The Flash: Season 7 Cosmic Forces, Explained
The Still Force is the latest cosmic force to get introduced to the Arrowverse through The Flash season 7 as there are several of them that exist.
The Flash season 7 introduced the Still Force, which is the fourth and latest Cosmic Force in the Arrowverse. Past seasons of the DC TV drama have focused on the Scarlet Speedster going up against various metahumans. While there have been several different kinds of threats, The Flash season 7's forces show the series is tackling it differently by doing its own take on a recent storyline from the hero's comic run. The Speed Force has for the longest time been a powerful entity in the DC Universe, but it's no longer the only cosmic energy source. In Joshua Williamson's story arc Flash War (The Flash #47-50), DC Comics brought to life three new Forces after Wally West's attempt at breaking the Speed Force barrier.
Flash War causes these new Forces to be released because Wally tried to free his trapped kids. While The Flash didn't have that exact context, they did bring to life three additional power sources when Iris West revived the Speed Force. Since Iris had been a speedster very briefly, she had managed to main some of the energy from the original Speed Force. Because of that, she was able to stabilize the Artificial Speed Force that Team Flash had created. But that came with a consequence as the three New Forces were also born at the same time. With the creation of the Strength Force, Sage Force, and Still Force, The Flash season 7's forces get to have a very different main antagonist following Mirror Master.
Instead of having just one big bad, The Flash season 7's forces now get the opportunity to have the New Forces as a united threat. Even though they are using humans as their conduits, simply the idea of having cosmic forces as villains is still refreshing for the Arrowverse. While it's a slight departure from the comics, it makes sense in the context of The Flash to have new power sources accidentally created, when doing something as big as resurrecting the Speed Force. It's unclear if these are the only Forces that will be introduced to the Arrowverse during The Flash's arc. But how has The Flash established the Speed Force, Strength Force, Sage Force, and Still Force in comparison to the comics?
Strength Force
The first new cosmic force that got introduced out of The Flash season 7's forces is the Strength Force whose conduit arrived in "Central City Strong." While the conduit's initial appearance is brief, it's established later on that this is the Arrowverse's interpretation of DC Comics' Fuerza. What this specific Force entails is an increased addition of strength that goes beyond just being able to lift heavy things. Anyone who gets a connection to the Strength Force gets changed physically as they literally grow in size. The Strength Force bestows those abilities to its conduits by swallowing an individual from the Earth's surface. In Fuerza's case, she was so strong that she could cause shockwaves by hitting the ground. The CW's take on Fuerza demonstrates similar strength as she's able to defend Barry from Psych in The Flash season 7, episode 10 "Family Matters - Part 1".
In the comics, the Strength Force is heavily dependent on gravity and the force of motion. That would also allow the conduits to actually manipulate the Earth itself where they could craft rocks as a weapon. While The Flash season 7's forces user does get their muscles and overall physically changed, Fuerza learned how to maintain her regular size. In her case, it was related to having to maintain her calm as that would prevent Fuerza's size from expanding. When Barry first battles Fuerza during her Arrowverse debut, he discovers that she can absorb his lightning energy. Even Abra Kadabra's Anti-Matter bomb was something Fuerza was able to absorb without it destroying her.
Sage Force
Following the arrival of the Strength Force, The Flash season 7, episode 5 "Fear Me" brought in the Sage Force whose conduit became the DC Comics character Psych. The Flash season 7 forces use Sage force to focus and enhance the minds of its wielders. While the Strength Force is about gravity and motion, the Sage Force instead grants an individual various forms of psychic powers. Aside from boosting one's intelligence, a Sage Force user like Psych could use their connection to also perform various acts of telekinesis, as well as become a telepath. Bashir a.k.a. Psych could read people's minds, making it hard to surprise him, while also attacking them mentally. Sage Force conduits have the power to also control minds while also tricking people to fall for their illusions.
The Arrowverse's take on Psych has the villain using his powers to make people in Central City go through their worst fears. But because of how powerful Psych's mind-abilities are, even if a victim was just experiencing their horrors inside their head, he could push it so far that it would result in physical harm. When The Flash goes up against Psych, he forces Barry to have to be haunted by Reverse-Flash and Savitar. When Savitar stabs Barry, Psych actually caused The Flash to believe it was real and the hero ended up being hurt in the real world. Despite Barry's healing, the fact that Psych got him to believe that Savitar had stabbed him, shows how dangerous he is. However, Bashir, Iris, and Alexa end up faking their own deaths and use an illusion to escape from Nora and Deon, stopping the one of The Flash season 7 forces conduit for the time being.
