Flash opens fire with the Mirror Gun, shooting Cicada's dagger. Elongated Man leaps in the way of the blasts and prevents it from hitting the dagger, and then solidifies and collapses. He mutters "Cicada" and "Thawne", and Cicada gets her dagger and flies out through the roof.
Later at STAR Labs, Caitlin tells Barry that Ralph's cells are kinetically inverted. The team wonder why Ralph jumped in the way of the blast. Kamilla calls Cisco and he tells Caitlin that he hasn't told her that he's Vibe yet. Caitlin advises him to tell the truth if he's serious about meeting with her.
At the CCPD, Joe and Cecile tell Singh that they got all of the metas waiting for the cure to a secure holding facility. Joe points out that Cicada is still out there and the meta are still in danger. Barry and Nora are there, and Barry assures his daughter that Ralph had a good reason for taking the blast. He finds a piece of wood with no indication of where it came from, and they figure Cicada brought it with her.
At the cabin, Orlin tells Cicada to hit the team when they least expect it. Cicada figures that if she repairs the time sphere, she can take the last of the virus back to the night that the particle accelerator exploded. Orlin tells her to destroy the metas before they destroy the world, and Cicada agrees.
Cisco analyzes the wood fragment and figures that it will lead them to where Cicada is hiding. As he goes to do the work, Caitlin says that she can't figure out a way to reverse the process. Sherloque says that Ralph solves the greatest mystery in the world: why Eobard wants them to destroy the dagger: the dagger is what negates Eobard's powers in the future.
Shinick tells Eobard that it's time for his execution, and says that he had the Flash Museum send over a ring to be buried with Eobard. It's on a chain and Shinick puts it around Eobard's neck.
Sherloque explains that Cicada's dagger has been dampening Eobard's powers. If they destroy it then it will disappear in the future. Nora blames herself for listening to Eobard and walks off, and Sherloque wonders if they stop Cicada or Eobard. Barry insists that they're not going to let thousands of metas die and will stop Cicada and destroy the dagger. Once he leaves, Caitlin tells Cisco to go see Kamilla until the test results on the wood come in.
Cisco goes to Jitters and meets with Kamilla, who is looking at photos for Iris' paper. He explains that he made the cure that Cicada tried to use to destroy the metas, and that he's been working at STAR Labs. Cisco admits that there's a lot that he hasn't told her and demonstrates his vibe powers. Kamilla realizes that he's Vibe, and Cisco tells her that he's seen how hard it is to have two lives and he tried to separate them from Kamilla. However, he doesn't want to keep lying to her, apologizes, and starts to leave. Kamilla stops him and says that she gets it, and it's about him. She says that she would never get in the way of his being Vibe if that's the life he wants.
Barry finds Nora and says that she's like him: blaming herself when things go wrong. He tells his daughter that she made a big mistake, and all they can do is live with the consequences. Barry says that she should ask herself if she will live with her mistakes and move forward, or want a do-over.
Caitlin tends to the unconscious Ralph. Cisco comes in and mentions about Ralph first getting his powers, and they tell Sherloque that they used vulcanization and muscle memory to originally restore Ralph to his form. Sherloque suggests that Vibe blast Ralph to kick-start his consciousness. Cisco does so and Ralph reverts to normal, waking up. His language skills are still backward, and Sherloque figures that they will cure themselves eventually.
The alarm goes off notifying that the wood results are done. They confirm that they're from a wooded park, and Nora says that she has a plan that can stop Cicada and Eobard.
Sherloque explains their plan to Ralph: they use Cecile's telepathy as a detection system. Flash, XS, Killer Frost, Cecile, and Joe go to the cabin and XS explains once they trap Cicada, they'll give Grace the choice to take the cure and once she does, Cicada never comes into existence. Flash tells XS that she will find the words to reach Iris. Cecile snaps at them as she feels Cicada's emotions, and they figure that they're close.
Cicada tells the comatose Grace that the sphere is ready and they can leave. Her dagger glows warning her that metas are nearby.
As Flash, Frost, and XS arrive at the cabin and see the time sphere, Cicada attacks them. Joe snares her with a breaching device, sending her to the containment unit at STAR Labs where the others are ready. The group enters the cabin and XS uses the mental device to link with the young Grace. She finds herself in a mental landscape of the hospital, and Orlin is there as well. He promises that CS will die first.
Cicada hacks away at the containment force field, slowly breaking through it.
XS tells Grace that Orlin took the cure and she's a meta like her uncle. Grace doesn't believe her, and Orlin raises the dagger to kill XS. Another Orlin appears. The "evil" Orlin says that metas killed her parents. The "good" one tells her to take the cure. XS tells Grace that all she has to do is wake up and take the cure.
Cicada shatters the force field.
Grace says agrees to take the cure, and XS comes out of the mental landscape. Grace wakes up and thanks XS.
Cicada flies to the cabin.
XS injects Grace with the cure, and Cicada arrives and drains Flash's and XS' powers. She grabs Joe and blasts Frost back, and throws her dagger, knocking Cecile. Grace screams, and Cicada goes to her. At STAR Labs, they realize that the dark matter in Grace's forehead is counteracting the cure and they have to destroy the dagger.
