‘The Flash’ Season 9 Episode 9: Recap & Ending Explained

The Flash series continues after a small hiatus, and the episode is really entertaining. The previous episode, “Partners in Time,” saw Iris and Barry trapped in time-reality, the pair developing their relationship more and Team Flash dealing with their own problems.

Episode 9, titled “It’s My Party, and I’ll Die If I Want To,” is full of twists, new revelations, and great cameos that propelled the episode in many ways. Oliver Queen appears in The Flash, and the fans of the Arrowverse shows absolutely love him in this episode. Beware of spoilers for the most recent episode of Flash, and if you’re interested in our recap, stay with us until the end.

It’s Barry’s birthday, and Wally and Diggle are in attendance

The episode starts with Chester, Allegra, and Cecile planning Barry’s surprise party for his (second) 30th birthday. The party is organized in the STAR Labs, and Iris brings Barry, where their friends and family greet them.

Notably, John Diggle and Wally West are guests, and Barry is seemingly overwhelmed. After bailing out of the argument between Singh and Kramer on who’s a better captain, Diggle takes Barry to the side and offers him a special gift – Green Arrow’s bow that was supposed to be lost on Earth-38.

Barry is at the loss of words and rejects Diggle’s gift because he feels he doesn’t deserve it and the bow should be better displayed in the Hall of Justice. Meanwhile, Chester gives Allegra a heartfelt gift – a necklace that can conceal her identity as a hero.

The party continues, and Wally greets Barry on the balcony. The two talk and Wally reveals that he can project his consciousness into the Speed Force and find alternate versions of himself, who preferably already found enlightenment. Remember, Wally is currently in Tibet with the Peace Corps, using Buddhist methods to connect to the Speed Force in new ways.

Wally continues by saying that he has a lot of problems he needs to deal with, and it seems that Kid Flash isn’t in the best headspace. Everyone returns inside to toast to Barry, and suddenly everyone starts to feel nauseous and falls unconscious, which leaves Barry to meet his old foe, Ramsey Rosso, also known as Bloodwork.

Ramsey Rosso returns to cause chaos

Ramsey Rosso has been quite familiar to Flash fans since he first appeared in season 6. His whole mission stems from wanting to eliminate death from the world, which was propelled by his disease and his mother’s death. He appears in STAR Labs after escaping A.R.G.U.S. facilities and puts everyone under his control using his dark matter.

Wally tries to reason with Ramsey but is put under the villain’s control by recounting his tough childhood. Bloodwork also tells Barry that his daughter Nora will become the first “blood child,” and everyone will become immortal.

Wally is still stuck in “his head” by Bloodwork and is exposed to his childhood, dying mother, and deceased girlfriend in Jesse. Ramsey manipulates Wally, uses his grief against the Kid Flash, and “wins over” Wally by offering him the path to true enlightenment. He also tells him about unlocking the Multiverse, and Wally, driven by grief, falls under the control of Bloodwork.

In STAR Labs, Chester is trying to get ahold of anyone and hears from Iris, whose daughter’s healing powers helped her deal with Bloodwork’s infection. Meanwhile, Bloodwork plays with Barry’s mind by taking him to the film set of Flash Facts, where Ramsey is the director of the television show, with Barry as the main character. Of course, Ramsey uses his film set to push Barry to the edge, reminding him of his friends dying for his cause and even Caitlin Snow’s hallucination appearing.

Barry is done with everything, and with survivor’s guilt, wakes up in STAR Labs. However, he doesn’t know that Bloodwork already controls Wally West.

Wally kills Barry and Oliver Queen is back

Barry wakes up, but Wally is far from okay. Under the influence of Bloodwork, Wally says some hurtful things to Barry, who eventually gets stabbed by his wife’s brother – Wally West kills Barry Allen. Barry wakes up on an island (similar to one where Gorilla Grodd was earlier this season), which is revealed to be Lian Yu.

Oliver Queen greets Barry and asks him what did he do now. Barry realizes he is dead, and the two probably have the episode’s best moments. Oliver reveals that Barry isn’t really dead but is working to keep the Multiverse safe. Only after he realized that he had created more Earths than expected, when he sacrificed himself as Spectre, Oliver realized that alternate timelines are actually alternate Earths.

He also confirms that he classifies Earths by numbers and confirms that Red Death is from Earth-4125. Oliver also reveals to Barry that Ramsey wants to spread his infectious blood/cells all over the Multiverse by using Wally – Oliver and Barry must save Wally from Bloodwork’s control.

The next scene takes us to STAR Labs, where Chester is confronted by Zombie Allegra, who wants to kill her boyfriend. However, Khione saves the day by freezing her and the rest of their zombie friends. She reveals that she felt a presence in her mind and had the need to return to STAR Labs.

