“May we meet again.” -Monty Green (Damocles Part II)

The 100 television series originally started as a book. The characters that director Jason Rothenberg brought to life on screen gained recognition when Kass Morgan published the first of four books titled The 100 on September 3, 2013. Morgan was

born in New York on July 21, 1984 and published her first book in the city. She had always felt connected to literature and drowned in sci-fi along with Victorian novels her whole life. Later, she studied literature at Brown University in the United States and eventually went to Oxford University (UK) to receive her Masters. Only seven months after she published the book, the CW had released the first season of a new show, ‘The 100’. This new series was loosely based off of Morgan’s book and allowed for readers and new fans to imagine how they would handle being part of The 100.

On March 19, 2014, the first episode titled ‘Pilot’ aired on the CW. Over 2.5 million people sat on the edge of their seats and watched as characters like Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) and Bellamy Blake (Bob Morley) ventured onto the unfamiliar planet earth after an

apocalypse that ended civilization 97 years ago. One Hundred criminals (under the age of 18) condemned to prison on the Ark (by chancellor Thelonious Jaha) were sent to the ground to see if the air is cleared of radiation. Survival on the new planet was crucial to the people on the Ark (the space station where the rest of the civilization lives) who were running out of air and resources. When our main characters faced off against the grounders (people who survived the nuclear apocalypse and have lived on Earth ever since- forming their own languages and 12 tribes known as a kru). Immediately we saw that Bellamy Blake and John Murphy (Richard Harmon) took charge as the leaders of the group. But, throughout the first season Murphy became hostile and was banned from the group after he was falsely accused for the murder of Wells Jaha (Eli Goree). Bellamy Blake was not actually part of The 100, as he arrived on Earth as a stowaway trying to protect his little sister, Octavia Blake (Marie Avgerpoulos). With Murphy gone, Clarke joined Bellamy as head of The 100 and their friendship blossomed. Returning in the tenth episode of the season, Murphy brought a threatening disease back to the camp that the grounders gave him (to weaken the enemy). Bellamy immediately did not trust him after he gave the disease to Clarke (who he had started to develop feelings for). In the next episode, Murphy’s revenge plan started. Because he was hanged as a result of Wells’ murder, John held Jasper hostage until Bellamy gave into swapping places with him in order to save Jasper’s life. Meanwhile, Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan) who came to the ground only to report back to the Ark, remained under the drop ship hopping to open the door and free Bellamy before the grounder army reached their camp. This resulted in her shocking herself and causing a ruckus to which Murphy shot his gun into the ground directly into Raven’s leg. For the rest of the series Raven would have to wear a brace and would never gain full movement back in her leg. Throughout the season, Bellamy tried over and over again to protect Octavia, so in order to receive information about the enemy (to defeat the grounders and save everyone) he kidnapped a grounder soldier, Lincoln kom Trikru. Bellamy, along with other members of The 100 tortured Lincoln who refused to speak. Originally, Bellamy believed he could not understand modern English but this accusation was wrong. Octavia stopped Bellamy from torturing Lincoln and eventually developed a romantic relationship and alliance with the grounder.

Episode by episode the fandom grew. More people became connected and involved, and soon The 100 had been renewed for a second season. With a cliff-hanging season finale, the second season started off strong with our characters in the unfamiliar base built into a the side of a mountain. Forty-eight of the sixty (or so) remaining members of the 100 appeared inside of the Mount Weather (where the group was supposed to land in the first episode). While the group was trapped in Mount Weather, the rest of the 100 (separated from the 48) reached the members of the Ark who survived the trip down. Only one station’s members made it to planet Earth. Clarke’s mother, Abby Griffin (Paige Turco) a doctor on the Ark, being one of them. Raven, Bellamy, and Octavia remained in Arkadia (the camp where the members of the Ark reside). This season brought more and more challengers for the group, especially with the lost of a main character, Finn Collins (2×08: ‘Spacewalker’). Clarke’s decision to kill Finn (in order to preserve Skaikru’s alliance with the grounders), despite their romantic relationship, devastated fans. Finn’s ex-girlfriend, Raven Reyes, also impacted the show by becoming a series regular. An instant fan-favorite, Raven become the famous “space-mechanic” and has saved the group with her intellectual motor skills countless of times. Raven’s lost of movement in one of her legs and lost of her boyfriend sent her into a spiral. But, with the help of her mechanic friend Kyle Wick (Steve Talley), and the rest of the main characters, Raven led the rescue to save her friends trapped in Mount Weather.

