#also lowkey it's really funny to me that Max never even attempted to train Barry because Savitar wasn't an issue at the time

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

The thing that really gets me about the camping trip (on top of everything else I mentioned), is that Max was going to leave regardless.

It didn't matter what Bart did. Max had already made up his mind. He just needed an excuse.

Play through the scenario with me for a second. Imagine Bart had passed Max's tests with flying colors. What then?

Well, if Bart had passed then Max would've been thrilled! Max's job would've been done. Bart would have been done his training and Max would have left.

You have to remember that Max wasn't there to raise a child. He wasn't there to be a father and watch Bart grow up and go off to university.

Max was there to train the next Flash. That was it. The second that job was done, Max was gone.

If Bart failed Max's tests then Max would've written Bart off as untrainable and left. If Bart passed Max's tests then Max would've given him his stamp of approval and left.

Max was so frustrated because Bart was so close to passing. Max wanted it to be done then and there, he didn't want to stick around to push Bart that extra little bit. And then Max had the big realization (I explain that in the previous post) and Max left.

But there was no situation in which he would have stayed.

Max didn't want to be a mentor. He didn't train speedsters out of love or because he enjoyed teaching. Max did it out of necessity.

See, Max knew that Savitar would return one day. Max needed fully trained and capable speedsters ready for when he did. Max is very clear about that.

When Max felt Savitar gearing up to escape the speedforce the first time, he immediately went out to find the speedsters of the time. Max trained a young Johnny Quick and a young Jay Garrick so that Max would have backup.

But Johnny was too bull-headed to listen to Max, too caught up in science to believe what Max was saying about the speedforce. And Jay had the skill and the drive but he didn't have enough power to face Savitar.

There's a reason why Max was so invested in Johnny and Jay in their 20's (when Savitar was returning), and then fucked off for literal decades (when Savitar wasn't a concern), and then was suddenly all over training Wally, Jesse and Bart (when Savitar was returning again).

I'm sorry to be blunt about it because I know it really hurts to think about it but Max wasn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart. He wanted an army.

Max was training Wally and Jesse but he was running into the same problems as before. Wally 'I was raised by science loving Barry Allen and I don't believe in magic' West had the raw power but wouldn't listen to Max at all about the speedforce. Jesse was more than willing to listen but she didn't have enough power to be a contender.

So suddenly Max is in the same position as before. He has a Flash and Quick, one too stubborn and one with too weak of a connection.

He couldn't go back to Johnny and Jay because they were senior citizens, so he just had to keep at it with Wally and Jesse and hope that they'd be able to do it.

Enter Bart stage left.

Suddenly there's a speedster with enough sheer raw power to take on Savitar. One with zero preconceptions about magic (or anything, really). A speedster that Max could train and mold into the perfect warrior. A weapon of mass destruction to take down Savitar once and for all.

So Max started really focusing on Bart. Bart was his plan B for if Wally and Jesse failed.

And you know what? Savitar came back. Wally actually managed to pull his head out of his ass and he had managed to figure out some speedforce tricks. Jesse's speedforce connection was a moot point because she didn't need her speed at all, Jesse kicked ass with her other meta powers. Jay became the epitome of 'an old dog can learn new tricks' and he was able to hold his own. Johnny actually listened to Max for once in his life and ran without his formula, relying on the speedforce instead. Also, Jenni showed up and was their surprise wild card.

And Bart? Bart wasn't plan B. Bart was center stage. Bart was there, Bart was capable and Bart was ready.

Max had been categorically wrong about everything. People could change with love and support, people could grow and learn and thrive. This was a family of people who cared about each other. They would move heaven and earth for each other. They made the impossible possible. And Max just wasn't used to that. He was used to holding people at a distance and not getting attached.

It should be noted that the camping trip happened after the fight with Savitar.

Max was really only there for his daughter. And once Helen wasn't interested? Max was gone.

He didn't really need to train Bart anymore. He certainly wasn't his father. In Max's mind Bart was better off with someone else entirely.

I really do think that Max had to leave though. Narratively speaking. Because when he came back? He came back for Bart. He came back to parent Bart.

From then on Bart's wellbeing always came first. Bart wanted to quit being a hero? If that made him happy then Max supported him. Dogs were good for children's development? Max got Bart a dog.

Max made the decision to stay for Bart. Max kept making the decision to stay for Bart. His desire to run didn't just disappear after that, but he stayed. Because from that point on Bart came first. From that point on Max was a dad.