WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Flash #762, by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi and Steve Wands, on sale now.
Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has the Joker, Green Lantern has Sinestro and the Flash has the Reverse-Flash; Eobard Thawne has been Barry Allen's true nemesis for a very long time. Originally, Thawne was the Scarlet Speedster's biggest fan from the 25th century, only to have his mind snap when he felt shunned by his longtime idol, Thawne created the supervillain mantle and set out to change history by personally causing every major tragedy in Barry's life. And with the Flash and Reverse-Flash in the middle of their heralded final race, Barry does the unthinkable to his most hated enemy.
In The Flash #762, Barry Allen tells Thawne that he forgives him for everything he's done.
With his Legion of Doom defeated by reinforcements from the Flash Family and shocked by the changes to the timeline occurring without his knowledge, Eobard had set out to discover what exactly had changed while taunting Barry over his far-reaching manipulation of the superhero and his allies. Enraged, Barry vowed to kill Eobard and bring about his killing spree to a definitive end as the two longtime enemies continued their feud in one last, high-speed race. However, as the two speedsters confront one another throughout their murderous pursuit, Barry realizes that they will be trapped in the same violent cycle no matter how many times each of them dies and is resurrected. With this realization in hand, Barry shocks Eobard by doing the one thing that would break the cycle.
Barry not only forgives Eobard for all the villainy he has committed over the years, including the murder of his mother Nora Allen, but apologizes for his own actions ever since the start of their feud. Astounded by the sudden show of unexpected compassion and serenity, Eobard can only watch awestruck as Barry continues by apologizing for inadvertently slighting his longtime rival kicking off their mutual antagonism all those years ago. And to underscore how genuine Barry is with his forgiveness and apology, he shares his connection to the Speed Force with Eobard, evidently cleansing the supervillain of the corrosive effects of the Negative Speed Force.
No longer carrying on the mantle of Reverse-Flash, Eobard returns to his own time in the 25th century while Barry returns to the rest of the Flash Family in present-day Central City. Some of the Reverse-Flash's more recent acts of villainy have since been prevented, including the murder of a young mother to gain Barry's attention and lead him into an ambush set up by the Legion of Zoom. However, the longer-lasting actions committed by Reverse-Flash, including the murder of Nora, remain intact as Barry finally makes peace with his past before turning his full attention to the future.
The idea of a superhero forgiving one of their greatest villains is fairly unfathomable, especially one that has committed such personally vile acts as the Reverse-Flash has to Barry over the years. However, Barry Allen has just proven himself to be one of the most compassionate, forward-thinking superheroes in mainstream comics by extending a hand of forgiveness to a villain that has had a direct hand in every major tragedy in his life. And with Eobard having given up the mantle of the Reverse-Flash, one of the greatest supervillains in DC Comics history has found a rehabilitation never really seemed possible.