Throughout the second season a major relationship that would change the fandom forever formed. In season 2 episode 14, Clarke Griffin and Lexa kom Trikru (Commander of the, now, thirteen clans) kissed. This relationship flourished in the

fandom. Clexa (Clarke and Lexa’s ship name) shippers formed and the fandom’s size increased rapidly. The 100 writers making a main character bi, allowed the LGBTQ+ community to back the show which gained a lot of popularity. Show-runner, Jason Rothenberg said in a interview, “Sexual orientation fits in the same place that gender identity and racial identity fits within the world of our show. The characters in the show are not concerned with those things. They are only concerned with whether they are going to live and die. … Nobody ever classifies anybody, as in, ‘She’s a woman leader,’ or, ‘He’s a gay soldier.’ It’s just not in our show’s vocabulary.” (Jason Rothenberg Interview)

By the end of the second season (after saving the 48 trapped in Mount Weather), Clarke is found in a grounder trading post housed by her new partner, Niylah kom Trikru (Jessica Harmon, Richard Harmon’s older sister). She is undercover, hiding from the rest of the remaining 100, unable to face the guilt of killing hundreds of people inside the Mount Weather bunker, including Jasper Jordan’s girlfriend, Maya (Eve Harlow). Meanwhile, main character John Murphy and ex-Ark chancellor Jaha Wells (Isaiah Washington) venture to find the famous “City of Light” which promises them peace in a new world.  Once they reached a small uncharted island (off the coast of North America), the two split off. In the end, fans freaked when the CW renewed the series for a third season.

The third season started with three separate “story lines”. Jaha and Murphy looking for the City of Light, Bellamy, Octavia, Raven, Monty, and Jasper facing the struggles inside of Arkadia, and Clarke remaining incognito to hide from the Mount Weather guilt. The initial issue is a familiar threat, the Grounders. After the members of the Ark returned to the ground in season 2, believing they’d lost their Chancellor the group decided to elect a new leader in the beginning of season 3. Charles Pike (Michael Beach) was a teacher on the Ark, but after arriving to the ground he took over a new leaf. He was elected Chancellor of Arkadia and decided to attack a Trikru army (outnumbered 30 to 1). Marcus Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) and Abby Griffin tried to fight Pike’s twisted method because originally Trikru was supposed to help the Sky People defeat Azgeda, or more familiarly known as Ice Nation. This threatening group of grounders pledged to defeat Skaikru to take their land and over power Trikru and Heda Lexa. When Pike’s group of soldiers massacred the 300 Trikru warriors, Heda Lexa vowed to defeat them but only changing her mind when Clarke tells her she can talk to Bellamy and compromise. Pike’s hatred of grounders eventually led to the execution of Octavia’s boyfriend, Lincoln kom Trikru. Outraged Octavia killed Pike in the season finale by stabbing him in the chest.

Meanwhile, toward the mid-season finale, John Murphy escaped the island and reunited with his new love interest Emori (Luisa D’Oliveira), who was shunned from her clan along with her brother because of their beliefs against freaks (grounders born with physical differences to their bodies that are considered recessive- usually these few are killed at birth but Emori and her brother Otan escaped and lived on their own). Throughout the first half of the season, Emori and John proceeded to rob grounder merchants of their goods until eventually John was caught after a bounty was placed on their heads. He was taken to Polis (the grounder captial) where he reunited with Charles Pike. Arkadia, on the other hand, along with battling Trikru and Azgeda, Chancellor Jaha returned from the mysterious island with determination to help everyone go into the City of Light. His new views are controlled by A.L.I.E., an artificial intelligence designed to improve the life of humans and resembles an appearance of her creator, Becca. A.L.I.E. can only be seen by those who have entered the City of Light and have left reality behind. She was also the one who launched the nuclear attack that ended civilization on the ground. A.L.I.E. convinced Jaha to get Raven Reyes into the city of light, to which she fell victim to. Throughout the third season, Raven faced a large amount of depression because of her movement struggles and Abby Griffin firing her from being a mechanic in Arkadia. With this, she gave into A.L.I.E. easily and was corrupted by her until Raven realized the mistake she had made and forced the chip out of her head, causing her more pain than she could’ve imagined. The cast took another huge lost when Alycia Debnam-Carey’s character, Lexa was killed off the show. Clexa shippers were devastated, but the other side of the fandom (the Bellarkers) were filled with joy as their rival ship came to an end. But to their surprise, Clexa shippers are still holding their beliefs even in season 5, two seasons after her passing. This conflict of interest is a battle for everyone in the fandom who has to listen to the bickering between Bellarkers and Clexa stans.

