Armageddon Part 3—What the Injustice Protocol Means for the Flash

The CW’s The Flash just aired Part 3 of its Armageddon event that kicked off Season 8 and brought in a familiar face to help Barry in his time of crisis.

With two more episodes left in the five-part story, the Arrowverse crossover event revealed right in its first episode that Despero isn’t exactly the “bad guy” but is here to stop The Flash from causing the end of the world.

We see Barry Allen struggling to maintain his sanity after learning that he could someday go rogue, and he decides to call in a friend for help—who turns out to be none other than Black Lightning.

At first, it might seem like a random pick to call Jefferson Pierce, but as we learn, it’s all part of an emergency plan our Arrowverse heroes came up with. Cue the code word “Injustice.”

The protocol is as follows—in case anyone from the team goes rogue and needs to be stopped, they have someone from the group assigned to put them down/take away their powers for good. And Pierce’s electrical powers can destroy Barry’s connection to the Speed Force if necessary.

However, Pierce is the calm in the chaos, who believes Barry to be the best of them all. Soon, we find out that something’s messing with the timeline, and Barry’s apparent “madness” is caused/manipulated by someone else.

A hint in the episode suggests that the Arrowverse heroes had met before in the period between these two crossover events that led them to lay down the Injustice Protocol.

Black Lightning’s appearance in Armageddon can be linked to the final moments of Crisis on Infinite Earths when Flash held a meeting with Supergirl, Batwoman, Martian Manhunter, Black Lightning, Superman, and White Canary to create Arrowverse’s Justice League.

However, that’s not the only hint that links Armageddon to Crisis on Infinite Earths. While talking about Injustice Protocols, Barry and Jefferson mention Felix Faust.

Barry’s mention of the evil sorcerer suggests that an incident occurring sometime after Crisis involving Faust was what made the heroes design the protocol. (via Screenrant)

As for the word Injustice, the comic fans might’ve already caught the reference to the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic/video game tie-in storyline where Batman has to go up against an evil Superman who becomes a tyrant after the Joker tricks him into killing Lois Lane.

Although the way the “Injustice Protocol” has been described, the plan’s direct inspiration might be Batman’s Contingency Plans, as Barry hasn’t actually gone bad.

For The Flash, Batman had plans to inject him near the neck or the base of the spine with nanites which would make him disoriented and cause a seizure. Batman also tried developing a device that could rapidly slow down his metabolism, leaving him without his super speed.

Now that Barry has seen how the future changes, it’d be interesting to see how Barry stops Armageddon and if the Injustice Protocol would be used in the future.

The Flash Season 8 currently airs on Tuesdays on The CW.

About The Flash (The CW)

The Flash is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg and Geoff Johns. It is a spin-off from Arrow, existing in the same fictional universe known as Arrowverse.

Cast members include Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Rick Cosnett, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, Jesse L. Martin, Keiynan Lonsdale among many others.

The series follows Barry Allen, a forensic investigator in Central City, who is hit by lightning on the night of the inauguration of the particle accelerator. Months later, he wakes up from a coma and discovers he has super-speed. He becomes The Flash and fights crime in Central City.