Top 15 Moments of The Flash: Armageddon

When The Flash: Armageddon was first announced, it was met with loads of excitement and tons of speculation. Which heroes were going to guest star? Who was going to be the big bad of the event?

As information slowly leaked out, the hype grew into a massive ball of anticipation just waiting to explode. It almost got to the point that the show couldn’t possibly meet our expectations — keyword, almost.

When the moment finally came for the event to begin, everyone tuned in with their breath held, and their eyes wide open. There was no way we were going to miss a second of action, drama, or Easter eggs.

After all, we had to wait over a year before we could see characters like the Flash and Ray Palmer fight side by side. We contemplated past 525,600 minutes to know how Ryan Wilder would react to Barry Allen.

And we had to ponder for more than 31,536,000 seconds if The CW’s version of the Justice League could make it without Oliver Queen.

Surprisingly enough, all that waiting paid off!

Each action scene built on the other exponentially. Every dramatic piece of dialogue enabled the actors to shine. All five episodes gave us more than we could have ever asked for.

With that being said, here is a list of 15 moments, in no particular order, that made this crossover event the most memorable, exhilarating, and praiseworthy since the creation of the multiverse.

1. Despero’s first appearance

Armageddon started like any other season of The Flash, catching up with our favorite characters who we haven’t seen in a couple of months. Everything played off fine and dandy while Team Flash rounded up the villains of the week and handed them off to CCPD.

Nothing too exciting overall, until a creature with three eyes and a mohawk showed up.

Not only did Despero, an alien from the planet Kalanor, show up with fists of fury, he also came with an earth-shattering prophecy. If every word he said was true, Despero wouldn’t be the villain of the event, it would be The Flash himself.

As he showed Barry glimpses of the future, things began to look very grim for Central City and the entire world. It appeared that Barry’s very bad day could spell out destruction for the human race.

2. The Hall of Justice

The Invasion crossover gave us our first taste of The Hall of Justice. It was an expert rendering of what we saw in comics for years, but once that event ended, we never caught sight of it again.

With the death of Arrow’s Oliver Queen and the retirement of Black Lightning, it seemed like The CW’s Justice League had met an early fate — fizzling out before they had their chance to truly shine.

Fortunately, this presumption proved to be false.

When Despero’s prophecy began to appear to be the truth, Barry played it safe and contacted his assigned partner to enact a plan with the codename: Injustice. Of course, the best meeting place for everything to go down would have to be The Hall of Justice.

Besides being a strategic location for information to be unloaded, The Hall of Justice became a battleground for one of the greatest clashes of the event. Fists were shaken, lightning bolts were thrown, and memorials were destroyed all in the hope of making things right.

3. Cecile’s Breakdown

Although a minor hero in the ranks of Team Flash, Cecile Horton is a character we all know and love. Without her expertise in law and her empath abilities, our group of heroes would be missing key components in the war against the evil metahumans of Central City.

Sadly, Cecile is often sidelined by characters who can fight in hand-to-hand combat. Luckily, this event gave her a meaty role to chew on.

The emotional charge Cecile gave The Flash Season 8 Episode 2, “Armageddon Part 2,” was enough to bring tears to our eyes. Her tremendous grief weighed heavily on us all as she broke into tears openly weeping at her loss.

Danielle Nicolet’s performance was spot on, capturing our hearts and ripping them from our chests. Her character’s loss was our loss, and Nicolet would be damned if we didn’t feel it in our souls.

4. Black Lightning vs. The Flash

Not long ago, Jefferson Pierce hung up his tights and handed the reigns over to his daughters, Thunder and Lightning.

It appeared his days of battling the criminals of Freeland had come to a close, and the man could relax knowing everything was taken care of. That was until The Flash zoomed back into his life and whispered a word he hoped to never hear — injustice.

As Barry explained the scenario to his trusted ally, the two couldn’t come to terms with what they should do next. Barry insisted his powers be taken away from him, while Jefferson knew there had to be a better way. A fit of rage and dominance turned a disagreement into a brawl, and we were the beneficiaries.

