Chapter Summaries

Lin Li destroyed the Electric Field Convergence Devices and regained control of his magnetic field, but Wells triggered the Thunderstorm matrix early as part of a plan to trap Lin Li in the coming black hole. Lin Li realized Wells intended to kill him and vowed revenge.

• Lin Li fired his Superconducting Railgun at the Electric Field Convergence Devices while Tony charged him, and the shots destroyed the devices.
• Lin Li used the Demon Claw to crush Tony, who had already lost his will and ability to feel pain under Wells's control, and told Barry that Tony had died long ago.
• Lightning strikes spread across Central City as Lin Li realized the Thunderstorm matrix had been triggered, while Wells watched the gathering storm with satisfaction.
• The black clouds unleashed hundreds of thousands of lightning bolts across Central City, then continued churning after the brief storm passed.
• Lin Li concluded that Wells planned to make him enter a black hole and then close the wormhole, leaving him trapped inside, and swore revenge on Eobard Thawne.

Lightning Rider triggered the black hole above Central City and plunged into it as Reverse-Flash watched. The black hole continued to expand, leaving the city and the world facing destruction.

• Lightning Rider told Barry that the black hole had opened before a pillar of light carried him into the Thunderstorm matrix.
• The dark clouds vanished, and Cisco realized that their energy had formed a black hole above the clock tower.
• The black vortex expanded and began pulling debris skyward, terrifying the people of Central City.
• Barry demanded that Lightning Rider close the black hole, while Reverse-Flash watched from inside the clock tower.
• Shanshan 2.0 told Lightning Rider it was time to go home, and he shot into the black hole with debris as Reverse-Flash sneered.

Lin Li entered the black hole and began opening a wormhole with Shanshan 2.0, while Reverse-Flash threw a fusion reactor into the black hole to destroy it and strand Lin Li. A mysterious armored figure emerged through a wormhole near Laser Way Enterprises and sped toward the black hole.

• Lin Li positioned himself 12.45 kilometers inside the black hole and deployed the Wormhole Stabilizer with Shanshan 2.0.
• Reverse-Flash revealed he had prepared a powerful High-Energy Cluster Fusion Ark Reactor to create a black hole and decided to use it against Lin Li.
• Reverse-Flash hurled the reactor into the black hole, then vanished while Barry watched and focused on the growing threat.
• A black-armored figure emerged from a space-time wormhole in an alley near Laser Way Enterprises, pursued by Time Wraiths and skeletons.
• The armored figure saw the black hole and rushed toward it, calling for someone to wait for him.

Barry and Firestorm faced a rapidly expanding black hole while Lin Li crossed a wormhole to another Earth. Lin Li arrived in space but collided with an escape pod and a meteor, then appeared at the clock tower and asked Barry whether he had gone in.

• Barry called for Dr. Wells and Cisco, but Firestorm said the black hole had disrupted communications.
• Firestorm said the Firestorm matrix could detonate to stop the black hole, leaving Barry stunned at the prospect of his sacrifice.
• Lin Li and Shanshan 2.0 opened a wormhole to an Earth that might be his real world, and Lin Li crossed through it.
• An escape pod struck Lin Li, damaging several Gravitational Balance Field Devices; he shoved the pod away and sent it toward Earth.
• Lin Li noticed a meteor bearing down on him, then appeared at the clock tower and asked Barry and Firestorm whether he had gone in.

Future Lin Li arrived just as Firestorm prepared to self-destruct and told him the black hole would disappear. Inside it, Lin Li struggled to stop a meteorite from striking Earth until another armored version of Lin Li arrived, pulverized the meteorite with one punch, and carried him away.

• Future Lin Li appeared before Barry and Firestorm, told Barry that Lin Li had gone into the black hole, and warned Firestorm not to self-destruct.
• Future Lin Li ran into the black hole, leaving Barry convinced that Lin Li would resolve the crisis.
• Inside the black hole, Lin Li tried to hold back a nearly seven-kilometer meteorite as Earth’s gravity dragged it toward the planet.
• Clark Kent prepared to save Lin Li, but another armored figure arrived in a flash of silver light.
• The arriving figure punched the meteorite into atoms, then took Lin Li and vanished while Clark watched in shock.
• Clark returned to Earth, where a tremendous uproar had already erupted.

