The Flash: Who is Zoom?

With the latest episode of The Flash, fans were given a treat when supervillain King Shark returned to cause more troubles for our favorite speedster in red. And while he did steal the show for most people, writers for the show have dropped a bomb on us all and revealed the man behind the black mask.

“Zoom’s identity has been revealed: He is Hunter Zolomon, a.k.a Jay Garrick,”

I watched this episode with my dad, who hasn’t seen the first season of The Flash and really doesn’t have a concept of anything on this show, so when he saw Jay’s face, he was visibly confused. “How?? Didn’t he just die?!”

OF COURSE Zoom has Jay’s face. “Zoom’s identity has been revealed: He is Hunter Zolomon, a.k.a Jay Garrick,” executive producer Andrew Kreisberg says. “For Barry and the others, as much as they were stung by Wells/Thawne’s betrayal, he had been their mentor and friend and they all felt that vacuum when he was gone. Jay had been watching them and knew that so he was able to masterfully step into the role each of them needed. He became a friend and mentor to Barry. A love interest to the heartbroken Caitlin. He skillfully played them all,” he adds on.

Here are my theories.

Theory 1:

On each Earth, we have a set of twin: Jay Garrick and Hunter Zolomon – twins separated at birth, and this happens on each Earth. Zoom is HZ from Earth-2, while the Jay Garrick that is apparently killed is the actual Jay from Earth-2, and is HZ’s twin brother. Since the twins share identical DNA, both are affected by the particle accelerator explosion and become speedsters, but both use it for different purposes.

Hunter threatens Jay and forces him to spy on Team Flash on Earth-1 in order to gain information and still attempts to steal Barry’s speed. In episode 5 “The Darkness & The Light”, we see that Zoom knew that sending Linda Park’s doppelganger to fight Barry would cause him to hesitate, but how did he know that the two had a romantic history? Of course, our very own tattletale Jay Garrick.

Who was the prisoner in Zoom’s lair? Jay Garrick from Earth-1. Keeping an innocent captive could probably be the motive for Jay to work for Zoom – he wouldn’t want his Earth-1 doppelganger to be harmed.

Jay (E2) seemingly told Caitlin about his doppelganger on Earth-1 goes by the name Hunter Zolomon, who is apparently unaware to the whole Zoom situation, which is probably true. But hasn’t he noticed his twin has been missing for a while?

Now, this is a complication for Hunter, because he just killed his twin, who has also been his spy and now won’t receive any inside information on Team Flash.

Theory 2:

(With the twin theory in mind) The Jay Garrick that we’ve seen befriending Team Flash and smooching Caitlin, is a clone of the real Jay Garrick, who is Zoom’s prisoner. After the particle accelerator exploded and the two go their own separate ways, Hunter finds a way to clone Jay after locking him up, sending the clone to take on “The Flash” mantle for a while and then sends him to spy on Team Flash on Earth-1.

Theory 3:

Earth-2: Hunter (Zoom) seemingly killed his twin Jay, and the prisoner is Jay Garrick from the future, whose existence might have just been erased.

Earth-1: The Hunter Zolomon we saw in the park is the actual HZ who just an innocent bystander who has nothing to do with this whole fiasco. His twin? Probably dead. Sorry.

Theory 4:

Zoom is Hunter Zolomon from Earth-1. Hunter has been traveling through the multi-verses for a while, and his agenda includes getting rid of all the speedsters.

Theory 5:

Zoom is Hunter Zolomon from a completely different Earth. We know that there are definitely more than two Earths (honestly, think about it) and it would make sense if Zoom has been jumping through breaches for a while now, trying to be the only speedster alive. BUT, that really doesn’t clarify why Zolomon from a different Earth would want to keep Jay captive (assuming the prisoner really is some version of Jay Garrick).

Now, I’ve stuck with the twin theory purely because of Zoom’s prisoner who happens to be a man in an iron mask – which, in my opinion, is a slight reference to The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas, as well as a statement from Kreisberg himself:

“The mystery of the Man in the Iron Mask will play out over the rest of the season with some clues being layered in along the way,” Kreisberg says, “When you do find out who it is, everything will make sense in a very satisfying way.”

Right, so in the text, Anne of Austria and Louis XIII have a set of twins. Being superstitious, Louis XIII locked up one of the twins to avoid a series of conflicts between two children whose rights were equal, whose face was hidden by a mask of black velvet cloth. Heavily influenced by this, Hunter is upset that his twin got all the glory after being separated at birth, and decides to lock him in his very own mini bastille. But this is all just what I’ve been thinking.

If you’re thinking that this really can’t be Zoom because it’s too repetitive of the previous season, let me just point out the recurring plots of the show: