The 100 Review: Ye Who Enter Here (Season 3 Episode 3)

“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here” is a pretty fitting sentiment for our favorite post apocalyptic heroes this week. We’ve left the safety of Arkadia and ventured into dangerous territories both new and old. This week’s episode is split between the geographical powerhouses of Mount Weather and the Grounder capitol, Polis, and the land isn’t the only thing divided.

Lexa wants Skaikru to join her coalition and for Clarke to side with her to create a united front against the impending threat of Azgeda, the ice nation. Understandably, Clarke is hesitant to agree to anything Lexa says, she felt utterly betrayed after being abandoned at Mount Weather, and she tells Lexa as much.

Clarke: You have no honor and I had no choice.

They aren’t pulling any of their punches with each other and it’s really satisfying to see them hash through the bad blood between them. When Roan provides Clarke with an opportunity to kill Lexa she can’t go through with it. There’s still a very strong connection between the two of them. Lexa finally, genuinely apologizes for what she’s done to Clarke, and it won’t fix everything between them, but it’s certainly a good starting point.

Lexa: I’m sorry. I never meant to turn you into this.

By the end of the episode Lexa has made a complete turnaround from the way she treated Clarke at the end of Season 2. Publicly they use Clarke’s status as Wanheda to appear as a united front against Azgeda’s threats, when Clarke bows to Lexa so does everyone else. Behind closed doors however, it’s Lexa who gets on her knees in a move of complete submission to Clarke. She vows to never betray her again and to protect her people as her own.

Lexa: I swear my fealty to you Clarke kom Skaikru. I vow to treat your needs as my own and your people as my people.

Lexa isn’t the only one making promises of loyalty either. Kane and Abby are also invited to Polis to represent Skaikru at the coalition and they are more of a united front than they ever have been. Abby has retained her position as Chancellor of Arkadia since Kane first asked her to take it during Season 2, but Abby was always more of a doctor than a politician. Marcus has taken the best of his political knowledge from the Ark, and his knowledge of the Grounders and their culture and become an excellent diplomat.

These two haven’t always seen eye to eye, in fact for much of Season 1 they clashed spectacularly against each other. However, in the three months since Mount Weather, they’ve grown into a clear unit: working together, solving arguments calmly, they even physically match (thanks wardrobe department).

Kane: No matter who wears the pin, we’re in this together.

They agree to a democratic election when they return to Arkadia, but if the Season 3 trailer is any indication it looks like they may not come out on top of that vote. Charles Pike, former earth skills teacher turned leader for Farm Station looks to make a bid for the position himself. One of the great things about this show is that it’s all about perspective, and while many may not like Pike’s methods if you step into his shoes they make perfect sense. He has no reason not to hate grounders at this point. His arc is going to shake up things in Arkadia in a very interesting way.

Bellamy already seems to be following in his footsteps as he, Pike and Octavia are led away from Mount Weather by Echo, who turns out to be from Azgeda. She fools them into thinking that the summit is a trap, convincing them to disrupt the ceremony and cause chaos inside Polis before she abandons them. In the final scene we see her reporting to Nia as well as several other clan leaders that had been present in the initial meeting with Lexa. Is anyone truly on the Commander’s side, or is everyone working behind her back with Ice Nation?

Azgeda also attacks at Mount Weather, having captured and seemingly aligned with the last mountain man, Carl Emerson. Raven, Sinclair, and Gina work inside the mountain while several Farm Station survivors are also taking refuge within the structure. Sinclair tells Raven to stop torturing herself by not letting Abby fix her leg and Lindsey Morgan blows us away with the raw emotion and fear behind Raven’s actions so far this season.

Raven: What if I’m just broken?

Sinclair: I took a chance on a zero-g mechanic with a heart defect. Why don’t you take a chance on her too?

Things turn sour when Gina is attacked by the Azgeda assassin who then uses a self destruct code on the facility, killing everyone left inside. Raven and Sinclair make it out, but Gina isn’t so lucky. It was clear that her role as Bellamy’s sudden new love interest was likely to be short lived when she first came on the scene, but it’s still a bummer to see her fridged so quickly–especially when she and Raven had developed such a delightful friendship.

Other thoughts:

• Kane gets branded with a Grounder symbol of some sort when he and Abby agree to have Skiakru join the coalition. I hope this comes back again later.
• Octavia still doesn’t feel like she fits in at Arkadia. It was good to see her back together with Indra in Polis if only briefly, they have such an interesting relationship.
• With Abby’s state of the art hospital destroyed, what’s going to happen to Raven’s leg?
• Is everyone else as excited as I am about all these new characters shaking things up?

 

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

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