We’re quickly approaching the end of The 100’s third season, and the mysterious quest of ALIE continues! As the AI expands her grasp over mankind, Indra, Murphy, Pike and a few select others make an escape from the it cell in Polis – unsure of what the next step entails. Jaha and ALIE can be found inside the City of Light where it’s resident appear somewhat mindless or at the least heavily influenced. Once the AI determines they are going to use the backpack as a weapon against her, she summons Emori to intervene on her behalf.

Somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Clarke and the others remain present on the oil rig with Luna, hoping to enlist her help to combat the AI as the only proper commander left. Octavia addresses the state of war they are in and tries to spark the inner badass inside of Luna but the girl has no inclination to fight in any way. Jasper on the other hand meets a girl that makes him smile for the first time since Maya’s death which is noticed by those who played a part in her demise. At Arkadia, Raven begins to draw her own plan to dismantle the advanced AI, yet Monty tries to persuade her that waiting for word from Clarke’s crew is the best plan (I’m with Raven.) Even when she begins to find potential weaknesses in ALIE he frustratingly suggests they wait it out. During a routine patrol with only a few individuals, Harper takes the opportunity to make a move with Monty by kissing him – and eventually hooks up like Raven and Bellamy’s random spontaneity in season one.

Clarke finds Luna teaching a group of grounder youth and comes up with the idea to force the AI upgrade into her – but Luna gives Clarke an impressive flip for even trying, leaving her sore and unsuccessful. Some of ALIE’s followers make their way to the rig and either kidnap or contain everyone they can. Clarke and the others figure out that ALIE will need to chip Luna, and if it occurs before the AI is entered then it will be a potentially impossible reversal for them. In the meantime, Raven takes things into her own hands and begins to override ALIE – which the AI can feel as it happens. Raven attempts to cut her off from Arkadia which could compromise her existence, so ALIE feeds a signal though of his deceased mother as a last ditch effort to stop them.

Raven tells Monty that it’s a diversion to keep them at bay, but she explains to him it’s like a downloaded copy of his mother. He makes the grueling choice to delete the existence of his former mother, leaving ALIE vulnerable to Raven’s hacking. She locates a kill switch but is shut off from the computer just as the AI disconnected from the mainframe. Monty is sent into a state of anger targeted at Raven because of what he just went through – but he’ll soon need to move on. Indra, Murphy and Pike find a way to smash a server that holds the personalities of people they know but are too late by the time Pike destroys it. Yet another plan stopped by the AI, however she can’t stay protected from the persistence of those opposing her forever. With that being said, she does complicate things once again when she is able to connect to the shell of the Ark remaining in space. 

By the time Clarke, Octavia and Bellamy escape a containment cell, Luna has battled her way through ALIE’s minions with her bare hands. The Nightblood survivor is forced to kill the people she holds closest to her, something she swore to never do again thanks to the bloodthirsty AI. They begin to believe Luna now understands the danger they are up against, but in the final moments before the ascension she makes it known that she will not partake in any part of the war. Next thing the group knows, they wake up back at the landing platform they were taken from with no help from Luna – giving us another strike in the fight against ALIE.

Overall Grade: 8.5/10

Seeing all of Arkadia’s core group making their acts of rebellion known was a crucial reminder of just how strong they have become in the face of danger. The desperation to stop ALIE’s goals is certainly felt in this episode and it’s giving us insight on the main battle brewing at the end of the season – with enough ambiguity to keep us on our toes. 

Aedan’s Final Thoughts: 

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Raven is the badass of technology in The 100 and anyone who opposes her ways is going to regret it.

-Luna is a badass, but not mankind’s badass.

-ALIE continues her reign as the queen of troll-iness, who knows what she will attempt in the last two episodes of the season.