Hey guys!

So in the last two episodes of the Flash, the team made a shocking but true association between their current villain Clifford DeVoe 'The Thinker', and their first ever and worst villain to date, Eobard Thawne, the 'Reverse Flash'. And what do the two have in common? They are both long term planners, light years ahead of Team Flash every step of the way. Now, while this might seem just like an observation on the surface, it actually has much deeper, far-reaching meanings for both the show and the team.

![Reviews.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUEWmuXYCYBbMYcm5NbEY6pud7ZdRAhYPmf4yqJwUbF4R/Reviews.png)

First and most important, Thawne was never truly defeated. Though it seemed so at the end of Season 1, we've since seen evidence that Thawne can't ever really go away and he always knew that. The same Thawne who Barry fought in season one appeared again this season, coming from --wait for it-- ***another Earth***! DeVoe's intellect is so advanced that he has thought of everything, everything Team Flash could do to try to stop him every step of the way. Now, there have been a lot of speculation among fans that the team could end up working with his wife, Marlize, but he seems to have anticipated her loss of faith also. There is no other reason he has kept the bus-meta Weeper *without* taking his body, but is now using the meta's ability to produce a 'love-drug' to keep his wife happy, sedated and in check. It appears that he *has* thought of everything, meaning that he could have even already anticipated Well's use of the thinking cap in order to attempt to out-think him.

![maxresdefault.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdSuv64nxbkxLrQD2gHVjqJ5v27kPextDuxpqLAQMSx3h/maxresdefault.jpg)

This puts the team in a precarious situation. While seasons of TV shows such as this usually end with the team defeating the villain, it's a possibility that Team Flash will *not* defeat DeVoe at all this season. And yeah, this is serious, because if DeVoe does succeed in bringing about his 'Enlightenment', does this mean that Ralph is doomed? The truth is, we don't actually know what DeVoe wants the various abilities of the bus-metas for. It might be that Ralph is already fulfilling his purpose as part of Team Flash. Let's face it --DeVoe is only a villain because he has shown a willingness to kill the bus-metas and take their abilities. No other person has been harmed so far. What if the 'Enlightenment' he wants is not actually a bad thing? What if it ends up being good for Central City and the Arrowverse at large? Yeah, that'll be a *real* twist.

![The_Flash_season_4_poster_-_Let_the_Mind_Games_Begin.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQqjcwvJoMvU7yANkSdnHcdJwfYb2XAZPPM2XivqAQj3q/The_Flash_season_4_poster_-_Let_the_Mind_Games_Begin.png)

And another thing. Everyone has been assuming DeVoe wants to keep on living after he has fulfilled his mission, so he'll need a body that can regenerate himself and heal fast considering the rapid rate at which his body is degenerating with all the abilities he has absorbed. However, this might not be the case at all. DeVoe's plan might really be to die after the Enlightenment has been achieved. If this is true, DeVoe might turn out to be his own defeater, not Team Flash. They might have just been running about for nothing. Think about it --how really can Team Flash overcome someone who has thought of every possibility. Just look at how splendidly brilliant Wells became in just the short time he put on the cap, to talk less of DeVoe who has been affected both by the cap and by Dark matter. Can they do it? Will they ever do it?

This is a very big possibility. Just like Thawne, DeVoe might never be defeated.

![Clifford_DeVoe.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQNNiMPJpkbDv5kjvpfxswKe24MiCuEuD6REt3YzVVoGx/Clifford_DeVoe.png)

But is he really a villain? Let's think about it. We've seen his backstpry, and while it is normal for shows to humanise their villains, make them more interesting and give them depth, DeVoe has never shown any sign of wanting anything else than good for the world. yes, his method might be a little intense, he might be willing to hurt some people --not a lot, just some-- to achieve it, which might be a consequence of cold, emotionally void reasoning, but does this really change his endgame? Thawne in season one only wanted to go back to his time. Yes that was a selfish reason. DeVoe, however, became the Thinker for a very unselfish one. All he wanted was to enable the world know more. He was a teacher, is a professor, and what he does in his classroom is what he wanted for the whole world. He was fed up with his students lack of knowledge. So, is he really a villain?  Is he really a bad guy? Should the Enlightenment be stopped?

Team Flash has no idea what he's planning. The only thing they have going for them are the warnings from Savitar and Abracadabra from last season and that's what got them running scared in the first place. Since then DeVoe has shown some bad characteristics, but apart form the bus-metas, the only person he has hurt is *himself*! He actually killed his own body! Does he really want to live? We have no idea. What's his endgame? We have no idea! And the season is already in it's final phase. Could it be that the enlightenment actually should happen? What is the enlightenment? Is it just an imbuing of knowledge, or will it make a lot of persons super geniuses? Well, guess we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully in two or three episodes time, we'll get to know DeVoe's real endgame and see if Team Flash can do anything that he hasn't thought of yet.

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**The Flash airs on the CW every Tuesday at 8pm ET.**

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