THE 100 Recap: Boom, Clap, Sound of My Heart

Episode 303 “Ye Who Enter Here”
Written by Kim Shumway, directed by Antonio Negret

[photos: Cate Cameron/The CW]

First off, in real life, let me apologize for this recap being late. The sheer amount of Thrones-ian political scheming and plot information crammed into this episode made my brain physically expand, so of course I watched it three more times to make sure I understood everything. I’m still not sure I did, but here we go.

Here we go guys! Clexa reunion part 2: One Week Later edition. Over at Kings Landing Polis or wherever, Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Clarke (Eliza Taylor) converse (against Clarke’s wishes) about the Skaikru summit, the Mount Weather Debacle, and my new favorite line of the show: “The only difference is you had no honor, and I had no choice.” What’s Trigedasleng for “#REKT”? During their acerbic exchange, Lexa proposes a deal: Skaikru can join the coalition as the 13th clan and be under her protection, as long as Clarke shows her fealty to Lexa by bowing before her. Lexa has clearly been watching a different political fantasy thriller. Clarke refuses and tells Lexa to go float herself, a phrase I am delighted to hear is still in rotation on this show.

Thusly, Lexa’s already in a bad mood as she walks into the coalition meeting. This is aggravated by the Ice Nation delegate, who refuses to bow to her and questions her judgement as to why Wanheda is still alive. He claims it’s her “weakness again”. This poor, poor, stupid, stupid, stupid man; whose name we will never get to know, is then immediately dropkicked by Lexa out her 37,000th story window. I’m honestly way less shocked by that and more shocked by the fact that no one on the ground literally seems to care. At all. How many bodies are dropping around King’s Landing Polis? Either way, it worked, and none of the other commanders feel like questioning Lexa anymore.

Nearby, at the Polis city limits, the Sky People’s envoy is arriving to be escorted to the summit. The only people of note here are Abby (Paige Turco) and Kane (Henry Ian Cusick), who are arguing over Abby’s decision to occupy Mt. Weather. Kane claims it weakens their position with the coalition, making it difficult for them to get Clarke back. This distresses the beautiful Abby, which Kane notices, and assures her that they won’t leave without her daughter. It’s a heartfelt moment, and — wait a minute… do I ship Kabby? Oh my God, I think I do. When did this happen? How am I just now realizing it? Has this all been a ruse? The writers have been keeping us so distracted for two seasons with Bellarke/Clexa/Linctavia/etc., that no one noticed Kabby dark-horsing and coming out of nowhere to take the whole thing! What a delightful twist.

Over at the opposite of delightful, Bellamy (Bob Morley) and his squad arrive at Mount Weather. Not a place filled with happy memories, considering both Raven and Bellamy were tortured there, along with Octavia’s hot but absent boyfriend. Bellamy’s awesome lady, Gina Redshirt (Leah Gibson), is also there. She tells him not to worry about the summit (Bellamy just likes being where all the people with guns are), and they have some warm and cute banter. I pre-mourn her. Raven (Lindsay Morgan), an adorable little ray of sunshine who needs to stop being hurt, Rothenberg, weaves a proud yarn about her spacewalk and her friend/mentor Sinclair as they wander inside. There they find that the Farm Stationers that Pike (Michael Beach) brought to Weather are a little more than an “exploratory group”. It’s closer to half of them, which angers Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) to the point that she leaves.

Back at the Red Keep castle chambers or whatever, Clarke and Drogo (Zachary McGowan) have a conversation that’s markedly more pleasant and clean than their previous ones. Drogo (I know, Prince Roan, but at this point I’m committed) proposes that Clarke kill Lexa and align with Ice Nation to lead the coalition, because hey, why not. Clarke is understandably confused, as are we all, since the general consensus seems to be that the Ice Nation Queen wants to kill Clarke herself. However, Drogo correctly points out, they’ve only heard that from Trikru. “We’re all trying to do what’s right for our people. This is what’s right for yours.” Oh, Drogo, you know what magic little words to say to get Clarke on your side. Clarke’s all about doing what’s best for her people. She’s in.