The season ended with a huge battle in Polis (those who submitted into the City of Light vs the Resistance Against A.L.I.E.). Clarke ended up saving everyone when she submerged into the City of Light (with Ontari’s Nightblood in her system) looking for the kill switch which would shut down A.L.I.E. forever. Meanwhile, back in Arkadia the submerged Jasper Jordan battles his best friend Monty Green (Christopher Larkin). While Clarke tries to find the kill switch inside the City of Light, Raven and Monty hack A.L.I.E.’s server to assist Clarke and save Monty’s girlfriend and future partner, Harper McIntyre (Chelsey Reist) from Jasper’s clutches. In the end, they found the kill switch and anyone in the City of Light returned to reality safely (but were still hit with any guilt they tried to avoid upon entering). Emori being of the them, ran into John’s arms with tears in her eyes and apologized over and over. Marcus Kane and Jaha also returned from the City of Light, along with Jasper Jordan who was struck with the grief of his passed girlfriend Maya (died at the Mount Weather Massacre). And before we knew it, season four premiered on February 1, 2017.

At the end of season three we learned about a larger issue that our main characters will have to face. A nuclear radiation wave (just like the one that wiped out humanity 97 years ago) was heading right for Arkadia and the other grounder camps in the area. After the death of their Heda, Lexa kom Trikru, the grounders were in need for a new leader. They demanded that each clan emit a representative to fight in a conclave (a fight to the death where the winner is award leader of the grounders). In Arkadia, Clarke and Bellamy searched for a solution to save their people from the radiation wave. Clarke preceded to make a list of those who would remain in the space station (Arkadia) and those who would be left out to die in Primfaya (the radiation wave).

This information was released and Arkadia broke out in protest. Finally, they decided to emit Octavia into the conclave to have complete control over the outcome of Primfaya. During the conclave, it is revealed that an underground bunker can be converted into a shelter to avoid Primfaya and have enough room to hold everyone. So, after Octavia defeated the other representatives in the Conclave she declared that the clans will be no more and they will live as one clan (Wonkru) in the bunker. As the bunker fills with the clans, Bellamy, Clarke, Murphy, Emori, Raven, Echo (Tasya Teles), Harper, and Monty are unable to get back to Polis to enter the bunker (after trying to find a solution to the radiation problem in Becca’s lab). So, Raven devised a plan to send the group back into space in a pod designed by Becca In order to do this, Raven told Clarke to line up the satellite dish so the group would be able to open the abandoned Ark’s door. Unable to make it back to the launch site in time, a heart-broken Bellamy closed the door and the group was sent into the atmosphere. Clarke on the other hand was unable to line up the satellite dish and climbs to the top of the tower, determined to help her friends before Primfaya hits. She was successful so Raven, Bellamy, and the rest of the group survived the trip up to the Ark. Primfaya hit the tower and Clarke appeared to be gone. Now, Raven must find a way to send the group back to the ground in five years once the radiation cleared, but most importantly Octavia had to lead the people of the bunker with force to prevent a full out war. The last shot of the season consisted with a very alive Clarke on a radio call with Bellamy (who isn’t there) updating him on her situation six years after Primfaya. She noted that the bunker was caved in and she had been unable to reach Octavia as well. Finally, we saw a new face jump out of the rover when Clarke spots a ship landing on Earth. Madi kom Louwoda Kliron Kru (Lola Flannery) at this moment, appeared to be very close to Clarke and a fellow nightblood. A very dramatic end to the fourth season left fans wondering what was next for the separated characters.

Recently, on April 24, 2018, season five aired on the CW receiving, once again, over 2.3 million views. With our main characters split into three main groups (Space, Earth, Underground), each faced hardships throughout the six year time jump. When season 4 ended, Raven was unable to figure out a way to get Spacekru to the ground, Octavia had just won the conclave and was faced with the responsibility of managing the bunker, and Clarke (along with Madi) were alone and watching as an unfamiliar ship landed in Eden (the only green spot left on Earth after Primfaya). Up in space, Murphy also noticed this ship. Seeing it leave it’s “mothership” before landing in Eden, Murphy told the rest of the group about his discovery. Raven, hoping to come in contact with the dropship, radioed the ship over and over. When she was unsuccessful in reaching them, the group decided to use the rest of their fuel (in their escape pod) to fly over to the mothership.

On the ship (Eligius Corporations) they discovered that it had been used as a mining ship filled with prisoners who’d committed crimes beyond their belief. After finding a captains log, Raven found out that the ship was taken over by Colonel Diyoza (Ivana Milicevic), who they assumed commanded the drop ship to reach Eden. With the ship empty, Raven and John Murphy remained behind on the ship while the rest of the group went back down to the ground to negotiate peace with Diyoza. While they were alone, they found that over three hundred more imprisoned solders were alive but in cryo-sleep.

