Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3 Recap (Spoilers Ahead)

Hey guys, I know its been a long while with everything going on, but I'm finally getting back into the writing spirit and here to bring you a recap of Part 3 of Crisis of Infinite Earths.

The episode starts off on a very nostalgic note as we see a pink hue in the sky and a Huntress on the run. We learn that this is Earth-203 but more importantly it is the Earth home to the Birds of Prey, Helena Kyle(daughter of Bruce Wayne - 203 and Seina Kyle - 203), Dinah Laurel Lance (Black Canary), and Barbra Gordon(Oracle). Huntress is jumping off of rooftops trying to outrun the wave of anti-matter and get in contact with Oracle to relay any information that she has on whats happening. Before she can establish solid radio contact everything around Wayne Enterprises turns white and is evaporated into nothing as the wave of anti-matter wipes out everything of this Earth and everything else in its path as it makes its way to Earth-1.

When we last saw our heroes everyone was back on the Waverider having gone on seperate journeys to find the remaining Paragons of the Multiverse. Kate was found to be the Paragon of Courage, Sara and Mia are still working on a way to bring Oliver al the way back after putting him into the Lazarus Pit, and Harbinger had an encounter with the antagonist of this cross-over, Mobius also known as the Anti-Monitor. Now that everyone was gathered back on the Waverider Ray(The Atom) was continuing to work on the Paragon finder machine to determine who the 3 remaining Paragons of the Multiverse will be. Novu informs the heroes that the anti-matter wave is slowly approaching them and that they must hurry to find the remaining Paragons as the last world to be destroyed will be Earth-1 which holds all of our heroes and their loved ones. In order to get more help to finish the Paragon detector Novu brings Team Flash aboard the Waverider which include Caitlin, Cisco, Ralph, and Iris. Ray is excited to see that Cisco is here to have another intellectual individual to help him work on the detector. Kara says that they should move as many people on any of the remaining Earths to Earth-1 to save as many lives as they can and J'ohn Jones can keep everyone connected telepathically to let them know of everything that is going on aboard the Waverider and the team.

With Cisco's help, Ray is able to finish the Paragon detector and uses it to determine who the last 4 Paragons of the Multiverse are. We already know of the existence of 4 Paragons, Sara(Paragon of Destiny), Kate(Paragon of Courage), Kara(Paragon of Truth), and Clark Kent of Earth - 96(Paragon of Truth). When the device turns on we see images of the known Paragons which are then followed by images of the remaining Paragons. Barry Allen, The Flash is determined to be the Paragon of Love, J'ohn Jones is determied to be the Paragon of Honor, and finally a new character comes into play Ryan Choi as the Paragon of Humanity. Luckily for them Ryan Choi is in Ray's hometown at Ivy University, so Ray, Ralph, and Iris all decide to go and bring him into the loop and break the news that he is one of the few known people that are capable of saving the Multiverse.

Diggle then arrives on the Waverider and is in a very unsettling mood after learning that Sara tried to bring Oliver back to life using the Lazarus Pit without letting Diggle know that she was doing this without even consulting with him first. Sara tells him that this was just like when Oliver tried to bring her back that they may have brought back Oliver to life, but they need to restore his soul and she is working on a way to do that. Diggle wasn't about to lose Oliver again after getting him back Novu comes into the infirmary and has some more unsettling news telling Diggle that Lyla has gone missing believing that she may have come into contact with the Anti-Monitor and her current whereabouts are unknown to anyone. This was something that he should have foreseen, but did not realize how strong the Anti-Monitors connection was to her already.