And now, a Kodak moment with the Blakes. Octavia, like Kane, thinks occupying Mt. Weather is a stupid and awful idea. They are both insanely right, but, you know, frog emoji tea emoji. Bellamy disagrees, and the resulting argument leads Octavia to reveal that she and Lincoln plan to leave Arkadia as soon as his kill order is lifted. This is a real gut-punch for Bellamy, since he loves his baby sister more than guns, and Clarke, and saving people combined. However, Bell says, he understands that she doesn’t fit in in Arkadia, and she should leave if she needs to. No one knows how to get me to text my brother quite like the Blakes.

As I compose said text, two Farm Station guards drag out a grounder they think is a spy. It’s actually Echo (Tasya Teles), Bellamy’s Ice Nation friend from his time in captivity at Mt. Weather. It is at this point that I realize that literally all of Bellamy’s friends are blonde girls. He tells the guards to let her go, and she tells him there’s an assassin at the Polis summit. We the audience catch a glimpse of said assassin, who has way more knives than one person would ever need, and looks kind of like an iguana.

So they go inside. Bellamy’s Rescue Patrol gets ready to head out. Pike (Quick Q: are we supposed to like Pike? Or empathize with his viewpoint at all? Because it’s not working yet.) confronts Sinclair (Alessandro Juliani) about using the missiles in Mt. Weather to back them up should they fail at the Polis summit. Sinclair, who is part engineer/part rabbit wizard, replies that he didn’t have the power to do so even if they had the launch codes, which they do not.  But what Sinclair does not realize is they have something better than launch codes: Raven Reyes, whose only goal in life is exploding everything on earth. Bridges, fog machines; if there is something that can be blown up, chances are Raven Reyes has already destroyed it. Bellamy says a sweet goodbye to Gina Redshirt (who is even, fittingly, actually in engineering!), and we’re off.

We finally get our first good look at King’s Landing Polis, and it’s honestly pretty stunning. Kane certainly seems to think so, and wholeheartedly embraces the local culture (and food). He even shows off some shiny new Trigedasleng, impressing Abby (Because they’re in love, you guys!). The adventure and following conversation also forces Abby to confess an acutely self-aware truth: that she’s a better doctor than a chancellor, and that Kane is more suited to lead Arkadia. She tries to hand over the pin, but Kane refuses (as my heart explodes), saying they can’t just keep passing it back and forth between them; instead they’ll have an election. This is, low-key, one of the coolest character developments in the entire show. Season One Kane, whom I referred to simply as Vice Chancellor Dickbags, was a capable leader, but not a deserving one. It seems that time and a crashed spaceship have turned dear Marcus into someone who can not only lead his people, but be elected to do so. Also, if anyone is looking for #TEAMKABBY T-Shirts, come find me, because I am also looking for them.

Meanwhile, Lexa is passing time with her hobby of beating up small children. The Nightbloods, as they’re ominously called, fight amongst themselves as Lexa consults with her bald friend Varys Titus (Neil Sandilands). I like Titus. Unlike 99% of other creepy royal confidantes in TV/Movies, Titus genuinely seems to believe in Lexa and care about her well-being. He warns her that the treaty with the Sky People is a bad idea at this time, with Queen Nia lying in wait to take her down. He also tells her that they’re close to their “goal” (??????), and advises her to kill Clarke to gain her power. Lexa, in a total Bellamy move, ignores him and does whatever she feels like.

Back at Mount Weather, Raven, Sinclair, and Gina are trying to figure out the 12-digit launch code combination. Gina suggests that President Wallace (the nice old one who painted, not his douchecanoe son who tortured everybody) probably wrote it down somewhere in his office. Sinclair and I both think that’s a great idea, Gina, and he encourages her to go look for it, claiming they might get lucky. At that Raven scoffs, “Like that’s ever happened”, and what do you know, someone actually has been watching the right show.

On the outskirts of Polis, Bellamy, Echo, Octavia and Pike (BEOP!) come across Kane and Abby’s envoy from earlier, full of Kane and Abby’s dead guards, also from earlier. Pike, who would make an astounding present-day GOP candidate, funnels this, as he does everything, into his grounder-hating crusade. Octavia and Bellamy believe it means that Echo is telling the truth about the assassination plot, and our heroes venture forth, weapons hot.

