Chapter Summaries

Lin Li battled ZOOM’s countless time remnants while Barry’s group planned to use Overload Gene Collapse serum to stop them. Barry and the others returned to STAR Labs to prepare the serum, but Reverse-Flash, Killer Frost, and Firestorm ambushed them as Lin Li drew the ZOOMs toward the lab.

• Central City evacuated as Mayor Snart warned residents about the emergency, while a broadcast showed Lin Li kill ZOOM and crowds celebrated.
• Countless ZOOM time remnants appeared, and Barry recognized them as a threat that could exhaust Lin Li.
• Harry proposed using the Overload Gene Collapse serum stored at STAR Labs, and Barry told Lin Li to draw the ZOOMs there.
• Barry, Cisco, Harry, and Harry’s daughter returned to STAR Labs, where Reverse-Flash, Killer Frost, and Firestorm were waiting.
• Lin Li agreed to lure the ZOOMs toward STAR Labs and charged at one time remnant as the rest pursued him.

Lin Li drew ZOOM’s time remnants toward STAR Labs while pretending to weaken, as the battle’s approach sent Central City’s civilians fleeing. Inside STAR Labs, Team Flash struggled against the attackers, and the chapter left Barry, Cisco, Harry, and his daughter at a disadvantage.

• Lin Li fought and killed ZOOM’s time remnants while gradually luring them toward STAR Labs, and he hid how much strength he still had.
• A time remnant struck Lin Li from behind, but Lin Li turned and killed him before he could follow up.
• The battle’s lightning disrupted the helicopters and giant screens, and frightened civilians fled as Lin Li’s fight moved closer to STAR Labs.
• Inside STAR Labs, Vibe fought Reverse-Flash, Barry fought Killer Frost, and Harry and his daughter faced Firestorm.
• Cisco failed to use his Vibe ability, was blasted into a wall by Reverse-Flash, and retreated while Barry struggled to get close to Killer Frost.

Barry knocked Killer Frost unconscious at STAR Labs, then left to respond to an explosion while Future Lin Li arrived on Earth-2 and surveyed Central City. Future Lin Li found Barry’s fight with Killer Frost, woke her, and ran toward Lin Li and ZOOM’s battle.

• Barry used a speed phantom to distract Killer Frost, then struck her with a stool and knocked her unconscious.
• Barry heard an explosion and raced toward the fight involving Firestorm and Reverse-Flash.
• Future Lin Li reached Earth-2, examined Central City’s recent events, and learned about the battles at STAR Labs and between Lin Li and ZOOM.
• Future Lin Li found Killer Frost unconscious, flicked the back of her neck to wake her, and ran toward Lin Li and ZOOM.
• Killer Frost woke and shouted, "Genital Man!!!"

Future Lin Li watched Lin Li battle the time remnants and remained determined to help his present self return home. He secretly extracted the original ZOOM and, after promising him greater speed, recruited him to follow the plan involving Barry and Magnestar.

• Future Lin Li watched Lin Li feign exhaustion while fighting ZOOM's time remnants, and silently urged him to succeed.
• Lin Li sensed a powerful presence, but Shanshan 2.0 found no other high-energy reactions besides him and ZOOM.
• Lin Li lured the time remnants into STAR Labs, and Future Lin Li seized the original ZOOM from the pursuing group.
• Future Lin Li carried ZOOM to an alley at extraordinary speed, leaving ZOOM terrified and awestruck.
• Future Lin Li promised ZOOM he could eventually gain similar speed, then outlined a plan involving the time remnants, Barry, and Magnestar, which ZOOM eagerly accepted.

Lin Li ordered Barry and the others to return to Earth-1 while he stayed behind to face ZOOM and the time remnants. Barry defeated Firestorm and evacuated the group, but the wormhole vanished before he could return to Earth-2.

• Lin Li told Barry to take Cisco, Harry, Jessie, and Ironhead back to Earth-1, while Future Lin Li secretly eliminated most of the time remnants threatening them.
• Barry and Cisco found Harry and his daughter fleeing Firestorm, then reached the basement with the others.
• Barry's tornadoes overwhelmed Firestorm and knocked him unconscious.
• Barry made two trips through the wormhole to take Cisco, Harry, Jessie, and Ironhead to Earth-1.
• The wormhole convulsed and disappeared just as Barry tried to return to Earth-2.

