The 100 “The Blood of Sanctum” Photo-Recap; The One Where Shit Gets Nuts

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHHAHAHHAA WHAT *giddy, excited giggles forever*

Season 6 has ended, but the story of our beloved Adventure Squad is far from over. The Flame is somewhere in cyberspace! Jordan is a total Sanctumite! Raven got her personality back! Gabriel is still with us! Madi is no longer the commander! Am I forgetting anything? Hmmmm… oh right, OCTAVIA WAS STABBED BY DIYOZA’S GROWN DAUGHTER AND THEN SUCKED INTO THE ANOMALY, WHICH SPREAD TO ENCOMPASE THEM THEN SUCKED ITSELF BACK INTO SHAPE, AND WITHIN SAID ANOMALY THERE IS A MYSTERIOUS “HE” WHO “HAS” DIYOZA, AND HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I LOVE IT!!! 

A lot went down in The Blood of Sanctum. It didn’t so much wrap everything up with a bow as it did set up the bonkers ride that will be the final season. Sure, the Primes are (mostly) gone, but they never felt like the Big Bad, anyway. It feels more like seasons 6 and 7 are simply one story told in two parts. The problems created in this season will still be there in the next, and I am very, very pleased about it.

Of course, many things DID evolve over the course of these past thirteen episodes; namely the emotional and mental state of our Squad, and the growth that came of it. The Adventure Squad is closer and stronger than ever. They have been through some SHIT over the past 6 seasons, and now they’re in a place where they can take on whatever season 7 sees fit to throw at them. I know TV shows need internal conflict, and with a story like this, not everyone will be on the same page at all times. However, I enjoy this show the most when the Squad is working together as a team… in other words, when they’re truly The Adventure Squad. They haven’t felt like a cohesive unit like this in a long time, and it makes my heart sing. That is exactly why I have no worries about the glorious, violent bonanza the final season will be. 

I’m very pumped for season 7, but also very, very scared. If the show was unafraid to take our favourites from us before, imagine how emboldened the writers will be knowing that this is the last ride. I just… I don’t even know who to beg for right now. I would ask the show not to break our hearts, but the fact that it does is why I love it so. 

So, I dunno, writers… you do you. 

The showdown between the Primes and Spacekru ended quickly because NO WAY was Indra letting some sparkly brats kill her daughter. So Spacekru was gathered up and given an ultimatum; either go on a lark with the Primes to another planet, or die horribly. Sheidheda was NOT about it, so he commanded his followers to attack just because he could, and they all died, obviously. 

I say Sheidheda because Madi was nowhere to be seen within her own face – like, damn Lola Flanery, stop being so damn good at your job (never stop).

Anyway, Clarke stopped Simone from straight-up murdering Madi by sassing her, then knocking her unconscious, and then sauntering out (there may have been a hair-flip). 

The Primes had a staff meeting about planet-hopping until they find some new digs, then they moved on to the next item on the agenda; whether or not to murder a pre-teen. The shifts in Eliza Taylor’s face as she went from super-worried-no-fun-her-mom-is-bodysnatched-Clarke to c’est-la-vie-Josephine was perfect, and seriously, give this woman awards. 

In the end it was decided that instead of killing one girl, they’ll just murder a TON of people in their sleep with a good ol’ mind-wipe, so they can have an endless supply of bodies to snatch. As one does. 

Meanwhile in Sanctum, the Squad was trapped in a shed of despair, strategizing how to escape without killing the bloodthirsty hoard calling for their gruesome deaths (awwwww, Bellamy you’re so cuuuuuuute), when they were gassed and brought to Adjustment Camp. 

This lady is the Prime’s #1 fan, and she REALLY wants people to believe in their godliness, even though she was told BY ONE OF THEIR ‘GODS’ that it was all a lie. So she handed out some hallucina-juice with the intent to brainwash them while under the influence. But just before Octavia was about to gulp some down, look who decided to sashay in. 

The Beautiful Creepster and Emori pretended to be their Prime alter-egos in order to get their pals out of Adjustment Camp, and it worked! And Murphy WINKED at Bellamy! How positively splendid! They took the “Earth people” away, but unfortunately had to leave Gabe’s Kid behind. 

Before they left, Daniel’s boyfriend gave Murphy a big ol’ smooch, but then looked like he was getting hip to the wise when Murphy didn’t really put any gusto into it. Your life is on the line, dude, show him what you’ve got! 

They once again escaped the murderous mob (I mean honestly, take a HINT, mob!) and made it to the castle for a staff meeting of their own. 

Whu-oh! Jordan was pretty into the whole “blood-ritual-brainwash” sesh, and didn’t seem keen to snap out of it. The Squad and Gabriel weren’t too fussed by it, though, because they had bigger issues to discuss. One of Gabe’s acolytes was still trapped inside Adjustment Camp with a bunch of innocent people, and they needed to perform a subterfuge to get him out. 