Clarke, meanwhile, is mulling over Drogo’s deal with his sick-ass knife. I’m sorry, I have to take a minute — I can’t get over how powerful and savage Eliza is looking this season. With her beast mode leather armor and her hair still streaked with red, you can physically see the changes that have happened to her character and it’s giving me heart problems. Okay, I’m done. Lexa arrives, and Clarke immediately jumps into action. However, after several tense and heated moments (including a heart-wrenching apology from Lexa during which I almost pass out), she retreats. Clarke can’t find it in herself to kill Lexa in cold blood; either because there are still latent feelings there or because Clarke hasn’t let go of her humanity quite yet. Either way, I am sad. Literally the only thing I want for my birthday is for Clarke Griffin to smile just once. But, much like the Heelies I asked for in seventh grade, it doesn’t look like I’m getting what I want. Lexa, wracked with guilt, offers to set Clarke free to be with her mother. But this is Clarke Beast-Mode Targaryen Griffin 2.0, and she’s not leaving while her people are still in danger.

In a nearby room, Kane and Abby are watching a romantic sunset together while they wait for Lexa. But when those doors open it’s not Lexa who walks through, but Abby’s beloved daughter. I have had a box of tissues on standby for three weeks just for this exact moment, but it doesn’t really look like I’ll be needing it. The reunion is subdued and quickly over, which feels a little like a cheat. But this is Game of Thrones — I mean The 100, and there’s plotting and scheming and alliance-ing to be done. Clarke presents Lexa’s coalition idea, which Kane likes but Abby does not. But beautiful Chancellor Abby, advised by the two people she loves most in the world, eventually approves.

And now, for the coolest sequence of all time.

It goes in three parts, all tied together by hauntingly beautiful music. Much like in 301, the writers deftly tie the music in to the scene itself, and have it be the ceremonial song performed by a Grounder opera singer (Or, hell, we don’t know anything about Grounder music. This could be heavy metal. Or pop. Maybe this lady is the Taylor Swift of Grounder radio. Either way, it’s a gorgeous performance and a kick-ass song). Part One, The ceremony. Clarke has now gone full Daenerys on us — intricate braids, gorgeous clothes, Beyoncé-like strutting. All the clans are gathered. Drogo is not pleased to see Lexa alive. He is even less pleased to see Lexa get exactly what she wants: Clarke kneeling before her. However, he understands how this game is played, and he is the first one to kneel before the powerful new alliance.

Part Two, BEOP. BEOP is finally inside Polis itself, with only one road block separating them from their mission: the two guards who operate the elevator shaft. Pike and Bellamy take care of them — fatally. For honestly no reason, as pointed out by Octavia. I’m not really sure what I’m missing here, but now they’re free to climb up all 48,000 floors by ladder. Which they do, because Bellamy loves saving people, you guys. I’m not quite sure I’ve emphasized that enough.

Part Three, Iguana Assassin Man. He is still where we left him at the Polis summit, doing creepy assassin things, like painting himself with blood and grunting ritual prayers about avenging his family. It’s extremely well done overlaid with the music, creepy and stunning.

The awesome song ends, and Lexa reveals the true meeting of the summit to the coalition — the initiation of Skaikru to their ranks. There’s some rabble rabble rabble about it, but no one argues out of fear of being dropkicked. The leader of the Sky People must bear the mark in order for them to join, and Kane draws the short straw. However — literally not half a second after cementing their alliance with the grounders — BEOP joins the party with some hostages, screaming trap. Everyone is outraged, rabble rabble rabble, until Lexa demands to know where they got their information. Bellamy looks to Echo to explain — only to find she isn’t there.

Just then, a timer goes off, and Iguana Assassin man steps out of the shadows. He draws his weapons, and storms purposefully into… Mount Weather.

Holy!! S—!!!!