Team Flash's Caitlin and Cisco work together to try and figure out how they might be able to stop the anti-matter wave before it can reach Earth-1. Cisco determines that the wave originated somewhere within Central City as there are a number of anti-matter particles emanating from the sewer system from underneath the city. Caitlin goes off to let Barry know that they are headed back home. Cisco is on his way as well, but not before he is approached by Novu. Novu tells him that his is a necessary part of Crisis and that in order for things to go according to his plan to assure our heroes success, Vibe must live again. Using his omnipotent powers, Novu restores Cisco's powers in order for him to become Vibe once again. Regrouping with our other heroes the Monitor informs everyone of what exactly the intentions are of the Anti-Monitor and why he needed to gather the multiverses mightiest heroes in order to put a stop to him and his evil ambitions. Some of our heroes aren't exactly on the best of terms with The Monitor as Supergirl wonders if there is any chance if that after they have stopped the Anit-Monitor that its possible to undo everything that as been done and return everything to how it once was. Novu explains that this may not be possible even with the Book of Destiny. He cannot undo the past of what has been done, he can only attempt to save what little remains. Kara storms off and Kate follows behind her and shows her that she kept the kryptonite that Bruce from Earth-99 had in his suit and questions if she will ever need to use it on her should the need ever arise. Barry and Iris also share a tender moment as they go their separate ways, but there is a bigger worry behind Iris's goodbye. She knows that the time is coming for the events that have been leading up to the news article in the time vault talking about how Barry is supposed to vanish in an explosion of light while fighting none other than Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash!

Back at Central City Cisco, Barry, and Caitlin make their way into the sewer system and find the place where Nash Wells was sucked into and came back out as Pariah, believing that there is something else on the other side that is generating the anti-matter wave. Out of nowhere Pariah also joins Team Flash, which actually works out well for Cisco since there is a sort of code on the door blocking their way to whatever is on the other side, but also cautions the team that he is always known to appear only when our heroes are about to face a great tragedy. Cisco uses his old powers as Vibe to vibe Pariah and see what the code was that he entered when he was still Nash. Cisco enters in the code and Team Flash and Pariah are sucked into what Pariah calls the Nexus a hidden room between the Multiverse and the Anti-Matter Universe. Barry does a recon seeing that there aren't any quantum towers around so this room isn't of the Monitors design. There is some kind of treadmill much like the one Barry uses at STAR Labs when he used to practice his speed that seems to be generating energy that is causing a surge of energy in the room to fuel what Team Flash believes to be generating the Anti-Matter wave. Cisco and Barry both notice some surprising details within the room, Cisco feels a strong vibrational frequency in the room that is coming from the treadmill and Barry can feel it too. Upon further inspection of the treadmill Barry sees a blur inside of it that he thinks is alive or has some kind of force behind it. Barry tries running into it to see what it could be, but Cisco and Caitlin tell him to stop. As hes running everything else around him slows down and as it does the blur slows down as well and reveals that its Barry Allen! Not just any Barry Allen, Barry Allen from Earth-90. The last time we saw this Flash was during the Elseworlds cross over and the Monitor teleported him back to his own world, or so we thought. Before Barry could try and reach him he run into an energy field that is blocking out everything from the outside from entering into the treadmill, and keeping Flash-90 from getting out as well.

Back on the Waverider Kara and Kate are having some trust issues as Kara is willing to do whatever it takes to be able to bring back everyone that has been lost because of the anti-matter wave especially her family on Argo and Earth-38. She goes against everything that she believes in and consults help from Lex Luthor on how he was able to use the Book of Destiny without going crazy like Deagan did when he used it in Elseworlds. The Monitor advised her that there was nothing that could be done to bring back the lost lives, the Book of Destiny could be used but it would come at a great cost. Luthor explains how he was able to use it and told her that he focused everything in his being on a singular thought, which was to kill Superman. Kara believes that as The Paragon of Hope that she should be the symbol that inspires people to have optimism towards the future that they will stop the Anti-Monitor and bring everyone back. Kate strongly advises Kara against it as she doesn't know what it could do to her and if it really is worth saving everyone if it means losing herself. Kara storms off with the Book of Destiny conflicted about what to do with it.

