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In Season 1 Episode 10, "Revenge of the Rogues", for The Flash, Captain Cold teams up with Heat Wave to wreak havoc on Central City. There is a lot of conflict as Captain Cold is calling the shots while withholding information from Heat Wave (to the point of stupidity, I think, but that's a different matter).

However, I can't figure out why they decided to call out Flash in public at the end. At first, they break into some places and hope that Flash will come to stop them. It's private and they don't have to reveal their identity.

By the end, they decide to call out Flash in public and reveal their identities. When their plan fails, Captain Cold laments that the public having irrefutable proof that Flash exists "changes the plan".

Why is he surprised by this? Of course people know that the Flash exists, because the Rogues called him out in public! It seems to me like they tried to keep Flash (and their identities) a secret, did a 180 on that by calling him out in public, then lamented the fact that he was no longer a secret.

Am I missing something? Why would Captain Cold have behave this way?

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  • He wanted to kill him in public, and Cold is arrogant enough to think that his plan couldn't fail. But while a publicly-known dead hero enhances your reputation, a publicly-known living hero is a complication. – Nerrolken Feb 18 '15 at 18:51
  • Well, the plan was to kill him as he was outed to the public as existing. Now, any future plans will have to account for the public visibility (though, I couldn't tell you how/why). – phantom42 Feb 18 '15 at 19:00
  • What I want to know, is how Barry and his suit escaped the fight without any burn marks or fire damage. – Robert Feb 19 '15 at 21:10
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    @Robert Something something something speed force. – Broklynite Mar 23 '16 at 21:19
  • @Nerrolken You commented on this question a while ago, and it now has a bounty that's about to expire. Wanted to let you know in case you wanted to flesh out your comment into an answer. – Thunderforge Mar 30 '16 at 1:05
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A lesser revenge

I've thought about this, and can only think of the following explanation: Cold wanted to lure and kill Flash (as is made plain in the episode), but failed miserably. It seems to me that he decides to make Flash's life difficult by revealing his existence publicly (at the cost of revealing their own identities at the same time).

This may be the "revenge" that the title of the episode ultimately refers to.

The 180-degree turn where they "lamented the fact that he was no longer a secret" seems to be a response to the fact that he was subsequently hailed as a hero.

Why the public would think otherwise regarding the Flash at this point is a bit of a mystery.

Unfortunately, I can't find any official comment on this plot decision. I suspect the plot turns held some internal logic for the creative staff, and therefore needed no comment from them.

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  • Legends of Tomorrow supports this view. In "Star City 2046", he tells Mick Rory (Heatwave) that if they kill Vandal Savage, they'll "be the baddest sons of bitches of all time". It seems reasonable that he viewed proving the existence of Flash, while at the same time killing him, in the same way. – Thunderforge Mar 30 '16 at 21:03
  • @Thunderforge : That's a good reference! :-) – Praxis Mar 30 '16 at 22:15
  • Feel free to add it to your answer if you'd like :-) – Thunderforge Mar 31 '16 at 15:19
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    This is post #123456 on the site. Nice one! – Rand al'Thor♦ Apr 1 '16 at 21:42
  • @Randal'Thor : That's crazy cool! :-D – Praxis Apr 1 '16 at 22:05

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