The Flash season 5 theory: What is Thawne’s actual plan?

Every super-villain has an endgame. We’ve seen that through five seasons of The Flash at this point! Yet, when it comes to one Eobard Thawne, the major surprise is that we don’t seem to have a great idea about his. We’re still waiting and there’s no clear idea as to when the picture will become a tad clear.

What do we know for now? Based on this past episode, it was Nora who first sought him out, meaning that unless he was behind the appearance of Godspeed somehow in that story, he had no plan with her until she revealed herself to him. His plan may have come together after he realized that there was a way in which to use her for the sake of his own survival. We also know that Thawne is never altogether altruistic, so it’s hard to sit here with a straight face and proclaim that he’s just been “trying to help Nora” this whole time. He has a goal; it’s just not entirely clear what it is just yet and we don’t think that it’s strictly just about making Barry mad that he’s working with his daughter. There’s something larger here, something devious but also something that could prove effective for his future.

So what could this plan be? We’ve got a trio of different theories worth diving into below, but we’re sure that there are so many more beyond this. That’s what the comments are for! We of course want to hear some more of what you have to say on this subject.

1. He wants to turn Nora evil – There’s a pretty easy way to imagine this being his mustache-twisting plan. Think about it like this — Nora wanting nothing more than to be close to her father Barry, so there’s nothing that would shatter her emotionally quite like coming to the conclusion that her dad doesn’t actually love her. This would be an incredibly impossible thing for her to grapple with and because of that, it may lead to her starting to channel her heartbreak into rage. This is where Thawne could step in and try to manipulate that rage into something new.

Like we know that Nora wanted nothing more than her father’s love, Thawne wants nothing more than Barry Allen’s destruction. There are few things that would destroy and ruin him for good than the thought that his own daughter is now completely against him. He’s already done a good bit of damage just by working with him in the first place.

2. He wants to make Nora disappear – While the rules of these shows and time travel can often prove convoluted, there is something to be said for the idea that if Thawne drives such a wedge between Barry and Iris when it comes to how their daughter is treated, maybe this leads to them not staying together and Nora never being conceived in the first place. Of course, the flaw in this plan is the idea that if Nora is never born, Thawne isn’t able to orchestrate this plan in the first place. The ripples in time would eventually make it back to him and with him trapped in that cell, that may not get him anywhere.

(We should go ahead and admit here that we not the best person to map out an entire graph of how the Reverse-Flash timeline really works. Trying to follow along with it through five seasons has been difficult, and instead, we’ve taken on the philosophy of trying to just enjoy the story where it is in the now.)

3. He wants to find a way to escape – Maybe this plan is not so extreme as Thawne wanting to turn Nora evil; maybe he just wants her to be emotionally scattered to the point where she helps him escape his current fate. Once that happens, he can presumably travel out of this period of history and then orchestrate whatever his next move will be. This at least gives him an out no matter what happens with the timeline in the present, since we know that Thawne is somewhat of a master at evading time in the first place when given an opportunity to do so.

The endgame beyond the endgame

For the sake of The Flash as a series, we think that there is nothing the writers would love more than to find a way to make the Reverse-Flash the Big Bad at the end of this series. They just have to A) find a way to make that happen and B) continue to build towards it. It’d probably help if we were to know when the final season was going to be. Personally, we see this show going at least seven seasons since it’s hard to envision it and Arrow ending in the same exact year.

Want some more news all about The Flash and what’s ahead?

Then be sure to visit the link here, given that this is where you can get more insight on Tuesday’s “Snow Pack,” an important story when it comes to unlocking more Caitlin Snow backstory.

Beyond that, let us know what you think Eobard Thawne’s final plan is, and what it is that he’s really trying to achieve here. (Photo: The CW.)