DC TV Watch: Burning Questions the ‘Arrow’-verse Shows Must Answer in 2019

Welcome back to The Hollywood Reporter‘s weekly DC TV Watch, a rundown of all things DC Comics on the small screen. Every Saturday, we round up the major twists, epic fights, new mysteries and anything else that goes down on The CW’s Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Black Lightning and Fox’s Gotham. Note: Supergirl, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Black Lightning, The Flash and Gotham did not air new episodes this week.

The Flash

Why is Nora working with Eobard Thawne? The 100th episode was an epic hour in so many ways, but the final reveal that Nora (Jessica Parker Kennedy) has been secretly working with Barry’s (Grant Gustin) No. 1 archnemesis Eobard Thawne (Tom Cavanagh) this whole time totally takes the cake. Sure, she didn’t know just how many horrible things Eobard was responsible for (like killing her grandmother) but for someone who was so obsessed with The Flash museum in the future, how did she not know how evil the Reverse-Flash was? Ignorance of his past aside, what could Nora have planned that she’d need the help of another speedster in the future, and is keeping it a secret from her parents? It’s definitely more than just help in getting her to the past to meet her father. Could she be trying to save Barry from disappearing in his future? And if that’s the case, why is Eobard helping her?

What is she writing in the speed force language? Nora has been sending daily reports to Eobard in the future in his Iron Heights prison cell. But why is she using the speed force language? And what could she possibly be saying that fills an entire journal? As for that one piece of information that Sherloque (also Cavanagh) was able to decipher, what does “the timeline is malleable” mean? Are Nora and Eobard trying to change the timeline?

What is Eobard planning? So many questions lead back to this one. Not only has Eobard been working with Nora this whole time, but he’s managed to withhold important information from her about his past and connections to her family. What does he have to gain from this partnership? And how long has it been since he escaped during “Crisis on Earth-X?” How did he finally get caught and locked up in Iron Heights? How did he even meet Nora if he’s been in prison?

Will Eobard take Cicada’s place as this season’s big bad? The big Eobard reveal has the potential to completely flip the script on what fans thought this season would look like. As soon as producers started revealing information about season five at Comic-Con this past summer, all the news was focused on Cicada (Chris Klein) being this year’s big bad. But what if that was all a giant red herring to distract from the real villain being revealed in the 100th episode? Now that Team Flash knows Caitlin’s (Danielle Panabaker) Killer Frost powers didn’t come from dark matter in the particle accelerator explosion, they know that she’s the secret weapon in defeating Cicada since he can’t dampen her abilities. The Flash could realistically wrap up Cicada’s arc in just one more episode leaving the door open for the remaining two-third of the season to focus on Eobard. Now that would certainly toss out the rulebook and keep fans on their toes.

Has the timeline been altered because of Nora and Barry’s time travel in the 100th episode? With all the people they encountered and things they affected during their journey to the past in the 100th episode, Barry and Nora definitely screwed some things up in the timeline. Even though they tried hard not to, their good intentions didn’t stop them from messing things up anyways. How much will their mistake affect their present and future? Time travel never comes without a price on this show.

How many of Eobard’s Easter egg mentions will appear on the show in the future? When Barry and Nora came across a version of Eobard in the past, he name-dropped quite a lot of important people from the comics. This could have just been The Flash writers having some nerdy fun. What if it’s not? What if Nora isn’t actually named Nora, and she’s really Dawn Allen? What if all those other speedster names will come into play on this show sooner than fans may think?

Arrow

Who is Emiko Queen? Arrow‘s fall finale ended with the most epic mic drop: The new Green Arrow is none other than Oliver’s (Stephen Amell) secret half-sister Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka). Where has she been her whole life? Who taught her how to fight and shoot? Why is she dressing up like her half-brother, and why hasn’t she approached him or revealed herself to him? In the comics, Emiko is the product of an affair that Oliver’s father had with Shado, but that can’t be possible given how young the show’s version of Shado (Celina Jade) was (and her romantic connection with Oliver). So who is her mother? Will she become Oliver’s ally like she does eventually in the comics, or will she be following some other mission given to her by Robert? And by introducing a badass female archer in the seventh season, is Arrow starting to pave the way for Amell’s exit?

Are Oliver and Felicity really back to normal? The “Elseworlds” crossover didn’t have too many show-specific developments aside from revealing next year’s crossover theme and some Superman (Tyler Hoechlin) life updates. But the crossover did make sure to not only focus on Oliver and Felicity’s (Emily Bett Rickards) marital struggles, but it also seemed to conclude that storyline. Oliver and Felicity made up and got over their differences, but is this going to be happily ever after for them? Or will the show keep going down the “relationship troubles” road in different ways for them?

Will Oliver play well with others? Now that Oliver’s been given the go-ahead to suit up as the Green Arrow in collaboration with the SCPD, will he be able to take orders? Or will he find that going legit is harder than he anticipated? And whenever he does finally come face-to-face with the new Green Arrow (who he doesn’t yet know is related to him), will he ally with her or be immediately her enemy?

What is happening in the future timeline? All season long, quick flash-forward scenes have painted a rather bleak future for Star City. Why did Felicity leave plans to bomb The Glades? Is she really dead or is she just in hiding? And why hasn’t Oliver been seen or heard from at all? Is that the biggest sign that he’s going to die in next fall’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover?

