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THE 100 Recap: The Body Count Rises in ‘Stealing Fire’

[Warning: this post contains spoilers from Thursday’s episode of The 100. Proceed at your own risk! Seriously, guys, if you have not watched tonight’s episode, you may want to reconsider.]

And another one bites the dust.

The 100 is waging a war against happiness and love, and it won a major battle tonight when — seriously, spoiler alert! — Lincoln was killed mercilessly right in front of Octavia, execution-style. Yeah, The 100 really did it. They killed Lincoln! No fake-outs, no last minute saves. He’s dead. Whoa.

Lincoln has been a fan-favorite from the beginning when he first showed up in early season one, and his Romeo and Juliet love story with Octavia has been one of the best parts of this show. So of course The 100 killed him, because no one can be happy in the future. Of. Freaking. Course. Excuse me while I break down again, I’m going to need a minute.

Okay, my tears have temporarily stopped, so let’s get to recapping “Stealing Fire” before they start again! Let’s start with the Polis story, since it’s been a minute since we last saw what was going on there after Lexa’s death. Clarke and Murphy had the chance to sneak out of Polis safely, but Clarke had to see Aiden first to secure Arkadia’s safety before they left if he ascends to Commander. But just as Aiden told her that all the Nightbloods vowed to support Arkadia to Lexa before she died — so that no matter who became the Commander Arkadia would be safe — Roan triumphantly led Ontari into the conclave. She vowed to make everyone pay for the former Ice Nation Queen Nia’s death, including Arkadia and Clarke, and that as a Nightblood, it’s her birthright to compete for the Flame. She’s an extreme wild card.

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But it turns out there would be no conclave at all. Staying true to her Ice Nation upbringing, Ontari murdered all the other Nightbloods and hacked off their heads in their sleep, ensuring that she would be the next Commander. Since she’s the only Nightblood left, Titus was unfortunately forced to accept that outcome. Roan tried to lead Clarke and Murphy out of Polis safely to repay his debt to Lexa for previously sparing his life, but Clarke wouldn’t leave without the Flame.

This whole pairing of Clarke and Murphy made me a lot happier than it really should have, and that’s all thanks to Eliza Taylor and Richard Harmon’s chemistry together (as friends, y’all, calm down). I want to see these two go on adventures with each other all the time! But back to the story: while trying to steal the Flame from Titus’ Flamekeeper chamber, he caught her. He told her the Flame has to go into a Nightblood or it would literally kill the person. This means it has to go into Ontari, even though he knew that would mean the end of the peaceful Grounder way of life since she was ruthless, brutal, and untrained by him.

And that’s when Clarke remembered the eighth Nightblood from Lexa’s conclave who didn’t die, another Nightblood who is still alive and could receive the Flame. But Titus said the girl, Luna, fled and Lexa wouldn’t let him hunt her down even though they all viewed her as a coward and a traitor to her own people. Clarke remembered that Lincoln said that name before, a long time ago (cough, season one, cough), and so Titus sent her with the journal of the first Commander and the Flame to find Luna, since they both knew Luna was still a better option for Commander than Ontari. Clarke needed to get to Lincoln first to find out where to find Luna, not knowing what was currently happening in Arkadia. But we’ll get to that in a second.

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When Ontari found out that Titus let Clarke take the Flame, she had Roan hold him at knifepoint. But Roan knew that they needed Titus alive since he’s the only one that can perform the ritual of the Flame. Titus knew that was true, so he then walked straight into Roan’s knife, slicing open his own throat, “for Lexa,” knowing that without him, Ontari couldn’t get the Flame. So Titus did suffer a punishment for killing Lexa after all! But Ontari didn’t care that she didn’t have the Flame or a living Flamekeeper: she ordered everyone to pretend like she did since the Grounders wouldn’t know the difference. They lit the pyre in the center of Polis to alert Grounders all over the lands that she ascended, they burned Lexa’s body, and Clarke made her escape from Polis.

But meanwhile, in Arkadia, Chancellor Pike declared that of all the locked up prisoners, the leaders of the coup, a.k.a. Lincoln and Sinclair, would suffer the same fate as Kane: death. Bellamy and Monty couldn’t stand for that, and Bellamy told Miller and Harper to have Octavia meet him at the drop ship to figure out a way to save everyone. She did, and immediately drugged him, tied him up, and left with Indra while Octavia snuck inside Polis.

Before his execution, Kane got one last visit with Abby to beg her not to do anything rash to try and save him. He didn’t want her to go down with him, and he knew their people would need someone to lead them out of the dark in his absence. Abby told him she can’t do this again — this being watching the man she loves get executed — but he was resigned to his fate.

The 100

Luckily, his rebellious students weren’t, and so they put into action a plan to save them all with Octavia as their inside girl along with Abby. She used her old pals, the floorboards, to hide Kane, Lincoln, and Sinclair, and she promised they’d come back for the other Grounders locked up in the jail. But just as it seemed like they were home free, Pike wised up, forcing Monty to out himself as a traitor to his mom to save his friends. Luckily Hannah wasn’t so far gone as to sell him out to Pike, but still, not good.

While Octavia got Kane, Lincoln, and Sinclair out safely, Abby stayed behind to try and save Arkadia. She kissed Kane goodbye (Yasssss! Kabby lives!), but their romantic moment was cut way too short when Pike declared over the radio that if the prisoners didn’t return, he would execute the other Grounders still in jail. Lincoln obviously wouldn’t stand for that, and wanted to turn himself in. Octavia offered to go with him, since she wouldn’t let him go alone, so he drugged Octavia, kissed her goodbye, made Kane promise to get her out, and then handed himself back over to the guards.

And that’s when things got real. Pike led Lincoln outside into the rain, where he, surrounded by a ring of guards, shot his gun directly at Lincoln’s head, killing him instantly. And this was no fake-out: the bullet literally went through Lincoln’s head, and he crumpled into a bloody mess at Pike’s feet. To make things even more heartbreaking, Octavia had just woken up from her drugged stupor to watch it happen from outside Arkadia’s gates. The look on her face went from total grief to complete, cold fury in a matter of seconds. And it. Was. Chilling. Pike, you just signed your death sentence. When Octavia set her sights on someone, there’s no saving them, and he literally just took her entire world away from her. I would not want to be in Pike’s shoes right about now. How about you?

Also, since I’m a glutton for punishment:

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And let’s not forget that the last happy couple on The 100 officially went down in flames when Miller found out that his boyfriend Bryan bugged him for Pike. I wish we got to know him more before he betrayed Miller, because this story would carry more emotional weight. But did you really think this show would allow any couple to stay happy? Ha, what show are you watching?!

Now I’m about to go cry some more, so tell me, what did you think of “Stealing Fire,” The 100 fans? Tweet me your thoughts and all your Lincoln GIFs at @SydneyBucksbaum so we can mourn him together. I’m going to need all the support I can get.

Images: The CW

The 100 airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.

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