Written By Avani Goswami
The penultimate episode of The 100, “The Dying of the Light,” reminds us that things are truly coming to an end for the series today. At the same time, there are so many questions left to answer, which makes me wonder how they can possibly wrap it all up in one episode next week.
The episode picks up right where the last one ended: with the crew in shambles in the bunker while Madi (Lola Flanery) gets taken into M-Cap with Levitt (Jason Diaz) and the Shepherd (John Pyper-Ferguson). Levitt is attempting to extract the code to the “last war” from Madi’s brain while the Shepherd stands by and gives generally un-encouraging advice and insists Levitt go as far as he can into her memories, even if it’s dangerous. Mostly because he sees his daughter among Madi’s memories. Levitt says this is different than anything he’s ever done before, but heeds the Shepherd’s order, even when he hears Madi and the Shepherd arguing about whether or not this is actually a war or a test. They talk about Becca (Erica Cerra) which was nice, but it quickly gets tense and uncomfortable.
Back in the bunker, Murphy (Richard Harmon) and Emori (Luisa d’Oliveira) were crushed by the debris from the explosion. Murphy manages to get up easily, but Emori has a piece of the wreckage lodged in her stomach. Raven (Lindsey Morgan) and Jackson (Sachin Sahel) immediately rush to their side and try to help, which leads to some sweet words exchanged between Murphy and Emori. Raven rushes to get medical equipment, but Jackson says they need to find the stone and get to Sanctum if they have a chance of saving Emori. This really upsets me because I really don’t want Emori to die, and it’s cutting it really close.
Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and the others are still in the pit, and she and Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) decide they’re going to go after Madi by using Bardo’s technology that they obtained from the Shepherd. But someone on the other side needs to pull them through, which seems impossible until we remember our good friend Levitt! In Bardo, we see he’s not on board with what the Shepherd is doing to Madi and the Shepherd dismisses him. He then decides to disobey Bill’s previous orders and tries to bring Clarke and Octavia through the anomaly onto Bardo.
Clarke and Octavia meanwhile spend some time with Gaia (Tati Gabrielle) and Hope (Shelby Flannery), respectively. When talking to Gaia, she brings up her late mother, which is a nice reference to the past. She also discusses Bellamy (Bob Morley), Madi, and all the recent choices she’s made. Gaia tries to help her meditate, but it doesn’t work and both of them bond over their love for Madi. Then, they find out that someone on the other side is helping them (Levitt!) and they get whisked away to Bardo. Only, surprise, the portal has been moved and instead lets out into the field, where hundreds of Disciples have their guns aimed at Clarke and Octavia.
They get taken prisoner and share a moment talking about their daughters, as well as about Bellamy. Meanwhile, Levitt is trying to get to them, kicking ass and fighting his own people to make it happen. Once he does, him and Octavia share a sweet reunion, but Clarke says they need to hurry to get to Madi. Long story short, they team up with Sheidheda (JR Bourne), who’s in the cell next to theirs, to create a distraction for the others to reach M-Cap. Though he agrees and his distraction—which is to kill people—works, he disappears. Oh well. It looks like that’s a problem for the finale. They reach M-Cap and find Madi abandoned there, conscious but unresponsive. Apparently she can hear and see what’s going on, but her brain is not functioning properly and she can’t move. Levitt says essential parts of her mind were damaged from all of the Shepherd’s pushing.
Clarke starts to cry, calling out for her, and her and Octavia share an emotional moment. Then, Levitt says what was lost is not salvageable. That’s when everything gets really heartbreaking. Not gonna lie, I didn’t expect that to happen even though I knew the Shepherd would never stop trying to extract the information from her brain. Still, Clarke reaches for the gun to kill Madi and end the suffering. Octavia says she won’t let Clarke live with that and takes the gun from her hand. Here, they hummed the same tune that Clarke did in season one when she took Atom’s (Rhys Ward) life. This was such an interesting throwback to simpler times, to one of the first episodes. Octavia is about to shoot Madi when Levitt speaks up and says that the Shepherd seems to have gotten the code from Madi’s mind, leaving her here. Then, Clarke says they have to stop him and that she’ll be back for Madi.
While all of this is going on, Raven, Murphy, and Jackson are finding the stone. They trash the room, seeing the Azgeda symbol on the floor on top of where the stone is. It seems like everything really is connected: the clans, the Second Dawn, the stones. I’m not sure we’ll get all that information next episode, though. Anyway, Raven and Murphy have a really badass moment where they use sledgehammers to break open the floor and reach the stone. Emori’s situation isn’t looking great, despite Jackson’s efforts, and he tells Raven to talk to her. Emori says that she loves Raven, talking about their time up in space, and says that Raven needs to prioritize the good of everyone over Emori’s life. She says Raven has what it takes to make the hard choice, like Clarke does, because Murphy won’t be able to let her go. But Raven assures her that she can survive through this, and she gets a pretty great line that brings back the true essence of Raven’s character and how she’s saved them all countless times from season one all the way to seven. This episode definitely gave her some iconic lines, reminding me that I’m gonna miss her when she’s gone after next week.
Murphy announces that he sees the stone and Raven goes to help until they can finally see all of the markings required to enter the code. They realize that Emori isn’t responsive. She isn’t breathing and Jackson tries his best to keep her alive as Raven enters the stone’s code and they enter the portal to Sanctum.
Only one more episode left! How are they going to end this? It’s anybody’s guess at this point. We still don’t know where Sheidheda is or what he’s up to. Also, where are Echo (Tasya Teles) and Niylah (Jessica Harmon) right now? I can’t believe next week is the series finale. I can only hope we get some more references to the past for the true fans, and that our favorite characters that are still alive stay that way.
The 100 ‘The Dying of Light’ is currently streaming on the CW app.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtQ1rmrsDew
