The Flash season 8, episode 4 review: Armageddon, Part 4

“You’re not The Flash, Allen. I am.” Spoilers for The Flash season 8, episode 4 follow.

Venturing into the future to attempt to avert Armageddon, The Flash comes across the biggest shock so far: Thawne has changed the timeline again.

But this time, the changes are arguably more game-changing than ever. In this new future, Thawne has become the hero of his own story and Barry is now the villain.

Could he stop his archenemy once and for all? Here’s everything that happened in The Flash season 8, episode 4 “Armageddon, Part 4”.

Reverse

Welcome back, Eobard. Is it really a proper Flash story without the inclusion of at least a Reverse-Flash in some shape or form? Not really in this writer’s opinion and it’s so great to see him back here, especially with Tom Cavanagh reprising the role. The role reversal of Eobard being The Flash instead is not the most innovative thing in the world, but Cavanagh’s performance completely sells it and it works because of that.

It’s also nice that the explanation for this version of the timeline is done and over incredibly quickly. Yes, Thawne created a Reverse-Flashpoint. Yes, every bit of this timeline is his fault. And yes, he thinks that he won because this world is his creation. It’s something that could’ve been drawn out and played as a mystery, but this isn’t what’s done because everyone watching knew that it was Thawne’s fault. But the best part of this is the reveal that Thawne killed Barry as a child, thus forcing him onto a strict timeline to fix the timeline.

And, as it’s hinted at, Despero is from this false timeline that Thawne created, not the true future that was originally shown in “Green Arrow and the Canaries,” and that the Armageddon Despero was presumably speaking of was Barry’s attempt to fix the timeline; not destroy it.

Into the Darhk in The Flash season 8

Thawne isn’t the only villain to return in this episode though, as Damien Darhk is back as well and this time, he’s murdered the Legends of Tomorrow with, apparently, Barry. Darhk is very much a welcome surprise in this episode. It’s always great to see Neal McDonough back in the role and he chews the scenery so well as always.

His return also creates a very different dynamic for Barry in this episode. Barry is, quite frankly, a terrible actor and terrible at pretending to be evil, so it’s great that Darhk just sees through him relatively quickly. It would’ve been very easy to play up this version of Darhk as dumber than his main counterpart, but it’s great that they didn’t do that because it would’ve felt incredibly cheap to do so.

This refusal to dumb down the character leads very well into his motivation to help Barry restore the proper timeline: Saving Nora. In this version of the timeline, Nora is dead and so Darhk basically takes the position that Thomas Wayne does in the Flashpoint story in the comics. He doesn’t care if he dies, as long as his child gets to live. It’s a great character motivation and falls in line perfectly for him after all of his appearances in Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow.

Another small thing regarding Darhk’s appearance here. He always felt like more of a fit in The Flash than in Arrow and this episode pretty much affirms that.

Cold team

As for Team Flash in this episode, we get to see the differences between them and their true counterparts. This version is much colder and much less like the family that we see from the main team is. They are, especially in Cecile’s case, much more militant in action. They’re all still good people, but it’s the small differences that just ensure you don’t get completely comfortable in this new timeline.

The character development that’s on display for them in this episode, though, it’s honestly a waste of time as it’s all reset at the end of the episode. There are several good scenes between the team, but unfortunately they mean absolutely nothing.

Despite a few missteps, The Flash season 8 regains its momentum after nearly losing it in the previous episode.

The Flash season 8 airs on The CW on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET.

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Have you been enjoying The Flash season 8? What did you think of the most recent episode? Let us know in the comments below!