The 100: Nakara (7.06) Things of Note

I have lots of notes so let’s jump right in!

There’s Diyoza! Three straight minutes of Diyoza displaying her brutal tactical genius! She hadn’t used those skills in 10 years but it was like riding a bike. She beat the M-Cap by inflicting pain upon herself so they drugged her up and tried to break her. Even if they had another compassionate operator, it wouldn’t have worked! Being a Navy Seal came in handy here as she was able to withstand the conditions. She attempted to escape but they sent more guards. They tied her to a Y-shaped post and when the guard came to give her food and water, she pretended to choke and bit his neck. The guard agreed to free her but he only got one arm free before she severed his carotid. If that wasn’t enough, she took a soup spoon and scooped out his eyeball! Diyoza was observing everything so she knew they used retinal scanners to access the cell block. Quick wardrobe change and she’s out of there! It was smooth sailing until she recognized the scar on the suit of one of the soldiers. They were no real problem though. Inevitably, she ran into Hope, Octavia, Echo, and Gabriel but all were in the suits except Octavia so she was still in soldier mode. Hope took an ax to the helmet before revealing herself to Diyoza. Sweet reunion for the Hesperides but Echo curtly tells them the direction of the Stone Room. Seeing Hope reunite with her missing loved ones has to hurt because she didn’t get to experience that moment with Bellamy.

Children of Sheidheda? Indra was over Sheidheda and his hijinks. He taunted her, saying that she was afraid that Wonkru would follow him and not her. He was walking around outside and talking to the guards. He got a chessboard put in his cell! They can’t kill him so a roughing him up is the next best thing. Indra and Wonkru doing it would be bad optics so they got Nelson to do it. Another move to appease the COGs, as Indra calls them. Nelson wasn’t going to waste this chance to kill “Russell” so he sneaks a knife into the cell. What followed was a brilliant fight sequence! Nelson was soundly routed and then stunned to learn that Russell was already dead. Sheidheda promised to help him get power and suggested an alliance with the Eligius prisoners to take out Clarke (good luck with that!) Of course, chess lessons are mandatory. I didn’t foresee this alliance but it actually makes sense. The Children of Gabriel and the Eligius prisoners have the least amount of influence over Sanctum’s affairs. The decision to not kill Russell was driven by the presence of the Faithful. They may not have representation in leadership but they have influence, albeit indirectly. The non-faithful probably don’t care because they see Indra and co as liberators and aren’t interested in violence. The Eligius prisoners are looked down upon and no one interacts with them unless they need something. Nelson is routinely brushed aside by Indra and the demands of his people aren’t heard. Nelson knew he was being appeased with the removal of the mind drive. Sheidheda saw an opening and with the Eligius prisoners taking the guns, he can advance his quest for total dominance. I do wonder what the Faithful are going to do when they find out Russell has been taken over by Sheidheda.

Belly of the beast. Meanwhile, on Nakara, Clarke and co were looking for Bellamy, Echo, and Octavia (again, no one cares about Gabriel!). Clarke uncovered a body bearing the symbol of Bardo and they quickly realize they’re on the wrong planet. Turns out Nakara is where the Disciples’ bodies go after they die. Anyway, the Anomaly stone is 200 meters into what appeared to be a cave. They made it 50 meters before Raven was attacked by a spider-like creature. Good thing she was wearing the helmet! The screen was damaged but fortunately, she could still see the necessary information. The way from which they came was blocked off so they had no choice but to press forward. As they moved through the cave, Jordan burned his fingers on the acidic substance on the wall. The cave shook and Clarke and Raven were separated from the group. It was then that Raven realized that the cave was really a giant organism that was going to eat them. The noises did sound like a living thing now that I think about it. Some kind of digestive enzyme was dripping on them. The bodies the Disciples send to Nakara are food for the organism. I guess the Bardoans used it too.

On the boat. Alright fine! I’m all in on Levtavia! As Octavia and co were trying to get into the Stone Room, she spotted Levitt cleaning the floors. He signaled to her that they shouldn’t go in there. He told her that there were a dozen Disciples waiting and willing to die to stop them. Then he let her know that she wasn’t getting back to Sanctum and suggested they head to the surface via the oxygen farm to escape. The air is apparently breathable for the short term and they won’t follow. Anders took away his M-Cap operator privileges for falling in love getting too close. Levitt told Octavia it was worth it because of what she made him feel. So cute! After dropping this piece of information, he told her to punch and run. A theme is emerging.

The weight of the Flame. Madi was drawing the Anomaly stone during recess. My theory is that she’s the one to tie the Sanctum and Bardo storylines together. I still think the Flame is the key and all of the information that was on it downloaded into Madi’s mind as it was removed. The Disciples are going to need that. I’m also thinking that Madi knows a way to use the Anomaly without the stones. The Sanctum stone appears to be permanently offline so how else would they get back there? Moving on, Madi met a COG boy who was interested in her drawings. A Sanctum boy asked them to play soccer and just when Madi was going to join in, Indra asked to speak with her. She was so disappointed. She was enjoying being an average 12-year-old for once. Indra told Madi that Wonkru needs her and that responsibilities are greater than wants. That’s heavy for a 12-year-old but it was once part of Grounder culture to put leadership responsibility on kids. If I’m right about the key, Madi will have the weight of humanity on her shoulders.

