What Could Happen with Cicada in ‘The Flash’ Season Five?

If you are a real Flash fan, then you’ll only be too used to trying to predict how Barry Allen and co will beat their big bad of the season. This season’s villain, Orlin Dwyer AKA Cicada, has presented himself as a new kind of threat for Team Flash, a more human one.

Here we have a blue collar, working class man who had a cold heart but had it warmed through his relationship with his lovable niece Grace. Sadly, the existence of meta humans brought about his niece being in a coma and him going on a killing spree through Central City. This brought us Cicada, a villain who even in the future was not caught and got off scott free with his crimes.

So with a new kind of villain for our heroes to face, could a new kind of ending be on the cards? Let's look at season five has given us so far to determine what could happen over the rest of the season.

Battle (Meta) Scars

One of the main points about Cicada is not only his mission to kill all metahumans (including himself) but also the way in which he gained his abilities. The shard of metal from The Thinker’s satellite mishap left Orlin Dwyer with a constant open wound. That wound radiates dark matter and gives him somewhat strange relationship with the shard in question, which Dwyer now uses as a dagger to take away meta-powers and kill his victims.

Although the wound can cause Cicada quite a bit of pain, it also appears to be making him stronger, almost as if the more he uses the dagger and kills meta humans, the more he gains power. But could the way in which Cicada’s powers work have a much deeper meaning?

Grace is the key.

We know from a recent episode that Grace, although she is in a coma, is aware of the goings on around her and is in favour of her uncle Dwyer’s mission. She even has her own personification of Cicada in her mind, taking the form of a grown woman who wears the same villainous outfit as her uncle.

What could this mean? Well, we know piece of that satellite that also created Cicada’s dagger is also in Grace’s head. Is it possible that Grace’s and Orlin’s shared feelings about the incident that split them apart somehow influences the dagger that Cicada uses?

It wouldn’t be far fetched to assume a piece of the metal is still inside of Orlin’s world, maybe the pieces in the two family members, containing dark matter and influencing their thinking, is charging the dagger and causing Orlin’s complete disregard for human lives. This season could see the villain of the story being more than one individual, which also brings in our next point...

Cicada’s Cult

With it being apparent that little Grace’s hatred for metas is fuelling her uncle’s actions, there are others who are in turn being influenced by Cicada’s actions, potentially leading us to Cicada’s cult. In the comics, the cult approve of Cicada’s actions and believe in the annihilation of anyone and everyone The Flash has saved.

In this continuation, Cicada is beginning to gain followers who approve his wiping out of metahumans. We have already seen the nurse treating his niece be more than agreeable about his actions. We have also seen a CCPD officer turn on the force because of metahumans. It would appear that we are getting a build up to Cicada addressing his followers and having them assist him in his killing metas.

But, how could this be done? Could he infect each person with a shard from his dagger? Therefore building not only a cult, but an army! Just in time for the finale as well...

Orlin and Grace live happily ever after?

With all of the darkness and death Cicada is causing and will inevitably cause more of as the season goes on, it is fair to say that he deserves some kind of comeuppance. Every villain does. However, like we have said from the start, this is a new kind of villain for Team Flash. His identity is out there from early on in the season and he is the way he is, kind of, out of love. My prediction for what this will all build towards? Orlin and Grace running away happily.

This is not to say that the finale will see Cicada murder and murder then get away with a sleazy grin on his face. Not at all. I believe that Cicada will somehow see the error of his ways. Whether that is through him losing connection to his dagger or metas saving his life for whatever reason even though he doesn’t deserve it, I don’t know.

Honestly, I see a season finale for The Flash season five that sees Barry Allen facing off against Cicada whilst the rest of Team Flash desperately try to wake up Grace, potentially through entering her mind again. Maybe this time they make the young girl see sense, and just as Cicada is about to murder The Flash in cold blood, his niece appears alive and well. Orlin would lose all need for murdering metas once he sees that Grace is okay and that she implores her uncle to stop what he is doing.

I see it doubtful that Team Flash would willingly allow Cicada to walk away after the murders he has committed, but I can imagine he will somehow cause a distraction for him and his niece to escape. From there? I’d love a sense of The Dark Knight Rises, with Barry seeing Orlin and Grace from afar and instead of chasing him down, decides to let them go and start a new life happily with Grace.

One of this season’s themes is family. Barry has experienced what it is like to have a daughter and learned the lengths he would go to to protect her. In a twisted way, he understand Orlin Dwyer. He also understands that dark matter is not always an excuse to allow yourself to go on a murder spree, but he understands the responsibility and love of having a daughter. This ending for Cicada is not only a new approach on how villains are dealt with on The Flash, but it also cements the fact that Cicada is never caught in the future. Everything comes full circle. Whatever the rest of this season brings us, I am fairly certain that Cicada’s story will end in a new and unexpected way.

The Flash airs March 5 with King Shark vs. Gorilla Grodd and every Tuesday on the CW.