Reviewing the Conclusion of the Red Death Arc

So here it is. We have arrived at what seems like the conclusion of the amazing Red Death arc that started with the ninth and final season premiere, where the villainous speedster briefly appeared in the final moments of that episode. After another mysterious appearance in the second episode, the third episode ends with Red Death being revealed as an evil doppelganger of Ryan Wilder, aka Batwoman, a fact that was actually revealed months before the final season began. The previous episode saw Evil Ryan attempt to manipulate Iris into going with her into her Earth, after claiming that her version of The Flash destroyed her world and attempted to stop her from saving it.

However, Iris saw alternate Ryan as the true villainess she is, and she ended up held at bay by Red Death and ordered Flash to run the cosmic treadmill, only for Mark Blaine to sabotage it. Mark was left for dead after being stabbed by Red Death's rogues, and the maniacal villainess vowed to take over Flash's world now that she had no way to get back to hers.

So here we are, at the station, with Red Death and her rogues confronting Kristen Kramer, and right then, I was excited, because Kristen's a mimic, and I knew she'd use those powers. Unfortunately, Red Death was quite immune to those powers, and managed to subdue Kristen. Meanwhile, the heroic Rogues were called out for leaving Mark behind, but following this, Cecile was enlisted to get into Red Death's emotions and locate her, which she does, and she sees so much anger in Red Death, who attempts to block out Cecile to no avail. That's not all our favorite empath finds. Cecile also managed to find Mark at Red Death's headquarters...alive!

Meanwhile, we see the Red Death's scheme fully enacted--virtual clones of herself...everywhere. As they popped up all over, the villainess informed Kristen that she would finally enact her brand of justice, doing so after blaming Kristen and her colleagues for allowing criminals to run amok freely. At Team Flash's headquarters, our heroes argue again, this time over saving Mark, but it's Khione who finally gets through to the group. However, when they arrive, they suspect how easy it was, and that's when Red Death appears and takes down Flash, obtaining the last of his speed.

We now see Flash on the receiving end of Red Death's villainous "Reason You Suck" speech, claiming that Flash failed to do the one thing she's planning on doing: stop all crime. After mocking Flash's dismissal of Red Death's sentinels, Red Death adds that Flash is the reason for everything happening, and later sends his sentience to face a familiar former foe.

Remember Grodd? We last saw him in the last Crisis, which is used in Red Death's arrogant speech, where she accuses Flash of abandoning Grodd and leaving him on his own after his fellow gorillas lost their sentience and were scattered all over Flash's Earth. Red Death used Grodd's desperation and need to get back to his tribe to enlist his help in using his telepathy to create the clones, and after the heroic Rogues learn this, they abandon ship, seeing no way to come back from such an insurmountable deficit. We all wish the Patriots had that attitude when they were down 28-3.

After Barry's talk with Joe, which sees him remind Joe of his inspirational role with the heroes, something sparks and he faces Grodd so he can convince him to help take down Red Death. Grodd lashed out at Flash, who owned up to leaving him hanging, and also voiced his desire to be back with his tribe, only for Flash to remind Grodd how diabolical Red Death truly is. He managed to get through to Grodd, with Chester and Allegra seeing this from Team Flash HQ, and upon realizing that Grodd helped Flash, we see another epic meltdown from Red Death before she runs out to call out Flash--who managed to get his speed back in the process.

And here's where the victim complex really comes out. This always amuses me; some of the worst of the worst (in fiction and real life) always seem to act like they're the victim and they're being oppressed, and Red Death was no different. She's already shocked that Flash regained his speed, and after Flash explained that Grodd helped him out in that regard (along with the obvious), that's where Red Death has the temerity to say this:

"You poisoned another Rogue against me! Why do you always ruin my life, Flash?!"

I love this villainess to death (no pun intended), but my God, her victim complex could fill up Ball Arena (home of the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche) at least ten times! We then get a speedster vs speedster battle, which later includes Flash's heroic Rogues, but they get taken down by Red Death's power as well. Just as she's about to finish off the Flash, she is suddenly stopped by a very familiar face...her own.

You are not seeing things... Batwoman's back! The real Batwoman appeared and managed to hold off her evil doppelganger's power in order to fight her in direct combat. Following some snappy dialogue from both sides (the funnier line being Batwoman's referring to Red Death as "herself on a bad hair day"), Flash manages to remove Evil Ryan's helmet and chest protector, with the villainess letting out one last enraged roar before she is knocked out by Batwoman. A lengthy epilogue sees Ryan invite Iris on a day out with Kara and Alex Danvers, as well as Nia Nal (all from Supergirl), and a fast forward two months ahead to see Mark alive, thanks to Khione's kiss, Joe's farewell party, and the revelation that Iris is pregnant, all while Red Death is locked away in Iron Heights.

Wow! What an arc! So not only did this Arrowverse fan get to thoroughly enjoy and drink in a deliciously heel Javicia Leslie for five weeks, but the arc ends with Leslie coming in as the real Batwoman and fighting against her evil doppelganger. According to the woman behind both masks, this was always the plan: Batwoman vs Red Death. Leslie also voiced her enjoyment over playing the villainous role, which included Red Death's maniacal histrionics. As much as Javicia Leslie loved playing Red Death, I truly enjoyed watching her do it, and I'm not alone in that.

Episode 9.05, "The Mask of the Red Death (Part 2)," aired on The CW on March 8, 2023, and it closed the book on not only the Red Death arc, but on Batwoman as well. From the looks of it, we will now be back to the usual Flash episodes that we've seen for nine years, as the countdown to the series finale begins.

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