‘The Flash’ 5×18 recap: Barry learns the truth about Nora’s past

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from The Flash Season 5 Episode 18, titled “Godspeed”. Please do not read if you have not seen the episode or read ahead at your own risk.

After weeks of waiting, The Flash finally returned on Tuesday night and viewers finally learned the truth about Nora and why she is working with her father’s No. 1 enemy.

The episode kicks off with the team still in shock regarding Nora’s big reveal from the last episode, which at this point feels like months ago. Barry wants to know the truth about Nora and decides to reads her journal from start to finish.

From there, viewers see Nora’s origin story. Like Barry, she, too, is a CSI that is late to crime scenes and obsessed with the unsolved Flash-Cicada case. When Nora and her BFF Leah investigate some robberies and conclude that a speedster is the one who is committing them, the first one since The Flash disappeared. They name him Godspeed and Nora ends up getting jolted by him, releasing her powers.

Nora realizes she needs to think like an evil speedster, so she goes to visit Eobard Thawne to get some knowledge. Leah later tells Nora she found metal in her shoulder, which she discovered to be an inhibitor chip. Nora realizes Godspeed didn’t giver her powers; she had them already! Nora and Leah track Godspeed down as he is pulling off another job and he ends up killing Leah in the process while Nora looks on.

Back in present day, Iris feels badly and decides to free Nora from her cell. Nora continues to tell Team Flash her story and we flashback (or is it flash forward since its the future we’re talking about?) to Nora and future Iris, with the former saying her mother lied to her for the longest time but future Iris argues she did it to protect her daughter.

Nora works with her boss to find out Godspeed is August Heart; she remembers seeing his lightning turn blue like Zoom’s did back in the day so she visits Thawne again. This time, she seeks his advice on how to stop a speedster, and he agrees to help her.

He coaches Nora via his cell as she beats, punches, and eventually knocks out Godspeed. Later on, Thawne tells Nora all about The Flash, including that it was her father under the mask. He shows her a video that Barry apparently records sometime in the future as he is dealing with the crisis. In the video, Barry tells Nora he is sorry that he couldn’t be there for her and that he loves her.

Back in the present day, Nora explains she just wanted to meet her father and maybe solve the Cicada case. Barry tells Nora that while he appreciates her apology, he does not trust her and needs her to go home. So he takes her back to 2049 and tells her to not come back.

Before Barry goes, he confronts Thawne and tells him that he is getting what he deserves as Thawne’s countdown clock hits 0:10:00.

Episode Notes:

• What exactly is Thawne’s countdown clock for? While he says it is his death, I feel we’re going to see Thawne again before the season ends. Filming just wrapped up this week and if spoilers are right, fans won’t expect what’s coming next.
• While this episode on Nora’s backstory is needed, I feel there is still so much more to dive into regarding Grace being Cicada.

What did you make of the episode? Tell me in the comments below!

The Flash airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on The CW.