The Flash Season 5 Theory: Why Nora Traveled Back in Time

The Flash may soon be seeing double. As the Scarlet Speedster and his friends attempt to defeat Cicada, the menace they could never catch, several clues have come to light regarding both their own future and that of the metahuman serial killer. Thanks to new information from Barry and Iris' trip through Nora's memories in "Memorabilia," it seems there may be not one, but two Cicadas in her timeline -- and that might have everything to do with her decision to return to the past.

Between Nora's memories and that of Cicada's niece Grace Gibbons, "Memorabilia" yielded a lot of hints about Nora's timeline, but let's start with Nora's memories of the Flash Museum. As the villain that got away, Cicada is the Hall of Villain's centerpiece, and his exhibit comes with its own video display. "Who is Cicada?" it asks. "Officials believe he is Orlun Dwyer, a metahuman born in the Enlightenment. But, when Cicada resurfaced in 2024, after the Flash vanished, some were left to speculate that Cicada is not a man at all, but an immortal monster."

First of all, the exhibit correctly pins Dwyer as Cicada, which indicates the team is on the right track. However, the exhibit claims Cicada "resurfaces," which suggests he disappeared for some period of time. Thus, it's possible Team Flash successfully takes Dwyer down in this timeline. After all, villains like Zoom, Savitar and Thinker were destroyed in their final battles with Flash; they certainly weren't arrested or hauled off to jail, which means they too "disappeared," at least from Central City's point of view. So, Team Flash could stop Dwyer even as a new Cicada appears, with the citizens of Central City simply not knowing the difference.

The exhibit's video drops another interesting tease: "Some were left to speculate that Cicada is not a man at all, but an immortal monster." Cicada might not be "a man at all" because she is very likely Grace, not Dwyer. Seeing as this Cicada rises in 2024, she would certainly be old enough to take up her uncle's mantle. What's more, Grace's memories lay the groundwork for her to take a villainous turn.

According to Grace's memory of the car accident, her parents were killed by metahumans. Worse, the Enlightment was also caused by metahumans, albeit indirectly. Team Flash's actions led to Thinker's death, which triggered his satellites -- the ones repurposed for the Enlightenment -- to crash out of the sky. Pieces of this satellite struck Grace and her uncle, causing her coma and the manifestation of his powers. She has also been aware during her coma, which means she can hear the news and the reports of continuing metahuman attacks from the TV in her hospital room. Worse, she has heard Dwyer and Dr. Ambres discuss all the ways Flash has hurt her uncle.

NEXT PAGE: How Grace Could Kickstart the Cult of Cicada

Grace expressed her dislike for metahumans when Nora paid her memories a visit. As soon as she learned Nora was a speedster, Grace turned on her. In what is perhaps a taste of the future to come, Grace envisioned herself in her uncle's Cicada costume and hunted Nora down with his dagger. Barry and Iris successfully extracted Nora before Grace could do any lasting damage, but the incident brought Grace's attitude towards metahumans into sharp relief.

What's more, Grace may have a few powers of her own. The series hasn't confirmed any metahuman abilities for her yet, but it would certainly make sense. After all, she was struck by the same satellite that hit Dwyer, who subsequently manifested powers. The piece of satellite debris that injured her also flooded her brain with Dark Matter, the very substance that creates metahumans. This is what allowed her to trap Nora inside her memories in "Memorabilia" and what caused her forehead to pulse with a strange light at the end of the episode.

Since the Dark Matter affected her brain, Grace probably has mind-based powers, like telepathy or persuasion. Indeed, she could even be subconsciously influencing the people around her. For instance, Dr. Ambres -- who spends a lot of time around Grace -- just so happens to be spouting the kind of anti-metahuman rhetoric that Grace believes. Additionally, Dwyer bought into Ambres' suggestion that he become a mass murderer pretty quickly; he didn't need a lot of convincing to become Cicada.

If Grace does indeed have mind-based powers, this could lead The Flash into a storyline teased in "Memorabilia": The Cult of Cicada. With a subtitle decrying "The Cult of Cicada!", The Flash #172 appeared in the episode as an item in the Flash Museum's gift shop. In that comic, Flash found himself at the mercy of Cicada after Cicada's cult kidnaps him. On the show, however, Cicada has no such cult; just he and Dr. Ambres are involved in their mission. However, if Grace ever comes into her powers, she could certainly influence a lot of people to follow Cicada and their mission, seguing nicely into the Cult of Cicada storyline. (Notably, Grodd's return was also teased in "Memorabilia" and will come to fruition in the aptly titled "King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd.") This would also explain the future Cicada's kill count and why no one has ever been able to catch her.

NEXT PAGE: How Nora West-Allen Fits In

But what does this have to do with Nora West-Allen, Barry and Iris' daughter from 2049? Possibly everything. In "News Flash," Nora revealed her mother implanted a metahuman-dampening chip in her to take away her speedster powers, perhaps when she was too young to realize what was happening. After she discovered this, she had it removed and sought solace from Eobard Thawne, the Reverse-Flash himself, which led her to travel back in time to meet her father.

While this explained why Nora held a serious grudge against her mother, it didn't answer a key question: what drove Iris to block Nora's innate speedster powers? Well, if Nora's powers put her life in danger, Iris wouldn't hesitate to take them away in order to protect her. With a Cicada appearing in 2024, shortly after Barry's disappearance, Iris may find herself fresh out of ways to protect herself and her daughter. Since Cicada kills metahumans, Iris could have blocked Nora's natural abilities to prevent her from becoming a target. After all, if Team Flash couldn't take Cicada down, what was one young and untrained speedster like Nora going to do in the face of such a threat?

If Iris blocked Nora's powers to protect her from Cicada, Team Flash's present actions are crucial. Should they fail to stop Cicada (both of them), Iris could use the metahuman-dampening chip on Nora, leading her to partner with Reverse-Flash, who will send her to the past for the events of Seasons 4 and 5. However, Team Flash may be focusing on the wrong Cicada. All the clues presented in "Memorabilia" point to the idea that Grace is destined to become the second Cicada, who racks up a body count of over 150 dead metahumans. Hopefully, they'll put two-and-two together in the next handful of episodes, so that they can bring Cicada's reign of terror to an end and close out Nora's timeloop with a much happier ending.

As to Reverse-Flash's plans, those remain as mysterious as ever. It is unclear what he wants with Cicada's dagger and what nefarious plans he has Nora -- but it probably isn't very good.

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.

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The Flash: How Cicada Fits Into Nora's Mysterious Past