The 100 Season 4 Episode 10 Review: Die All, Die Merrily

This The 100 review contains spoilers.

The 100 Season 4 Episode 10

If you didn’t watch the previews, this very Hunger Games episode started off with two quick surprise contenders in the Conclave to up the ante, and it didn’t let up from there, giving us perhaps the best fight scenes of the season so far.

The Blake siblings warm up

Octavia and Bellamy had some tense moments, but I take her willingness to say, “May we meet again,” as a good sign. Even better, the expression on her face when she overheard him talking about her to Roan, and the fact that he was the first person she looked for after the Conclave, mean the Blake siblings are finally headed towards peace, if not forgiveness.

In fact, it was Bellamy who gave Octavia her winning strategy of hiding and being “the girl underneath the floorboards,” like she was back on the Ark. It’s a good strategy, and a good sign that O was willing to listen to it. She not only trusts her brother again, it sounds like she’s interested in living after all.

A bunch of Grounders bite the dust

I won’t lie, I didn’t think The 100 had the guts to kill off Octavia, Roan, Luna, and Ilian. I don’t think anyone watching is surprised Octavia had her plot armor on in addition to her literal armor, but killing off the other three was gutsy. I loved seeing Luna in action again after we got that hint of what she’s capable of back in episode 8. Fighting for death felt like a bit of a betrayal of who she has always been as a character, though, and her change of heart was too rushed to be believable. Still, I don’t think Octavia would have grown and learning so much in the arena without seeing such a peace-loving person take a turn.

Ilean’s death came at just the right time, from a plot perspective. He helped Octavia heal and essentially died by teaching her to trust again, but his time is done. Does anyone else have doubts about Roan’s death? His felt like it had the least amount of closure and finality, so I kept expecting to see him get up out of the water. It also seems strange to have him and Clarke have so much chemistry and tension and never do anything with it.

Octavia turns a corner

I loved every minute of this Octavia-heavy episode, particularly the moments focused on family. Octavia’s story has always been about not belonging, and learning to accept love from the people who matter, regardless of what anyone else thinks. Family, both found and biological, was on full display with Gaia mourning for her mother when TriKru’s champion died, and Indra’s unabashed show of love and support for Octavia. I’m glad to see Octavia learning that while she will always love Lincoln, she still has her people and her family without him.

Octavia’s decision to divide up the bunker evenly felt a bit hollow since it was the most obvious direction for the show to take, but at least her personal development feels earned. Perhaps she will now be seen as a leader, even a content against Clarke if the Grounders back her for having better policy and being more like them. After all, Ogeda, the word for unity that the Grounders were chanting, sounds an awful lot like Heda, Commander.

Clarke screws everyone

Jaha was in this episode for like two minutes but he still managed to screw everyone over, per usual. All the good will and unity that Octavia just generated is going to go through the tubes since Clarke has SkaiKru locked themselves in the bunker. Not only that, they used gas like the Mountain Men, making this the millionth time this season that Clarke & co. have behaved like everyone’s least favorite underground cult. I think I’m most disappointed that Clarke finally articulated to Roan that her desire to save everyone sets her apart, only to completely go back on that.

Is Clarke even going to let Kane and Octavia in, or was Kane seen as a worthwhile sacrifice and she assumed Octavia would lose? Will Echo conveniently forget to mention that she’s banished? Am I the only one holding out hope for Roan to still be alive? Only time will tell, and they’re running out.

Other notable moments:

• “Like it or not, we’re all grounders now.” Kane reminding us of Season 1