‘The Flash’ Season 9: Is Chillblaine Really Dead?

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Season 9 Episode 4 of The Flash.The Flash has always liked redemption arcs that end in self-sacrifice, and Season 9, episode 4, “The Mask of the Red Death, Part One,” presents another, maybe. Mark Blaine, AKA Chillblaine (Jon Cor), has gone back and forth between hero and villain throughout his time on the show, but it seems he went out a hero. And his appearance in “The Mask of the Red Death, Part One” is no different. But here he made a seemingly final choice by sacrificing himself to allow Barry (Grant Gustin) and Iris (Candice Patton) to escape Red Death (Javicia Leslie) and her rogues, Captain Boomerang (Richard Harmon), Fiddler (Magda Apanowicz), Murmur (Alexandria Wailes), and Rainbow Raider (Paul Anthony). While Mark hasn’t always been a fan-favorite, his assumed death does raise questions, most importantly: is he actually dead?

Chillblaine’s History

Mark is a former employee of Ivo Laboratories, where he created cryogenic tech that give him ice powers, but after being fired, he had to steal back his own invention. Despite using his tech to frame Frost (Danielle Panabaker) for murder and escaping Iron Heights after she revealed the truth, Frost and Mark had a connection. She tried to get him sent back to Iron Heights, but he had become a State’s Witness. When he was injured, Frost insisted he go to S.T.A.R. labs for healing, which is where he was when the Godspeed clones attacked. After helping Team Flash fight the clones, Mark started dating Frost. Through his connection to her, Mark became a part of Team Flash, at least sometimes. But his past sets him apart from the team, and he’s often willing to operate in more of a gray area than most of the others. After Frost sacrificed herself for Caitlin Snow, Mark and Caitlin wanted to find a way to bring Frost back, but Barry refused to help them.

Mark’s shifting loyalties stopped while he was dating Frost, but once she was gone, he didn’t want to be a part of the team anymore, as he believed they would hold him back from reviving her. And they sort of did. When his and Caitlin’s experiments ended in Caitlin’s death and the creation of a third Snow sister, Khione, he went to Team Flash for help. But the team came to the conclusion that Khione should decide the next step, and she wanted her own chance at life. This meant Mark’s plan to raise Frost wouldn’t work, and he had to start over. Lacking their support left Mark feeling betrayed by the team.

Related: The Arrowverse Deserves a Better Sendoff Than ‘The Flash’ Can Give it

Mark’s (Possible) Death

More recently, Mark betrayed Barry and the team when he turned on them. After letting Barry and Hartley (Andy Mientus) believe that he would help them and their rogues steal the final part Red Death wanted, he turned on them. Mark gave Red Death the part she needed to make the Cosmic Treadmill. But going beyond that, he agreed to put it together. Though he isn’t exactly sure of Red Death’s plan, Mark knows she is working against the Flash, but it doesn’t matter to him. Red Death promised to help him get Frost back, and that’s what he wants. Yet, when Red Death captures Barry, Mark is surprisingly friendly. When Captain Boomerang wants to unmask the Flash and learn his identity, Mark interjects, warning him off with the threat of an electric shock. And again, when no one is around, he offers Barry water. The two talk and Mark reveal that he doesn’t expect Barry to trust him, finally showing some regret for his choices, but Barry reminds him that he’s no stranger to working with former enemies, counting Frost among the reformed members of his team.

Mark’s story comes to a head when Red Death returns with Iris. After his wife is threatened, Barry gets on the completed treadmill, powering it for Red Death. But the treadmill malfunctions, blasting Red Death and freeing Barry, though his speed is drained. Mark explains that he did it on purpose, so the three of them could escape, but without Barry’s speed, they cannot. The rogues try to stop them, and Mark fights them, telling Iris and Barry to go. He is outnumbered, but that doesn’t stop him. Without hesitation, Mark rushes into danger. Luckily the rest of the team shows up with a way out, but they cannot wait for Mark. They leave just as he’s beaten. They see the rogues surround him and assume that he’s dead. Barry wants to return and try to save him, but without his powers, it’s not practical. Those who were so recently betrayed by Mark and are less forgiving than Barry brush off his death, but the ones that have known him longer are shaken by the loss. While the characters seem confident that he’s gone, but without a clear death, can fans be sure?

What Are Mark’s Chances of Survival?

When looking from the perspective of the characters, Mark is more than likely dead. He was left behind with Red Death’s rogues, fighting a losing battle with no escape. Despite Mark holding his own for a minute, Team Flash saw him trapped in the four-on-one fight. However, viewers didn’t see him die on screen, which does make a difference. Even if he was at the mercy of the rogues, there is no concrete evidence that he died. With the show’s history, it’s generally a safe assumption to say if someone didn’t die on screen, they’re still alive. As a character who has been around for three seasons, Mark seems to warrant a less ambiguous death, if that is what it was.

The fact that even after he “dies,” some (namely Damion Poitier‘s Goldface) still question his motives makes it seem as though there will be more to the story. However, if Mark survived, it’s clear that his ties to Red Death are effectively severed, and, more than likely, he would be a prisoner of the villain for the time being. In a recent interview with comicbook.com, Jon Cor stated that he was given “so much to do this season,” which seems a strange thing to say if he’s only in four episodes, even if they have been eventful for the character. This seems to point to Mark’s survival, and maybe now he will pick a side and stick with it.