- "This Magnetar that's being developed by Mercury Labs... Turns out, it can act as a pulsar."
- —Harry Wells on Magnetar[src]
The Magnetar was a device developed by Mercury Labs. It could act as a pulsar – a power amplifier with a highly magnetized, dense rotating core that could be easily weaponized. Hunter Zolomon, a meta-human speedster from Earth-2, stole the device and turned it into a weapon that would allow him to destroy all of the Multiverse outside of Earth-1 with a trans-dimensional shockwave. The device was almost successful in this goal, if not for the sacrifice of Barry Allen's time remnant, who used his speedster abilities to create an out of phase pulse of his own, counteracting the pulsar, but sacrificing his own existence in process.
Overview
The original Magnetar that was stolen by Hunter Zolomon was a much smaller device, with a sphere at its center. Hunter tinkered with the device, in an attempt to weaponize it.
After being stolen by Hunter Zolomon, Magnetar was expanded into a gigantic "race lap" that would allow it to be powered by the Speed Force energy produced by speedsters. According to Hunter, one lap around the inside of this loop would produce about 1 gigawatt of energy, and 500-plus gigawatts were needed to power the Magnetar enough to send a trans-dimensional shockwave that would destroy alternative Earths and their timelines, except for Earth-1. However, the pulse from Magnetar could be counteracted by another, out of phase pulse.[1]
History
At some point of time, Magnetar was developed by Mercury Labs for a scientific purpose. However, Hunter Zolomon, along with Harry Wells discovered an alternative purpose for it. As Harry explained, the Magnetar could be used as a pulsar, a power amplifier with a highly magnetized, dense rotating core that could be easily weaponized. Hunter stole the device and tinkered with it, turning it into the weapon to destroy all alternate Earths outside of Earth-1.[1]
While Hunter was tinkering with the device, he was approached by Caitlin Snow's holographic image, who distracted him and allowed Team Flash to weaken the speedster, banishing him back to Earth-2. But their plan backfired, with Zoom taking Joe West with him as he was flung through a breach, ending up a prisoner back at his lair.[1]
Hunter later "raced" against Barry Allen in the inner laps of the device, powering the device together, and threatening to kill Joe if Barry refuses to race. The beam then pierced the skies above the Central City skyline into the multiverse. Although his plan was partially successful, Barry "stole" Zolomon's trick with a time remnant, allowing different versions of him to both overwhelm Zoom and either could sacrifice themselves to create their own pulse that would be out of phase, counteracting the one from the Magnetar. This led to the time remnant's death and Barry's triumph over Zoom.[1]
Years later, Barry and Iris travel to the mind of their daughter Nora, and there it can be seen the fight on the Magnetar in the Flash Museum is recreated there.[2]
The Magnetar was once again set up on Earth-Prime's Central City for a final fight with Zoom and his evil speedsters, featuring the same power up (and a possible trans-dimensional shockwave) as the original fight.[3]
Appearances
The Flash
Season 2
Season 3
- "Flashpoint" (flashbacks)
- "Cause and Effect" (flashbacks)
Season 5
- "Memorabilia" (video footage)
Season 9
Trivia
- 500 gigawatts needed for the weaponized version of Magnetar is about half the total energy production capacity of the United States of America.
Behind the scenes
- The debacle of achieving enough gigawatts of energy to power a science device was a plot point in another time-travel related series, "Back to the Future".
- The tachyon device of Mercury Labs that appeared in "The Reverse-Flash Returns" physically resembles the version of Magnetar before changes brought by Hunter Zolomon. However, it wasn't explicitly confirmed to be the same exact device.