John Constantine, Mia, and Diggle all travel to another Earth in the Multiverse, Earth-666, as John has an acquaintance of sorts that can help guide them to where Oliver's soul resides. In the city of Los Angles of this Earth John takes them to a night club where we meet Constantine's acquaintance who turns out to be none other than Lucifer from a completely different TV show, but is now a part of the Arrowverse I guess so that's a pretty interesting twist. Lucifer butchers Johns name pretty badly and hypnotizes Mia into telling him why they've come to see him. She says that they've come to save her father. "Daddy issues" as he called it. He gives them a card and tells them that he can be found in 'Purgatory'. Where that is exactly he doesn't say, but Constantine has that covered. With a simple incantation the three of them are transported to the Mandarin Island where it all started for Oliver, the island of Purgatory. There was a catch though, they had to find Oliver rather quickly, for they had only until the image on the card faded, if they didn't leave there before the image faded, they would be trapped in 'Purgatory' along with Oliver. On their time limited search looking from Oliver they find him in a rather depressive state and attacks them. Oliver has Constantine in a headlock and Diggle tries to calm him down telling him that they've come all this way to come and bring him back because they need him and Oliver is his brother and that he wasn't there for him when he needed to be. Oliver comes to and embraces Diggle and Mia. Having now found Oliver in Purgatory, they checked the card and they had plenty of time to come back home. Just before John gets ready to send them all home, they are approached by someone else in purgatory who turns out to be Jim Corrigan also known to many as The Spectre. Another Jim Corrigan was seen in John Constantine's solo show before cancellation, but it was not revealed to us who he really was. When Constantine sees him and introduces himself he says that he't not the one that he knows. Corrigan tells Oliver that he has to stay behind, that there is something else that he has to do here. Corrigan announces his identity as the Spectre and now the time has come for him to pass on the mantle to Oliver who now is called to serve a higher purpose, one that Corrigan tells him will be a driving force in order to save the Multiverse. Mia and Diggle urge Oliver to come back with them, but Oliver insists against it and trusts that Corrigan is leading him down the right path. Mia, Diggle, and Contantine are sent back to the Waverider without saving Oliver's soul.

Back in the Nexus Barry and Team Flash are trying to figure out how to turn off the anti-matter generator and also rescue Flash-90. Barry tells Cisco to open a breach inside the energy field where Flash-90 is which will allow him to escape. Their plan works and Flash-90 thanks them for saving him, but tells them that they gotta put him back in. The Anti-Monitor designed a deadman switch on the treadmill, if Barry ever stopped running on the treadmill that the machine would overload and release an explosion of anti-matter expanding the already growing wave. The Anti-Monitor took advatage of the events of Elseworld when Flash-90 disappeared and used his speed to test the anti-matter cannon on Earth-2 which was the first Earth that was destroyed due to the anti-matter wave. Team Flash came to the realization that Jesse and Harry are now both gone. While the machine is undergoing a meltdown Pariah mysteriously disappears again to who knows where and Team Flash is in an even worse dilemma than they were in before.

In Ivy Town Ray, Ralph, and Iris are on their way to recruit Ryan Choi when they notice that the sky has now turned red with the anti-matter cannon down the anti-matter wave is sure to come at any moment, so they had better move fast. Ryan Choi is in his lab, but then startled when he meets his hero Ray, who then has to tell him that he has to leave everything behind and come with them because he is one of the few people that can save the multiverse. While he expresses that its a pleasure to see one of his heroes, he believes that he doesn't have anything to contribute to their efforts because he is just an ordinary human being. Iris doesn't give up and follows him to his home where he is packing his things and tells him that he has a really beautiful family and that they are really grateful to have him. He says that he isn't like Iris that he doesn't have powers, but she says that neither does she, but she knows that what shes doing is right and what her husband would want her to do in their final moments knowing that they are being strong for each other and fighting for all humanity, no matter how far apart they are. After hearing that, Ryan Choi is on board and our heroes now have all seven Paragons of the Multiverse.

