One of the many things I love about The Flash is how ambitious it's always been. I mean, here we are in the show's sophomore season and not only have we traveled back in time on more than one occasion, but we've also journeyed to an alternate universe (aka Earth-2). That's some next-level plot development right there, my friends. And even though we've now unmasked Zoom, there's still yet another mystery left to uncover: the identity of the man in the iron mask on The Flash . Who is this guy? Why is he Zoom's prisoner? And how does he fit into the rest of the story? At first, my initial reaction was to say that it's obviously Leonardo DiCaprio reprising his Man in the Iron Mask persona. (If only!) But then I started really thinking about it and came to the conclusion that the man in the iron mask is actually Eddie Thawne from Earth-2.
Think about it... we saw pretty much everyone's doppelgänger (evil or otherwise) during Barry's trip to Earth-2. Everyone, that is, except Eddie's. Why is that, do you think? The way I see is either a.) the actor who plays Eddie, Rick Cosnett, is way too busy with his new role on Quantico to stop by The Flash set, or b.) the writers are saving his return for a much bigger revelation later on.
Now, given that this person's entire head is covered, it's hard to ascertain many clues regarding his (or her) appearance, however, it isn't too big of a stretch to say that the Iron Mask character seems to have a similar body structure to Eddie. It's also worth mentioning how important Eddie turned out to be at the end of last season. He was the key to stopping the Reverse Flash and saving Barry from death (by killing himself). What's to say he won't turn out to be just as important this season as well? The Flash does an amazing job of surprising us time and time again. So having Earth-2 Eddie show up and save the day is well within this show's wheelhouse. Plus, who wouldn't love to see this guy back on our screen again?
I realize that some people will think this theory is a bit of stretch, especially since there are so many other possible candidates as well. (Double the characters, double the possibilities!) But there's no denying that Eddie's return would really raise the stakes in a whole new way. Barry promised that he'd save him from Zoom's captivity, which means we definitely haven't seen the last of him. And if Zoom's locked him up, then odds are he could be the key to eventually taking this Big Bad down for good. I couldn't even try to guess how that could be, but if any show can pull off a major twist like this one, it would be The Flash.
But, in the meantime, let's all still try and hold out some hope for this...
Image: Diyah Pera/The CW; writings-of-a-british-fangirl/Tumblr; luciernaguns/Tumblr