What are Diggle and Lyla up to? This whole side storyline with Diggle (David Ramsey) and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) going on ARGUS off-the-books missions has been pretty random, to say the least. Will it eventually circle back and connect to the rest of the season’s arc? And why do they think they can trust Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) to give them honest intel? That’s kind of a stretch of a way to keep him around. 

Supergirl

Will Supergirl go to war with the United States government? The big cliff-hanger at the end of Supergirl’s fall finale was Kara’s (Melissa Benoist) refusal to reveal her secret identity to the president (Bruce Boxleitner). His reaction was pretty cold, basically threatening to go to war with her, and she surprisingly didn’t back down. What would a war against a hero like Supergirl even look like? Is that something the POTUS is willing to risk? There’s no way Kara would ever give in to his demands, especially after the pep talks she got from Clark in the crossover, so a war might just be on the horizon.

When will Red Daughter show up? Ever since last season’s finale revealed that Supergirl was tackling the famous Red Son arc with a Soviet doppelganger of Kara, there have been only two or three quick scenes showing what’s happening with the Russian version of Kara on the other side of the world. When will she come face-to-face with the real Kara? When will fans finally get answers as to where she came from?

How will Agent Liberty continue to sow discord from jail? Now that he’s been arrested for terrorism, Kara certainly thought (and hoped) that Ben Lockwood (Sam Witwer) would no longer be a threat to her and other aliens. But if anything, his arrest only made him a martyr for the growing anti-alien movement. How will the show continue to keep Agent Liberty as this season’s big bad even while he’s behind bars? And how can Supergirl hope to fight something she can’t even physically get to or touch?

How long until Nia Nal learns the truth about Kara? Nia’s (Nicole Maines) journey toward becoming her comic book destiny of the superhero Dreamer took one massive step forward in the midseason finale. She opened up to Kara and Brainy (Jesse Rath) about her own alien heritage and abilities, and they in turn helped her learn how to control her powers. But the lessons were limited as Kara couldn’t explain how she relates to Nia’s past and current struggles as an alien herself. Inevitably her secret will come out to Nia as they continue to grow closer, but the real question is how long will viewers have to wait to see that come to pass?

Legends of Tomorrow

Will the Legends be seen before the show’s return in April? There’s going to be quite some time before the Legends return with new episodes in April. But as the “Elseworlds” crossover revealed, the Arrow-verse is always open to smaller crossovers, as Gary (Adam Tsekhman) was the only Legends character to appear in the three-part event as a surprise. Could the Legends pop up on any of the other series before the midseason premiere? The most likely prospect would be Sara Lance (Caity Lotz) showing up on Arrow, but any of the others are fair game. 

What’s going on with Desmond? Constantine’s (Matt Ryan) boyfriend is not only back on Earth despite being accidentally banished to hell, but he’s got a pretty gnarly looking face. Is he really Desmond, or has the demon Neron who was hunting Constantine hitched a ride in Desmond’s body to truly wreak havoc on Constantine’s emotions? And why is Neron so obsessed with hunting down Constantine?

How evil is Nate’s dad? Hank Heywood (Tom Wilson) has been pretty mysterious all season with his Project Hades plans. And now that’s it been revealed that Desmond/Neron in Desmond’s body has been behind Project Hades all along, that means it can’t be anything good. So if anything, the real question is not whether Hank is evil. It’s more how much does he know about his boss and how much is he just following orders from his superior? And what exactly is Project Hades?

Black Lightning

How long will it be until Jennifer suits up? As Jennifer (China Anne McClain) has been slowly learning how to control her metahuman powers all season, fans knew it was only a matter of time until she became her comic book destiny of Lightning. And now that The CW released first-look photos of her suited up as Lightning, it’s clear that that day is closer than ever. But as the midseason finale ended with her and Khalil (Jordan Calloway) still on the run, she’s going to come home before she can get her first superhero suit and fight alongside her father and sister. Which leads to the next question…

How much longer will Jennifer’s grudge against her family last? After everything that’s happened to her on her road trip with Khalil and all the danger she’s had to fight off (with her family’s help, no less), one would think that she’d finally see reason and go back home. What will it take to bring her back to the Pierce family and Team Black Lightning?

Who was that mysterious metahuman coming to Freeland? The midseason finale ended with quite the ominous tag, as a mysterious metahuman with teleporting abilities killed an entire bar of people before accepting a new “assignment” via a phone call taking him to Freeland. Is this assassin coming after Jefferson (Cress Williams) and his family, or is he going to be an ally? And is he modeled after anyone in the comics? There’s too little information to go off of so far to make any kind of speculative guesses, so this is one we’ll just have to wait to see to find out more.

Looking Ahead

Next week, The Hollywood Reporter‘s DC TV Watch is taking you inside the final season of Gotham, with secrets and interviews straight from the set. The countdown to “The Legend of the Dark Knight” is officially on. In the meantime, check out the latest trailer for the final season below.

The Flash returns Jan. 15, Supergirl returns Jan. 20, Arrow and Black Lightning return Jan. 21 and Legends of Tomorrow returns in April, all on The CW; Gotham returns Jan. 3 on Fox.