The Flash Season 3 Episode 21 Review: How Savitar Came to Be

After the big reveal last episode, “The Flash” takes it down a notch with a (mostly) lighthearted episode that brings a much-needed breather to the heavy grimdark angst of this season. Season 3, Episode 21’s “Cause and Effect” balances the tragic explanation of Savitar’s origins with the carefree antics of an amnesiac Barry (Grant Gustin) and the Iris (Candice Patton) who loves him. Sign us up for more episodes like this, please.

The Origins of Savitar: Barry’s Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The heavy stuff first. Now the explanation for exactly how Savitar came to be is classic sci-fi timey wimey mind-bending gobbledegook at its finest. Thankfully we have Cisco (Carlos Valdes) and the trusty S.T.A.R. Labs Whiteboard to break down this ‘closed loop’ for us.

The big reveal the last episode was that Savitar was actually a (seriously messed up) version of Barry from the future. That answered the ‘who’; this episode answers the ‘how.’ The future that Barry (present Barry) viewed revealed Team Flash broken and traumatized. They had disbanded. Iris was dead. But it was also a future where Savitar was imprisoned. The effort to imprison the God of Speed featured numerous failed attempts by Team Flash.

One of these failed attempts involved the use of Time Remnants. Future Barry (that is, Barry four years into the future, not Savitar) would send different versions of himself into the future to try and capture the God of Speed. We call these versions of Barry: Time Remnants. How they are created is a little difficult to wrap your head around. Basically, Future Barry created Time Remnants by going a little bit back in time and bringing these past versions of himself forward in time.

Savitar killed almost all of the Time Remnants – except one. This one Time Remnant Barry (or TRB) was tortured and kept imprisoned by Savitar. Eventually, TRB managed to escape and, swearing revenge on Savitar, TRB traveled back, back, back in time to ancient history where he began gathering power and followers as ‘Savitar, the God of Speed.’ TRB (now Savitar) went forward through time, slowly getting more and more powerful by killing speedsters and absorbing their powers. All so that he could achieve his goal: mastery of time itself.

Savitar to The Flash: ‘A God feels no pain’

The long and short of it is that Savitar created himself. This is why Cisco calls it a closed loop: Barry is basically trapped in an inescapable circular loop of fate. That is unless Team Flash manages to find a way to do what they’ve been trying to do all season and change the future.

Tragically, this episode also showed that Savitar is fully aware of his origins. He knows that he is a Time Remnant and that in order for his past self to become Savitar, he needs to kill Iris. The act that catapulted him into a vengeance quest (against himself), leading him further and further into darkness, is the same act he needs to recreate so that he can become himself (the God of Speed). Confusing? Welcome to the club.

But Savitar’s own explanation for why he goes through the motions is the most tragic thing of all. As TRB, he was broken, alone, grieving the loss of Iris, and rejected by the rest of Team Flash. With everything he loved gone, all he wanted was the pain to end. So he came to the realization that ‘God feels no pain.’ And he would do anything it took to become a God.

Barry loses his memories

Turns out all Barry needs to become cheerful and carefree again is to lose his memories. Just subtract the trauma, guilt, and fear weighing on his shoulders – who knew?

Anyway, Cisco and Julian (Tom Felton) are to blame for Barry’s temporary bout of amnesia. They realize that the reason Savitar is always one step ahead of Team Flash is because he knows everything that’s going to happen. He’s lived through it, after all. To combat this, Cisco comes up with a plan to stop Barry’s brain from making new memories. Naturally, as all harebrained schemes go, this one goes awry and Barry ends up with amnesia.

Amnesia Barry is absolutely hilarious. He’s darling but incompetent – such as when he tries to testify against pyromaniac villain Heat Monger (Richard Zeman) only to bumble and fail. But this is a version of Barry we wouldn’t mind seeing again because for once he was all smiles. Iris was enjoying his change as well, happy to see him happy. Joe (Jesse L. Martin) reminded her that the change was temporary – but the reprieve was an enjoyable one nonetheless. Present Barry is who he is because of his trauma but more of Amnesia Barry, please.

Killer Frost teams up with Team Flash

This episode also teased the potential for a redemption arc for Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker). Present Barry’s memory loss led to unexpected problems (‘Cause and Effect’), such as Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) losing his powers and Savitar losing his own memories. This prompted our favorite ice-themed villainess to reunite with her old team.

Working together, Killer Frost and Cisco manage to create a device to reboot Barry’s brain and return his memories. Just like old times. (Or not.) The flashes of Caitlin shining through the hardness of Killer Frost is enough to convince Cisco that his best friend hasn’t completely disappeared.

The return of King Shark?

Now when it comes to the actual world-saving, Tracy (Anne Dudek) and HR (Tom Cavanagh) finally finish building the Speed Bazooka – but there’s a minor snag. To fuel the Speed Bazooka that can trap Savitar in the speed force, they need tons of energy. Something even more powerful than the sun. Cut to a shot of the Dominator’s mind crystal. And who is that protecting it? It’s King Shark.