Back on the ground, Clarke and Madi tried to escape the forces of Eligius but Clarke is captured. Upon reaching Earth, Madi tracks down Bellamy, Harper, Monty and Echo and tells them their situation. Though they aren’t sure who exactly Madi is, they trust her information and she leads them to Clarke. Bellamy negociates a temporary peace with Diyoza, saying they can share Eden if Diyoza will agree to open the bunker where Octavia and the rest of Wonkru is trapped. Freeing those trapped in the bunker appeared to be a sign of peace between Wonkru and Diyoza’s army but after Diyoza calls a missile launch on Wonkru (injuring hundreds), Octavia prepares for war. Bellamy can see how the six years in the bunker affected Octavia and changed her perspective. She was forced to run a fighting ring (to the death) to punish traitors, and after resources ran out, commanded Wonkru to eat the dead in order to survive.

This harsh leadership gave her the title of Blodreina. Her along with her two commanding officers Kara Cooper (Kyra Zagorsky) and Indra kom (no longer) Trikru (Adina Porter) declared war on Eligius and, to her brother’s demise, planned to take the valley for themselves. Following these events, John Murphy and Raven Reyes came down to the ground and were held hostage by Paxton McCreary (William Miller), one of Diyoza’s parters. Eventually they were freed with the help of an Eligius pilot, Miles “Zeke” Shaw (Jordan Bolger) who they aligned themselves with. Clarke, Bellamy, Harper, and Monty, meanwhile, devised a plan to stop Octavia from marching to war, still hoping to make peace with Diyoza. After Octavia took Madi under her wing as a soldier, Clarke decided to take Octavia out. Bellamy, though, ending up poisoning Octavia (non lethal) and was assisted by Clarke in the killing of Kara Cooper. Hoping Indra would take Octavia’s spot as leader, Bellamy and Clarke believed the war was stopped. Unfortunately, Octavia awoke from her coma with more vengeance toward Eligius and demanded they march to Eden.

Currently, Echo kom Azgeda, trying to prove her allegiance to Wonkru, planted herself as a spy inside of the Eligius head quarters. John Murphy and Emori also found a way back into the camp to work with Echo in her attempt to start a civil war inside of the camp. Now, Shaw, Raven, Echo, Murphy, and Emori were working together to help Wonkru win a war that shouldn’t have started in the first place. With Octavia’s army on the move, Clarke took Madi back to Eden and became close with McCreary, almost hoping Wonkru would lose. As Wonkru made their march, Murphy caused trouble in camp and before they knew it McCreary had overridden Diyoza’s command forcing Diyoza to align with Murphy’s group. With Echo, Emori, Shaw, Raven, John, Kane, and Diyoza outside of the camp boarders, and Wonkru on their way, battle strategies were being planned. Finally, Wonkru arrived at Eden’s boarder and the battle started. Thought to be on their side, Diyoza had released all of Wonkru’s plans to attack back into the Eligius forces and Wonkru was massacred and force to retreat. Stranded in the waste land and without a leader (Octavia, Indra, Gaia, and Bellamy still being on the battle field), Wonkru lost hope.

Only until Octavia and Bellamy were rescued from the war zone by Murphy, Emori, and Madi and returned to Shadow Valley did Wonkru march back into the battle. War broke out, but this time Wonkru was winning. McCreary seeing this launch a missile (Damocles) from the mothership directly towards Eden. Once Wonkru defeated McCreary’s army, Clarke preceded in killing him. Now news of the missile spread to every corner of Eden as Raven and Shaw prepared the large drop ship for launch. Heda Madi’s army along with the survivors of Eligius made it to the drop ship first. Only the wounded (including John Murphy who was shot in battle, Monty, Harper, Gaia, Jackson, and Emori) had yet to arrive. With only a few minutes remaining, the group Harper led (which excluded Monty, John, and Emori) entered the ship. Bellamy stood waiting outside, refusing to come in until his friends arrived. Clarke begged him to leave them as Raven began the thirty second count down. Finally, Monty, John, and Emori emerged from the foliage and made it to the ship with seconds to spare. Making it to the mothership, Bellamy and Clarke along with their friends decided to put the 400 people on board into cryo-sleep until the Earth is inhabitable again (predicted 10 years). The finale scene of the episode consisted with the waking of Clarke and Bellamy. They opened their eyes to see a new face and no one else awake. This new faced introduced himself as Jordan Green (Shannon Kook), Monty and Harper’s son. He they showed them a series of videos left behind by Monty and Harper who decided not to go into cryo-sleep and to instead find a way to save their friends lives. These videos showed Jordan’s birth and Harper’s death. Monty concluded the videos with saying that is took him thirty years to find a new planet that was survivable for his friends (after concluding that Earth would never be safe), the downfall was that it would take 75 years for the dropship to reach this new planet and he would never live to see it. His final words, “May We Meet Again”, tore at the audiences heart strings. The finale shot was off Clarke and Bellamy looking out of the drop ship window at a planet with two suns, 125 years since the battle in Eden.  The show has been renewed for a season six but at this time there is no information or details given about this.