Gabriel specifically needed Murphy to pose as Daniel for their rescue attempt cover story to be believable. He was not jazzed about the prospect until everyone else (including his one true love) volunteered, giving him a serious case of FOMO. Oh, and Octavia was like, “hey Bellamy, would you like to be the beating heart of-” and Bellamy was like, “YES, because everything in the actual universe is better when we are working together in harmony as siblings who love and respect each other.” I may be paraphrasing. So off to Adjustment Camp they went!

Up in space, Team Lightbourne was getting ready to wipe the minds of the entire slumbering Wonkru (and criminals), when Clarke questioned Simone to see if there was any hope of bringing Abby back. Alas, there was not. As Clarke (and we) suspected, the mind-mesh was removed with the ALIE-goop when they EMPed Abby’s brain free.

So Clarke revealed herself to be Clarke and took the mind-wipe juice, all, “gonna make like a tree and disappear due to intense radiation, a giant wall of fire, and nuclear missiles,” and Russel was like, “I don’t think that’s how that phrase goes.” I gotta say – his reaction to Jo being gone should not have made me feel things considering he’s, you know, evil… but it DID. This show loves making us care about morally ambiguous people. 

After a chat between Indra and Gaia about how they would for sure kill Madi if Sheidheda took over (LOTS of adults discussing the death of this child!), Raven found a kill-code that wasn’t there before. Basically, Sheid put it there to make them choose – kill him and they have to kill ALL the past commanders. The choice was made, and Raven was about to lay the HURT on Shied, but they were rudely interrupted by a Prime looking for some leverage. 

Elsewhere on the ship, Clarke had strapped herself inside in order to float the mind-wipe punch (Kane-style minus the suicide). Simone and co. found her, but she was all, “quit being dicks, or I’ll suck you out into space.” Simone very cleverly (and cruelly) pretended to be Abby, but Clarke saw through that very quickly (our girl ain’t no fool). 

Let’s be perfectly clear: this moment was gut-wrenchingly awful. The hope on Clarke’s face that her mother could still be alive… the urge to believe her because of how badly she wanted it to be true… then the devastation when that last thread of hope died and she had to watch her mother’s body get sucked out of an airlock just like her father… HOW DARE YOU, SHOW. Season 7 better be 13 hours of Clarke getting effing PAMPERED, is all I’m saying. 

Sheidheda convinced Russel that killing Madi was a dumb decision. Why simply kill a tween when you can team up with the blood-thirsty sociopath possessing her body?? So they made up a secret handshake and vowed to get some sweet, sweet revenge on Clarke. They woke up Wonkru and marched them into the med bay to glower at the Squad and say mean things. 

Clarke did what I imagine was the only thing she could think of to do in such a sad, exhausting, hopeless moment. She got on her knees with a gun to her head and told Madi she would end it all if she didn’t break through. You guys – remember in the season 5 premier when Clarke was so close to ending it all, in this exact stance, and then a bird lead her to the valley where she met Madi and found purpose??? Well, this moment brought her right back there, alone, grieving, desperate… and Madi saved her yet again. OKAY FINE I’M CRYING I’LL ADMIT IT. 

Madi told Sheidheda to go suck an egg, took back control of her body, told Wonkru to relax, then she hugged the loving heck out of her Clarke-mom. 

Sheid attacked Madi in her mind, making her collapse in real-life. So into the Matrix she went and bingo-bango, Raven erased the Flame (!!!), and everything was fine. OR WAS IT??

Whaaaaaaa??? Did Sheid just escape through the computer like Ghostwriter??? Was it all of the commanders being uploaded, or just the super evil one? Was the kill-code a trap the whole time?? I AM SO INTRIGUED/SCARED! Oh and also, MADI WAS DYING! Raven figured out that she needed to be rid of the Flame, so out it popped, all broken and gross. 

Losing the Flame suuuuuuuuuuuucked, you guys. For Gaia and for us. There was SO MUCH mythology and history on that little Matrix Bug of Knowledge. RIP, Flame. We hardly knew ye. 

On the upside, Madi is okay (THANK YOU TV GODS), and we got a Clarke/Raven hug (ABOUT DAMN TIME).  

Murphy brought Gabe to Adjustment Camp and they both faked taking the hallucina-juice before engaging in some fisticuffs to stop all the adjusting.  

Outside, the rest of the Squad was stopping Lady and the Angry Hoard from burning Adjustment Camp down. I was a little confused by this. Did she not believe Murphy? Or was she willing to burn a Prime just to get rid of the others? Wasn’t her assistant dude still in there? Anyway, a lot of focus was on Echo (probably because she’s so damn awesome), but it made me VERY WORRIED for her safety. Luckily, they pow kick punched everyone unconscious, and Octavia body-slammed the lady who set herself on fire for some reason. Whew!  

Gabe spied a unique tattoo on Octavia’s back that was in anomalyese, so it was decided they would head back in. BUT FIRST, HUGS! So many reunion hugs, and Mackson smooches, and Bellarke pep-talk-hugs, my heart was signing. Oh, speaking of reunions: 

Jordan has gone full Sanctum Cult!! He seemed very upset over the death of Priya (the woman who essentially murdered his very first girlfriend), and when Bellamy walked away from their awkward convo, Jordan opened his hand to reveal a mind-drive. Priya’s, we presume?? 

