The 100 is no stranger to debating morals and ethics and the difficult choices characters have had to make for over two seasons. But the fandom is about to become more divided than ever before, all because of one extremely controversial character.

Pike (Michael Beach), the leader of the Farm Station from the Ark, has only just rejoined the rest of Arkadia after his old friend Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) found him and his people fighting for their lives in the Ice Nation. But in his short time living with the rest of the Arkers, he’s lost most of his people due to an Ice Nation assassin detonating the self destruct sequence in Mount Weather after 35 Farm Station survivors moved in. If you thought Pike hated all Grounders before the Mount Weather disaster, you haven’t seen anything yet.

In tonight’s action-packed episode, “Watch the Thrones,” Pike will begin recruiting other Arkadia members for a mission of revenge against the Grounders (not just Ice Nation, even though that’s who is responsible for the act of war), including some fan-favorite characters. He’ll convince rational-minded people to make some pretty drastic and seemingly irrational decisions. And the actor who plays Pike doesn’t care if turning beloved characters “to the dark side” makes you hate him.

“I just hope that the viewers are glad that Pike is a part of The 100 world now, not necessarily because they like him but because he is pushing the ball forward,” Beach tells Nerdist. “He is making things happen. He’s making people choose sides. He’s making people have to become active so that the story and the characters are driven to new places. He brings excitement to the show. I have an idea of how the fans will respond but how intrinsic he’ll become, that’s what I’m interested in. He’s going to become pretty impactful.”

Beach knows that fans will be pretty divided on how they feel about Pike and what he is about to do.

“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous at how they’re going to respond,” Beach says. “I’m not trying to pick sides with Pike being a good guy or bad guy. I hope that they get excited about all the things that happen because of the choices that he makes. He is really going to push the story along in big ways. Whether fans hate him or whatever, as long as they appreciate that the story is taking the turns it’s taking, because so much of it is based on what Pike does, then I’ll be happy. The thing that would bother me is if they think Pike is crap or he’s making the season terrible. I wouldn’t like that. But I don’t care if they like him or hate him.”

Pike and Kane have already begun to butt heads over how to deal with Grounders. Kane wants to try diplomacy and join Commander Lexa’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) Grounder coalition, whereas Pike wants to go to war and kill any and every Grounder there is. This argument is going to continue to gain momentum, eventually leading to a civil war inside Arkadia.

“I think it’s always more interesting when there are moral obstacles instead of physical obstacles,” Beach says. “They’re harder to get over. The 100 deals with that all the time. This season, the fight is not so much about people that we don’t know, but instead it’s people that we do know. People we’ve known for our entire lives are suddenly faced with this choice of, ‘Which side do you fall on?'”

It’s interesting to note that if Pike and the rest of the Farm Station had landed anywhere else besides the Ice Nation, he probably would have agreed with Kane with how to interact with Grounders.

“Pike has been arguing and will continue to argue that Grounders are vicious because of what they do,” Beach says. “It’s so sad to me, because when Pike first landed, the first thing that happened to them is they lost 15 children to the Ice Nation warriors. That has set him on this path. When they moved into Mount Weather, they trusted that Mount Weather was safe. Last episode reaffirmed all that Pike believes. Based on that, he goes on a tear and a rampage. And that sets up where the rest of the season is going to go. You’ll see Pike and Kane at odds over how to lead Arkadia.”

While Pike and Kane won’t come to any sort of understanding soon, Pike and Bellamy will bond pretty quickly over the loss of people closest to them. Pike lost most of his Farm Station survivors while Bellamy’s girlfriend was also inside Mount Weather when it exploded.

“Bellamy has lost something very important and meaningful to him. That’s why the two of them bond so quickly,” Beach says. “The losses are so personal and they mount up so quickly that part of the collaboration between Bellamy and Pike is really about the two opposing positions that Bellamy has to choose between. He has to choose between following Pike or following Kane. Up to this point, most things seem to lead Bellamy to believe that the best way to achieve what needs to be achieved is to go with Pike.”

Beach reveals that this choice between Kane and Pike will be a big part of Bellamy’s arc this season.

“What that journey is for Bellamy and the fight between the opposing sides with Pike and Kane will be a huge focus, and you’ll see it all through Bellamy’s eyes,” Beach says. “What’s interesting to me is that Pike and Kane were actually pretty good friends. Later on in the season we’ll find out more about what their life used to be like and what their friendship looked like, which will make it even more heart wrenching to see what it becomes and what it grows into.”

And the shocking events of tonight’s episode will have major ramifications for the future of Arkadia.

“There’s going to be a shift in leadership within Arkadia,” Beach teases. “Kane wants to become a part of the Grounder society. There are 12 clans and he wants to be the 13th clan. He believes what’s best for Arkadia is to buddy up with the Grounders and sit down and talk and try to work things out. Pike is like, ‘how many examples do we need that this doesn’t work? How many people need to be killed and how much do you need to lose before you realize that our future, our security, our prosperity would best be served through our strength?’ A civil war is going to break out. Pike wants to show that Arkadia is not to be messed with. It’s kill or be killed.”

How do you feel about Pike’s introduction into The 100‘s story this season? Do you want Bellamy to side with Kane or Pike in this civil war? Tweet me your thoughts at @SydneyBucksbaum!

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Images: The CW

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