"Seriously?! Another damn Zoom article?! We're sick of these!"
Yeah, but I still wrote one.
The identity of Zoom in season 2 of The Flash has been a hotly argued topic. People have looked longingly into his eyes to see what secrets they may hold, trying to gleam some inkling of who this masked man is. They argue back and forth over what theory makes the most sense. It feels like last season and the Reverse-Flash all over again.
One thing I keep seeing a lack of is analysis of evidence. A lot of cherry picking of stuff to shoot down other people, but not a big mass piling of facts. Over the weekend I sat down and rewatched the whole of Season 1 and Season 2 thus far, taking notes, printing pictures, and taping them to the wall with some red string attaching things, and I've come to a conclusion as to who Zoom is.
This guy:
Eddie Thawn of Earth-1.
Alright, now to get on with it. First, we look at Zoom himself. When you put the guy under the microscope and look at his actions thus far, you end up seeing that this Zoom is an amalgam of various comic book Reverse-Flashes. There are shades of Hunter Zolomon, The Rival, as well as Cobalt Blue. He shares a namesake with Hunter Zolomon's Zoom, like The Rival he wears a dark reflection of The Flash's costume and is an enemy of Jay Garrick, and like Cobalt Blue he can absorb the Speed Force out of another speedster as he demonstrated on Jay.
Now most of the speculation thus far has been that Zoom is an Earth-2 doppelganger. That he's "Evil Barry" or "Evil Henry" or "Evil What's-His-Face." But there's actually evidence that Zoom is actually from Earth-1. For one, his costume is a dark reflection of Earth-1 Barry Allen's costume. If he were a dark reflection of Jay shouldn't he be sporting a kettle helmet and running pants? And then last week's episode added another wrinkle. Zoom sent over Earth-2's Linda Park to screw with Barry and trip him up.
This implies two very important things. One, it tells us that Zoom knows that Earth-1 Flash is Barry Allen. Two, it implies Zoom knows Barry's past dating history. The relationship he had with Linda Park ended in Rogue Time, long before the singularity breach opened above Central City. How did Zoom know about Barry's dating life prior to his supposed ability to cross over? Likely, it means Zoom is from Earth-1 prior to the breach.
Now, that doesn't mean it's E-1 Eddie Thawne, but it does mean it's probably someone we've already met. And Eddie was indeed familiar with Barry's dating life. Hell, he went on a double date with Linda and Barry in Out of Time.
Now suspecting that Zoom is an Earth-1 native means we need to look at the possibilities. Taking a head count, the following three people are potentially Zoom:
-
Eddie Thawne
-
Eobard Thawne
-
Ronnie Raymond
Eobard is impossible if the finale is to be taken at face value. Dead Eddie means no Eobard, the end. And the idea that Ronnie would become Zoom really makes zero sense no matter how you slice it. Is Ronnie alive on Earth-2? Maybe, but him becoming an evil speedster is a huge stretch, and even then is he familiar with Barry's dating life?
So that leaves Eddie Thawne. Let's take a close look at Eddie.
First of all, Eddie shares a couple traits with the Zoom of the comics. Like Hunter Zolomon he is both a police officer and a friend of the Flash. This is part of why he was such a red herring in the first season. He shares a first name with the Reverse-Flash known as The Rival (Dr. Edward Clariss) as well, but then again a lot of people are named Ed...
Finally, Eddie's last name is Thawne, which played into the events of the first season when Eddie was revealed to be the ancestor of Eobard Thawne, AKA the Reverse-Flash. But Thawne is the last name of another Flash villain as well. Cobalt Blue, AKA Malcolm Thawne.
And Cobalt Blue shares some interesting traits with Eddie. Both have an affinity for the color blue, both are blonds who work at the Central City Police Department (though Malcolm worked as a janitor as a cover), both were jealous of Barry (something Eddie admitted and demonstrated through all of season 1), and both have an affinity for talisman.
You see, Cobalt Blue used a mystical talisman to steal whatever his heart desired from others. He used this talisman to steal the Speed Force from various Flashes. Similar to how Zoom stole the Speed Force from Jay Garrick in Flash of Two Worlds a few weeks ago. But does Eddie possess a talisman? Probably not a mystical one, but he sure as hell wears one all of season 1!
When asked about it in an interview, Rick Cosnett confirmed that necklace is a Thawne family heirloom. What,
you don't read French? Not only that, it was on him in his last moments before being sucked into the singularity.
So yeah. There's all that.
But now we have to ask the how and why, don't we? When last we saw Eddie, he was dead as a door nail as everyone abandoned his body and it was sucked into the singularity breach. I'm sure I'm not the only one who found it odd the camera lingered on him to ensure we knew he was sucked in there. It isn't outside the realm of possibility (and it's particularly comic book-y) that something happened to him inside the singularity that revived him. But even more interesting is he was sucked into the singularity at the same time as Eobard's Time Sphere wreckage. A time machine that was coated very specifically in a cobalt resin to prevent temporal shearing.
DUN DUN DUN!
And this also brings me to yet another Reverse Flash to throw into this damn Zoom stew. One Daniel West, a recent addition to the Reverse Flash family.
Daniel West got his speedster powers in a very hokey but very important way. You see, he wears armor that gives him a connection to the Speed Force. This armor is made from the wreckage of a monorail that worked by tapping into the Speed Force. ...Because yeah, whatever, comics. But still, we have precedence for a Reverse Flash getting his powers by merging with the wreckage of a Speed Force vehicle. The idea that Eddie merged with the Time Sphere's cobalt covered scrap in the singularity isn't without a source of inspiration. Plus, if he merged with a dagnab time machine it might mean he could pop out at Earth-2 not only anywhere, but any TIME as well. It would explain why Zoom had been around for two years prior to the singularity breach. It would also explain why he can seemingly jump through breaches at will, without any issues like Barry.
Now, assuming you accept all of that, the final question is why? Why would nice guy Eddie be so focused on slitting Barry's throat? Sure, he was admittedly jealous of Barry through season 1, but not in an obsessive way.
The answer is simple. Because Barry and his nonsense adventures cost Eddie his life with Iris. Barry was always the third wheel in their relationship; something Eddie knew. Barry's secrets got in the way of the two of them and resulted in fight after fight. Barry is why Joe refused to give Eddie his blessing to propose. Eobard showed Eddie the future, and that future had Barry and Iris together. Finally, Eddie shot himself to keep Iris from dying due to a battle Barry couldn't win on his own. He sacrificed his future with the love of his life because Barry was going to lose. Barry is the universe's biggest cock block.
And what was being the good guy getting Eddie? It got him a bullet to the heart, a picture on the wall, and no future mark on history. Even if he had just minded his own business and stuck to his job as a police officer, Eobard made it abundantly clear he'd make zero impact on not only history but his own family name. Being the hero just means being killed and forgotten.
Finally, think of both
Eddie's last words and
some of Zoom's.
Eddie: He was wrong. Turns out I'm a hero after all.
Iris: You are Eddie, you are.
Eddie: That's all I ever wanted to be: your hero. *DEAD*
FAST FORWARD
Flash: You wanna be me?! Is that it?! You wanna be a hero?!
Zoom: Heroes die.
Now, I'm under no delusions that I'm 100% right and all other theories are wrong. It just as easily could turn out to be Patty Spivot for all I know. But looking at the evidence in the show creates a pretty compelling picture that Eddie Thawne of Earth-1 is indeed Zoom.