The Flash 8x5 - Poll!

I was very much in the pool of letting Thawne die as a result of his own actions. But after Joe gave us a talking to, I very quickly changed opinion. A wise man that Papa Joe

Ohais

It's interesting because it feels like this question has come up a lot in fiction recently, but I think the decision is handled poorly here. The Reverse Flash is suffering the consequences of what must be his 5th doomsday plan. He openly admits to going back to trying to kill Barry and his family the second he's saved. And it's played as if they'd be monsters for letting him die, making the decision seem way more black and white than it actually is. When weighing all the information, I think letting him die is the least bad option

Billy

For what the writers have been going for ever since the show started, I believe they did the right thing. I know that if I were personally there, he would be dead right now. I suppose I just allow my emotions to get the better of me though, which is what this really comes down to. Looking at some thing objectively or subjectively.

CJ

I think in there case its fair to spare him I understand flash is a hero and it would be messed up too let a guy die but after everything thawne has done i could never spare him

Austin Morgan

I think they made the right call in saving him...not because it was the heroic thing to do but cause it wasn’t...like he said, they gave him hell on earth for a life now and that’s much worse than death, which is very fitting. He should suffer!

Rusty

Flash is a hero, and a hero should always save people no matter what they've done. Once he starts deciding who should live and who should die, he risks going down a very dark path

Nathan Armitage

The thing here is that it is self induced. In the bus scenario Aaron brought up, it would be like the guy on the street put the bus on the path to running him over THEN asked for someone to help him and stop the bus. Oh and he says if you help him he will try to then kill your spouse afterwards. If Thawne shows up at their front door with a gunshot wound asking for help because some random person shot him, then yes they are obligated to help him.

Real heroes don’t choose who lives and dies. Also not saving him is like a doctor refusing life saving treatment to someone just because the patient is a bad person or something. A real hero saves everyone. Even their enemies. And Barry has saved Thawne many times in the comics.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

Completely different situations

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

So just like the comics.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

Wrong.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

It is under the law. If you could save someone from death but you do not act you can be charged with man slaughter.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

So you would be okay if a doctor refused life saving treatment on someone.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

You’re an idiot. And you clearly have not read a comic book. Barry literally saved Thawne’s life in the comic. You have serious issues. Seek help.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

Different situations. Also Iris shooting Savitar was self defence.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

So should a doctor let a murderer die who is their patient who is dying if that murder shows no remorse? And no every death is not the teams hands. What a stupid thing to say

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

He came asking for help to save his life. That would be like a doctor refusing care to someone who is dying. Which under the law would be considered murder.

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

Batman never kills the joker

Darth Kal-El (Cory Weston)

Though Team Flash was right to save Eobard, they could have made the choice more interesting by telling Eobard that, yes, we will save you, but on the condition that they remove his powers as part of the bargain. Eobard is an evil bastard and it would not surprise me that the whole "save me, please" conundrum was some convoluted gambit on his part that will come back to bite Team Flash in the future.

Growltiger

Thawne has literally altered time to murder the people barry cares about. sided with nazis invading the world to fuck with barry. His entire life purpose is to fuck with barry let the fucker die, because he will regain his speed and go on being a monster

CommanderL

It's annoying but it was the right call.

They should save him but cut off his legs for good measure can’t run fast if he can’t run

Prince of Za Waurdo Over Salmon

Saving him was the right call, otherwise it probably would have haunted Barry and co constantly

Flashback007

Saving him was the right thing to do but it create a problem if Thawne doesn’t have his speed does that undo everything he done

Kab

Saving him is the right thing to do letting him die would be the thawne thing to do barrys supposed to be the hero

Heroes shouldn't kill if they have a choice. It cannot be up to them to decide who lives and dies.

Kevin Bartelen

I feel they should’ve let him fade away , I can understand joe’s speech about what it means to be a hero but isn’t this the same man in season 2 episode 5 who almost shot Harry Wells because he thought it was Thawne and with no hesitation.

