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Okay, so in The Flash, Season 5, we see Nora travel to to other times, specifically 2049. I have no problem with this, as all seasons have dealt with time travel in some way or another (except maybe season 4, where I can't think of a time travel instance off the top of my head).

What I find weird however, is some subtle attempts to create tension because of her time travel. For instance, S5 has a habit of starting an episode where

Nora is in 2049 where she talks to Wellsobard (Eobard Thawne with Well's face)

Then, it will cut to the present where Barry and Iris will ask some kind of question like "Where's Nora?" The implication being she might be late or something because she's busy time traveling doing the spoiler.

That's all fine and good, except she can time travel. She could spend 5 years, or even 30 years in the future and they wouldn't know it (except for the fact she might look 30 years older, but besides that). Of course she's not going to be late.

Am I missing something? While her actions during her travels are relevant to the story, is there a point to attempting to create tension by starting an episode showing her time traveling or is this an over-site?

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    Out of universe, the mechanics of time travel seem to be pretty whimsical and arbitrary (time remnants?). The one rule is that it must create drama for the characters.
    – user888379
    Mar 17, 2019 at 21:02

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When they show time travel in The Flash, it seems that timing it down to the minute or even hour can be very difficult. They just run and appear in the day they want. Nora especially has been shown to struggle with this.

An example of her inability to control the exact time was in Season 5 Episode 14 in which she got caught in the time loop. She expressed frustration that she couldn't go further back than that exact point in time (because... reasons). She would try to go back earlier, but through elements beyond her control, she would appear right when Dibney walked up to her in the hall. That kind of indicates that she doesn't have very precise control. It might also indicate that there are specific points in time that a speedster can travel to. A regular speedster wouldn't be able to adjust it.

So if her accuracy is down to a few hours, then it would be easier to go back to a couple hours after she left. That way, she can't overshoot and come out in a time where she's already there. Thus risking exposure.

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  • Excellent answer. That would make a lot of sense.
    – user70345
    Mar 19, 2019 at 15:23
  • @Deev Why did you say if her accuracy is down to a few hours? Did you mean that she can only travel few hours in time (to-and-from future) or did you mean she can only jump back from whenever in future to the 2018/19 with a gap of "few hours"? Anyway the statement do not make sense and is just a speculation according to me (and frankly it does not answer the question)
    – RC0993
    Apr 18, 2019 at 6:33
  • @RC0993 I meant that she can't pinpoint the exact time to travel to. So if she had to be in a certain place at 2 pm last Tuesday, she would have to overshoot by many hours to ensure she would make it. Or in the case of the question, if she left at 2 pm on Tuesday, then she has to aim for a much later time when she came back. If she aimed for exactly 2 pm, she could go too far and there would be two Nora's which would be difficult to explain if anybody found out.
    – DeeV
    Apr 18, 2019 at 12:00

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