Returning to the Nexus time is running out for Team Flash before the anti-matter cannon explodes and releases an even greater wave of anti-matter within Earth-1. A flash of light appears in the Nexus and brings forth a new hero to the Arrowverse, Jefferson Pierce, also known as Black Lighting. (In all honesty I was not expecting this appearance cause there was lots of talk saying that Black Lightning was not going to be a part of the Arrowverse, but they have meta-humans with in Freeland and Black Lightning is a known hero in the DC universe so it would make sense that he would appear somehow. Team Flash is confused as to who this new hero is and how he is gonna be able to help in this situation. Jefferson gets ticked off when Killer Frost calls him 'sparky' to which he says "The name is Black Lighting" and starts shooting off lightning bolts at Caitlin and Barry. Pariah intervenes and introduces Black Lightning to Team Flash, who is already in a angry mood after watching not only his entire world vanish before him but also Lynn and his two girls and Gamby as well. Barry tells him that he knows that hes upset and understands how he feels right now, but now they need his help to stop what is happening. Jefferson agrees to help them and absorbs the energy from the anti-matter cannon, but isn't able to hold it for very long. Barry and Barry-90 have to come up with some other kind of plan to stop the anti-matter cannon. Barry-90 tells Barry about his life in Earth-90 and how he had a great life with the love of his life Tina and her purpose in life was to keep him running. Barry soon has a realization that this is what the Monitor meant when he came to him when the changes to the timeline happened and the news article changed. This is what he's been running towards. "Its time for the Flash to disappear."

On the Waverider Lois is watching over baby Johnathan and Novu and her have a heart to heart about things and how this was all his fault. This was all because meddled with things beyond his control and it cost him his home and a great love of his life. They are soon interrupted by Superman-96 who has returned from his Earth after trying to rescue as many people from there only to be disappointed that he couldn't save more. Lois is also watching the anti-matter wave pass through the multi-verse as it wipes out all the Earths getting closer to Earth-1 and Novu tells them that there are only seven Earths left in the multiverse. Lois tells Superman-96 that he shouldn't beat himself up so much about this and that he did the best that he could. She also asked why he changed the logo on his suit to which he said a rather inspiring quote, "Because Lois, even in the darkest of times hope cuts through. Hope is the light that lifts us out of the darkness." Also on the waverider Kara is still having doubts about what she should do, on whether to use the Book of Destiny or not. If she did use it then Kate told her that she would do whatever it takes to try and stop her from doing so. Even with kryptonite she believed that she wouldn't be able to stop her, but Kate reminds her that she is the Paragon of Hope and that without her that they don't stand a chance against the Anti-Monitor. Annoyed at her reasoning Kara storms off again, but then is confronted by Kate again and tells her that she has the biggest heart of anyone on the ship and that she cant let this break her. Kara then tells her that she is definitely the Paragon of Courage cause it took a lot of it to stand up to her even with kryptonite. Kate then proceeds to give her the kryptonite knowing the good person that she is, but then gives it back to Kate hoping that that time will never come that she will have to use it on her.

(Before I start this next part, just allow me to rant a little bit about this. Everything about this moment was leading to everything that was gonna happen in the newspaper article from 2024 about how Barry was supposed to have this epic street fight with Thawne, but this, I'm sorry this was kind of a let down). Team Flash and Barry are trying to come up with a way to turn the anti-matter cannon off and had to work fast as Black Lightning could hold off the energy feedback off for very much longer. To buy themselves more time Barry and Barry-90 enter into flashtime to slow down time around them and give the two of them more time to figure out an alternative way to shut the machine down. They come up with the idea that if running forward is what generated the anti-matter wave, maybe running backwards would send the energy back and it would implode on itself. This is what Barry has been running towards(not really). Killer Frost turns back into Caitlin as she wants to say goodbye to Barry before hes gone forever. Barry goes on to tell them that she and Cisco were the first two people that he saw when he woke up and that its only right that they be the ones that see him go. Barry asks them to tell Joe and Iris how much he loves them, but is then interrupted by Flash-90 who tells Barry that he can tell them himself. Being a speedster for so long gave him a few tricks that he picked up on, one of them being that he can temporarily borrow Barry's speed as he takes his place. Barry asks why hes doing this for him and says that the Monitor said that the Flash had to vanish, but never said which Flash had to vanish in order to accomplish what needed to be done. Flash-90 then goes on to thank Jefferson and acknowledge that he is a true hero. Flash-90 tells Cisco to open up a breach to the treadmill so that he can save his friends life. Hes had a great run, but there was nothing left for him here and was ready to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Cisco is hesitant at first, but Flash-90 tells him that if he wants to save his friend that he needs to let him do this. Cisco opens up a breach into the treadmill for Flash-90 to run backwards to reverse the flow of the anti-matter cannon and stop the anti-matter wave, but not before he tells Barry, "Keep riding the lightning son. I know you'll make us all proud." A frustrated Barry cant bare to see not just another version of himself vanish, but a version of himself that is a doppelganger of his dad Henry Allen. They cant stay there anymore so Cisco opens another breach to get them out of there, but Barry wants to stay behind as he cant leave Flash-90 like this. Cisco forces him to leave and we are left to watch as the 1990's Flash, John Wesley Shipp has his last run ever. We see a cut-scene from what is believed to be the last episode of the 90's Flash series showing Tina and Barry saying that they both have faith in each other and just like that we lose the OG Flash as he vanishes to save Earth-1 from the anti-matter wave. All that's left of him is the emblem from his suit.

