Tonight’s Kevin Smith-helmed episode of The Flash put the focus on Killer Frost as Caitlin Snow attempted to control her villainous alter-ego, but it also featured the Scarlet Speedster coming face to face with Savitar in an epic battle. As a result, we now know that the “Speed God” is the one pulling the strings and that Dr. Alchemy has been serving him all along.
However, an even bigger twist than that came in the episode’s final few minutes as we saw Julian Albert revealed as the man beneath Alchemy’s mask. Interestingly, he seemed to be serving his master somewhat reluctantly, so what exactly is going on here?
An answer to that question can be found by looking at the comic books. Julian is a new creation, but The Flash‘s Dr. Alchemy seems to have borrowed elements of the character from at least two of the three men who have held that mantle at one time or another. Albert/Alvin Desmond had a split personality (which explains why Julian seems to want to get away from Savitar when he’s not suited up), while Alexander Petrov worked in a lab just like Julian does as Barry Allen’s colleague.
With that epic four night crossover taking place next week, we’ll have to wait a while before this particular plot thread is picked up on, but The Flash definitely just threw an unexpected curve ball our way with this huge reveal.