On this episode of The 100, “The Tinder Box,” members of Skaikru stand off against the Ice Nation army, Clarke tries to broker a new peace agreement with Roan, Raven discovers the key to manufacturing a Nightblood serum and tragedy strikes at Arkadia.
A broken and battered Octavia can’t quite make it back to Arkadia before she falls off of her horse. Given she was stabbed and fell off a huge cliff, it’s nothing short of a miracle that she’s alive at all. Octavia gets another lucky break when Ilian finds her in the forest and delivers her to her people. A weak Octavia is able to warn Clarke that Azgeda is coming and war is here.
The Shooter
Clarke rallies the troops and a plan to protect Arkadia is set in motion. The guards, led by Miller’s dad, want to pour the highly-flammable hydrazine into trenches around the perimeter, and when Roan’s army gets close enough, light them up. Neither Monty or Clarke are big on setting a fire so close to the ship that they’ve just spent a month repairing.
Nobody can reach Kane, and Jaha found the cargo truck 12 hours out but no sign of Bellamy or Stephens. Clarke decides she has to speak to Roan, convinced there’s been some sort of misunderstanding. Clarke decides to ride out and intercept Roan and his army before they reach Arkadia.
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When Roan spots Clarke, he realizes his army has lost the element of surprise. Echo swears there’s no way that Octavia survived her blade and that fall.
Clarke tells Roan they need to talk, but he says it’s too late and orders his archers to target Wanheda. But Clarke didn’t come alone. There are shooters perched in the rocks above who have their weapons aimed at the King. Roan reveals he’s got Kane and Bellamy, and Clarke asks for ten minutes to speak with Roan. Echo’s worried it’s a trap, but Roan says they already walked into one.
The plan is to take the targets off Roan and put them on the Ice Nation army since peace talks are likely to go more smoothly if Roan doesn’t have to worry that his head is about to get blown off. But Riley, enslaved by the Azgeda for long enough to still be pissed about it, decides to go rogue. Riley is convinced that negotiating with the Ice Nation is a waste of time. Skaikru has the guns and the high ground, and Riley wants to take them out. Monty orders Riley to stand down, warning him that if he fires, it will become a massacre. Riley finally backs off.
Dain Bramage
Things are going a bit wonky at Becca’s lab. While Jackson and Abby struggle to figure out how to replicate Nightblood, Raven has a seizure. But in Raven’s mind, it was something altogether different. She tells Abby that her brain was operating with such intensity, as if she was space walking again — zero-G with no suit. Raven has an epiphany that explains why Abby hasn’t been able to get the Nightblood protein to bond with Luna’s DNA. When Raven imagined she was weightless, her neurons must have been firing faster than her conscious mind could process. She was communicating through her subconscious. The answer to their problems came in the form of Raven’s hallucination, and the seizure episode was just a temporary side effect.
Now the problem is how to simulate zero gravity in a laboratory environment. Raven suspects Becca went into space to manufacture Nightblood. Abby, Jackson and Raven discover that within the lab, there’s a space ship ready to launch.
Abby runs a scan of Raven’s brain and discovers the girl is using a huge percentage of her brain, but she also has a bleed as well. Abby’s not sure if it’s a stroke yet, even though Jackson is.
Meanwhile, Raven is manic, making plans to get the rocket into orbit. Abby warns Raven to slow down. Raven’s heightened mental ability, euphoria and hallucinations are all connected — A.L.I.E. warned Raven that the EMP would cause brain damage. Raven says Jasper was right when he said nobody else got an upgrade. For everyone else, Clarke pulled a master kill switch, but something different happened to Raven. Part of A.L.I.E.’s code is still in her head. That’s why she knows things she was never taught. In addition, Becca’s mind was in that code, so that’s how Raven knew where the rocket was.
Abby reveals that Raven’s scan shows signs of a stroke, and she’s worried what will happen if Raven keeps pushing so hard. Raven believes she’s been through worse, but Abby warns Raven this is more than likely going to kill her. But Raven is willing to sacrifice herself to save everyone else.