All our heroes have now gathered back on the waverider where Team Arrow has failed to bring back Oliver from Purgatory and Diggle apologizes to Sara for failing to bring him back. In another room Jefferson and Barry have a little heart to heart as they are both grieving from a loss that they had both just witnessed. Jefferson with his family and Barry with his doppelganger that resembled his dad. Jefferson sympathizes with Barry seeing as both their fathers are dead, but they didn't die to raise a bunch of quitters and i times like this they can only use their anger against what they are fighting now.

All of the heroes aboard the Waverider regroup in the main deck where Barry introduces Jefferson to the team. He is surprised to see that Superman actually does exist as back in his home is just a t-shirt design and nothing else. Iris, Ralph, and Ray also return with Ryan Choi and Iris is relieved to see that Barry is still alive. Barry told her that it was Barry-90 that vanished instead of him. Before they could figure out what their next move was going to be in saving the multiverse, they are interrupted by the arrival of Lyla who has no recollection of her disappearance whatsoever. Pariah also appears on the ship and Barry begins to question why the Anti-Monitor would allow Lyla out of his control and that Pariah only appears when a great tragedy is about to occur. Diggle asks if Lyla is okay, who then turns around and attacks Diggle and reveals that she is still under the control of the Anti-Monitor. He then announces that "it is time for the age of heroes to come to and end". The Leonard Snart AI of the Waverider announces that the anti-matter wave has reached Earth-1 and it has now been destroyed, the only thing left within the multiverse is the Waverider. Novu tries to fight off the possessed Harbinger as best he can, but is no match against him. Novu tells Pariah that he has a purpose to fulfill, though he does not know what that is, but then has a realization. He releases several beams of energy that fly throughout the entire ship and reach out to all of the Paragons onboard. When the Anti-Monitor asks where he sent them Pariah says that he sent them somewhere that he couldn't touch them and they are gonna stop him, by any means necessary. It made no difference to him as the anti-matter wave finally reached the Waverider and we see several of our favorite heroes and other characters vanish.

Somewhere in another location we see all of the seven Paragons have gathered into a space where Pariah sent them. At first the location is unknown to them, but then Sara tells them she knows exactly where they are. Pariah sent them to the Vanishing Point, a place that exists outside of time. Barry says that they have to go back but J'ohn tells them that they can't, there's nothing left. They are all that remains of the multiverse. There was nothing else they could do. They were still here for a reason though, so there's still a fight left to be fought. When we think its all over, Superman-96 starts experiencing something strange. Kara bends down to help him and there are some red beams of energy emanating from him and he disappears, but is replaced with, Lex Luthor!? Kara asks what he is doing here, to which he is surprised himself as he didn't think his plan would actually work. He peered into the Book of Destiny and decided that destiny could use a rewrite. Lex Luthor replaced his name in the Book of Destiny as the Paragon of Truth and asked "What next?"

My thoughts exactly what's next? Our heroes are pretty much facing an infinity war scenario right now, but as to how they are gonna be able to come back from this is gonna be an interesting turn. You'll have to find out in part 4 of the Crisis on Infinite Earths Crossover.

Just to throw this out there, yes I am a little mad about this episode cause I thought we were gonna see an epic showdown between Barry and Thawne, but then saw the trailer for Part 4 of the Crossover and then I got hyped again. Part 4 of my recap will be posted soon, so be sure to keep an eye out if you haven't seen any parts of the crossover yet or just want to relive some of the great parts of this crossover.