Everything We Learned at Unity Days 2020, Including Teasers for ‘The 100’ Season 7

We were fortunate enough to attend Unity Days in Vancouver early this year, where The 100 cast gathered for the fourth and final time to share their experiences, connect with fans, and celebrate the show as we head into the last season.

With 17 celebrity guests from the series, #UD4 is the biggest Unity Days to date.

If you ask anyone in attendance, it was the perfect send-off for the series. Unity Days 2020 gave fans the chance to meet their heroes, get closure on certain storylines, and celebrate their favorite show with the people who bring it to life.

Unity Days Recap:

On day one, we opened the first panel with some serious and somber news from Eliza Taylor and Bob Morley. The newlyweds shared that they had been trying for a baby last year when they suffered a miscarriage while filming The 100 Season 7.  

The news was shocking and devastating as fans empathized with the couple’s pain.

Taylor and Morley felt that it was important to share their experience to destigmatize having a miscarriage. It is something that happens in around 1 in 4 recognized pregnancies, and they hope that by sharing their story they can make someone else know that they are not alone.

Morley shared that he got a tattoo for his child, and he and Taylor are still looking forward to becoming parents.

Because of her miscarriage, Taylor was unable to direct during Season 7, so the lovely and talented Lindsey Morgan stepped up to direct in her place. 

Eliza Taylor was also there representing Koh Tao Primary. On Friday evening, fans got the opportunity to attend a community panel featuring Taylor and other members of Koh Tao Primary, as well as Jo Garfein of Cancer Gets Lost.

Unity Days showed a documentary highlighting the work of Koh Tao, and Taylor and Garfein spoke about their respective charities with a deep passion.

The work that these women are doing is so important! Go check out Koh Tao Primary here. Cancer Gets Lost is currently hosting an online auction featuring several items from the series LOST, many signed by actors or used on the show itself.

You can view and participate in the auction here. The current auction will run from February 8th to 15th and all proceeds will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

In addition to these two wonderful charities, Unity Days 2020 also inspired generosity among the fans in attendance. At Saturday evening’s closing panel, the cast auctioned off a Season 7 crew jacket signed by the entire cast. Garfein started the bidding at $100, but as fans bid higher and higher, JR Bourne quickly jumped in with his best auctioneer voice sending the bidding upwards of $3000. 

Ultimately, the jacket went for $3700, with the proceeds to be donated to the Wildfire Relief Efforts in Australia. When the bidding came down to two passionate fans, Bourne decided to offer up a second signed jacket to the second-highest bidder, bringing the total raised to help those fighting the wildfires in Australia upwards of $8000.

You can donate to the Country Fire Authority here and the Australian Red Cross here. 

JR Bourne also spent the weekend raising awareness for those affected by Cystic Fibrosis. His niece has CF and he spoke about The Grace Rose Foundation, a nonprofit working to help those with CF cope with the effects. 

Over the weekend, the cast shared memories of shooting past seasons as well as small teases about The 100 Season 7, sharing what they could without being caught by the spoiler police! 

Unity Days 2020 featured an abundance of relatively new cast members including Shelby Flannery, JR Bourne, Chuku Modu, and Sara Thompson. When asked about joining such an established cast, Bourne and Flannery shared especially touching moments from their first days on set. 

Bourne said that when he arrived on The 100, all of the cast chairs were arranged in a circle, which was something he’d never experienced on a set before. It provided an instant sense of community among the cast as the welcomed him with open arms. 

On Flannery’s first day towards the end of Season 6, she began the day wracked with nerves. Coming onto a new set and having been given very little background information about the scene (as it’s part of the big season finale plot twist and therefore full of spoilers), Flannery felt as if she were bombing the scene over and over.

While she was internally being very hard on herself, Bob Morley came to her with profound sincerity and told her “you’ve got this.”  He turned her whole day around, and now she feels very welcome and comfortable amongst the cast. 

Chuku Modu told fans that he was almost unable to join the cast for Season 6 as he’d recently become a father and was very focused on his young child. He was very glad that they were able to make it work in the end, and honestly so are The 100 fans!

Sara Thompson shared that she loved getting to team up with Eliza Taylor to collaborate on their performances as Josephine and Clarke during Season 6. 

Thompson: It’s not every day that you get to swap characters with someone!

Speaking of making new cast members feel welcome, Richard Harmon shared that after working with Luisa D’Oliveira on The 100 Season 2, he immediately emailed creator and showrunner, Jason Rothenberg, to tell him that it would be a huge mistake not to bring her back for more.