Dr. Wells believed he had killed Lin Li by throwing the reactor into the black hole, but Future Lin Li rescued him and helped restore him to normal. Before disappearing with Barry 2, Future Lin Li warned Lin Li that the Speed Force could lead him home or cause him to fail, leaving Lin Li wondering how many timelines his future self had crossed.

• Dr. Wells celebrated the apparent destruction of the black hole until Cisco reported that it had closed and Barry was safe.
• Future Lin Li emerged from the black hole carrying Lin Li and asked Barry to use the light radiation device to return Lin Li's eyes and armor to normal.
• Lin Li thanked Barry, then kept Barry 2 behind so Future Lin Li could take him back to his own world.
• Future Lin Li recounted visions of Lin Li's possible deeds and told him that the Speed Force could bring success or failure, urging him to believe in himself.
• Future Lin Li escaped through a wormhole with Barry 2 as countless Time Wraiths pursued them, leaving Lin Li to wonder how many timelines his future self had crossed.

After Lin Li emerged from the black hole, Wells learned he was alive and feared being exposed, so he decided to abandon his Wells identity. As Lin Li returned to STAR Labs with Barry and Firestorm, Reverse-Flash abducted Eddie, setting up a new confrontation.

• Barry reported that the black hole had vanished and Lin Li had returned to normal, while Wells froze at the news that Lin Li had survived.
• Wells checked the future in the Time Vault, saw that The Flash still vanished in the crisis, and decided he could no longer remain Wells.
• Lin Li apologized to Firestorm for losing control and promised to restore his arm and separate him and Ronnie.
• Barry lost contact with Cisco and Caitlin, then Joe told him that a streak of red lightning had taken Eddie.
• Barry recognized that the abductor was the man who had killed his mother, and Lin Li identified him as Reverse-Flash.

Lin Li revealed that Wells was the Reverse-Flash who killed Barry’s mother, then helped Barry face his helplessness and investigate the team’s disappearance. They discovered the Reverse-Flash had abducted Cisco, Caitlin, and Eddie and was heading for Star City, so they prepared to pursue him and seek help from Green Arrow.

• Lin Li told Barry that Wells was the Reverse-Flash and had killed his mother, and Barry broke down over being unable to catch him.
• Lin Li comforted Barry and promised to help him capture the Reverse-Flash and clear his father’s name.
• Barry and Lin Li found STAR Labs empty and discovered that Cisco, Caitlin, Wells, and the metahumans from the prison were gone.
• Lin Li tracked the Reverse-Flash carrying Cisco, Caitlin, and Eddie toward Star City and explained that Eddie was his ancestor.
• Lin Li sent Barry to warn Green Arrow and help with the boomerang criminal while he planned to recharge and use the Resurrection Coffin to heal Oliver.

Lin Li restored the heroes’ missing limbs and organized the response to Reverse-Flash’s kidnappings and Captain Boomerang. The team split up, with Barry, Firestorm, and Team Arrow heading to Star City while Lin Li and Joe stayed to protect Central City.

• Lin Li used the Resurrection Coffin to restore Ronnie and Martin’s arms and Oliver’s leg, but Oliver refused Lin Li’s suggestion to give him a fiery Firestorm leg.
• Diggle attacked Lin Li over Oliver’s injury, then learned Oliver’s leg had been restored and was left unsure whether to be angry or relieved.
• Lin Li resumed command and sent Barry and Firestorm to Star City with Oliver’s team to investigate Reverse-Flash and help with Captain Boomerang.
• Oliver and Diggle said Team Arrow could handle Boomerang without Barry’s help, but Lin Li directed everyone to go to Star City so they could face Reverse-Flash together and avoid military attention.
• Ronnie agreed to go because Caitlin was being held by Reverse-Flash, while Lin Li and Joe stayed in Central City to deal with any metahumans who appeared.

Eddie, Cisco, and Caitlin woke up bound in a remote cabin and worked together to free themselves. Eddie found no guard outside, but red lightning appeared in the darkness as the story left them facing a new danger.

• Eddie woke up in a cabin with Cisco and Caitlin, and the three realized they had been kidnapped.
• Cisco explained that a red flash had appeared before he and Caitlin lost consciousness, and Caitlin recalled files flying as if caught in a gale.
• Cisco used his Escape Ring to cut through their nylon ropes, while Caitlin revealed she had brought a Soft Blade Belt.
• The trio discovered their Comms Locators had been taken, but Eddie still had his gun and led the way to check outside.
• Eddie found no one guarding the cabin and saw red lightning appear in the darkness.

