Post — Aaron Ngo

If you aren't watching this show, you are surely missing out. The 100 delivered one of its best episodes, if not the best one, out of the entire series. It is Octavia's episode to shine and her five season journey is critical when she takes control of Wonkru: the union of all the clans. Unlike the season premiere which experienced a time jump (six years), this episode takes place primiarily 46 days after Praimfaya.

Spoilers moving forward:

Octavia is the leader of the bunker (Wonkru), but she is unsure on how to proceed through the political dealings and the overpopulation. Yes, this problem is recycled yet again and Jaha is more than willing to reduce that number to save everyone. This issue is heightened once Abby and Kane discover they are shut inside because rubble from the outside buried the hatch.

Kara, a Skaikru who lost her father and husband, takes over the food supply (the farm) and also captures Abby and Kane. The Grounders are furious about this predictable betrayal and round up the Skaikru left outside the farm. Octavia takes charge and tells them to stand down.

The majority refuses to listen out of fear, which forces Octavia and Jaha (who is critically injured) to work together. They get to talking about the harsh laws implemented on the Ark, on the ground, and inside the bunker. When Jaha mentions why he killed her mother, it hits Octavia because those rules had done nothing but take from her.

This episode clearly shows how far Octavia will go to save Wonkru and to show that the previous clans no longer exist. If there is an overpopulation problem, she took care of it using everyone's greatest fear, the one driving them this entire episode: DEATH!

When Grounders tried to break into the farm and kill everyone inside including the innocent, Octavia declares,

"You are Wonkru, or you're the enemy of Wonkru! Choose!"

She repeats this phrase about 3 to 5 times to the group, taking down opponents through brutal swordplay whenever they chose to become an enemy. Octavia is a monster and someone you do not want to mess with. Every time she uttered that decree, I kept my eyes glued to the screen waiting to see the next idiot fall by her blade.

Watching Octavia kill a bunch of people is strangely delightful. And she killed a lot of them. Like the overpopulation problem is done if she keeps this up. Her fighting style is ruthless and has greatly improved compared to the previous season. She has come a long way from the scared little girl who hid underneath the floor in the Ark.

Eventually they all submit to her command, choosing Wonkru rather than meet death.

After getting the Grounders on board with her plan to only punish the guilty and establishing all previous clans extinct, Octavia has Jaha break open the farm and invades to claim Kara. She runs into the back where she is keeping Abby and Kane, but instead of killing them, she tries to kill herself.

Octavia throws a knife through her hand to stop her. She isn't getting out of her punishment so easily. After dealing with this mess, Octavia, Kane, and Abby try to save Jaha but his wound is too deep. His fight is over. FINALLY!

I was getting tired of his character and hearing the actor planned to leave after season four helped a lot. I knew going into this episode they would have to send him off. Octavia takes charge of the boy, Ethan, when Jaha passes. Now Octavia and Clarke have another thing in common: motherhood-ish.

To take care of the overpopulation problem they're gonna experience for the next five to six years, Octavia declares the guilty have to fight for survival. This sounds like a mixture of "Floating" and "Grounder" death sentence. You are punished for small crimes but given a fighting chance to survive.

Six years later, Octavia reigns as the Red Queen.

She continues to drench herself in the blood of her victims--something Gaia (Indra's estranged daughter) approves because it is a symbol to the people. Indra disapproves of this because it is putting Octavia through some darkness she may not recover from. Gaia is also drawn closer to Octavia's new commander status and becomes essentially her right-hand.

I loved this episode so much because Octavia fight scenes are the best, the morally gray spots they have to navigate through, and the twist with Kane getting thrown into the ring to fight for the death.

There were some cute Kane-Abby and Miller-Jackson moments thrown in the episode too, but they were not expanded on much.

Comment below and let me know your thoughts on the latest episode. I'm excited for everyone to reunite somehow and to see the new dynamics once the team is reassembled.

Wonkru!

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