Theory Thursday- The Speedforce

For those of you who have been watching The Flash (and if you haven’t you can click on this link for the episode in question) you know that some big events have been happening. However, this Theory Thursday will have a handful of spoilers for the T.V. episode that was released Tuesday the 10^th of May. If you have not seen the episode “The Runaway Dinosaur”, then you are in luck because we have it here. You can understand pretty much most of what is happening if you just watch this one episode, but you should watch the rest of the show. It’s spectacular.

Barry's origin is that his mom was killed in a flash of red
lightning and his dad was framed for the murder.This sent Barry on a path
to become a forensic scientist and prove his fathers innocence. he
was struck by a bolt of lightning while holding some chemicals which
granted him superspeed and allowed him to tap into the speedforce.

In Tuesday’s episode, we delved deep into the speed force and everything associated with it. Barry is stuck within the Speedforce and he is being given instructions and life lessons from the Speedforce who disguises itself as people in Barry’s life. First as his adopted father, then as his love interest, then as his birth father (all living) and then we are believed the Speedforce disguised itself as his deceased mother. So the theory today is that Barry got to do what he wanted to do for many years, which was to actually speak to his mother who is not the Speedforce but indeed the spirit of his mother. Does that stand? Let’s see.

Welcome to Theory Thursday

The Speedforce. A mystical energy that flows through everything and grants power unto certain individuals that the Speedforce terms as “speedsters”. There is the light side to it and a dark side, both fighting for the lives of the speedsters that they empower. In order to understand what the Speedforce exactly is, we need to look at how the DC universe is built up.

First we have the different universes, represented by the circles in the center. These are where the story takes place. Here we have the comic book version of The Flash, another circle would be the one from BVS, the Earth 2 of the T.V. show, the Earth that the Supergirl T.V. show takes place, and The Arrowverse Earth Prime where the majority of the T.V. show takes place. These multiple earths allow all the stories published by DC to exist at the same time. It also allows your head canon to make sense. You are allowed to accept and reject certain aspects of each earth and essentially create your own universe (I have a friend who is doing that. it’s pretty neat on paper).

The different Earths, and by extension Universes, are the numbered circles. the red stuff around that is the speedforce, or at least the best representation of it. traveling between these earths can be done through multiple means (such as a technology device or through magic) but the speedforce remains the primary way for speedsters to get through.

All these universes build up what we term as “The Multiverse”. This is how we get giant cross over events where we have an infinite number of superheroes fighting for the same cause. There are two groups of characters that exist as only one entity between the multiverse and that is The High Father and his followers on New Genesis and Darkseid who rules over apocalypse. These two are the only ones in the multiverse, so the Darkseid that you see in “Justice League” is the same one that is in the comics, T.V. shows and movies. (It’s not talked about much, but what lies above the multiverse is the omniverse which encompasses all fictional universes, allowing DC and Marvel cross overs. What lies above the omniverse according to both DC and Marvel is the God that we worship. It’s not talked about much and it’s definitely false doctrine, but it’s nice to know that it’s acknowledged in the books.)

after defeating the Lex/ Brainiac hybrid,
The Flash entered the Speed Force and
didn't desire to leave because it was so
beautiful.

Now the space between universes that makes travel between them possible is the Speedforce. This allows speedsters to meet each other and travel between worlds with relative ease compared to the other DC characters. This Speedforce is also described as the most beautiful place anyone could go. Heaven. In this scene from “Justice League”, The Flash gets stuck in the Speedforce and doesn’t desire to leave because it’s so beautiful. Now remember that the Speedforce from the animated universe is the same one from the CW show.

Heaven officially resides outside the omniverse, yet the only way to get there according to the DC universe is to go through the Speedforce (be it by running really fast or using a technology or magic device or by diying). An interesting detail about the episode is that while none of the forms that the Speedforce took touched Barry. The presence of his mom did. His mother was also the only entity in the episode that demonstrated a family type connection and contact with him. The theory today- in the episode “Runaway Dinosaur”, Barry was able to talk to the spirit of his mom rather than the Speed force.

Agree? Disagree? Be sure to let me know in the comments and share this article with someone who loves The Flash. Thanks for joining us! Have a great rest of your week.

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