Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

The 100: Die All, Die Merrily

"Like it or not, we're all grounders now."

Something The 100 has never done is take the easy way out when it comes to making life or death decisions. They don't shy away from killing off major characters or spare the audience from the journey of what losing those people or making those decisions can cost. "Die All, Die Merrily" was not a change in form.

The conclave is happening. It's a fight to the death and the winner gets a shiny new radiation-free bunker. A lot of this episode, most of it in fact, was about Octavia. Who she is willing to fight for. Who she wants to survive. The people that she loves. The people that love her. What she will do to survive. What she can endure. And what kind of warrior and person she wants to be. Octavia's character arc rivals Clarke's or even Bellamy's and here she took another wide turn that had been building for a while now.

The pep talk she got from Indra was enough to bring a tear to my eye. It was completely beautiful that she got the validation of Indra's love even if they're on opposite sides of the battle.

I thought there was a possibility that Indra was trying to tell Octavia that she could fight for Trikru instead of Skaikru, but I felt like it undermined the beauty of the whole exchange so I, more or less, ignored it. Sorry, I'm not an unbiased reviewer. That is until Indra smarted off to Kane about finding out what Octavia has really learned should she win. I didn't understand what she really meant, though. And when I watched it again I don't think Octavia got it at first either. She needed to be reminded about Lincoln and what he believed and why she loved him.

Ilian can say that he didn't come for Octavia all he wants. The boy was smitten and not only saved her life, but helped to remind her that there is good in people. In light of Lincoln coming up several times in this episode alone, it's hard for me to take Ilian as any kind of love interest for Octavia seriously. I get it, Lincoln is gone and the girl deserves to move on, but was she really invested in him? Could she have put Lincoln out of his misery the way she did with Ilian? No. Even though I was sure he'd die, an arrow through the neck is a tough way to go and forcing O to complete the process was even tougher to watch and very 100-esque.

The Blake siblings did a lot for me. Seeing them at odds hasn't been weighing on me so to speak so I was surprised at how emotional I got when Octavia's face softened as her brother stood up for her to Roan. They've had a pretty rocky road. And I loved that Bellamy came up with the strategy that ultimately saved her. I think most people were resolved to the fact that Octavia would win despite it being completely illogical (a la that fall off a cliff), but Bellamy/the writers gave us at least a believable way that it happened. She didn't have to fight 12 trained assassin warriors. Luna is really the only person she had to take on alone. Bellamy essentially gave her the plan to win and unknowingly gave her a pep talk that boosted her morale when confronted by Roan and in the end he was the first person she looked toward. Things were looking good for the Blakes. Too bad they're on opposite sides of a big, metal, radiation-proof door.

Then Wanheda threw us a curveball. Lemony snicket! I loved that she couldn't leave Bellamy behind, but how stupid of her to think that he will sit around while his sister is left on the outside. Keeping the cameras in on the action in Polis for almost the entire episode was necessary to get the kind of intensity they delivered here, but damn, I'd would've liked to see how Clarke came to this decision.

I don't even know. How many out of 4??

Bits and pieces

This episode was so Hunger Games-y that I could barely take it.

Even though I wanted Octavia to win, I really didn't like seeing Ilian or Roan or even Luna die.

If Ilian was his clan's strongest fighter, why was he out hoeing the fields? Odd.

This has nothing to do with anything but I almost referred to Bellamy and Octavia as the Blake twins before realizing that they aren't and it made me wonder. What happened on the Ark if someone got pregnant with twins? You know, because of that whole one child only rule...

Is there a way to get a message to Clarke and co that they won and Octavia is alive and they should stop doing Mountain Men impersonations?

The 100 might be making me sadistic, but I'm curious. If only one group can survive, those in the bunker or those on the outside, who would you root for?

Luna: "I fight for no one. I fight for death."

Octavia: "Why are you helping me? If I win it would be the end of your people."
Indra: "You are my people."

Luna: "Lincoln would be ashamed of you."

Octavia: "I’m not the girl you want me to be."

Roan: "I'm not willing to cast aside honor for power."
Echo: "No one has to know."
Roan: "You misunderstand."

Luna: "Last time we fought, I was wounded. Not this time."
Roan: "Last time we fought, I wasn't trying to kill you."

Octavia: "You're wrong. There are people worth saving. Just not you."

Octavia: "No. I wasn't fighting for Skaikru today. I thought I was fighting for myself, but I now know that isn't true either. I was fighting for us all. Skaikru will not take the bunker alone. We will share it equally. Because we are equal. We are one clan. And we will survive Praimfaya together. Together."

4 comments:

  1. Well, I loved that they were able to set it up so that Octavia could win without being impossibly skilled, even if it did mean a rather odd set-up for a duel to the death. But damn, Clarke's move at the end made me feel like maybe Luna had a point.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah, what magritte said. Clarke, what are you doing?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Clarkes decision was crazy and coldblooded but I kind of see where she was coming from..
    She has spent most of the season trying everything, most of which has failed or fallen on deaf ears...Like Luna said 3 days before the end and this is how mankind chooses to spend it. I think when Roan told Clarke to basically F off at the start of the episode and Luna's arrival made up her mind..Clarke has seen what Lexa could do and Luna was confident she would have killed Lexa if they fought.
    I love the way Octavia won..That was the most difficult thing..She obviously was going to win but they had to do it in a believable way..They showed her ingenuity and use of hiding..and the clear difference between the warriors trained since birth.
    Luna had one of my favorite arcs..I like the reverse spiral..Pacifist to straight up killer with self awareness rather than the cliche reverse that is usually done on TV..Like with Jasper you keep saying 'but you used to think this' and 'act like this'..But it is a realistic portrayel. Something i think the 100 does better than other shows..Especially on Tv where they have the predictable outcome. By now on another show Jasper would have come round and Luna would be in a new relationSHIP with Raven..(Not that that would have been bad).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Damn sad to see Roan go. Not so much Illian and definately not Luna after her reversal to killer again.

    I wonder if Abby is ok with sacrificing Kane, she will probably help Bellamy in the inevetible mutiny in the bunker. They also didn't establish if Emori, Murphy, Jackson and Miller made it back from the lab so they might be stuck on the outside too.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.