The Flash: 5 Reasons Why Barry Allen Deserved To Be With Iris In Season 1 (& 5 Why Eddie Did)

The love story of Barry Allen and Iris West has been a central theme of The Flash since it began in 2014, progressing to the point of marriage in season four. In the fifth season, they became parents to Nora, their time-traveling daughter from the future.

However, back in the first season, there was a thorn in this relationship’s side: the aptly named Eddie Thawne. As Iris’ love interest for the freshman run, Eddie, although a good man, was an obstacle to the desired relationship between Barry and Iris. Both men had their merits, so here are five reasons Barry deserved to be with Iris and five why Eddie did.

10 BARRY: He Was Iris’ Best Friend

Barry and Iris had been very close friends long before Eddie ever came on the scene. When starting a new romantic relationship, having a long, emotional bond with your new partner would surely be an advantage. Barry and Iris grew up around each other, experiencing things that most spouses didn’t like their awkward teenage years.

By knowing each other for so long, Barry was also privy to Iris’ deepest secrets, flaws, and fears. This would allow him to have a greater emotional understanding of Iris compared to someone she’d just met. Since Barry likely already knew what Iris could have to hide, their relationship could be more open and honest from the outset.

9 EDDIE: He Was A Kind Man Who Genuinely Loved Iris

While Eddie’s presence in the series to serve as Barry’s love rival, the writers were very smart with how they handled his character. It would have been very easy to make Eddie an unlikable character. This would make the audience root for Barry to win her over thus making the eventual romantic relationship seem more natural.

However, Eddie was a kind, caring person who deeply loved Iris which made it harder for Barry (and the audience) to hate him. His feelings were deep enough that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Iris.

8 BARRY: Every Sign Pointed To Them Being Together

When Barry, Cisco, and Harry Wells traveled to Earth-2 during the second season, they discovered that the counterparts for the regular Barry and Iris were married. At this point, Earth-1 Barry and Iris were not even romantically involved yet. This is one example of the pair being meant for each other.

Another example was the crucially important future newspaper located in Eobard Thawne’s “Time Vault”. Written by none other than Iris West-Allen, the information that Barry would marry Iris in the future was used against Eddie by his deranged descendant Eobard.

7 EDDIE: He Had A Stable Job/Future

Based on the actors’ real-life ages, Eddie was over a decade younger than his partner Joe West and predecessor Fred Chyre. Reaching the rank of Detective at a relatively young age shows that Eddie was hard working and had a good work ethic. He had a bright future in the police force.

Barry, on the other hand, was an underpaid “forensic assistant” (as Wells/Thawne put it) with an obsessive blog about freaking occurrences. At this stage of his life, before coming into a large sum of money, he could not have provided Iris with the same life that Eddie could have. Had they gotten married, Iris and Eddie likely would have been very comfortable.

6  BARRY: Iris Was Barry’s First (And Perhaps Only), True Love

While Barry and Iris had been friends since they were children, he was also in love with her for almost that whole length of time. Iris was a supportive figure during the hardest moment of Barry’s life, his mother’s murder, creating a unique relationship that he would not have with anyone else. In short, Iris is a very special person in Barry’s life, with the role she has played in it.

Even while Barry was dating other women, such as Linda Park and Patty Spivot, his heart was always with Iris. Time and time again, he proved that this was not a juvenile crush that he had carried from childhood but rather a deep love that Barry desperately needed in his life.

5 EDDIE: He Wasn’t Raised With Iris

Some of the more vocal opponents of the Barry-Iris relationship have pointed to the fact that they were raised together as a reason why it should not happen. However, while they were raised by the same man under the same roof, they are not related, which Iris even reiterates in the pilot episode. Thus, there is nothing legally wrong with their relationship.

Eddie, on the other hand, has no such complication in his relationship with Iris. It is free from the lack of clarity in Barry and Iris’ that was there initially. He and Iris would have been free to be together without feeling weird about it.

4 BARRY: He Was Already (Obviously) Close With Iris’ Family

One of the major points in any romantic relationship is introducing your partner to your family for the first time. It can be an awkward and nerve-wracking experience for all involved. Barry, with his unique childhood, was spared this situation. He was raised by his future father-in-law, Joe, from the age of eleven and considered part of the family.

While Wally did not arrive until both he and Barry were adults, they likely would have been close too, if their relationship now is anything to go by. From Joe’s perspective, it would have been an ideal situation as he would not have to get to know and approve the man that his then-only daughter was marrying.

3 EDDIE: He Supported Iris While Barry Was In A Coma

In the pilot, Barry is shown getting struck by the lightning that gives him his powers, on the night of the particle accelerator explosion.  However, this also leaves him in a coma for nine months. Since the audience is experiencing everything through Barry’s eyes, they do not see what had occurred in that time either.

Iris reveals through her dialogue that, to accommodate her and Joe being able to visit Barry, Eddie had stepped up to the plate. He drove Iris to Star Labs where Barry was under observation and took shifts at work that allowed Joe to have the time he needed.

2 BARRY: Proved They Had A Bond Outside Of Being ‘Barry And Iris’

It would be easy to assume that Barry had an advantage over Eddie from the outset by having a life-long friendship and emotional relationship with Iris. However, certain scenes during season one, when Iris did not know Barry’s secret, proved that there was romantic potential there that Iris may not have allowed herself to see had she known it was Barry.

Barry and Iris were able to form a second strong bond on top of their first. One of them did not even realize at first, which says a lot about their connection to each other. There were always feelings on both sides, it just took Iris a lot longer to acknowledge them.

1 EDDIE: He Made An Effort To Bond With Barry

Despite fighting for the same woman’s affection, which Eddie deduced, he made an effort to bond with his girlfriend’s (later fianceé) best friend. Noticeably in the first season, he progresses from referring to the Scarlet Speedster as “Allen”, then “Barry” and finally “Bar”, the latter being a name that only Barry’s foster father Joe calls him.

Even after learning Barry’s secret, Eddie became a member of Team Flash, helping to protect both said secret and Central City itself. It seemed that the pair at the very least became friendly with one another. In the end, Eddie made the ultimate sacrifice to save Barry and the other major characters from Reverse-Flash.

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