The 100 season 3 episode 3 review: Ye Who Enter Here

This review contains spoilers.

3.3 Ye Who Enter Here

Who ever said love between two warring clan leaders was going to be easy? We’ve spent two weeks setting the scene and reestablishing character locations but, now that Clarke and Lexa have come face to face once again, we get to enjoy those two just sparking off each other just like old times.

And boy, does that animosity light up this show. Without it, we might still have been interested in watching the political meetings play out and the Sky People consider whether they should join the coalition as the thirteenth clan, but it wouldn’t have been half as engaging as it’s turned out to be.

Clarke and Lexa’s partnership-turned-romance was one of the best parts of season two, and that hasn’t changed now that we’re in the swing of its third run. They’re still feeling the fallout from Lexa’s betrayal during last year’s finale and, though it’s clear that they still share a bond and an understanding as two leaders, it’s going to take time to rebuild that personal trust. Unfortunately, time is not something they have in abundance, as war is brewing and the Ice Nation Queen is impatient.

The assumption that the Ice Nation would be the main antagonist of season three appears to have been correct, with Jaha, Murphy and the City of Light not making an appearance during Ye Who Enter Here. No, this episode was about putting the chess pieces in their most exciting positions, and reintegrating Clarke with her people.

And didn’t she look awesome in her warrior princess outfit, as much a part of this earth as the innocent girl we saw leave the Ark in episode one? I wondered whether the show would scale back Lexa’s role in season three, pairing Clarke romantically with someone else and shifting her loyalties back to her friends and family, but I’m really glad that hasn’t happened. This is just so much more interesting, and really different from what we’ve seen.

Lexa is just as compromised by her feelings for Clarke as Clarke is, with neither willing to kill the other even if they know it would help their people in the long run. Their only choice, then, is to work together and take down the Ice Nation Queen, though I’m sure it won’t appear to be that simple for the rest of the coalition.

And it was the first time we’ve really seen a community of Grounders, rather than just the warriors and the generals. It makes complete sense that this isn’t the whole story, and that their civilisation also includes families just going about their business. It ups the stakes, even if it’s likely many of them will end up as collateral damage.

The entire sequence in Mount Weather was the sort of move that defines The 100 as one of the most ruthlessly exciting shows on television, casually offing 40 people this early in the season just to move things along. The fact that one of those people was Bellamy’s girlfriend just means that he has more reason to join the fight against the Ice Nation alongside Clarke, the Sky People and the Grounders.

War has been declared, and war is something we haven’t quite seen on the show before. Season one was about survival and about the Grounders protecting their homeland against what they saw as invaders, and season two saw the Sky People and the Grounders unite against a common enemy. War is different, and it’s safe to say that we can expect a lot more bloodshed before the end.

Read Caroline’s review of the previous episode, Wanheda Part 2, here.