Clarke and her friends reckon with all that has happened only to find an unexpected threat looming.
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch: After Clarke reveals that she was forced to kill Bellamy Octavia walks up to her and it is implied that she will attack her for what she's done. Instead she hugs her and tells her that she understands why she did it.
- Burying a Substitute: Played with. While Gabriel is dying, Octavia initiates the group's recitation the Traveler's Blessing. She has never done this before, preferring the Grounder death blessing of "Your fight is over", and given that Gabriel isn't Skaikru and thus the Traveler's Blessing isn't a part of his cultural tradition either, the implication is that while it might be Gabriel dying in front of her, Octavia is actually paying Due to the Dead to her brother Bellamy, who died in the previous episode on a different planet from her.
- Call-Back:
- The group ends up back on the Second Dawn bunker on Earth, and they remember Blodreina's reign there.
- Gaia looks back on how she used to be jealous of Indra treating Octavia more like her daughter than her own biological daughter.
- As Gabriel is dying Octavia recites the entirety of the Traveler's Blessing to send him off.
- The knife that was used to transport Octavia to Bardo at the end of last season is used again here in order to send Sheidheda and Madi to Bardo as well.
- Character Development:
- Upon learning that Clarke killed Bellamy, instead of lashing out and holding a grudge against her like she had done before, Octavia tells her she understands this way of thinking now and hugs her.
- Gaia notes that once upon a time, she used to envy how Indra treated Octavia like a daughter more than she was, and Indra tells her that she's So Proud of You.
- Character Death: Gabriel is killed trying to protect Madi from Sheidheda.
- Easily Forgiven: Justified. Everyone has spent the entire show holding grudges against each other for causing the deaths of their loved ones and found that being angry about it doesn't solve anything, so everyone is more forgiving and understanding of Clarke when she tells them she killed Bellamy since he put them in danger.
- Face Death with Dignity: Gabriel declines being saved by Jackson and chooses to embrace his final death even reciting the Children's catchphrase "Death is Life" before the end.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Madi stabs herself with the knife in order to transport herself to Bardo so that no one else will die protecting her.
- Idiot Ball: Despite knowing that they have an invisible foe (someone in a Disciple suit, in this instance Sheidheda), and what this foe's target is (Madi), Octavia, Indra, Gaia and Clarke take absolutely no precautions to reveal invisible people, and simply run about the bunker yelling for Madi, essentially leading Sheidheda straight to her.
- Security Cling: Clarke, Octavia and Echo all give each other one as they mourn Bellamy's death.
- Ship Tease: Hope and Jordon get quite a bit of teasing in this episode including several slow dances.
- That Man Is Dead: Echo assured Clarke that she didn't kill Bellamy, because the man they knew was dead by the time they found him again.
- Villain Team-Up: Cadogan saves Sheidheda's life in order to understand the significance of Madi's sketchbook. Sheidheda then offers to capture Madi himself in exchange for being allowed to rule Sanctum uncontested. However after he finds out the truth about Transcendence he decides to murder Madi instead so that he can continue to rule.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Madi calls Clarke out for destroying the Disciple helmet, taking away her choice yet again, and contemning her to never see her friends on Sanctum again.
- Where It All Began: It turns out Gaia and the others were transported to the Second Dawn bunker on Earth. The Disciple transported with Gaia explains that the default destination is the origin of their DNA, which is on Earth.
- You Are Not Alone: When Octavia reveals that she is still crippled by guilt over her role as Blodreina Indra tells her that she is equally responsible for what happened in the bunker and to embrace their guilt together.