Anyway, then Gabe brought Bellamy, Octavia and Echo to the anomaly stone, which had the same symbols as Octavia’s sweet new tat. So they pushed the buttons (because why not, right?), and the anomaly started SPREADING.

OKAY WHAT??? So much to unpack here. Hope is a grown woman, as we speculated, cool cool cool, and there is a mysterious “he” who has Diyoza, and Hope “couldn’t get out of it,” and she’s “sorry”, and she stab-hugged Octavia (don’t you dare, show), and Octavia was all, “no big, tell him it’s done,” then she dissipated into the anomaly, and Hope (who has anomalyese face tattoos) fainted. NO BIG DEAL, RIGHT??? Hahahhaha, what is even??? Good lord, I’m so excited. 

And that, ladies and germs, is the end of season 6. What did you think? How are you feeling? Satisfied by all of the emotional growth? Impatient for the conclusion? Worried for LITERALLY ALL OF THEM??

Season 6 was one of the strongest in the series, bringing us enough action and violence to quell our bloodlust, while also focusing on the characters, their relationships, and their mental health. We saw a group of broken people pulling themselves back together this season, and it was exquisite to behold. 

This season took what I loved about season 1, the zeroed-in focus on the Adventure Squad, and mixed it with what I loved about season 3, the world-building mythology. Then it added some charming, morally ambiguous antagonists, some rugged, dreamy allies, and a creepy-ass mind-possessing Sith Lord to round things out. A winning combination, that has put Season 6 among my favourites. 

What are your hopes and dreams for the final season of this bonkers, violent adventure? 

• Clarke is finally happy and loved and surrounded by freaking fairies that do her hair every morning and feed her delicious treats? 
• Octavia and Bellamy choreograph a dance together? 
• Echo and Raven at least reference their love affair on the Ring? 
• The Beautiful Creepster continues creeping beautifully? 
• The Ghost of Riley gives the Squad a pep-talk about following their hearts? 
• Clarke and Bellamy smush their mouths together? 
• Pauna (yes, I have acknowledged her name, ugh, whatever) somehow makes a comeback? 
• Jordan has more screentime?
• For both Diyoza and Octavia to be a-ok, and to have some chill anomaly-hangs, without the threat of whoever “he” is? 
• A #Mackson wedding?
• A musical number with all the ghosts of everyone we’ve lost, a-la Les Mis? 

Yeah, me too. 

SOME STUFF

• As you’ve likely heard, it was announced that season 7 of The 100 will be the last. While I would have been on board for a lifetime of this show, I agree with Selina Wilkin, that it’s better to go out in a blaze of glory than to exhaust the story. I’m glad the show will end on its own terms, and give us the conclusion that we deserve. Congratulations to the cast, crew, writers, producers and everyone else involved for making a show that garnered such passion from its fans. That’s not an easy task. 7 seasons is a huge victory for any show, so well done, all. 

• Remember that time Madi saw Becca being burned at the stake?? WHAT’S THAT ABOUT?? Huh, season 7?? HUH??? 

• “City of Light Community College”, hahahahaha forever. 

• I can’t wait for season 7, but at the same time, the sooner it comes, the sooner the show will end forever. I’m not sure I’m emotionally ready for that. 

• When Miller was given the hallucina-juice, I was hoping we would get to see within his mind, and the struggle he’s having about being Blodreina’s henchman. Alas. Maybe next time?? 

• Indra’s “explain” to Gaia… *chef’s kiss*. Put Adina Porter in every episode of season 7, please. 

• “No more kneeling”. Gaia and Indra’s mother-daughter relationship is precious, powerful, and the best goddamn thing. 

• “Lexa Com Treekru said you were strong, but you are as weak as she was.” DICK MOVE, SHEID. 

• Lady and the Angry Hoard should be a band name.

• Jackson taking the knife from Clarke’s shaking hand was a beautiful moment.

• Clarke’s mini breakdown after finding out Russel took Madi was so earned and so appropriate and I just want that girl to have all the cuddles and ice cream. 

• We suspected that Paige Turco’s time on the show was limited as soon as she became mind-possessed, but it was still sad to see her go. It would have been fun to see Simone stick around for a while. 

• Josephine Lightbourne is tied with the Mountain King at the top of my list of favourite morally grey, totally lovable, creepy antagonists. 

• Soooooooooo… the lady who set herself on fire, what was the thought-process going into that? The tavern was already doused in gas, so it would have taken but a spark to set it aflame. But this lady was like, “naw, not enough razzle dazzle… the next logical step is to set MYSELF on fire and then meander slowly towards the building.” 

• Okay, fine. I ship it. I want #Bellarke to happen. This doesn’t diminish my love for my girl Echo because characters have merit outside of their romantic entanglements… but… yeah, I want it. Let Echo go back to her TRUE love, Raven. 

• Do you like sugar-free gummy bears? If so, who hurt you? What events in your life made you this way?

• “For the glory and grace of me.” Beautiful Creepster, never change. 

• What will you guys be doing in the off season to get you through until season 7? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

OKAY PALS BYE AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING ME ON THIS ZANY JOURNEY!