Lin Li fought the time remnants on Earth-2, using their overloaded Speed Force and Caitlin’s serum to trigger genetic collapse and destroy them. After the last remnant disappeared, Lin Li discovered that the wormhole had vanished, leaving him stranded on Earth-2.

• Barry, Cisco, and Harry realized the wormhole had closed while Lin Li remained on Earth-2 and agreed to find a way to reopen it.
• Caitlin told Barry and the others that ZOOM had appeared at STAR Labs and kidnapped Joe.
• Lin Li moved through Earth-2 STAR Labs and killed time remnants as their cells collapsed from the serum and repeated Speed Force use.
• Lin Li cut down groups of time remnants with his Vibrational Hand Blade and Tearing Crescent as their genetic collapse worsened.
• Five minutes later, the final time remnants vanished, and Lin Li found that the wormhole had disappeared.

Lin Li waited on Earth-2 until Cisco opened a wormhole and brought him back to Earth-1, where Barry was facing ZOOM. After hearing how ZOOM had returned and threatened Joe, Lin Li headed toward the final battle while wondering why Barry’s Father was still alive.

• Lin Li spent twenty-seven days at STAR Labs on Earth-2, monitoring Central City and waiting for Cisco to open a wormhole.
• Lin Li detected Cisco’s wormhole at Saint Perez Mental Hospital, checked that it was stable, and crossed back to Earth-1.
• Cisco told Lin Li that ZOOM had returned, killed his time remnant, defeated Barry, and forced him to charge Magnestar at the Lordon Levof substation or Joe would die.
• Cisco explained that he had opened the wormhole to bring Lin Li in so he could help Barry fight ZOOM.
• Lin Li learned that Barry’s Father was unharmed and wondered whether someone was steering events back toward the television series.

Lin Li and the others watched Barry’s time remnant sacrifice himself to stop ZOOM from opening a wormhole that would destroy the multiverse. After Lin Li rescued the battered Barry from ZOOM, time wraiths arrived and dragged ZOOM into the Speed Force, while ZOOM’s warning about another enemy targeting Lin Li went unanswered.

• Barry’s time remnant ran around the Magnestar to create an opposite-phase pulse, burning himself up as he canceled the pulse that would have opened the wormhole.
• ZOOM flew into a rage and brutally beat Barry, so Lin Li rescued Barry just before ZOOM could strike again.
• ZOOM told Lin Li that another powerful person had sent him after Lin Li, but a wormhole and the cries of time wraiths interrupted him.
• A silver electrical bolt paralyzed ZOOM, and the time wraiths swarmed over him and dragged him into the wormhole.
• The wormhole vanished, and Lin Li told the others that ZOOM had received the eternal life in the Speed Force he had promised him.

After ZOOM’s defeat, Lin Li trained Barry and Cisco more intensely while preparing to travel back to the day he arrived in their world. He warned them that the journey was dangerous and that he might not return.

• Harry returned to Earth-2, while Jessie and Wally stayed on Earth-1 and the real Jay returned to Earth-3 after rescuing Joe.
• Barry brought Wally to the STAR Labs training room, where Wally watched Lin Li fight Barry and Cisco and longed to become a superhero.
• Lin Li advised Cisco to use his portals offensively and urged Barry to explore the Speed Force beyond running fast.
• Barry asked why Lin Li had intensified their training, and Lin Li revealed that he was preparing to return to the day he had arrived in their world.
• Lin Li told Barry and Cisco that only he could make this journey and warned them that he might die or fail to return.

Lin Li prepared Barry and Cisco for the dangers of his planned time travel, then heard Wally apologize and ask to gain the Speed Force. Lin Li accepted the apology but refused, telling Wally he was seeking glory more than selfless service, and left him to consider what heroism meant.