Cicada prepares to kill XS to get revenge on Flash. Cisco vibes the Mirror Gun to Flash and he destroys the dagger just in time. They watch as the dagger disappears, and Cicada fades out of existence as she's erased from the timestream.
In the future, the dagger disappears just as Shinick pulls the execution switch. Eobard bursts free and kills the guards at superspeed. Shinick drops to his knees and says that he can help him, and Eobard blasts him with his negative speed force and then drives his vibrating hand into the warden's chest. Eobard puts on the ring containing his costume, and Flash and XS reverse time, save Shinick and his men, and arrive. XS tells Eobard that they figured out everything, and Barry explains Eobard's plan.
Eobard says that they both helped him escape. When they contacted him in the Time Vault, XS blurted out about Cicada. Years later, Eobard knew what he had to do: get Nora to trust him like he once got Barry to trust him. He orchestrated the changes that he needed to ensure that he goes free. Eobard dons his costume and speeds off, and splits into two. Flash and XS pursue the separate Reverse-Flashes, and the two of the maneuver Flash and XS into colliding.
Reverse-Flash rejoins and tells XS that no matter what she does, Flash will always vanish because that's his legacy. The villain runs at them, and the time sphere arrives and slams into Reverse-Flash. The rest of the team step out and face Reverse-Flash together. Reverse-Flash notes that he gave Cisco his vibe powers, and they combine their powers and weapons to attack Reverse-Flash. Flash and XS race through a breach that Vibe creates, and he breaches them back so that they can punch Reverse-Flash.
XS grabs Reverse-Flash and removes his mask, and prepares to vibrate her hand through him. her parents yell to her as she starts to fade away. Eobard tells them that they created a new timeline. Flash grabs Eobard, who says that he can save Nora by taking her into the Negative Speed Force which is immune to timeline changes. He admits that he's grown fond of Nora, who showed him what it's like to have a daughter. Eobard tells Barry that he'll see him at the next crisis, and Flash and XS speed away.
Flash tries to take XS into the Negative Speed Force, telling her that she has to do it. She can't and runs back to the others, and Iris tells her to go back. XS warns that if she goes in then the Negative Speed Force will be part of her again, and it's making her like Eobard. She doesn't want to be her legacy, and she repeats Barry's words about how all they can do sometimes is live with the consequences.
Flash and Nora hug XS, who slowly fades away as she's wiped from the timeline.
Later back at STAR Labs in the present, the team offer Barry and Iris their condolences. Joe tells them that they have to believe that they will see Nora again. Sherloque notes that he wouldn't have met Renee without Nora, and he shakes Barry's hand and says that it's been an honor. He assures them that they already have a master detective in their midst, and shakes hands with Ralph. Sherloque then breaches to his Earth where Renee is missing.
Singh texts Joe and Cecile to come to CCPD and bring Barry. Caitlin and Cisco slip away to give Iris time alone. Iris finds Nora's journal on the table and breaks into tears as she picks it up.
In the medbay, Cisco tells Caitlin that he doesn't want the extraordinary thing about his life to be his powers. He tells her that he thought Vibe was the person he's supposed to be, but it's time Cisco got his turn. Cisco tells Caitlin that he wants to take the cure. He knows that there's no going back, and Caitlin says that she and Frost will miss him. Cisco admits that he'll miss them, and Caitlin gives him the cure. he admits that he feels scared but hopeful, and tells Caitlin that he left her something in the workshop to say "thank you" for being a great friend.
At the CCPD, Singh tells Barry, Joe, and Cecile that they'll get Grace in with a good foster family. He thanks them for dealing with Cicada, and says that he's leaving Central City in they're hands. Singh explains that the mayor has offered him a job as the new chief of police. he has to find his replacement and he's chosen Joe. Barry and Cecile congratulate Joe, and Singh tells him that he'll have plenty of help and addresses Barry as Flash.
Iris sits in the Time Vault, and Barry comes in and sits with her. He says that it should feel like a lost, but he also feels pride. Iris agrees, saying that Nora did good and was the best of both of them. Barry figures that Nora was his legacy all along, and he wants to be remembered as a husband and father. Iris assures him that he is and Nora felt that way as well, and gives Barry Nora's journal. They look at the photos Nora collected, and Barry finds a flash drive. He puts it into the computer and plays it, and discover that it's a video log from Nora. She tells them not to be sad because she always wanted to be a hero, and that's why she came there to stop Cicada and save Flash from disappearing in the future. Nora is glad it turned out the way it did and she wouldn't change anything that happened.
Cisco and Kamilla go out together.
Joe sets up at the captain's desk as Cecile hugs him.
Sherloque turns as Renee arrives to meet him.Caitlin finds the costume that Cisco left for her.
Ralph returns to his office and looks through a file about a person named Dearbon.
Nora thanks her parents for making her a hero and loving her even if she wasn't perfect. She promises that she will always love them no matter what the future brings.
Later in the time vault, a time flux arrives and the newspaper changes to show that Flash goes missing in 2019.
Written by Gadfly on May 15, 2019