D’Oliveira told fans that she’s expected Emori to be killed off at the start of every season and that she’s so grateful to keep coming back. 

Sachin Sahel: Emori’s my favourite character. I’ve said it a hundred times and I’ll say it forever.

While it’s difficult to say goodbye to such an impactful show, many of the cast feel that it’s ending at exactly the right time. In today’s television landscape, a lot of shows aren’t afforded the opportunity to write endings with intention. Sahel, Harmon, and Jarod Joseph, in particular, shared that they were glad that the show got to end on its own terms. 

Fun Facts:

• Most of Sanctum, particularly the castle, was a real build. Only the top/upper levels were CGI. 
• Richard Harmon hates the term guyliner. He’s just a man wearing eyeliner and absolutely rocking it. 
• Lindsey Morgan loves to see how her scenes turn out after they’ve been filmed. She shared that it’s especially rewarding for the scenes that are both mentally and physically difficult for her to film. 
• Bob Morley and Eliza Taylor love being involved in fan proposals. They shared that it’s an honor to be a part of someone’s love story and watch their love grow over time. 
• JR Bourne told fans that he would have loved for Russell and Kane to have interacted on the show. If anyone could’ve made Gabriel’s goal of a peaceful society come to fruition, it probably would have been Kane. 

Spoiler Section!

Here are a few of the teases we got regarding The 100 Season 7:

• JR Bourne said Russell’s dog, Picasso, is alive.
• Richard Harmon said that we may see Daniel’s boyfriend (the man who kissed Prime!Murphy) again on Season 7. 
• Shelby Flannery shared that she’s excited for us to see Hope with her mother. Diyoza disappeared into the anomaly halfway through The 100 Season 6. Fans who’ve been missing the ex-terrorist turned revolutionary can expect to see her again on Season 7. 
• When asked about whether we get to see any characters mourning the loss of Kane or Abby, Richard Harmon told fans that Murphy carries the loss of Abby and personal guilt over her death with him. We’ll get to see him processing his complicated feelings surrounding that in Season 7. Sachin Sahel said both he and Jackson will never be the same, and Lindsey Morgan shared that losing Abby is one of the hardest things Raven has ever had to deal with. 
• When asked about whether or not the end of Season 7 will provide a satisfying resolution for the fans, The 100 cast shared that they didn’t even know the ending yet, but we can expect a lot of twists and turns heading into the end of the series. They each had their own suspicions about the ending, but no one knew exactly what’s in store.  
• Lindsey Morgan shared that in the wake of Abby’s death, fans will get to see a reconciliation between Clarke and Raven. Their bond is deeper and stronger than friendship, in a way, they’re sisters. 
• Speaking of which, by the beginning of Season 7, everyone has sort of resolved their conflicts with Clarke. Each character feels for her after the loss of her mother. 
• Going into Season 7, Shannon Kook shared that Jordan is disillusioned and disappointed in his idols. He’ll be trying to uphold his father’s legacy. 
• Morgan said the best is yet to come for Raven Reyes. 
• Bourne said he’s excited to see Russell interact more with Murphy. 
• Morley’s favorite Bellamy look is his Season 7 look. We cannot wait to see it! 
• Chuku Modu described the final season as “epic.” With Hope and Octavia, Gabriel and the Anomaly will open up a whole new chapter of the show.
• Clarke is still waiting for her beach, a piña colada, and a chance to relax. Eliza says it’s very possible she could get it.

The Meta Panel

We were honored to participate in The Meta Panel to discuss the show and how we review it, along with podcasts The Afictionados and May We Geek Again. Thank you to everyone who joined our panel and asked questions, and everyone who attended Unity Days 2020, it was a pleasure to nerd out with you one last time!

Thank you to Jo Garfein for moderating every cast panel. And thank you to Devan Head for capturing the best moments of the weekend with over 700 photos. 

Special thank you to Leana Santos, Miah and Shane Bannerman, Linda Surhoff, the whole Unity Events team, and all of Volunteer Kru.

Thank you for four years of incredible The 100 conventions. May we meet again!

What are your hopes for the final season of The 100? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, and be sure to catch up with our review of The 100 Season 7 Episode 13, “The Blood of Sanctum,” right here.

The 100 Season 7 will premiere later this year on The CW.

Photography Credit: Devan Head. See all Unity Days 2020 photos here. 

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The 100: Highlights from Unity Days 2019