Entertainment
It seems like every year, The Flash teases us with the secret identity of a mystery speedster villain, and Season 3 is no exception. Now, with just a few episodes left until the finale, the true identity of the "God of Speed" is about to be revealed. In the May 2 episode “I Know You You Are," Savitar will finally take off his mask. But fans have started to theorize recently that it might be a returning character: Ronnie Raymond, who used to be half of Firestorm. But is there enough evidence to support that theory? These hints that Ronnie is Savitar on The Flash are pretty convincing.
In the comics, Savitar is an unnamed Cold War military pilot from the Eastern Bloc who got his speed in an accident with an experimental supersonic plane. However, no one in The Flash show fits that description. And given how much the trailer for the May 2 episode is centered around Barry knowing who he is — I mean, the episode is literally titled that — odds are that an established character is under that mask.
Executive Producer Todd Helbig told the Hollywood Reporter recently that he’s pretty convinced "nobody’s" going to see the Savitar reveal coming. But if you subscribe to the idea that it could be Ronnie, there are plenty of signs you could point to as proof. Let me break them all down:
1
A Major Character Is Returning
As Executive Producer Andrew Kreisberg told Entertainment Weekly, there will be some familiar faces in the Season 3 finale. "We have a couple of recurring villains, one major recurring character," he said. Then he added, "There’s always a plan on every one of these shows. We set stuff up throughout the years that’s going to be paid off."
I want to draw your attention here to how he made the distinction between recurring villains and a "major" character — perhaps because the character had not been a villain up to this point? Hmmmmm.
2
Robbie Amell Could Return Again
Back in January, Entertainment Weekly reported that Amell would return “during a winter episode” of The Flash’s third season. Technically he already has in episode 16, “Into The Speed Force,” in March. But it was snowing in the last episode, meaning it’s definitely winter in Central City right now — so maybe EW’s source was subtly dropping hints that he’ll be back once again? Am I reaching a little bit? Probably, but it would be pretty slick of them.
3
The Big Bad Is Always A Friend Of The Flash
Season 1’s speedster villain was actually Eobard Thawne disguised as Harrison Wells, Barry’s mentor in learning how to run even faster. Season 2’s speedster villain was Hunter Zolomon disguised as Jay Garrick… who was also Barry’s mentor and Caitlin’s love interest. Ronnie Raymond never trained Barry, of course, but he was basically Caitlin’s soulmate, and given that the whole arc of this season has been about Barry messing things up all the time, having a guy who was actually good turn on him rather than a guy who’s just been pretending to be good would be an interesting twist on the formula.
4
Barry Kind Of Ruined Ronnie's Life
In keeping with the theme of "Barry ruins everything for everybody," allow me to point out all the ways Ronnie’s life has been disrupted by the Flash’s influence. First off, if it weren’t for Eobard Thawne trying to awaken Barry’s powers earlier in the timeline, Ronnie may not have been so close to the particle accelerator when it exploded, and might have manifested his powers in a less traumatic way instead. Then, when the Flash opened up the singularity, Firestorm went in to help him, and it was Ronnie who didn’t come back out. And don't forget Earth-2 Ronnie, who’d still be alive today and making evil plans with Killer Frost if he hadn’t gotten caught up in the battle between Flash and Zoom. I’d be out for some revenge too at this point, wouldn’t you?
5
Killer Frost Trusted Savitar Immediately
Caitlin isn’t quite herself now that she’s taken on her Killer Frost powers, but we know that no matter how evil she is, believing in Ronnie is a constant for her. After all, just look at how inseparable Killer Frost and Deathstorm were on Earth-2. For many fans, watching her pull a complete 180 like she did at the end of last episode means that it has to be Ronnie in that Savitar armor.
6
Savitar Has "Plans" For Killer Frost
Remember back in Episode 7, when Caitlin tracked down Doctor Alchemy’s follower and was told that Savitar had plans for her, and that she would be "glorious and powerful"? I don’t know about you, but that reminds me a lot of the rhetoric Hunter Zolomon used when trying to entice Caitlin over to the dark side last season — you know, that whole "you will be my queen and we will rule the world" trope. Admit it, she and Ronnie would be be great evil emperors together.
7
Savitar's Powers Make Sense for Ronnie
After Ronnie disappeared from Earth-1, Martin Stein’s molecular structure became unstable without a partner to merge into Firestorm with him, causing him to erupt into these blue flames. So maybe without Martin, Ronnie would be exhibiting similar symptoms. It’s also entirely possible that Ronnie was pulled into the Speed Force by the temporal singularity that swallowed him up at the beginning of Season 2, which would explain why he’s now a speedster like The Flash — and why he considers himself the “first” speedster, because he’d have been imbued with these powers outside of the regular flow of time.
The groundwork has definitely been laid for a possible Ronnie reveal. And the guessing game will finally be over when Savitar is unmasked on the May 2 episode of The Flash.
