With Savitar's return, the Team is in full panic mode, especially when signs point that Savitar has begun to exert some control over Wally's thoughts and mind.
Tropes
- All for Nothing: All of Team Flash's attempts to change the future turn out for naught since Savitar escapes the Speed Force.
- Antagonist Title: "The Wrath of Savitar".
- Apologetic Attacker: Savitar claims that his beef is only with Barry and he doesn't really want to kill Iris; it's not very convincing.
- The Bad Guy Wins: It turns out that Savitar gave Wally his powers from Flashpoint so that he could take his place in the Speed Force. Not only that, but he also injures Barry before he makes his escape.
- Badass Decay: When Savitar first appeared, other speedsters were powerless against him; in this episode Barry can actually give him a decent fight, possibly due to the fact that he is no longer trapped within (and powered directly by) the Speed Force itself.
- Bat Deduction: After getting vibed forward in time and seeing that Future!Iris isn't wearing her wedding ring, Wally jumps to the weird conclusion that Barry only proposed to her in an effort to change the future. It turns out he's right.
- Batman Gambit: Wally is tormented by visions of Savitar telling him that he will never be fast enough, which eventually prompts him to open up a conduit to the Speed Force and throw in the final piece of the Philosopher's Stone. This is exactly what Savitar wanted.
- Blessed with Suck: Because of his high metabolism would burn through any anesthetic, Barry can't be put under when Team Flash have to remove Savitar's blade from his crushed clavicle. He actually passed out from how painful the whole thing was.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: During the fight in the end, Savitar could have killed Barry right then and there, but decides to let him live so he can see Iris die in front of him, giving Barry more time to stop him. Subverted when Savitar's origin story is revealed.
- Breaking Speech: Savitar delivers a lengthy one towards Team Flash when he possesses Julian.
- Bring My Brown Pants: H.R's response to seeing Julian possessed by Savatar both times.
- Call-Back: Team Flash try to speak to Savitar through Julian again, and this time he wants no part in it (although he reluctantly goes with it anyway).
- Can't Kill You, Still Need You: Interestingly Savitar is waiting for the right time to kill Iris instead of finishing her off right when he escapes.
- Circling Monologue: Savitar reveals his entire ploy to get out of the Speed Force to Barry this way after he sends Wally to take his place. What makes it work is that the show upgraded Savitar to a guy in a suit this time around, giving Grant Gustin something to react to.
- Create Your Own Villain: Savitar claims Barry created him, though he's very mum on the details. However, when Barry asks him to elaborate he seemingly contradicts himself by then stating that he created himself. As it later turns out, both are true.
- Cross Counter: Barry and Savitar's fight begins with them punching each other at the same time and both being sent flying.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Barry puts up a far better fight against Savitar compared to their last encounter, and came very close to unmasking him before he was impaled. And he managed to shrug that off long enough to cut the blade Savitar stabbed him with.
- Darkest Hour: Savitar escapes, and Wally is trapped in the Speed Force itself.
- Dead Person Conversation: Wally has one of these with his mother. Or, rather, Savitar impersonating his mother, as he quickly figures out.
- Downer Ending: Savitar manages to break free from the Speed Force in exchange of Wally taking his place and Iris quietly cancels her engagement to Barry.
- Dramatic Unmask: Barry nearly does this to Savitar, but he's able to swat Barry away.
- Equivalent Exchange: Savitar's escape from the Speed Force apparently requires that Wally take his place there.
- Evil Gloating:
- Savitar indulges in a lengthy one once he's freed. Barry only let him carry on as long as he did since Barry was still reeling from Wally's fate.
- He also does this when he's talking through Julian. In fact Savitar does this almost anytime he talks to anyone.
- Failed a Spot Check: Apparently Team Flash failed to notice the giant Savitar statue sitting outside of Central City until the events of the episode prompt Barry to go question his acolytes.
- Hypocrite: Barry accuses Wally of keeping secrets in regards to Savitar, while doing the same with his engagement to Iris. Wally calls him out on it.
- It's All My Fault: At the end of the episode, Caitlin tearfully apologizes for being stupid enough to keep the Philosopher's Stone which allowed Savitar to escape. Barry counters as he tells her it's his fault — since if he hadn't created Flashpoint, Savitar would never have been given the chance to escape.
- Jerkass Ball: Barry grabs it as he lets his obsession to change the future cloud his judgement - specifically his rushed engagement to Iris and overtly harsh treatment Wally only drives him further into Savitar's clutches.
- Kick the Dog: One of Savitar's cultists unabashedly tells Barry to move up the date of the wedding.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Wally says that he has been seeing visions of Savitar for a week.
- Mind Rape: Savitar to both Wally and Julian; the latter is not happy when Team Flash asks him to undergo this.
- Mood Whiplash: The practice race and impromptu engagement celebration in STAR Labs at the beginning sharply contrasts the tone for the rest of the episode.
- Motive Rant: An interesting version by Savitar, as he rants about how Barry and his friends are the reason for his misery, but he doesn't reveal what exactly happened.
- Mythology Gag
- Wally's "fight" with Savitar all being in his head, not unlike Slade's post-mortem hurrah against Robin in Teen Titans.
- All that's left of Wally is his tattered costume. Here we are flashing back to Crisis on Infinite Earths again.
- Savitar tells Barry that "it was me the whole time."
- Narcissist: Savitar is clearly obsessed with his godhood as he can't go one second without talking about it - in fact he's obsessed with getting Barry to worship him as one.Savitar (speaking through Julian): "Back to worship me again?"
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
- In retrospect, Barry throwing the Philosopher's Stone into the Speed Force since that's where his future self imprisoned Savitar — of course he had no way to know that until it was too late. Same goes for Wally throwing the missing piece.