We get a commercial break to recover from this savage plot twist, and come back to Raven and Sinclair still trying to crack those darn missiles. Raven, who is still struggling with her injury, cries defeat as it’s already after sundown. I cry tears. But Sinclair, who is Raven’s dad friend, gives her a strangely reassuring pep talk in which he compares her to a machine. He is right, however; the tech in Mt. Weather could help Abby fix her. Raven’s true fear, she admits miserably, is that she simply can’t be fixed. I’m doing laps in a pool of my own tears when I hear Sinclair say “I took a chance on a Zero-G Mechanic with a heart defect. Why don’t you take a chance on her, too?” It works. Thank you, Rabbit Wizard.

Right as they’re rallying, Gina radios to tell them she hasn’t found any codes in the President’s office. They both agree to keep trying, but it’s short lived, as Iguana Assassin Man proceeds to Red Wedding the hell out of Gina “Talisa” Redshirt. I have never been so upset to be right in my entire young life. I thought we would least have a couple more episodes together, but it appears even my lowered standards are too optimistic for this show. Adios, Gina. We literally hardly knew ye.

Gina was able to relay one last heroic message before her demise; telling Raven and Sinclair that the Grounder had the launch codes on his arm. Sinclair immediately bolts after him, with Raven not-so-hot on his tails. The fight leads outside, with Sinclair remarkably holding his own before Raven shoots Iguana Assassin Man right in his stupid Gina-stabbing heart. They try to relay the codes to Gina, who is too dead to hear them. The timer hits zero, and Mt. Weather (along with 36 Farm Station survivors, medical equipment, and the only hope of fixing Raven’s leg) goes up in flames. Poor Raven, betrayed by her one true love — explosions.

Back at the coalition meeting, BOP (considering Echo split) is starting to realize they might have been mistaken. Their fears are realized when Raven calls in and tells them of the tragedy. Her tears over the radio soften even the hardest grounder hearts… except the Ice Nation, who proudly admit that they executed the attack. Lexa immediately has them all arrested, including Drogo. Abby, now in Chancellor mode, decides to go straight back to Arkadia, which both Kane and Abby approve. Indra, who will let no one disrespect her BFF Kane, joins them and reunites with her old second, Octavia.

The only one not making any moves to leave is Clarke, who has decided to stay behind as Skaikru’s ambassador. This makes Abby beautiful and sad, and Bellamy upset. He warns her not to forget about Lexa’s betrayal at the Mountain, and to come home to her people. Clarke, however, as usual, has no choice.  So Bellamy (presumably singing Grenade by Bruno Mars under his breath) walks away, also betrayed by his one true love… saving people.

What’d you think I was gonna say?

The episode closes out with a scene that is literally too beautiful for me to describe. All I can say is this: If anyone, anyone at all, has ever had any doubt that Lexa genuinely loves Clarke Griffin, deeply and respectfully, they don’t anymore. The way she bows before her is almost reverent. I’m actually losing my mind. Now, does Clarke love Lexa? Very possible. But does she trust Lexa? Definitely maybe probably not. Oh, also, wanna know how Iguana Assassin Man had those launch codes?

Emerson! Remember Emerson? No? Don’t worry, I forgot him, too. I can only catalog so many white dudes in my head, but he’s the lone survivor of Mt. Weather and he’d really like to see Clarke die, so he and Echo are conspiring with the Ice Queen (Brenda Strong). Mystery solved, for us at least.

I know these recaps keep getting longer and longer, but only because more stuff keeps happening! And this wasn’t even everyone! We didn’t even have time for Murphy and Emori’s fun-filled boat ride of making out, or Jaha being crazy. I’m just going to assume Monty and his mom were off somewhere, safe and well-hydrated, for the sake of my sanity. Also, am I the only one pretty irritated by the fact that Sinclair got to live, but Gina had to get Red Wedding’d? I suppose even The 100 isn’t above fridging sometimes (RIP Maya). And where the hell is Miller? I miss him.

We laid some pretty damn good plot exposition in “Ye Who Enter Here”. The bombing of Mt. Weather will no doubt make Bellamy more sympathetic with Pike’s anti-Grounder leanings, which will aggravate not only his sister, but Clarke as well. The same way we watched Bellamy and Clarke come together over the past few seasons, we are now watching them drift apart. Because once The 100 Writers suspect that something gives you a slight glimmer of happiness, they will immediately blow it up. Just ask Gina.

Okay, even I knew that was too soon.

 

The 100 airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.