What the Heck Is Flashpoint and How Will It Affect The Flash Season 3?

Still scratching your head over what season three of The Flash will look like after Barry went and screwed everything up in the season two finale?
Um, same. The timeline is going to be completely different—how is that gonna work?!
While we'll have to wait until, like, October to find out exactly what the new direction of the show will be, there's one place we can turn to for clues: Flashpoint, the comic written by DC boss Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert that appears to be what The Flash is moving toward.
Yes, children, this is your summer reading assignment.
Here's the deal: Flashpoint sees Barry Allen wake up and discover that everything is different—the heroes are the villains, the villains are the heroes, Batman is actually Thomas Wayne, not Bruce—basically everything is backwards.

It turns out that all of this came about because Barry Allen himself went back in time to save his mother, Nora, and royally screwed up the timeline. The entire Speed Force was pulled into Barry, completely changing the history of his allies.
Eventually, Barry is able to see three different timelines—which then merge and create the New 52 DC Universe. Barry is able to remember the alternate timeline as well as the current one.
This opens the doors for many characters to join the show: heroes Citizen Cold/Leonard Snart (hello, Wentworth Miller), Kid Flash (Wally can actually get powers!), Batman, Cyborg, etc., and villains Aquaman, the Amazons, the Furies, Heat Wave, the Joker, and more.
Yeah, it's kinda complicated, so you should probably start brushing up before your mind really gets blown with season three's brand new timeline!

The Flash returns to the CW in the fall.