The 100‘s newest episode, “Heavy Lies the Crown”, was as dark and twisted as ever. The episode followed three storylines throughout the episode; Polis, Arkadia, and the long but not-so-lost Farm Station. Roan must try to recover in case anyone challenges him, Clarke and Raven are looking for an answer to the radiation problem, and Bellamy must make a difficult and life changing decision. Episode 402 was written by Justine Juel Gillmer, and directed by Ed Fraiman.
“Roan of Ice Nation will hear me.” | The episode opens with a callback to season 1, with one of Octavia’s (Marie Avgeropoulos) blue butterflies flying around a new grounder village (Trishanakru) just before ALIE (Erica Cerra) was stopped. A young man, Ilian (Chai Romroen), has taken the chip along with his brother and is now trying to force his mother to take it. He’s tied her up and tortured her, but when that doesn’t work ALIE tells him to kill his brother and slit his own throat. But before he could kill himself Clarke (Eliza Taylor) stops ALIE, making him realize what he’d done while watching his mother die. Flash forward a few days, Ilian is now in Polis and doesn’t understand why Roan (Zach McGowan) is protecting Skaikru. The Trishanakru ambassador assures Ilian that the King will hear them, he plans on challenging Roan. Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) tells Roan of the ambassador’s plan, and Roan wants to fight. Kane and the others know he isn’t strong enough for that yet. Even Octavia points out that at 100% “Lexa kicked your ass”, so he needs to heal a lot more in order to fight. Kane and Octavia set off to try to talk the ambassador out of the challenge. While they’re gone Roan trains with Echo (Tasya Teles), but that only reveals what they already know, he’s too weak still. Echo tells him he’s king, he can change the rules so he doesn’t have to fight, but he doesn’t want to be “that kind of king.” He also reveals to Echo why he’s protecting Skaikru, but she doesn’t believe it. She wants to go to Arkadia to prove that they’re lying, and Roan agrees to send her after he wins his fight.
Meanwhile, Kane and Octavia go to the Trishanakru ambassador and ask him not to challenge Roan, but the ambassador hates Skaikru even more than Roan and tells them he won’t back down. Octavia later follows him home where she tells him to challenge her instead of Roan. The ambassador rejects the idea, of course, so Octavia puts a dagger through his ear and wipes away the blood. Now no one will know how he died. Octavia the Assassin is born. Roan meets with his ambassadors prepared to be challenged, but is informed that the Trishanakru ambassador had been found dead, it appears his heart stopped beating. Ilian and Echo both seem suspicious of Octavia, but don’t bring it up to Roan or any other ambassadors.
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“Sometimes hope is more important than truth.” | Back at Arkadia Raven (Lindsey Morgan) is doing everything she can to figure out a solution to save all 500 of her people, but Clarke wants to save the thousands of grounders as well. Monty (Christopher Larkin) has the brilliant idea that they fix up Alpha Station (where they are living) because it supported them and protected them in space, so it should here too. The only problem is storing water for that many people, but there is a solution: Farm Station. Bellamy (Bob Morley), Miller (Jarod Joseph), Bryan (Jonathan Whitesell), Monty, and Harper (Chelsey Reist) (AKA the Adventure Squad) set off for Farm Station in search of the hydro generator. While they’re gone Raven starts to feel overwhelmed, she’s trying to fix their home but there’s so much to do and she really misses Sinclair. Jaha (Isaiah Washington) volunteers to help, revealing that he used to be an engineer before he was chancellor. Raven still blames him for the City of Light so she tells him to just sort the scrap.
Clarke talks to Jasper (Devon Bostick) about their situation, and he thinks she should tell everyone what’s going on so they can decide how they want to live their last few months. Clarke is trying to survive, but Jasper just wants to live. Clarke later returns to Jaha, where they bond over how difficult it is being a leader. “We make the best decision we can with the information we have, then hope that there’s a forgiving God.”
Bellamy Makes A Tough Call | The Adventure Squad heads to Farm Station, but they’re not the only ones there. They are ambushed by an Ice Nation village and taken to their chief. The chief reluctantly agrees to take them to the station. When they get there they realize that Farm Station is being used as a place to keep slaves, Skaikru slaves. They have enslaved several people Bryan and others from Farm Station thought were dead. As they are getting the hydro generator they quietly discuss their options; leave their people and ask Roan to free them, or use the generator as a bomb to kill their captors and rescue their people. The decision falls on Bellamy, who is still feeling guilty over his actions from last season, and he decides Raven can find another solution to their water problem. He’s saving his people. Their plan works and they have the chief at their mercy. Bryan reveals this is the man that killed Monty’s father, so Monty should kill him. Monty decides on the higher road and cuts the slaves free and they kill the chief instead.
When the Adventure Squad returns to Arkadia they have to tell Clarke and Raven what they did, and the ladies are not happy. Bellamy put 25 lives ahead of 500, an now Alpha Station will only be able to support 100 people (oh the irony). Clarke tells her people what is going on, but instead of telling them they’ll die if they don’t find a solution, tells them they will survive and thrive as long as they work together and fix the ship.
Other Thoughts:
• Kane and Abby had sex! Kabby is finally a thing! Abby even stopped wearing her wedding ring around her neck because she wants to give them a real chance!
• Bryan and Miller are on the rocks. They didn’t agree about Pike (Bryan only helped stop him to save his boyfriend) and now they’re disagreeing about what should have been done with the slaves.
• Jasper is starting to enjoy life again, since he knows there’s an expiration date, and it’s helping his relationship with Monty. The dynamic duo are finding their groove again and we are here for it!
• Echo kicks serious ass! Her training with Roan was one of the highlights of the episode!
• We need more assassin Octavia!
What were your thoughts on the episode? Would you have been on Miller’s side and left the slaves for Roan to free, or on Bryan’s side and want to save them? Roan is out of danger for the time being, but can those around him be trusted? Can Echo be trusted? She seems to want Roan to do things the way his mother did, not how Lexa did them.
The 100 airs Wednesdays at 9pm on The CW!