• Lin Li reflected on his bonds with Team Flash and explained that his attempt to return home could cost him his life.
• Barry and Cisco offered to go with Lin Li, but he told them to keep training and promised to ask for help if needed.
• Wally stayed behind, apologized for insulting Lin Li and his country, and received Lin Li's forgiveness.
• Wally asked Lin Li for the Speed Force so he could protect Central City, and Lin Li refused.
• Lin Li told Wally he wanted the attention and honor of being a superhero more than the work of helping others, then reminded him that even helping an old lady cross the street was heroic.

Lin Li analyzed the divine energy he had collected from Vandal Savage and prepared a possible weapon before setting out to investigate a way home. After saying farewell to his friends at STAR Labs, he raced through Central City and opened a wormhole.

• Lin Li and Shanshan 2.0 analyzed the divine energy and found it was faith combined with a deity’s biological and spiritual power, which Lin Li considered inferior to the Speed Force.
• Lin Li decided the divine energy might help him attack mystical enemies or temporarily restrain the Speed Force, and spent two days preparing it for use.
• Lin Li returned to STAR Labs, where Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris, Joe, Wally, Jessie, and Harry gathered to see him off.
• Lin Li hugged his friends and promised not to forget them before racing through Central City in dark armor.
• Lin Li opened a wormhole as he began his attempt to find a way home.

Lin Li traveled back to the night the Particle Accelerator exploded and entered STAR Labs as Harrison Wells began his presentation. He watched Barry chase a bag thief, knowing the events that would create The Flash were about to begin.

• Lin Li arrived at STAR Labs on the day of the Particle Accelerator explosion and wondered why the Speed Force had not stopped his time travel.
• Lin Li entered the press conference and saw Caitlin, who sensed someone watching her, before he avoided meeting her gaze.
• Barry hinted to Iris that he wanted a relationship, but Iris mistook his feelings for advice about another girl and called them like siblings.
• Harrison Wells took the stage and announced that the Particle Accelerator would usher in a new future.
• A thief snatched Iris's bag, and Barry chased after him as Lin Li prepared for the events that would create The Flash.

Lin Li watched the Particle Accelerator disaster unfold, then saw his past self emerge from a vortex and collide with Barry during a lightning strike. Driven by the hope of returning to reality, Lin Li tried to enter the shrinking vortex, but his future self stopped him and carried him away.

• Lin Li secretly entered the police lab and watched Barry investigate his father's case as the Particle Accelerator failed during a storm.
• A dark-matter wave swept across Central City, and a vortex opened above Barry as he tried to close the skylight.
• Lin Li fell from the vortex and struck Barry, and lightning coursing through the iron chain blasted both of them across the lab.
• Lin Li saw his past self and rushed toward the shrinking vortex, hoping it could take him back to reality.
• Lin Li's future self emerged from the vortex, stopped him with a Demon Claw, and carried him away across Central City as the vortex vanished.

Lin Li’s future self brought him to the coast and explained that the other versions of Lin Li had either died or become trapped in the timeline. He revealed that Lin Li was the only independent version, then left him asking how he could return home.

• Future Lin Li carried Lin Li at impossible speed from Central City to a coastal pavilion, where Shanshan 2.0 returned to Lin Li’s body.
• Future Lin Li told Lin Li that the version who had come before him had died from exhaustion after running through time in search of a way home.
• Future Lin Li explained that Lin Li alone was independent because he had created his own Speed Force instead of accepting the one Shanshan offered.
• Future Lin Li said he had gathered the surviving future versions of Lin Li and come to help Lin Li return and fulfill their lingering obsessions.
• Lin Li asked Future Lin Li how he could get back.

Future Lin Li explained that Lin Li could return to reality only when a timeline reset forced him out of the world, and revealed that Barry’s time travel would trigger that opportunity. Lin Li refused to let Barry’s Father be killed to provoke Barry, but Future Lin Li insisted on proceeding.

• Future Lin Li explained that Lin Li could open a wormhole with the reality frequency when the world rejected him, while Future Lin Li would sacrifice himself to hold off the world’s powers.
• Lin Li agreed to the plan, and Future Lin Li said Barry’s time travel had to create enough temporal disruption to force Lin Li out of the timeline.
• Future Lin Li revealed that he had put ZOOM back on course and planned to make Barry suffer enough to travel back and create Flashpoint.
• Lin Li realized the plan required Barry’s Father to die and protested that he could not accept killing his friend’s father.
• Future Lin Li said he had chosen someone else to carry out the killing, then coldly reminded Lin Li that returning to reality meant seeing Shanshan again.