Still Force
Even though the Strength Force and Sage Force got established before it, the Still Force was technically born in The Flash season 7, episode 2 "The Speed of Thought." In the comics, the Still Force is able to prompt or advance entropy. A conduit that is connected to that source can either slow or speed up its own aging process as well as others. It also enables a user to suck life-force energy out of people and living things, making it hard to stop them. Gorilla Grodd has been connected to the Still Force where he was able to stop the entire universe from becoming bigger. Aside from Grodd, The Turtle, as well as Steadfast, have also been able to use the Still Force. The depiction of The Flash season 7's forces, particularly Still Force, is similar while also having a few differences.
In The Flash season 7, episode 6 "The One With The Nineties", Cisco Ramon and Chester Runk accidentally get trapped in a 1998 version of Masonville. But unlike The Flash’s regular time travel, they got hit by a massive green energy wave that ends up taking them back to the '90s. They eventually meet Deon Owens who is the Still Force's conduit as he's causing a time pocket where he can relive the better parts of his life. However, Deon wasn't the first one to demonstrate this power as "The Speed of Thought" resurrects the original Harrison Wells, through the same green energy. Harrison reveals that he's able to immerse himself into any moment in his personal past, present, or future which is why he goes to relive his moments with Tess, his wife.
Speed Force
The Flash season 7's forces obviously includes the Speed Force. The Speed Force is the cosmic entity that speedsters get their super-speed from that also enables them to perform extraordinary moves. It includes benefits such as slowed aging, accelerated healing, increased reflexes, traveling between alternative realities, and running back or forward in time. Speedsters are therefore some of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe which has been reflected on The Flash. In the Arrowverse, however, the Speed Force got sick because of Barry's Spectre-infused energy that overwhelmed his power source during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Because of that, the Speed Force actually died causing Team Flash to have to invent an artificial one so Barry could still be The Flash.
Initially, after Nash Wells and the Multiverse-Harrisons sacrificed themselves to power it up, the Artificial Speed Force came with pros and cons. It gave Barry the power of speed-thinking, but the more he used it, the less human he became as it killed his emotional component. The Flash was therefore forced to destroy it so that he could become himself again and actually feel things. That's where Iris came in as she was able to use the original Speed Force energy she had left to power and stabilize it. However, a Speed Force storm recreated the original cosmic entity that still had the form of Barry's dead mother Nora Allen after its death in The Flash season 6.
What Happened To The Cosmic Forces In The Flash
Eventually, each of The Flash season 7's forces joined up with Team Flash. Alexa Rivera (Fuerza, Strength Force) helped fight off Psych alongside Barry in order to coerce him over to the team. While Alexa and Bashir's (Psych, Sage Force) relationship is contentious, she was able to get Psych on their side. Alexa went back to S.T.A.R. Labs with Bashir and they had a heart-to-heart with Iris and Barry. At that very moment, the Speed Force showed up with Deon Owens (Still Force), and since Deon froze Barry in time the Speed force was able to knock out Alexa, Bashir, and Iris. However, it's revealed that all of this is an illusion created by Psych in order to confuse the Speed Force while he, Iris, and Alexa come back to life. This experience cements the partnership between Psych, Fuerza, and the Flash. Two of The Flash season 7's forces join Team Flash to fight in the Godspeed War.
Deon, however, needs a little more convincing. Barry confronts Deon at a football stadium, telling him the dangers of dealing with Nora but Deon refuses his help. After a while of thinking it over, Deon relents and decides to join Team Flash. He's taken back to S.T.A.R. Labs where he apologizes to Bashir and Alexa for his actions. The team reconciles and decides to defeat Nora once and for all, though it isn't as easy as it seems. The Flash season 7's forces attempt to enter the Speed Force and fight Nora there, but the attempt doesn't work. Deon comes in handy when he decides to use his powers to give Nora a deeply haunting vision of what the world would look like without her family in it. The vision works and Nora steps down, apologizing to Deon, Alexa, and Bashir. Eventually, The Flash season 7's forces all go to the West house together and begin rebuilding inside the Speed Force.
Because it's still early on, there is going to be more revealed eventually about the Strength Force, Sage Force, and Still Force as well as their respective conduits. While Fuerza's first appearance on The Flash was short she played a vital role in the Godspeed War and it wouldn't be shocking if she looks different the next time she shows up. Similar to her comic counterpart, Fuerza may actually learn to control her physiological size so she can look a bit more human again, while still being powerful. It's also not entirely impossible that the New Forces will birth new users in Central City besides Fuerza, Psych, and Deon. Just they were the first three that Team Flash has encountered doesn't mean that they'll be the only representatives. Depending on how far they are getting, the New Forces could also be reaching people outside of Central City too, making this a bigger challenge for The Flash moving forward.
