After an entire season of bloodshed, survival and politics, The 100 has concluded its third season with a bang. Just how did the season resolve the major storylines of ALIE and more? Let’s start from the beginning…

When we jump back in, Clarke is using the technology they’ve modified to shock ALIE out of their body, successfully reuniting mother and daughter when it seemed nearly impossible. Clarke, Octavia, Bellamy, Murphy and Pike establish that Ontari is unable to bear the “flame” AI, so Clarke nominates herself as a willing candidate. With Abby’s assistance they plan to make Clarke the next to receive the AI but must act fast as ALIE’s followers begin to climb their way up to the small band of survivors. In Arkadia, Jasper holds Harper captive while threatening her life if Raven and Monty don’t give themselves up – but Harper manages to showcase a little bit of her guard prowess and knocks him out before he can make a move.

Despite Abby’s reluctance, she infuses the necessary fluid into Clarke’s bloodstream if they hope to install the flame. By the time Murphy places the AI inside of Clarke’s neck, she screams in agony before quickly regaining her composure with one thing certain – she must take the chip to defeat ALIE. Clarke says her temporary farewells and takes it, only to find herself entering the city of light that appears with full structures representing a society they’ve never experienced. Clarke begins to rush through the city, slowly becoming overwhelmed as countless people appear in an every-day normal setting. She sees her first familiar face, a smiling Jasper, and discovers she isn’t able to be seen by anyone under the influence for the time being.

People continue to climb the tower in Polis for their AI leader which prepares Octavia and Pike for battle. Just before they enter, Octavia decides she will receive some justified payback, cutting Pike and incapacitating him to get attacked by the followers crawling through an entry point. They escape (with Bellamy saving Pike) and he tries to persuade his sister to stay focused on the matters at hand. (Sure Bellamy, easier said than done.) with everyone working on protecting Clarke’s physical form, her consciousness resides in the City of Light. Once ALIE learns that Clarke has breached it, she knows she’s surrounded with all of the eerie cult-like followers. At that moment, her body is put through stress from the rejection of night blood – making everyone have to fight to keep Clarke active. Raven (having entered ALIES coding) is able to stay updated in the situation, noting that the killswitch is crucial to the AI’s defeat.

Clarke is caught by a few of the drugged men and women, until Lexa arrives and singlehandedly stops each one of them. While we may have lost Lexa earlier, it’s still an important inclusion to give them an opportunity to appear face to face. Clarke fights for breath to tell Lexa she never thought they’d see each other again – which Lexa responds with the thought that she knew the next “chosen” would be perfect. Clarke nearly dies as Abby and Murphy perform surgery on Ontari that requires her heart to be pumped by hand (a very unsettling situation that was strongly executed) Elsewhere in Polis, it becomes apparent that the others are resourceful by shocking another sect of people under ALIE’s thrall.

Clarke and Lexa make their way to somewhere distant from people but are still found with Jasper’s form making the first contact. He tries to state that humans are the reason for the downfall of society in the first place (as ALIE,) but takes a broader approach when others begin to surround them more forcefully. Raven hacks a doorway into the program with the symbol of a Raven (very literal) however Lexa is needed to give Clarke enough time to escape. Clarke makes sure to tell Lexa that she does in fact love her, which Lexa replies with “I’ll always be with you.” Clarke pushes through the doorway created by Raven, taking her to the space station where she encounters original Becca, both hoping to stop the AI.

The crew of survivors (non-ALIE influenced) are down to their last room – the throne room. It comes down to this last stand where Clarke’s body is located and they are all equipped to kick some major ass regardless of being outnumbered. Clarke’s consciousness is present for a meeting between Becca and ALIE debating their perceptions of morality. ALIE tries to say that if Clarke lets the AI do what she intends to, she won’t have to feel the pressure or weight of heavy decisions ever again. The opportunity to use the killswitch dwindles at Clarke’s awareness, making it apparent that she doesn’t have the clear answer as of yet (shady.) After a seemingly long debate, Clarke flips the killswitch to shut ALIE down once and for all, painfully snapping everyone out of the AI state of mind whilst regaining their painful memories. A now returned Clarke insists they take out the flame as well, while reunions are underway among those who have been gone for so long. At Arkadia we see Jasper has also gone back to normal,  tearfully apologizing to Monty when his best friend assures him they will all be happy again one day. Octavia and Pike come face to face once on a very peaceful occasion, but the Blake sibling exacts her final moment of vengeance by stabbing the murderous leader through the chest and killing him without blinking an eye. Things aren’t quite a happy ending when Clarke tells Bellamy that they haven’t “saved the world” yet, meaning there is still plenty of trouble on the horizon – they’ll just have to celebrate their win, a first for The 100.

We really saw the series return to its sci-fi roots towards the later half of the season, finding ways to stray from previous plot lines. I respect that the writers took a different direction by ending on a slightly optimistic note, going with yet another unpredictable season finale. I enjoyed seeing characters like Octavia, Murphy and Raven play pivotal roles with some integration of other characters on the brink of the core group. By leaving the season with no indication of what will come next, The 100 certainly succeeded in adding new unknown layers to the powerful series.

Aedan’s Final Thoughts:

– Season 4 of The 100 is especially exciting because of the ambiguity.

– I was immensely pleased to see more of Becca, who I find to be one of the most intriguing characters the series has ever provided.

– Major credit to The 100 for numerous intense scenes that ranged from medically reliant, to morally questionable, or even emotionally based depictions of plot and characters.

– I can’t wait to return next season for more coverage of The 100! May we meet again next year!