The Flash's "Armageddon" crossover has definitely delivered its fair share of surprises, but many fans were unhappy to learn that Jesse L. Martin's Joe West had been killed off-screen between seasons at the end of the second episode. It felt like a disrespectful way of handling the character's demise, but it appears there's more to what happened than meets the eye.
It did seem odd that Barry Allen appeared to have forgotten what happened to Joe, though the blame for that was put on the Scarlet Speedster apparently losing his mind. However, in the third chapter of the crossover on Tuesday, Iris West started digging into her father's death and noticed some strange particles in the air on the train tracks he supposedly fell on before being hit by an ahead-of-schedule train.
Eventually, it was confirmed that the timeline had been rewritten with the use of the Reverse Still Force; Joe was never supposed to die, and it appears Reverse-Flash is responsible.
With that in mind, it's likely Joe will return, which would explain comments from showrunner Eric Wallace in which he teased the character's story arc in season 8. Being killed and the restored is surely going to have a major impact on Barry's father figure, so the fallout from "Armageddon" is bound to be significant. It also appears the stage is being set for a major Reverse-Flash battle.
Rather than a single big bad, this season of The Flash is utilising multiple "graphic novel" style storylines, and it's proving to be an interesting approach to the Fastest Man Alive's world.
Check out a promo for part 4 of "Armageddon" below: