The CW’s Arrowverse revels in mystery identities, and Season 3 of The Flash is no different. After the Reverse-Flash and Zoom, there’s now Savitar, a Mark Waid and Oscar Jimenez creation who is making Barry Allen’s life a living hell. Named after the Hindu god of speed, Savitar has withheld his true nature from Team Flash but he’s dropped several clues about his real identity that hardcore fans are poring over. And, a few of them sound more than plausible.
Suspect 1: Wally West
Fans on Reddit have been naming a future version of Wally West as Savitar since December. One Redditor, Nightwing008 put forth this logical conclusion:
“We know that Wally is faster than Barry at his stage of his speed training. What if that Barry (on their quest to defeat Savitar) makes Wally run so fast that he gets trapped in the speed force … So Wally then gets out of the speed force at the cost of his speed and his sanity. He is hell bent on revenge against Barry for forcing him to be trapped in “eternity”, as Savitar puts it. He then realizes that he will need his speed to kill Barry but there is no particle accelerator in the era in which he is in (ancient times). He does, however know about the philosopher’s stone and uses that to regain his speed. He takes on the name of Savitar, to give him that feeling of power as the future Savitar had.”
Could Wally West actually be Savitar?
This was echoed by Jesse Schedeen this week on IGN, arguing Wally West is the “most likely” candidate now that Savitar has traded his place in the Speed Force with Wally West. “Wally’s growing psychological instability and his ever-increasing mastery of the Speed Force hint that Kid Flash is about to take a dark turn,” writes Schedeen. “Wally being trapped in the Speed Force only lends further fuel to the fire. His last-ditch attempt to defeat Savitar may have only ensured that he becomes Savitar instead.”
Suspect 2: H.R.
H.R. being Savitar is looking way, way more likely lately.
The new “Harrison Wells” is H.R. (Tom Cavanagh), an eccentric ideas guru from Earth-19 and another candidate for Savitar. Though not as prominent as Wally, the H.R. theory is gaining traction after Schedeen also argued for him on IGN.
“Basically, H.R. seems like exactly the sort of person who might try to paint himself as a god given the right set of circumstances,” says Schedeen. “H.R. is a lonely guy who fled his own world in order to seek out a family who would finally accept him, warts and all. What if something happens in the near future that drives a wedge between H.R. and the rest of Team Flash? What if the loss of his new family causes H.R. to turn against them? At that point, he’s only one Speed Force jolt away from becoming Savitar.”
Suspect 3: Barry Allen
What if Barry Allen is Savitar?
Like Wally West, Barry Allen has been undergoing psychological trauma in his effort to stop Savitar from killing his true love, Iris West (Candace Patton). Furthermore, all of Season 3 has surrounded the idea that Barry Allen — in creating the Flashpoint timeline — has tampered with natural law. That’s why the Dominators attacked, and Barry’s timeline intrusion could be why Savitar is created. Or, Barry is Savitar, having been distorted and warped by presently unforseeable circumstances.
What lends credence to this theory, which is just as popular as the Wally theory, are the repeated words Savitar has told Team Flash: “I am the future, Flash.” That’s how it’s typed on the closed captions during broadcast, complete with that comma, but what if Savitar is actually saying: “I am the Future Flash”? What if Savitar is, in fact, a future version of Barry Allen who is imprisoned by his own design?
We will find out the truth later this season on The Flash, which airs Tuesday nights on The CW.
