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What Really Happened To Iris' Mom On 'The Flash'?

Of all of the mysteries unraveling this season, arguably one of the most neglected is what happened to Iris' mom on The Flash . During Tuesday's episode we got a glimpse of Joe West and Harrison Wells, an unlikely duo, bonding over the one huge thing that they had in common: They had both lost their beloved wives. (Well, Joe has; obviously now that we know Harrison isn't really Harrison, our sympathy for him mourning Tess' passing is limited.) So far the show hasn't really done much to explain how Iris' mother died, simply letting the viewers accept that she wasn't around and draw their own conclusions. We've been justifiably distracted by all the metahumans running amok, so we haven't really put that much thought into it — but really, when you think about it, we have little to no idea what happened to Iris' mother.

There's so much potential for what they could do with this character that it makes sense for the series to stay quiet about her. In some versions of the comics, Iris was sent back in time from the thirtieth century by her parents for safekeeping. Obviously this show is not afraid to work complicated angles with time travel. While I firmly believe that Joe West is from modern day, the show could trip us all up by revealing that Iris' mom is a time traveler, and she isn't really dead after all.

That being said, in other variations of the comics her mother, Nadine West, adopts her and eventually dies. It could be that the show has just decided to take on this arc and they really don't have any plans to resurrect Iris' mother ahead. I guess at this point, I wouldn't really be surprised either way, but it's good to stay on our toes, especially since the show seemed to make that scene specifically to bring Iris' mom back up. I'm sure whatever it decides to do in the end, though, is something that none of us will see coming.

Image: Cate Cameron/The CW