The return of Nora West-Allen (Jessica Parker Kennedy) in The Flash hurts the Arrowverse’s character original story arc. More than two years after her exit from the series in the season 5 finale, the daughter of Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candace Patton) is back in Central City, just in time for The Flash’s landmark 150th episode.
Following a few mysterious appearances in season 4 and the “Crisis on Earth-X” crossover, XS joined Team Flash for season 5 and assisted them in their battle against Cicada. At the end of the season, she knowingly changed her own future to stop the villain, thus erasing herself from the timeline. She didn’t come back at all in season 6, but The Flash did tease that Nora is alive again, thanks to the changes made by the rebirth of the multiverse in “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Now, she’s back, with her return to The Flash heralding the arrival of a major Flash character: Bart Allen aka Impulse. Played by Jordan Fisher, Bart is Barry’s son from the future in the Arrowverse. From the looks of things, Barry’s future family will play a key role in the coming battle with the Godspeed armies.
An issue with the inclusion of Nora, in particular, relates to how her season 5 story ended. The fight with Cicada cost her not only her life but her entire existence. Nora sacrificing herself to save her father was a really heartfelt moment for the character, and a major tragedy that had a deep, emotional impact on both of her parents in season 6. However, The Flash is acting like this never happened. Because of Barry’s dream, he was concerned throughout the episode that the Godspeed civil war might threaten his daughter’s life in the future, whilst ignoring the fact that she previously didn’t even exist. Their reunion doesn’t acknowledge this either, as it shows Barry and Nora interacting like a father and daughter who simply haven’t seen each other in a while.
The Flash using the Crisis changes to bring Nora back so nonchalantly and without proper setup makes her death in season 5 feel rather meaningless. The Arrowverse could have found a better way to make her return work. Legends of Tomorrow, for example, kept Zari (Tala Ashe) around by bringing in a new version after her character was similarly erased from the timeline.
Instead of using the Crisis to undo a huge character moment and season 5’s tragic ending, it would have been better for The Flash to at least explore the consequences of her decision. One way to do that would be to show that Nora is drastically different to what she was before, and perhaps not the same person that Barry remembers from their adventures together in season 5. Alternatively, the show could have at least addressed her revival more meaningfully. Hopefully, the Arrowverse will seek to somehow remedy this in the new Godspeed story.