Reverse-Flash revealed himself as Dr. Wells and admitted that he had murdered Barry’s mother, leaving Cisco, Caitlin, and Eddie captive as Cisco realized Wells was Eddie’s descendant from the future. Wells began to explain his plan while Lin Li moved invisibly through Central City, where Team Flash and Team Arrow had already left.

• Reverse-Flash revealed that he was the man who murdered Barry’s mother, then removed his hood and showed Cisco, Caitlin, and Eddie that he was Dr. Wells.
• Caitlin broke down in tears, Cisco froze in shock, and Eddie offered to remain as Wells’s hostage if he would release Cisco and Caitlin.
• Cisco connected the Y-chromosome match to Eddie and concluded that Wells was Eddie’s descendant from the future.
• Wells praised Cisco’s deduction, while Cisco and Caitlin demanded to know why Wells had murdered Barry’s mother.
• Wells said he had time to explain his plan, while Lin Li invisibly walked through Central City after Barry, Firestorm, and Team Arrow had left.

Lin Li secretly healed the people injured by him in Central City and arranged compensation, while remaining hated by the public. Meanwhile, Reverse-Flash gathered several criminals and proposed forming the Rogues Gang.

• Lin Li listened to Central City's residents condemn Lightning Rider and accepted that he had to make amends for the harm he caused.
• Lin Li visited an injured girl in the hospital, used the Resurrection Coffin to heal her, and left without revealing himself.
• The girl woke the next morning, realized Lightning Rider had survived, and cried with relief.
• Everyone in Central City who had survived Lightning Rider's attacks recovered from their physical injuries, and some harmed families received subsidies from the Danger Fund.
• Snart and Heat Wave arrived at Reverse-Flash's warehouse meeting, where Reverse-Flash named the assembled criminals and proposed they become the Rogues Gang.

Reverse-Flash recruited a group of rogues to keep The Flash occupied, revealing that he wanted to pursue his own plans. After killing Blackout to enforce his demands, he left Snart and Heat Wave to form their own Rogues Gang and prepare for a dangerous confrontation with The Flash.

• Blackout demanded Wells's location, Weather Wizard Mark asked who had killed his brother, and the others questioned Reverse-Flash about his goal.
• Reverse-Flash said The Flash had killed Mark's brother, and Mark left to investigate and confront him.
• Reverse-Flash offered to reveal Wells's location if Blackout caused trouble for three days, but killed him by tearing out his heart when he refused to wait.
• Reverse-Flash ordered the remaining rogues to distract The Flash, and Green Goblin left, vowing to kill him.
• Snart agreed to deal with The Flash on his own terms, then left with Heat Wave to recruit partners and form their own Rogues Gang.

Lin Li coordinated the search for Reverse-Flash while questioning Barry about what he planned to do after capturing his mother's killer. Reverse-Flash revealed that he had sent metahumans to create chaos in Central City, forcing Barry to return while he worked on something else.

• Barry told Lin Li that he had searched Star City for five hours without finding Reverse-Flash, and Lin Li directed him to search sewers and basements and seek help from the metahuman joint investigation unit.
• Lin Li asked Barry whether he intended to capture or kill Reverse-Flash, but Barry said he could only focus on catching him and clearing his father's name.
• Reverse-Flash spoke over the communicator, and Lin Li traced the transmission to a warehouse in Central City.
• Reverse-Flash announced that Snart, Heat Wave, Weather Wizard, and other metahumans would cause chaos in Central City while he worked on something else.
• Reverse-Flash taunted Lin Li that he could not reach multiple endangered people in time, and Lin Li agreed that Barry would return to Central City to handle the metahumans.
• Lin Li demanded that Reverse-Flash return Cisco and Caitlin.

Lin Li used Eddie’s safety to pressure Reverse-Flash into releasing Cisco and Caitlin and abandoning his schemes. Reverse-Flash offered to release Caitlin first in exchange for a promise that Eddie would not be harmed after he returned to the future.

• Lin Li agreed that Barry would return to Central City and deal with the metahumans if Reverse-Flash returned Cisco and Caitlin.
• Reverse-Flash said he had been working to return to the future and claimed Eddie was under his control.
• Lin Li threatened to arrange a vasectomy for Eddie so Reverse-Flash would never be born, and Barry, Joe, and Iris reacted to the plan.
• Lin Li challenged Reverse-Flash to explain how he would protect Eddie after returning to the future, driving Reverse-Flash into a furious outburst.
• Reverse-Flash offered to release Caitlin first if Lin Li guaranteed Eddie would not be harmed, and Lin Li agreed on everyone’s behalf.

Lin Li studied the warnings left by Future Lin Li and developed a magnetic technique to keep pace with speedsters while seeking a way home. Caitlin reported that Mark Mardon had formed an F5 tornado, and Barry rushed to respond as Snart and Heat Wave reached a prison cell through the sewers.

• Lin Li and Shanshan 2.0 reasoned that Future Lin Li was a remnant of failed futures and that choosing the Speed Force might help him return home but could trap him in this world.
• Lin Li merged with Shanshan 2.0 and used Overclocked Super-Speed Thinking to test a magnetic connection that could let him follow speedsters.
• Caitlin told Lin Li that Mark Mardon had created an F5 tornado in the forest where his brother Brad Mardon had once made one, and said Barry had already left.
• Snart and Heat Wave arrived in the sewers beneath Iron Mountain Prison, at the line below a solitary cell.

Lin Li used Central City’s surveillance network to coordinate police responses and track Roy G. Babble after the Rainbow Raider incited a riot at City Hall. His search led Joe and a police team to Roy’s hideout, where they found him severely injured and captured him.

• Lin Li told Barry to help Oliver in Star City before returning to Central City, where Lin coordinated police responses to ordinary crimes through surveillance.
• Lin detected that four City Hall cameras had been destroyed and learned that a press conference there had erupted into a riot.
• Lin identified Roy G. Babble as the Rainbow Raider and told Joe to get the light refractor from STAR Labs while he tracked Roy through nearby cameras.
• Lin and Shanshan 2.0 analyzed two days of footage and triangulated Roy’s location in the Old City.
• Joe led police to Dunley Betsa and captured Roy, who lay in a pool of blood with broken limbs and gouged-out eyes.

Barry and the team investigated the criminals’ coordinated attacks while Lin Li used surveillance and behavioral analysis to hunt them. Lin Li concluded that Captain Cold was directing the criminals and that the conflict would become a contest of intelligence and psychology.

• Barry stopped a tornado outside Central City, while James Jesse escaped Iron Mountain Prison through a blasted sewer.
• Barry recognized the tornado as a diversion and worried that Reverse-Flash’s criminals were exploiting his reduced speed to cause trouble across the city.
• Lin Li said he had tracked down Roy G. Babble and sent him to prison, and Barry objected to the brutal injuries Roy had suffered.
• Lin Li explained that Shanshan 2.0 had identified fifty-two possible hideouts, but he had found only Roy G. Babble because the other criminals had already left.
• Lin Li concluded that Captain Cold had learned how the team operated and was organizing the criminals for a targeted contest of intelligence and psychology.

Lin Li warned that Snart’s organized group would likely target Barry and identified the charity banquet or casino ship as possible targets. Snart’s gang prepared a plan to use Mark as bait while pursuing a hidden objective and making Barry fall.

• Lin Li identified Snart, Mark, Heat Wave, and The Magician as a group and warned that Snart’s gang might target Barry because he had caught Snart and was linked to Blaine Mardon’s death.
• Lin Li and Joe identified the charity banquet and casino ship as likely targets, while Joe urged police to secure Lady Gaga’s concert as well.
• Lin Li sent Barry to connect the casino ship’s network to STAR Labs and investigate the waterfront warehouses where Reverse-Flash had gathered the criminals.
• At a waterfront basement, Heat Wave argued with Mark until Snart ordered them to stand down and explained that Mark would serve as bait against Lightning Rider.
• Snart said his gang would strike the casino ship while pursuing a hidden objective, and vowed to make The Flash fall.

Barry and the others investigated the casino ship, where they discovered Axel Walker had been planted among its temporary staff to scout for Snart. An alarm then showed Joe back at the waterfront warehouse where Blackout’s body had been found.

• Barry and Iris boarded the casino ship while Caitlin and Ronnie entered with companions, and Barry learned that nearly a hundred employees had been poisoned and replaced by temporary hires.
• Barry searched the ship at super speed while Ronnie confirmed that some of the staff were new, and the team connected to the ship’s network through its server room.
• Barry reported that none of the temporary employees appeared to be Snart’s people, but Lin Li reviewed their profiles and identified Axel Walker as Snart’s scout.
• An alarm linked to Joe appeared on the control room map, showing him at the waterfront warehouse where Blackout’s body had been collected.