The Rock of Eternity from Shazam! could secretly be the cause of the Arrowverse’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. The various Arrowverse shows have been building up to the Crisis since The Flash’s pilot episode, but that’s been accelerated after some disturbing changes to the timeline. Barry Allen now believes he’s destined to sacrifice himself on December 10, 2019, while Oliver Queen is on a desperate Multiversal quest to save all of reality.
But it’s crucial to remember that, while the Arrowverse’s Crisis is clearly heavily influenced by the comics, it will still have some very distinct differences. The most obvious is that the cast are being switched up a little, with starring roles likely to be played by Batwoman, Supergirl, Barry Allen’s Flash, and of course Oliver Queen. Crisis on Infinite Earths will see Stephen Amell bow out of the Arrowverse, meaning Green Arrow is probably going to pay the ultimate price to save the Multiverse.
Given there are going to be some differences, then, it’s interesting to note that The Flash season 6, episode 3 subtly introduced a new piece of Multiversal lore into the Arrowverse. It saw Iris and Ralph encounter a new version of the dimension-jumping Harrison Wells, calling himself “Nash,” who had traveled to Earth-1 in search of a substance called Eternium. Could this be the key to the Arrowverse’s Crisis?
Eternium & The Rock Of Eternity Explained
Eternium is a mysterious, magically-charged substance that originates from the Rock of Eternity. Moviegoers will be familiar with the Rock of Eternity from Shazam!, where it was the home of the great wizard Shazam himself, and it became Billy Batson’s superhero lair. In the comics, though, the Rock of Eternity is the source of all magic. As revealed in the DC Comics Presents 1983 annual, it sits at the very heart of the Multiverse, and it’s possible to reach any other dimension from the Rock of Eternity. The Rock of Eternity is thus one of the most important locations in the Multiverse - or, at least, it was until its destruction in 2005’s Day of Vengeance miniseries. That saw the mystical character known as the Spectre go on a rampage after being manipulated by a dangerous sorceress, and he destroyed the Rock of Eternity.
The result was a devastating explosion, with entire worlds consumed in the blast. Debris was scattered across the Multiverse, including magical objects such as the Blue Beetle scarab. And a new element was introduced into the comics - Eternium, the mystic rock that the Rock of Eternity had been constructed from. The substance only appeared in a handful of comics, such as Legion of Super Heroes #110, which revealed that fragments of it cause harm to any magical being.
Theory: The Rock Of Eternity’s Destruction Caused Crisis
This comic book context strongly implies that the brief mention of Eternium is actually quite significant. If Eternium exists in the Arrowverse, then The Flash season 6, episode 3 confirms that the Rock of Eternity existed somewhere in the DC TV Multiverse as well - and that it has been destroyed. That’s an important Multiversal event, and it surely can’t be a coincidence that it’s being implied right at the moment the Arrowverse is heading for Crisis on Infinite Earths.
It’s possible that, in the Arrowverse, the destruction of the Rock of Eternity was the inciting incident that began the Crisis. It could be that, as in the comics, the Multiverse itself has been thrown out of balance by the Rock of Eternity’s destruction, unleashing a blast wave that is gradually spreading out and consuming entire dimensions. If that’s the case, then the Anti-Monitor could simply have learned how to channel and direct the blast wave as a deadly weapon.
An alternate possibility, though, is that the Anti-Monitor was actually imprisoned inside the Rock of Eternity. This has always been portrayed as the ultimate prison for some of the most dangerous cosmic entities, including, of course, the Seven Deadly Sins. It could be that the Arrowverse’s version of Anti-Monitor was one of the prisoners held within the Rock of Eternity; he was either responsible for its destruction as part of an escape attempt, or else took advantage of the opportunity to break out before he was obliterated.
How Eternium Can Be Used To Save The Multiverse
Eternium has only appeared a couple of times in the comics, which makes it quite difficult to work out what role the mystical mineral could play in Crisis on Infinite Earths. For all that’s the case, though, in the comics the substance has one property that could prove quite helpful. Its presence has a strange influence on some of the most powerful beings, weakening them; the effect is particularly pronounced upon members of the Shazam family or their descendants, but it’s not inconceivable that it could also drain beings like the Anti-Monitor of their strength. If that’s the case, it could be a very useful tool, making the Anti-Monitor vulnerable to conventional attack.
Alternatively, it could be that the Arrowverse is borrowing another concept from the comics. In Legion of Super Heroes #110, one future Shazam - who called herself Thunder - launched a quest to collect the fragments of Eternium from across the Multiverse and rebuild it. Depending on how the destruction of the Rock of Eternity plays into Crisis on Infinite Earths, such an effort could prove to be crucial. It could be that restoring the Rock of Eternity rebalances the Multiverse, slowing or even ending the Crisis; alternatively, it could instead be that the Eternium is used to create a cell that the Anti-Monitor cannot escape from. Whatever the truth may be, it seems likely that Harrison “Nash” Wells’ quest to collect Eternium will prove to be an important subplot in The Flash season 6 - and may even help to bring an end to the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
More: Every DC TV Show That’s Now Arrowverse Canon (Thanks To Crisis)