Ramsey’s plan commence, and Wally uses his powers to open the gate to the Multiverse, where Bloodwork sends his cells to spread across the universes. On Lian Yu, Oliver tells Barry the attack started, and the Flash pleads with the Spectre to resurrect him. Oliver tells Barry he can’t because part of him doesn’t want to return – his friends died for him, and Barry feels guilty.

After pointing out that Oliver brought his dead friends and family back to life, he remembers that Robert Queen didn’t return, which kickstarts Oliver’s talk about guilt, and why he sacrificed himself for everyone. He couldn’t revive his father because of conflicts with the timeline, and he still feels guilty even after everything he did as a Green Arrow. However, he sacrificed himself for everyone and heroes like Barry because they are the ones who protect the world. A hero will always carry guilt, but they never stop running.

Barry accepts Oliver’s wise words and is ready to return. Oliver punches him back to STAR Labs, where it’s revealed that the famous Star City vigilante will help Barry save the Multiverse – Green Arrow.

Ramsey begins his mission to take over Multiverse, and Green Arrow and Flash join to stop him

Green Arrow and Flash are reunited and go on to stop Ramsey and infected Kid Flash from destroying everything. Kid Flash and Flash have their own speedster fight, while Ramsey sends a horde of zombified soldiers on Green Arrow, who showcases his incredible combat skill.

At STAR Labs, Khione unfreezes Diggle and rids him of Ramsey’s infection—Chester then gives Diggle his Spartan helmet telling him that Barry needs his help. Barry and Wally fight, and the Flash tries to help Kid Flash escape Bloodwork’s control. Barry tells Wally that he loves him and is sorry for every time he ignores his problems. Wally gets visions of his family and beats Bloodwork’s influence.

Flash and Kid Flash hug while Ramsey and Green Arrow are set to fight. However, Spartan blows Ramsey up, and Oliver and Diggle have a heartfelt reunion. Flash and Kid Flash arrive and distract Bloodwork while Green Arrow says his famous catchphrase, “You have failed this city!” and takes the shot that cleanses out Bloodwork’s cells from existence.

Meaning that Ramsey lost his powers and will continue his life as a normal man. The crew returns to continue Barry’s party, where Khione reveals that she felt Oliver’s presence which guided her to STAR Labs. Since she is connected to the natural world, she can feel Ramsey’s infection. Wally and Iris talk about younger West dealing with his past, which will propel him toward enlightenment.

Heroes save the Multiverse, and characters have heartfelt goodbyes

The cleansing removed Ramsey’s powers, and he will continue his life as a normal man. The crew returns to continue Barry’s party, where Khione reveals that she felt Oliver’s presence which guided her to STAR Labs. Since she is connected to the natural world, she can feel Ramsey’s infection. Wally and Iris talk about younger West dealing with his past, which will propel him toward enlightenment.

Finally, Diggle and Oliver have time for their talk, where John reveals that he missed his friend and whether he will see his family this time. Oliver reveals that he cannot see Felicity and their children since the rules prevent him from doing so. The Spectre also praises Diggle for rejecting the cube and choosing his family over power.

Diggle finally says goodbye to Oliver, who goes to have his goodbyes with Barry. In the bar, Barry acknowledges Oliver’s influence in becoming a superhero, while Oliver tells Barry he would become one even without sitting on that train to Star City.

Moreover, Oliver tells Barry that Flash made him a better man, so he will always be grateful to him. Before Oliver leaves, Barry asks Oliver if he did well as the Flash, and Oliver tells him the lightning chose him and that he should never forget that.

Flash episode nine ending explained and short review

Episode nine, “It’s My Party, and I’ll Die If I Want To,” is directed by Danielle Panabaker; frankly, she did a really good job with this episode.

This particular episode was eagerly expected by the fans who wanted to see Oliver Queen back to Arrowverse, and Panabaker implemented Stephen Amell’s character really well.

Despite Oliver Queen not being part of the Arrowverse for some time, his presence in this episode was refreshing, and it did bring cool action scenes that we enjoyed in Arrow for many years. Not just that, Oliver’s role was emotional because of his “death,” and seeing him reuniting with Barry and Diggle was really cool to see.

Barry lacked his usual “mojo” this season, which is understandable since the character lost so many people during the last few seasons. We never really saw him deal with grief in The Flash, but Oliver’s presence really opened up those “doors,” and it was effective.

In the end, we find out why Oliver cannot see his family, and we get a call back to the season eight episode when Diggle rejects the mysterious box and its powers from Eobard Thawne. However, most importantly, we saw Oliver pushing Barry in the right direction regarding his survivor’s guilt and insecurity issues, which will be interesting for the rest of the season.

I also liked Wally in this episode since his problems were never fully explored, and his talk with Barry and Iris closed that chapter of his life, which is refreshing to see.

The next episode will likely air normally next week, and we will return with another The Flash recap.