Lin Li argued with Future Lin Li about creating Flashpoint and the cost of returning home, then received Future Lin Li’s knowledge of reality frequencies and the Speed Force. He awoke the next morning beside Barry’s father and rushed off in search of Future Lin Li.

• Future Lin Li challenged Lin Li to consider whether Barry would sacrifice his world and relationships to help him return home.
• Lin Li accused Future Lin Li of losing his capacity for love, and Future Lin Li insisted Lin Li must return to the real world and resolve their shared love for Shanshan.
• Future Lin Li transferred knowledge about opening a wormhole and using the Speed Force into Lin Li’s mind, causing him to collapse.
• Future Lin Li vanished, and Lin Li remained unconscious overnight while Shanshan 2.0 struggled to process the information.
• An elderly man identified as Barry’s father woke Lin Li the next morning, and Lin Li hurried away using his lightning-charged armor to search for Future Lin Li.

Savitar appeared at STAR Labs and abducted Barry before Lin Li could stop him. Shanshan 2.0 located Barry on satellite surveillance, where the team watched Savitar beat him and then vanish with him again.

• Barry noticed that the others could not see Savitar, put on his Lightning Suit, and confronted him.
• Savitar recognized Barry as the Flash and revealed that he had not disappeared.
• Lin Li returned to STAR Labs, recognized Savitar, and ordered him to leave.
• Savitar took Barry through a passage before Lin Li could catch them.
• Lin Li returned to the control room and had Shanshan 2.0 search for Barry’s Lightning Suit signal.
• Shanshan 2.0 found Barry, and the team watched Savitar attack him before vanishing with him again.

Savitar abducted and brutalized Barry, revealing that he planned to kill Barry's father in three days and claiming Lin Li had changed Barry's destined future. Lin Li recovered the unconscious Barry and, after leaving Iris and Caitlin to watch over him, took Wally and Jessie to the underground training room.

• Savitar dragged Barry across Central City, then stopped at a waterfront helipad and threatened to kill Barry's father in three days.
• Savitar claimed Barry's father had been destined to die fighting ZOOM and taunted Barry that Lin Li knew how to save him.
• Cisco located Barry at the helipad, and Lin Li arrived after Savitar had vanished, finding Barry unconscious and injured.
• Lin Li carried Barry to STAR Labs, where Iris and Caitlin stayed to watch over him.
• Lin Li took Wally and Jessie to the underground training room.

Lin Li told Joe, Harry, Cisco, Wally, and Jessie that he knew the broad outline of their futures and that Barry’s father was fated to die, while wrestling with his guilt and desire to return home. He refused to explain how Barry might save his father without discussing it with Barry first, then turned to the reason he had brought Wally and Jessie underground.

• Lin Li invited Joe, Harry, Cisco, Wally, and Jessie to sit down and discuss Savitar’s threat against Henry.
• Lin Li confirmed that he knew the general outline of their futures and said that major events, including Henry’s death, seemed to return to their destined course.
• Harry realized that someone other than ZOOM might still kill Henry, and Joe insisted that they had to protect him.
• Wally asked whether Lin Li could save Henry, but Lin Li said he would discuss it with Barry and that the decision required Barry’s involvement.
• Harry asked why Lin Li had brought Wally and Jessie to the underground training room.

Lin Li told Wally, Jessie, and their families that Wally and Jessie would become speedsters and Caitlin would gain frost powers, urging them to prepare for those futures. Joe and Harry left to consider his warning, and Barry arrived the next morning asking Lin Li to save his father.

• Lin Li revealed that Wally would become Kid Flash and Jessie would become Jesse Quick, prompting Joe and Harry to object.
• Lin Li argued that the children's futures were inevitable and that gaining their abilities early could help them survive, so Joe and Harry left to think it over.
• Lin Li warned Cisco that Caitlin would gain frost powers and that he should support her when her emotions changed.
• The next morning, Barry came to Lin Li with an injured body and begged him to save his father.