Saturday, March 5, 2016

The 100, Season 3, Episode 7: Thirteen


I know that Clexia fans are reeling but the truth of the matter is that from the moment I saw Alycia Debnam-Carey in Fear the Walking Dead, I very much suspected that Lexa wouldn't live for long on The 100.  Normally, in circumstances like this, I would talk about gay death because Lexa died shortly after making love with Clarke and this one again leaves Clarke as the only reoccurring LGBT character on The 100.  That being said, it's impossible to blame the producers and writers when they have an actor signed to another show.  I don't think it would have been possible to write Lexa out of The 100, without killing her offLexa, whose whole life was her people, would never have willingly left them.  Her death while horrible, is the only way her character could ever have left The 100.

I think more upsetting than the fact that Lexa died is the manner of her death.  A character like Lexa deserved to go out on the battle field but I suppose doing so would have undermined the one lesson she learned from Clarke, "blood must not have blood".  Clarke primarily taught Lexa that there is more to life than bloodshed, revenge and violence and conversely, Lexa taught Clarke that she could be herself and find love again even with all the sins weighing her down. Clarke has had booty calls since the death of Finn but she hasn't loved anyone again until her path and Lexa's reunited.  At the end of the day, these two women taught each other significant life lessons and Lexa's death is going to change the direction of the show.

This week, The 100 focused very heavily on the mythos of the show.  We learned what happened to the 13th Arc and more about the role that the artificial intelligence played in the destruction of the earth.  The Grounders have turned this mythos into their religion and Titus is a true believer. We find out exactly how much when we see the lengths that he is willing to go to to find out why Murphy has the sacred symbol.  The first commander was the creator of the artificial intelligence which destroyed the earth.  When she then created a second generation and tried to use it to help the people in space survivor, they demanded it be destroyed. Rather than seeing her creation be destroyed she launched an escape pod and in the process destroyed the 13th Arc.  When she landed at Polis and encouraged all the survivors to come to her under the guise that she was there to help she became the first Commander.   Each commander since that day has had her tech implanted in the back of their neck. I suppose this is why the Grounder society is matriarchal in terms of leadership. This story is painted on the walls in Polis and because it's a part of their religion, Titus cannot conceive of the idea that this is grounded in what actually happened - a historical record of the destruction of the earth and the survival of humanity.  He is absolutely disgusted when Murphy tries to explain what it all means.

It won't be until Clarke gets back to Arkadia that we will see them make the full connection between what Jaha and Allie are up to and the religion of the Grounders.  As much as I enjoyed watching the history of the destruction of the earth and religion the grounders have developed out of it, I really don't want to see Jaha's story line dragged out

It's clear that Titus loved Lexa and would do anything to protect her.  When he attempts to shoot Clarke, it's not from a place of jealousy or worry that his power is being usurped but a fear that Clarke was leading Lexa down a road which would be soundly rejected by her people.  Given that the group Octavia tried to warn moved to attack Lexa when all she did was order Arkadia surrounded rather than it's people slaughtered is telling, Titus's concerns were indeed legitimate.  It's Titus who steps forward and kills the man who dared to attack Lexa.


With Arkadia being surrounded to stop their advancement and slaughtering of Grounders, this means that things are gearing up towards war despite Clarke's best efforts.  Clarke begs for time certain that her people will depose Pike. That's betting a lot considering that Pike is peddling the politics of fear and that has always been pretty attractive to some.  Octavia is determined to head back to Arkadia and deal with this issue and has to beg Clarke to go with her because Clarke's initial impulse is to stay with Lexa.

While waiting for Clarke, Octavia meets up with Indra who is wallowing in her misery because she was spared and did not die like the rest of her army.  It's Octavia who reminds Indra of who she is and her strength.  When Clarke doesn't arrive at the set meeting point, it's Octavia and Indra who march towards Arkadia.  I kind of want these two to walk off together and have their own separate show.