When a hero fights a villain, we always know who is going to win in the end, but when a hero fights another hero, all bets are off. The fact that The Flash and Black Lightning have the power of lightning at their fingertips upped the ante in this all-out encounter keeping us at the edge of our seats the entire time.

5. Ryan Choi’s character development

Although Ryan Choi is the Paragon of Humanity, his appearance on Crisis on Infinite Earths gave us very little connection to the character. He served his purpose and was then quietly ushered out the back door.

This time around, we were able to get a deeper sense of who Ryan Choi is besides just a family man and scientist. His complex feelings on love and loneliness helped develop the budding relationship between Chester and Allegra.

Even though the future he was in has now been reset, his words of wisdom and insight are likely to make a ripple effect throughout the rest of the season.

6. Barry as Reverse Flash

No matter what, Barry Allen has always been the good guy. When faced with life and death situations, Barry always chooses the best way to help humanity, even if it means that he will get hurt in the process.

With Reverse Flashpoint, Barry is recreated into a mentally unstable villain wearing the suit of his greatest nemesis. What a sight to see!

Most of his nefarious shenanigans were performed offscreen, but that didn’t make them any less impactful. Barry Allen as Central City’s most wanted is a scenario that proved to be quite terrifying.

Seriously, just the idea of Barry being a major player in the Legion of Doom creates numerous versions of reality where the bad guys win.

7. Ryan Wilder’s adoption reveal

Ryan Wilder’s first crossover with the Arrowverse heroes didn’t have her suiting up as Batwoman nearly as much as we would have liked, but that doesn’t mean that her appearance was any less meaningful.

Her heart-to-heart conversation with Iris revealed that not only was she married to Sophie Moore, but that they have plans to adopt.

Adopting a child is a major step taken in any relationship, whether married or not. It shows the couple’s level of commitment to each other and proves the twosome made the right decision in reciting their vows.

This also creates major issues in the lives of superheroes. Will Ryan be able to continue to fight crime while also handling the role of being a mother?

8. The Atom returns

When Ray Palmer left the Legends, he did so to give his wife, Nora, a better life. The problem with upending your own life to appease someone else is that you oftentimes lose yourself along the way. This holds true as Ray questioned his decision about where to go next.

Partnering with a fellow scientist and creator, Ray made fast friends with Chester. Although their budding bromance hit a few roadblocks along the way, their quirky relationship helped Ray search deep inside of himself and rediscover the hero that has always been there.

A team-up with Barry cemented his decision to divide his time between science and heroism.

Seeing the tiny version of The Atom suit fly out of Despero’s belt right before he unleashes his strength on Barry is a moment we’ve all missed since he left his team behind. Hopefully, we will get more of this pint-sized hero soon!

9. Barry gets gold boots

On every season of The Flash, Barry’s suit is upgraded to look more comic accurate. Every time, we rejoice.

With the addition of gold boots to the suit, he not only looks more like the hero we’ve known and loved since childhood, but he also has additional powers to take on the bloodthirsty Despero.

With repurposed tech taken from ten years in the future, Chester gave Barry the extra oomph he needed to suck up Despero’s powers and use it as his own. The ultimate blow that was given to this supervillain knocked him for a loop — leveling the playing field once and for all.

How this new piece of equipment will prove to be handy in upcoming battles is still to be determined, but I’m sure the writers will come up with creative ways to put the hurt on petty criminals and metahumans alike.

10. Joe receives the time stone

When the timeline was finally restored, everyone expected Damien Darhk to vanish back into oblivion and for Nora to return in his place. But something held Mr. Darhk in situ, the need to accomplish one final deed.

While it was never actually explained why giving the time stone to Joe finished Damien’s business in this world, it seems to be an important piece of foreshadowing. The question remains, how will this supreme artifact be used by a mere mortal?

All the other moments on this list are great examples of what happened in the event, but this one is predominant because of how it will play out in the future.

