Fans of The 100 are currently suffering through a four-week-long hiatus in the midst of the chaos that has been Season 4. From radiation, long-gone (but maybe not completely gone) cults, near death experiences, war, and a character named Riley, the season has kept us on the edge of our seats, toyed with our feels, and left us craving more during the insufferable break. But what is to come from the remaining episodes? How will the season end? Well, we have some ideas.

Bid Farewell To Long-Time Friends

It’s an unfair fact that fans don’t watch The 100 because they know the characters might not live. Actually, every fan probably sends a prayer or two out before an episode airs, hoping that their favorites survive. But Season 4 has been rather low on the death count — or at least the death count for characters that fans know and love. However, it’s a safe bet that, by the end of the season, a few names will be added to the list of the dearly departed, and, sadly, we have a pen in our hand ready to write down Jasper’s name.

It’s rumored that Jasper was meant to die in Season 3, but, given the already extremely dark content of the season, they decided let him live. But Season 4 is a new season, and things for Jasper haven’t been looking up. Let’s not forget that, in the season premiere, he wrote a note and was very close to committing suicide before Monty interrupted him. He’s found a new lease on life, a new meaning to life with the impending radiation, but will he survive? Is his love for life only because he knows that he only has a short time left? 

Descent Into A Bunker

Third time’s a charm, right? After the plans for riding out the radiation in the Ark went up in flames and the hopes of testing out the possibility of using Nightblood to protect them all from radiation, things were looking pretty dire. In swoops Jaha to save the day with his mild obsession with Cadogan and his doomsday cult Second Dawn and an actual promise of salvation. It turns out there is an underground bunker (Lost, anyone?) which has the potential to save them all from the death wave that is set to arrive in 10 days. It’s not a very long time to get everyone ushered to safety, along with the supplies they will need to survive, but it’s the most promising thing they’ve had in a long time.

Ascension Of A New Heda

The world of The 100 has been without a true Heda since Lexa’s death back in Season 3, and, while Roan had initially been holding onto the Flame until he discovered a fit Nightblood, it ended up finding its way back into Gaia’s hands. The Flame is the basis of Grounder culture – it holds a small part of all previous Commanders – and, to access its knowledge, it needs a human host.  To have the Flame is to lead the entire remaining human population.

There are only two Nightbloods left – Luna, the girl who ran from her conclave and vowed to never kill again, and Clarke, the girl who fell from the sky, unwillingly found herself as a leader, and coincidentally injected herself with Luna’s bone marrow, making herself a Nightblood. So who will ascend as the next Heda? Luna has no interest in the Flame and refused to take it before, leaving only Clarke. It’s fitting, considering that Lexa was working toward peace and Clarke pushed her to adopt the notion of blood must not have blood. Clarke taking the Flame will not only mean that she’s continuing Lexa’s legacy but she will always have a small part of Lexa with her. Cue fangirl sobbing as we all remember Lexa’s last words to Clarke in the City of Light: “I’ll always be with you.”

But the Ascension ceremony may not be as ritualistic as fans may think, leading us to the next point…

The Unraveling Of Grounder Culture

Throughout the seasons — particularly Season 3 and Season 4 — The 100 has slowly revealed Grounder culture, showing that they aren’t just the savages fans and delinquents believed them to be in Season 1 but that they actually have a very intricate culture and belief system. It was first hinted at in Season 2 when Lexa told Clarke that her spirit would choose the next Commander, but the extent of that process wasn’t fleshed out until Season 3 when it was discovered that the Spirit of the Commander was an AI.

The entire belief system of Grounders is based on the Flame and the legacy that Becca Pramheda left, but the City of Light revealed the cold truth that the Flame is nothing more than technology. Now, the show is unraveling Grounder culture to the core. Their entire culture is based on the remnants of Cadogan and his cult – very likely the first Natblida were survivors of Second Dawn – and what Gaia and the rest of the Grounder’s believed to be Becca Pramheda’s crypt is a bunker built by Cadogan. 

So what does this mean? It means a lot of Grounders, even the most religious of them, are questioning their own beliefs and what they have known their entire lives. It means the possible rapid crumbling of their belief system. It will leave them lost, but it also means a possible fresh start, the emergence of a new culture that is more closely entwined with that of Skaikru. After all, Grounders and Skaikru are actually more closely linked than anyone could have initially predicted.

Time Jump

The season began with the belief that the radiation wouldn’t be coming for two months and a plan to patch up the Ark and remain there for five years until radiation levels returned to that which would be survivable. The radiation is coming more quickly than they had thought, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Earth still won’t be survivable for another five years. Could there be a possible five-year time jump between Seasons 4 and 5?

If there is, a lot could change by the next time we see the characters. Grounders and Skaikru would be living in the same enclosed space for years, meaning they would have to work out their differences and learn to live peacefully with one another. Relationships could blossom, including a relationship between Bellamy and Clarke that has been hinted at for seasons, and other relationships could mend (we’re looking at you Bellamy and Octavia). A new culture could emerge, one that incorporates both the ways of Grounders and the ways of Skaikru. Ultimately, there’s no telling what could change in that large of a time span, but, if that’s the route the show is going, we’re ready to wait and find out.

Food For Thought

What about that rocket?  It’d be a waste to let that go unused. Could it play a role later on in the season or possibly next season?

What landscape will the characters be stepping out into once the death wave and radiation pass? All animals and living organisms will be killed by it. The Earth will quite literally be starting fresh.

Season 4 continues on April 26 at 9pm on The CW.