There is No “I” in “Team”
Roan meets Clarke in a nearby cave. He accuses Clarke of breaking their deal. She can’t figure out why he would nearly kill Octavia, take Kane and Bellamy as prisoners and attempt to wipe out Skaikru when they’re all about to die soon anyway. Roan makes it clear his objective was to take their ship, a ship she restored to save her own people and not his. Clarke tries to reassure him that the ship is a back-up plan and will only hold 100 people.
Clarke questions if Kane told Roan about the Nightblood solution, and he responds that it sounds as if Skaikru is just trying to make the next Commander — a violation of their deal. Clarke reminds him the flame is gone, but Roan argues Octavia might not be telling the truth.
Clarke swears there is no conspiracy, and she’s trying to save everyone, but Roan disagrees. Clarke failed to learn from Lexa that sometimes you have to learn to rise above loyalty to your own clan. Clarke says she wants to save everyone but builds a ship for herself, for her people.
Clarke insists the Nightblood will save everyone, but Roan doesn’t believe in miracles. Roan tells Clarke that she can order her shooters to stand down, hand over the ship and use whatever time is left to work on the Nightblood solution or she can have them open fire. Clarke reminds him that they have more bullets than he has men, and he will lose. Roan admits they’ll both take losses, including Kane and Bellamy. Clarke warns Roan that she was willing to sacrifice her own mother to stop A.L.I.E. Roan replies that he sacrificed his own mother to save Clarke.
While Clarke and Roan negotiate, tensions rise outside the cave. Echo has ordered her army attack if one gunshot rings out, and Riley has gone missing. Monty figures out Riley is headed to the cave to kill Roan, so he has no choice but to approach the enemy. He’s able to tell Bellamy Octavia is alive before warning Echo that one of his men has moved out of formation, and he believes he’s trying to kill the King.
Kane uses his radio to tell his men to let Echo and Bellamy pass unharmed, so they can go after Riley. Echo warns her people that if she’s not back by sundown, they are to kill the hostages which now include Monty who has taken Bellamy’s place.
Clarke comes up with a compromise. She offers 50 slots on the ship to Roan’s people. He’s down with that plan but questions if Roan’s people will accept it. Roan is the king, so he doesn’t need their permission, but he does wonder how Clarke will sell this new deal to Skaikru who won’t be happy about losing half of their seats on the lifeboat. Roan promises that if Clarke’s people don’t follow her when the time comes, Azgeda will be on hand to make sure it gets done.
Echo and Bellamy come across Riley, and Bellamy tries to reason with him. Bellamy warns that Azgeda will kill Monty and Kane, Skaikru will open fire and it will be a bloodbath. Riley thinks Bellamy is just saying what Ice Nation wants him to because he’s a prisoner. Echo is losing patience and is eager to put an arrow into Riley. Bellamy struggles to keep Echo calm and keep Riley from pulling the trigger. Bellamy uses his own experience as a cautionary tale, and Riley doesn’t take the shot.
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Anybody Got a Plan C?
Octavia wakes up and wonders how she made it back to Arkadia. When she learns Ilian was her rescuer, she freaks out. Ilian is on a mission to destroy tech, and now he’s surrounded by it, and with all the excitement, nobody has been keeping an eye on the interloper. Octavia is convinced it was no coincidence that Ilian found her, he used her to get in. With Niylah’s help, Octavia makes her way to the server room where Ilian is preparing to blow the whole thing sky high.
Octavia tries to convince Ilian not to execute his plan. He asks O if she was in the City of Light, and when she answers “no,” he says she’ll never understand. He drops a torch, and there’s a huge explosion.
Ilian rescues Octavia and Niylah from the wreckage, but the damage to the ship is catastrophic.
Having heard the explosion, Echo, Roan, Clarke and Bellamy rush back to witness the chaotic aftermath. Bellamy is reunited with his sister, and Octavia tells Clarke that Ilian is responsible. All everyone can do is stand by and watch their back-up plan go up in smoke, literally.
Will Abby figure out a way to save Raven? Now that the Ark and all the supplies have been destroyed, what will happen to the people of Arkadia? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
