The 100 Season 7: Which Characters Should Return?

Warning: this article contains spoilers for the season 7 premiere of THE 100.

Thanks to one of Alpha’s many toxins, a few characters from The 100 who are no longer with us got to reappear during the season 7 premiere. Might we see some other old favorites return for the final season? If so: who, and how?

In a vision, King Roan and the original Echo, both of Ice Nation, tormented Echo (who was named Ash until, as a child, she killed her best friend and took her place as a spy, at the urging of her queen). The toxin tends to show people’s worst thoughts, fears, or memories, so while viewers may have loved to see Roan again after his untimely death in the conclave that Octavia won for the bunker before Praimfaya, which led to the creation of Wonkru, Echo wasn’t exactly pleased. 

While showrunner Jason Rothenberg confirmed to Den of Geek that some other old favorites will pop up at some point during the show’s final season, he couldn’t hint at who they might be or how they might do that. Thanks to the surreal nature of Alpha, plenty of other characters could come back, like when Clarke, Bellamy, Emori and others faced down similar hallucinations thanks to the red sun toxin. While he couldn’t say for sure whether it would come back again, Rothenberg called it, “one of the ongoing threats,” on Alpha.

The show has had some other creative callbacks, including last season’s use of Clarke’s mind as her cell in the Ark, covered in drawings of her memories. They showed Finn, the torture of Lincoln, and of course Lexa. There were also more tangible returns in her memory, like Monty, Maya from Mount Weather, and her father.

These memories were rather light on Bellamy, though it makes a certain amount of sense to keep Clarke’s deepest shame with everyone dead. The shrine in the woods was particularly affecting, with Jasper’s goggles, the dagger she mercy-killed Finn with and the pole he was tied to at the time, Lexa’s throne, and her father’s video message. It was nice to see Maya again, especially since Jasper’s death meant that her memory has largely fallen by the wayside.

Madi has taken up Clarke’s artistic hobby and in this same episode, she seems to have drawn one of Lexa’s memories, that of Clarke the night that “Wanheda knelt to Heda,” as Gaia put it. If that theme continues, whether through more drawings or some other manifestation of Madi’s flame-based memories, there could be more curtain calls in store for the final season. After all, as Gaia said, there’s never been a commander before who had their flame removed, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. 

But if more visions, hallucinations, mind palaces, or other creative cameos happen, who might we see during The 100’s season-long goodbye? For many fans, the first name that comes to mind is the commander herself, Lexa. Even if you’re not a Clexa shipper, Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Heda was a captivating presence on screen, and the continual reminder that the flame has spoken to Madi with voices of all the past commanders has been tantalizing. Add in the various possible methods for her to make some sort of reappearance, and she’s a natural choice in so many ways.

Personally, I’m also pulling for an appearance, in whatever form, from Anya. Played by Dichen Lachman, she was our first glimpse at the Grounder model for leadership: an ever-regal warrior woman, she carried herself with dignity but threw her entire being into combat and was truly loyal to those who earned it. She and Clarke’s enemies-to-friends journey in cuffs was a template for Clarke’s eventual relationship with Lexa – and earned her an audience with the commander. Like so many on the show, her death was unjust, illustrating the long way forward the two groups had to go in trusting one another. I’d like to think she’d be low-key impressed by Wanheda making decision actions to save her people, but she’d still call her out for all the times she claimed Grounders were her people, too, when it clearly wasn’t so.

Lincoln’s death was absolutely brutal, coming as it did with the tacit allowance from Bellamy. It felt like the end of all the promise of peace and true coalition between Grounders and SpakeKru that Octavia and Lincoln symbolized, not to mention the tailspin it sent Octavia into to see her partner executed. While her path has been long and complicated, there’s no doubt that Lincoln would be proud of the way that she has persevered and come through it all – an embodiment of their creed, ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim. It would be incredibly meaningful for Octavia to see Lincoln again, even if he were just a manifestation of her own mind and memories like Monty was for Clarke last season. 

Ricky Whittle has talked about how his departure was due to issues with how he felt showrunner Jason Rothenberg treated him, so perhaps this isn’t the most realistic, but by all accounts, Ricky Whittle’s relationship with the cast (and especially Marie Avgeropoulous and Bob Morley, who played essentially his wife and brother-in-law) has been positive. Hopefully time has worn down the edges a bit and everyone can make this happen for the good of the story and an emotional reunion. 

While Luna eventually chose the Conclave as a form of retribution after all she and her people had been through, she’s one of the only characters on The 100 to ever create a peaceful society, in the form of Floukru. Perhaps a visit from her – even a metaphorical one – would be a nice reminder. Nyko is another of the very few peace-minded characters, and one who put real effort into integrating multiple societies, which looks to be a theme for Sanctum in the final season.

As mentioned earlier, we got to see Monty last season inside of Clarke’s mind while Josephine tried to take it over – but we didn’t get to see a few other of the delinquents, like Wells, Harper, or Jasper. Wells was Clarke’s best friend and such a big part of the first season – gone too soon, friend! Harper could easily reappear in a religious/toxic vision for her son, or for any of her good friends, who never got to say a real goodbye. Jasper’s goggles were locked inside a box that held some of Clarke’s deepest, darkest memories, including the video of her father that led to his death, suggesting that losing Jasper to depression and suicide by Praimfaya weighs more heavily on her than anyone knew. Like Monty, Jasper was part of the core group, and it would feel wrong to say goodbye to The 100 without seeing him one last time. 

Finally, losing Kane and Abby still feels so fresh, but now that they’re gone, our Space Teens (now Space Adults!) need Space Mom and Space Dad more than ever. While they live on in the wisdom they passed on – and Kane even suggested Hope’s name, another legacy – any number of people still alive could turn to them in a moment of hallucination, grief, or even shame, depending on the circumstances of their appearances. 

Who are you hoping to see for one last fond farewell – or perhaps a terse rebuke – before we close the book on The 100? Let us know in the comments below…