The 100 Season 5: What’s Next for Bellamy & Octavia?

This week’s The 100 was an episode of glorious, complicated reunions. This included the long-awaited coming back together of Bellamy and Octavia. The relationship between the Blake siblings is one of the foundational dynamics of The 100. We talked to Bob Morley (Bellamy) about where Octavia and Bellamy stand in the wake of their reunion.

“I think it’s going to be a very tough season for the Blakes and a very Blake-heavy season,” Morley teased, adding that, for Bellamy, it’s always about trying to reconcile with his little sister—this process takes on a much different dynamic in Season 5, given how much both Octavia and Bellamy have changed over the past six years. In the relative peace of space, Bellamy has become more level-headed. In the desperation of the bunker, Octavia’s heart has hardened.

“The relationship with Bellamy and Octavia [in Season 5] is almost like a role reversal,” said Morley. “With Octavia now being the Red Queen, obviously, she has a lot of power and, maybe, in some ways, she’s power-hungry, the way that Bellamy was back in season one… two… three… sometimes four.”

It’s not just the drive for power that has changed in both Bellamy and Octavia; there’s also an ability to empathize with the supposed enemy that used to be the purview of Octavia and now is much more characteristic of Bellamy.

“I think Octavia had the ability, in the early seasons, to try to empathize with and understand the Grounders and the ability of forgiveness, whereas Bellamy didn’t,” noted Morley. “I feel like, this season, season five, those roles are somewhat reversed.”

This doesn’t bode well for Diyoza and her comrades, who more or less strike up war against Octavia and Wankru in the final act of “Sleeping Giants.” The Eligius prisoners have Shadow Valley, aka Eden, not to mention Wankru’s doctor, and Wankru has hundreds of people to feed.

At the end of “Sleeping Giants,” Octavia blames Bellamy for putting them in this position. Does Bellamy regret any of the choices he made in negotiating with Dioyza?

“I think that Bellamy has a lifetime full of regrets,” said Morley. “I think his ability to kind of break down a situation… I think he can put up his hand now in season five and say, yes, I am responsible for x, y, and z, but there are some things here that are not entirely my fault.”

This is quite the progress for a character who has, for better and worse, been defined by his intense guilt for the past four seasons—guilt that has driven Bellamy to make some very poor decisions. It seems that the character may have grown out of the self-destructive behavior over the course of the six-year time jump.

“I think he has that ability now to not beat himself up as much as he has in previous seasons,” said Morley. “He has the ability to be pragmatic and emotional. So, in a sense, yeah, Bellamy can always see some sort of logic towards that reaction, but also he can take what he needs from it.”

Morley added:

I found him to be much more resilient in this season in terms of being able to size up a situation and go, I’m willing to give this part of myself or feel this guilty in order to initiate this result. It’s not just something he would do blindly and then spend the next three years feeling like crap about it. I think he does emphasize and look for the logic through both sides this season, which is something that I found very strange for Bellamy, but was great to play. Yeah, I think that he has the ability to kind of cut through this kind of sometimes superfluous blame game stuff that he used to play into.

This is good news, considering Wankru is going to need as many self-aware, even-keeled leaders as it can get moving forward in Season 5, as they struggle to figure out a way to survive. Much of that fight for survival, it seems, will play out as a power struggle between Octavia and Diyoza.

“There’s definitely parallels between Diyoza and Octavia throughout this season and it’s a battle basically between those two queens, really,” teased Morley. 

Bellamy’s relationship with his sister will be further complicated by his relationship with Echo. During their time in space, Bellamy and Echo have become romantically involved. Echo tried to kill Octavia back in Season 4.

“Octavia still sees Echo as the assassin spy who tried to kill her,” said Morley, adding: “[But] we’ve gotten to know Echo over the last few seasons, seeing who she is as a person as opposed to this label as a spy. It’s something that she’s trying to shake and it’s probably part of her that she doesn’t want to be anymore.”

In times of desperation, however, it can be hard to take the high road when it comes to awkward issues like: my brother is dating the woman who once tried to kill me with an arrow. This is not only going to put a strain on Bellamy and Octavia’s relationship, said Morley, but also Bellamy and Echo’s relationship.

“The characters are pulled back to their old ways and I think that’s something that Bellamy’s really fighting not to be like, and so is Echo,” teased Morley. “But the situation they’re in on the ground kind of calls for them to be that person again. It’s kind of leaning on the worst parts of their characteristics. The Earth kind of draws that out of them, which is a strain for both of those characters, and it definitely puts a strain on their relationship.”

In other words, it’s hard to maintain any kind of relationship during end times. We wish Bellamy Blake luck, however. It sounds like he’s gonna need it.

The 100 airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. For more information on what to expect next, check out our The 100 news hub, with episode promos, synopses, and a guide to our reviews.