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Recap / The 100 S 07 E 08

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Clarke confronts a new adversary; a look back to the past and the nuclear apocalypse that destroyed the Earth.

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  • Apocalypse Wow: The nuclear war clearly counts.
  • And the Adventure Continues: The end of the flashbacks has Callie leading her group of survivors to find others still alive and create what will become the Grounders.
  • Arc Words: Becca's code for deactivating the Flame is "Goodbye for now.", a variation on "Until we meet again."
  • The Atoner: Becca clearly wants to help what's left of the humanity her creation destroyed.
  • Burn the Witch!: Becca's final fate, literally burned at the stake by Cadogan.
  • Combat Pragmatist: Callie stops a fight between her group and the soldiers by telling Reese "let's settle this like in the basement." They seem ready to go at it...then Callie pulls out a gun and shoots Reese in the shoulder.
  • Connected All Along: The Second Dawn found the Anomaly Stone and stored it in their bunker, Becca managed to decode it due to the Flame, and Cadogan's daughter became the leader of the group that will one day become the Grounders.
  • Continuity Cavalcade:
    • As established in Josephine's flashback, the nuclear apocalypse happened near the holidays.
    • President Dante Wallace's grandfather was the president of the U.S. when the nukes fell.
    • The flashback starts right before A.L.I.E. nukes the Earth, and also shows Becca arriving on Earth and being burnt alive by the Second Dawn, now from the perspective of the Second Dawn.
    • Becca explains to Callie how the Flame works, mechanics that we learned throughout Season 3.
  • Crapsack World: Continuing off of what we know about the end of the world from various pre-apocalypse characters, we hear from the news broadcasts in the flashback that overpopulation was rampant enough that the U.S. had camps (also not helped that there was a pandemic going around), the U.S. turned into an authoritarian regime, and that environmental activist groups like Tree Crew were considered terrorists.
  • Crazy Survivalist: Callie thinks this is what her father is setting up a huge underground chamber for survivors of some coming disaster. As it turns out, he's right.
  • Cult: Cadogan denies that the Second Dawn was one, but quickly becomes apparent that they absolutely were.
  • Disappointing Older Sibling: Callie loved her brother Reese and thought they had an unbreakable bond...until Reese coldly refuses to help save more people in the immediate aftermath of the war and is completely dedicated to their father's vision of saving society "for the greater good."
  • Exact Words: Cadogan asks Clarke if Callie is "in there". She answers yes, but not in the way he thinks.
  • Futureshadowing: Callie and Reese almost fight at the base of the bunker's stairwell, where Blodreina will hold the gladiator fights.
  • Hero-Worshipper: Callie is a huge fan of Becca's and is over the moon to meet and work with her when she arrives at the bunker.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Callie's mother shuts the door to allow her and the others immune to escape, knowing she'll be killed for it.
  • Hidden in Plain Sight: Before her death walk, Reese demands the code from Becca. She refuses, but as they take her away, her parting words to Callie are reminding her of the code, doubling as a farewell ("Goodbye for now.").
  • Humble Beginnings:
    • In-universe. Trigedasleng was a language Callie made up in her youth. The other members of Tree Crew understand it, and given their animosity with the government, it was probably a secret language so that cops wouldn't understand what they were saying to each other. By the present day, Cadogan notes that it sounds very different now.
    • Callie gives Becca's blood serum the moniker of "nightblood" and asks her if it sounds cool.
  • Mercy Kill: A variation as Callie's mother knocks out her best friend, arguing she won't even know what happens when the bombs hit.
  • My Greatest Failure: Becca clearly doesn't want to let Callie (a huge fan of her) know that it was her own creation of A.L.I.E. that started the nuclear war.
  • Oh, Crap!: The perfectly justified reaction of folks realizing the end of the world is upon them.
  • Origins Episode: The flashbacks set the stage for the creation of what will become the Grounders.
  • Our Founder: The episode reveals that Callie was the one who created Trikru (which was an activist program before the apocalypse) and created Trigedasleng as a child.
  • Poorly Disguised Pilot: The episode is the set-up to a possible prequel series exploring the rise of the post-apocalypse societies of Earth and the origins of the Grounders.
  • The Reveal: The key that the Disciples are hunting down is revealed to be the Flame and the reason that they have been tracking Clarke is because they believe she still has it inside of her.
  • Spotting the Thread: Callie is expertly able to figure out the scar on Becca's neck is connected to an A.I. that allows her to understand the sphere.
  • Shout-Out: Cadogan refers to the nuclear Armageddon as Judgment Day, just as it was in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
  • These Are Things Man Was Not Meant to Know: Thanks to the Flame Becca is able to figure out the mysteries of the Anomaly Stone and enters a secret code that transports her somewhere. Whatever she sees in there leaves her horrified and convinces her that Cadogen must never be allowed to have the code.
  • Til Murder Do Us Part: Callie's mother dies when her husband locks her into the airlock leading to the surface where she doesn't have the treatment to survive it. She does however don a radiation suit, so she may live awhile longer.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Callie's brother Reese has this for their father as, despite his loyalty, he always knew that Cadogen loved Callie more then him. She even tells him that no matter what he does he can't make Cadogen love him more.

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