- Caitlin found a small piece of the Philosopher's Stone and kept it to see if she could get rid of her powers — and it allows Savitar to escape. Barry doesn't hold it against her since he let his fear of the Bad Future start all of this. This is also arguably a subversion, because if she had not kept it Savitar would have escaped even sooner.
- Turns out Barry creating Flashpoint where Wally was Kid Flash gave Savitar the idea to turn Wally into Kid Flash in the new timeline as part of his plan to escape imprisonment.
- Barry putting Wally on the bench since nobody on the team is sure how Savitar messing with Wally works. Doing so just alienates Wally and causes him to make the rash decisions that allow Savitar to take him.
- Wally's attempt to save Iris by throwing the piece of the Stone into the Speed Force backfires and results in him getting sucked into the Speed Force and releasing Savitar. Not only is Savitar free, but Wally, Barry's best chance of stopping Savitar, is no longer in play.
- Plot Hole: Joe asks Barry why he didn't ask for his blessing to propose to Iris. In the previous episode, Barry said Joe gave him the ring that night.
- Punch Catch: Barry blocks one of Savitar's strikes by catching his wrist, then twists his arm behind his back and attempts to pull Savitar's mask off before the villain stabs him.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Savitar gives a rather short, but extremely dead-on version to Cisco.Savitar (speaking through Julian): "That's because you're small, Cisco. You've always been small. Reverb told you that you could've been a god. But instead you'd rather work as...tech support."
- Reflexive Response: Wally really had no reason to speed up to his sister's side since he should've remembered that everything he witnessed was just a vision.
- The Reveal:
- Future!Barry trapped Savitar in the Speed Force, and since the Speed Force exists outside of time he was able to observe Flashpoint. It gave him the idea to recreate all of the Flashpoint metahumans so he could get Wally to take his place.
- The Philosopher's Stone is actually a Dismantled MacGuffin just before Barry chucked it into the Speed Force, and the other piece...is in Caitlin's hands.
- Two out of Savitar's three prophecies are seemingly fulfilled: Caitlin admitted to betraying Team Flash by keeping a piece of the Philosopher's Stone, and Wally is now stuck in the Speed Force in Savitar's stead. Only one left.
- Reverse Psychology: Savitar uses this on Wally to great effect. He tells Wally that he isn't fast enough to open a portal to the speed force and throw the stone in, when in truth Wally is fast enough and Savitar knows it, and would very much like for him to do so.
- Shout-Out:
- When H.R. and Wally finally convince Cisco to show Wally the vision, the latter dejectedly tells Wally to "Come on down!" in a familiar inflection.
- Savitar references the myth of "Hercules and the Golden Apples," specifically how Atlas tricked Hercules into holding the sky for him — when he has Wally take his place in the Speed Force.
- When discussing using Julian as a mouthpice for Savitar, Cisco calls him Linda Blair.
- Barry describes Savitar's Acolytes as doing "Some serious Temple Of Doom stuff."
- Stable Time Loop: Just like Jay warned Barry, his attempts at stopping the Bad Future only ensured it would come to pass.
- Specifically, Barry proposes to Iris because he knows that in the future she wasn't wearing an engagement ring, in hopes of changing the future. But when Iris discovers this was his primary motivation to propose to her, she breaks off the engagement, thus potentially reinforcing her fate.
- Spoiler Title: "The Wrath of Savitar" shows that the Big Bad is on his way back to Earth-1.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: STAR Labs as usual. Wally was able to run in and swipe the piece of the Philosopher's Stone without anyone even noticing. Granted, he's authorized to enter STAR Labs anyway, but it's still pretty questionable for them to not track when people take equipment. Especially the key to a supervillain's prison.
- Took a Level in Badass: Despite fighting a losing battle, Barry fares far better this time against Savitar, managing to keep up on foot and getting in a few good blows—blows that actually look like they hurt. Even when he gets stabbed by Savitar, Barry almost immediately pulls a Reverse-Flash and severs the blade.
- Villain Protagonist: From Savitar's perspective, Barry is this.
- Virtue Is Weakness: Savitar boasts that Barry will never defeat him because he lacks the willingness to kill.
- Wham Episode: Savitar cons Wally into breaking him out of the Speed Force in exchange of the latter taking his place and Iris cancels her engagement to Barry after finding out that he only proposed to prevent her death in the future.
- Wham Shot:
- During a run to an emergency at the beginning of the episode, Barry runs back to check what is keeping Wally. We know Wally is apparently being thrashed around by Savitar, but we now see the fight from Barry's perspective, and no one is there.
- Happens in-universe to Wally when he asked Cisco to show the events of Iris' death, and he saw Iris is not wearing her ring.
- The shot earlier is repeated at the closing scene of the episode, so Iris can wordlessly inform Barry that their engagement's off.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Barry blows up in Wally's face for hiding the fact he's been seeing visions of Savitar for a week.
- Wally blows up at Barry for getting engaged to Iris to try to change the future — there was no ring when Savitar killed her.
- Jesse gently chastises Wally for the above, pointing out there was a better way and time to do it.
- Iris' feelings to it are more complicated as she still loves Barry but she wants to be his wife not his pet Damsel in Distress.
- Julian blows up at Caitlin for keeping a piece of the Philosopher's Stone, questioning why she asked him to be on the team and if her feelings for him are genuine. He is also upset with Barry about being asked to be possessed by Savitar twice.
- You Can't Fight Fate: It sure seems like it at the end of the episode, with everything moving forward to fit the vision of the future where Iris is killed.
- Your Size May Vary: During some scenes, Savitar looks almost the same height as Barry, as opposed to his utterly towering stature from earlier on.
