you."
—Craig the Acolyte[src]


We knew already that Savitar has a cult, but now it seems that there are no real reasons for him to spread his religion other than his love for the myths and desire for adoration. This kinda points to HR and Wally, but it's a pretty minor hint.

So What?[]

So where does this all bring us?

Well, the hints are a bit counter-productive. On the one hand, there are neon signs pointing to Cisco. His vibed battle with Killer Frost, his obsession with prophecy, and now a godly Speedster of all people caring about his feelings of being a neglected tech support and not taking on Reverb's proposition? Savitar, you've got an unhealthy interest in Cisco if you aren't him. Cisco also has a reason to hate Barry and call him selfish, call him the real villain for Flashpoint and all that shit. On the other hand, Cisco's existence or powers do not seem related to Iris or Barry being dead/alive, so it should be someone closer related to Allens/Wests. And the demands for bowing before greatness and wishes of adoration seem reminiscent of Wally's love of showing off as Kid Flash...

Whodunnit?[]

IMHO, the potential candidates for Savitar villainy are now:

a) Cisco Ramon - The rant about Reverb, the disdain for HR, the desire to become a god, the vibed battle against Caitlin, the signs are all there. Why WOULD he need to kill Iris, though, or hate the rest of Team Flash, is hard to say.

b) Wally West - Savitar did mention that it won't be very long since he "creates himself", and he did manipulate Wally into being trapped in the Speed Force and releasing the armored Savitar. Wally would also be sorry about killing Iris, though why would he need to do it, other than hurting Barry? He definitely could blame the rest of Team Flash for shunning him at Barry's suggestion and Barry for not saving him when he was being dragged into the portal, instead standing there with an open mouth like a moron. Additionally, he outright says that he also "created" Kid Flash, again could be 'creating himself'. He doesn't look like the human form of Savitar we saw in the flashback though.

c) Some Version of Barry Allen - Now things get interesting. Savitar's obsession with Cisco's godhood might be explained by Barry's friendship with him - he's the best man for the West-Allen wedding, after all. Although how exactly is he connected to Current Barry could be interesting. "Your greatest foes... It's me. It's always been me, Barry." And Barry was ALWAYS his own greatest enemy, that's right. Heck, the latter phrase could be read as "It's me, Barry".

  • c.1) Evil Barry of the Self-Fulfilling Prophecy - Savitar is an Evil Barry from a possible future that resulted in him obtaining the powers of Brahmastra. He is trying to ensure that future comes to life, like Thawne did after being stranded in 2000. He is sorry to kill Iris, but knows that if he does not, his timeline of Barry turning to the dark side will never come to exist, removing him. He is angry that he ended up using the Stone, and that none of Team Flash was able to stop him from becoming this monstrosity.
  • c.2) The Flash of 2020 Timeline Barry - ...Or even Earth One Wells, I guess. Those two have ALL the reasons to hate Our Barry, along with all of Team Flash, who've been manipulated for decades by their greatest enemy, Eobard Thawne, who destroyed the 2020 timeline by killing Nora Allen and Tess Morgan + Wells... Though perhaps not completely. After all, the future "takes time to settle in". The Flash of 2020/2024 could be trying to change the timeline back to how it should be, taking revenge on Our Barry, who in his eyes has been a pawn of Thawne all along. However... Why would he need to be worshipped by cults?

d) Albert Desmond - I mean, he outright says in this episode that he could still be under Savitar's influence. Doesn't seem likely that he'd know Cisco's personal history with Reverb though.

Give me the scoop[]

tl;dr: Whoever Savitar is, he needs to:
1) Know Cisco's personal history with Reverb
2) Be a part of Team Flash when Barry threw the Brahmastra into Speed Force
3) Be connected to Iris staying dead and Barry staying alive
4) Know HR's true identity

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