The Flash: Cicada Wants to Kill All of Central City's Metahumans

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The Flash: Cicada's Killer Motive Revealed

By Meagan Damore

Published Oct 24, 2018

In the latest episode of The Flash, Season 5 antagonist Cicada revealed his true intent.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "The Death of Vibe," the latest episode of The Flash.

Cicada is a man with a plan. In "The Death of Vibe," the latest episode of The Flash, he revealed his intent: to kill all the metahumans in Central City.

During a confrontation in the woods, Cicada once again used his power-dampening dagger to suppress The Flash and Vibe's powers. Nevertheless, Barry went to toe-to-toe with Cicada. Cicada eventually got the upper hand and delivered his creed to Barry before striking a killing blow: "All these years that Central City spent defending metas instead of ending them... Those days end now, starting with you."

That's not all Cicada revealed. He unwittingly dropped a few other clues when he kidnapped Joe West in an attempt to lure Vibe out. As Iris discussed the attack with her father, he pointed out something he noticed. "There's one more thing. He made these comments about family and cherishing them and in the way he picked up Jenna's blanket and I got this feeling when I looked in his eyes," he recalled. "I think Cicada is a father."

As seen in one of the episode's closing scenes, Joe could not have been more right. The episode cut to a hospital room, where a young girl with a bandage wrapped around her head lay in a coma. As the doctor checked in on her, Cicada -- out of costume -- emerged from the shadows. The doctor greeted him as "Orlun" and told him that the girl "is not coming out of it."

Even so, the doctor asked Cicada if she could "see it." At that, Cicada pulled the collar of his shirt back to reveal an open wound on his shoulder that pulsed with yellow light. "It's not healing," she pointed out, indicating he may have had it for a while. "You can't keep doing this. You have to stop."

"Not until I'm finished," he replied, then leaned down to kiss the girl's forehead.

Additionally, the episode confirmed Cicada is not David Hersch. This is Cicada's true identity in the comics and on 37 of the Arrowverse's other Earths, according to Harrison "Sherloque" Wells. Further, Nora revealed Cicada "is early," in that he wasn't supposed to show up so early in the timeline or kill Gridlock and Block. "No one knows where he came from, how he got his powers, who he is. All that's known is his alias and the last sound his victims hear, but that's not what makes him scary," she said. "What makes him scary is you never catch him."

Based on the clues provided here, this new Cicada may be the result of Nora's decision to help her father stop the falling satellite in the Season 4 finale. Since she took part in an event in which she was never meant to participate, the fallout may have changed. It's possible the debris struck Cicada's daughter or that she was part of another metahuman attack where Flash wasn't able to save everyone. However, we can't know for sure just yet.

Airing Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, The Flash stars Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Panabaker, Tom Cavanaugh, Jesse L. Martin, Danielle Nicolet, Hartley Sawyer, and Jessica Parker Kennedy.