There is no way the writers are going to let this scene fall by the wayside. I expect it to be implemented sooner rather than later.

11. Evil Mia

The daughter of Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak has been missing from the Arrowverse for far too long, just the mention of her name had us clamoring in excitement.

Unfortunately, we had to wait until the final chapter of the event to see Mia Queen in action. Luckily, everything that unfolded proved well worth the wait.

Seeing her follow in her father’s footsteps was a great way to reconnect with the character, but the real fun began when Despero used her as a weapon against her friends.

Mia, with red eyes blazing, fought fiercely against Team Flash giving them all a run for their money. This is an extra special feat knowing she lacks any kind of superpowers.

Cecile Horton had to dive deep into Mia’s psyche to release her from the grips of Despero, and the hard-headedness of the Queen family finally paid off.

12. Caitlin stands up to Thawne

Being trapped in a room with Eobard Thawne is no one’s idea of paradise. His nonstop mind games are enough to drive anyone insane. Even the toughest of Team Flash members have been outwitted by the manipulative nature of Barry’s arch enemy.

This time around, Eobard chose the wrong person to mess with.

We all know that Caitlin has been through a lot. The death of her fiance and having a metahuman alter-ego, just to name a few. Eobard came in over boastful thinking his level of intellect could far outshine Caitlin’s, but Caitlin has learned a few lessons on her pathway through hell.

She is no stranger to this kind of turmoil and used the virtues she gained against the evil mastermind, putting him in his place just when he believed he had the upper hand. By reminding the man of how much she hates him, Caitlin shut down any further notion that he was calling all the shots.

13. Nora reconnecting with her father

There was no shortage of emotions in this crazy event. Everything from smiles to sobs and even chuckles were expressed wholeheartedly throughout all five episodes. But the moment that hit me the hardest is when Nora met her dad somewhere in the afterlife.

With Eobard’s time manipulation, somehow Damien survived instead of Nora. Although Damien is one of the baddest guys on the block, his love for his daughter trumps any evil plot his mind can summon.

Barry used this tidbit of information to his gain making Damien a valuable ally instead of an additional foe. After all, every hero knows that love defeats evil at every turn.

When everything is said and done, Damien is whisked off to some unknown location where he comes face-to-face with his daughter. The heartfelt emotion in this scene left me gutted as Nora pleaded with the powers that be to no avail.

As their hands nearly touched, I held my breath, praying there would be some way they could stay together. But that simply isn’t how sacrifice works.

14. Thawne chasing Barry

No showdown with Thawne would be complete without Barry and Eoboard racing each other. This time around there was a bit of a switcharoo with Thawne doing the chasing.

The same scenario has played out over and over since the Reverse-Flash made his first appearance. Thawne runs away from Barry, and Barry does everything he can to catch up with him.

The excitement intensified as the roles were switched, putting Barry in a race against time and his very life. Adding in hurricanes, tornadoes, and even volcanic eruptions, upped the ante a thousand percent.

The fate of the world hung in the balance for a least a few minutes when it was unclear if Barry could turn a blind eye to the destruction in their wake. Belief in the greater good reigned supreme as Barry finished strong.

15. Thawne loses his speed

Thawne’s evil mind wants many different things. The destruction of Barry Allen, the world’s accolades, and most importantly, speed.

They all tie together inside his twisted intelligence, creating the perfect math equation that only Eobard can solve. As anyone who has taken high school math class knows, eliminating any part of the equation changes the outcome completely.

Without speed, Thawne cannot kill Barry, nor win the love of the world. His perfect scenario is upended, leaving Thawne meaningless, at least in his mind.

To Thawne, this is a fate worse than death causing him to hate the Flash more than ever before. With an all-new revile for the titular hero, Thawne promised to get even with Barry if it is the last thing he ever does.

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What were your favorite moments of The Flash: Armageddon? Let us know in the comments below!

Be sure to catch The Flash when it returns on Wednesday, March 9th at 8/7c only on The CW.

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