James Bond

Even if he faded away, the show is still going to bring him back at some point without any explanation.

Bejo

Yes, they should have let Thawne fade away. And that's the bottom line!!!!!

sonicburst3

I still think letting him live is too much of a risk. Yes it's fine atm with him having his speed taken off of him and being in Argus custody but this is the same man that not only replicated how Barry got his speed to begin with but then went on to create his own speed force. Thawne was a genius before he could use speed thinking. There's also nothing really stopping him from just redoing that experiment and becoming a speedster again. Also quietly I think it's obvious he'll be back. Why would they spend all that money making an updated Reverse Flash suit to only use it once.

Reece Hart

let him fade away he said that he will keep finding ways to get rid of barry he is willing to kill barry’s friends and family. Plus he was going to fade away but who knows he could always come back. At some point you have to pull that trigger

spencer

I think it's the right move to let Thawne die, but under the force of Joe's fatherhood I'd probably crumble and save Thawne too.

CrossZ

I don’t think letting him die is the same as killing him, and if it is the same, I think it’s fine. A heroes job is to save people above all else and letting a homicidal monster live is a good way to ensure they will eventually murder more people. This is only a dilemma if you’re a hero that doesn’t kill at all like Batman or Daredevil, but Barry has killed villains before when he had to and this situation is no different. I believe that in the trolley problem, a hero should chose to kill one to save the many.

Able

I get that Joe is trying to keep the moral high ground and everything, but I mean....unironically Thawne is too dangerous to be left alive at this point. He already manipulated someone to free himself from imprisonment and execution before. This isn't Batman where he's always teetering on the edge of being just as bad as the villains he faces. It shouldn't be the first choice, but we are way past the first offense from Thawne.

ObligedUniform

Wasn't Reverse-Flash sentenced to be executed anyways in season 5. I'm mostly curious if Team Flash was around would they have saved him from a court-appointed execution as well. P.S. His reason for hating Flash has made him the most petty villain I know.

Joel

i didnt even finish the episode and im not coming back to the flash because they saved him. i mean thats so stupid. so outrageous i dont even need to explain why. They are always doing stupid things it feels like im watching a kids show cuz they will never do things that actually make sense realistically. if it was irl barry would have killed thawns banana looking ass a long time ago

Mya

I got the impression from earlier seasons that Joe out of everyone would want to kill the Reverse Flash mess with that beautiful man’s family and your done!☠️ Barry wasn’t jumping to save the Reverse Flash when he was being executed nor did they bring up a fuss when Iris shot Savitar in the back. A bit of overlooking on their part

Gavin Hardiman

"I" probably wouldn't. But I am more of the anti-hero supporter than a goodie goodie two shoes supporter. I also like Tom Cavenagh's reverse flash so I know he's gonna have a revenge one day, and I'm here for it as a tv watcher.

Charles Malo

They should have let him die. He has shown no remorse for the things he's done, with literal promises of him doing more when, not if, he breaks out. Every death that he commits from here on out is on Team Flash's hands

SpeedyCat19

Honestly, I feel like even if they did let him die, somehow, in some way, he'd still find a way to return. I would only feel like he's gone forever if they kill him off in the series finale or something. I mean, come on, you can't have a show about the Flash without the Reverse-Flash being in the mix. It's like Aaron and needles. One is useless without the other.

MarkIsDaBoss

It should have been an easy decision. If you want to go off of the rule that heroes don’t kill people, he’s basically dying due to the timeline, you aren’t killing him, you are letting him die. Plus by letting him die, you probably save many lives of people he probably will kill in the future. It’s extremely dumb to let him live

As a watcher I love watching the Reverse Flash so I want to see him stay but if I was in their shoes, I would have let him fade him away.

Hunter Maynard

He’s 100% gonna try to get revenge on them so they absolutely should have let him die.

Yup it's like joker at some point u just gotta kill him or he'll just keep killing people

Dip602