Karma is fake. Raven was clearly broken by what happened with the reactor and Captain Meredith’s unit. She said her soul was cracked and that getting eaten by the cave organism is karma for killing people. Raven also admitted that she didn’t weld the pipes herself because she was scared. Nikki knows that on some level and plans to kill Raven the next time she sees her. Clarke said she didn’t believe in karma and reiterated the point she made back in 7.04: They killed to save the people they love. Raven pointed out that they loved people too. I guess it’s harder for her to cope with making those choices because she does lean into her compassion for those people who were killed. I think that could be what makes Raven the best person Clarke knows. Not that Clarke doesn’t have compassion for those killed as a result of her choices. Clarke is just able to really focus on the lives she has saved as a result of her choices. Also, that mantle of leadership didn’t give her a ton of time to think about it too much. There was always a new problem to handle. I think that’s what Raven is seeing when Clarke keeps going like a “finely tuned engine”. It’s also interesting to note that Clarke doesn’t appear to believe in souls either. She said to Raven, “If there is a soul, yours isn’t cracked.” Karma and souls are often religious concepts so I wonder if Clarke is against “religion”. Speaking of religion, after the cave organism’s digestive tract moved them all along to the Anomaly stone, Niylah and Miller recognized the Second Dawn symbol on a piece of cloth. It’s the same symbol they saw on the body buried in the snow but it didn’t click for them until then. It’s also the symbol for Bardo so no more guessing.

Indra takes command! For me, this was the most powerful moment of the episode. Indra gathered Wonkru, intending to have Madi unite them as Commander. Jackson wasn’t having it and he brought Murphy and Emori for backup. The fear in Madi was palpable. She’s been through so much already with Sheidheda. Plus Clarke and Gaia are gone so she doesn’t have her usual support system. Madi tried to put on a brave face but it was just too much so she panicked and ran off. Murphy and Emori pointed out that Indra needed to step up and take the lead. She’s more than capable but she only sees herself as a soldier and a warrior that executes orders. She’s technically been leading since Clarke left! Ironically, Emori pointed out that the reason Indra should assume leadership of Wonkru was that she didn’t want to. Indra said a similar thing to Madi earlier in the episode. Responsibilities are greater than wants and now Indra has a responsibility to step up both to unite Wonkru and to take the burden off of Madi. Encouraged by Murphy and Emori’s words, Indra addressed Wonkru with a rousing speech. Knight had objections but she took him down and ordered him to get the guns back. Let ’em know who’s boss! I love how they’re developing Indra this season! I think we’ve learned more about her in these past 6 episodes than we have in the last 3-4 seasons.

Not taking any chances. Octavia and co encountered an old man coming out of the oxygen farm. The old man told them that surface is not survivable for long without rebreathers. That means that the Disciples could conceivably follow them. Levitt didn’t tell Octavia that tidbit. Octavia still trusted him. Echo dispensed of the old man. People on Twitter were on her about that. She may be angry and grieving but I see the reasoning. A. The man would likely give up their position to Anders. The Disciples need Octavia alive so they might actually go after them since they have rebreathers. B. As Diyoza said, Octavia mentioned Levitt by name. If the old man lives, he’ll tell Anders that Levitt helped them. They’d definitely send his ass to Penance (or even Nakara) at that point! Even with this reasoning, Gabriel is exasperated. He’s had it with the killing. (Side note: I think that despite leading a guerilla movement to take down the Primes, Gabriel never embraced that warrior mentality. Death to Primes has likely only been a Children of Gabriel slogan for the last 10 years.) Also, the rebreathers highlighted an unknown. How survivable is the surface, really? Levitt was telling the truth about Sanctum but did he lie about the surface? Gabriel may have raised his “children” on Death is Life but he was not ready to die at that moment. The others weren’t going to agree so he stunned them. He surrendered to the Disciples and they stunned him. I understand Gabriel’s rationale. They don’t know how long they could hide out on the surface before suffocating. Levitt could have set them up. Too many variables! Gabriel saw surrender as more of a sure thing as far as being alive goes. He’s an island for real now because Hope, Echo, and Diyoza are very angry with him.

Could Levitt be the real leader of the Disciples? I saw this theory on Twitter and I can’t let it go without meditating on it a bit. It’s certainly possible and I wouldn’t put it past this show. However, it doesn’t quite square up for me. For one thing, the Disciples knew nothing about Octavia when they got her note. Why would they put on such an elaborate ruse at that point and then carry it through to Anders’ speech? They wouldn’t need to keep it a secret because they had no indication that Hope, Gabriel, and Echo would be there. The lower level Disciples might be clueless about who their actual leader is. It’s possible that Levitt assumed the leadership of the Disciples after Bellamy “died”. It looks like Gabriel saw something as he walked past Levitt on the ground. Could it be a scar where the mind drive would have been inserted? However, Orlando looked down on the Primes’ body-snatching so I doubt they’re using that route for their leader. Orlando is a high-level Disciple but he still may not have known everything. Them getting the idea for Levitt to be a janitor from Octavia’s mind doesn’t square up either because she never saw Bellamy as a janitor. I think Anders “demoted” Levitt instead of sending him to Penance because they need him. Octavia trusts him so they may have realized that he’d be more useful there. He might have had some “reeducation” and is 100% with the Disciples now. I want him to be “good” but if he’s evil, I think it’s because of brainwashing and not because he’s their real leader. Here’s a theory wilder than Jordan=Ryker X: Levitt is an agent of the last war (Gen9?). Like Davis Bloome (Doomsday) on Smallville, Levitt has no idea but he’ll eventually discover it.

Other things. The transition between Sheidheda holding the queen and Clarke was brilliant! Miller hates everything these days! Clarke and co are coming in hot so those dozen Disciples that Levitt said are in the Stone Room are toast! The Children of Gabriel kids seem to be getting along just fine with the Sanctum kids. Could teach the adults some things. Nikki is a bigger handful than Diyoza according to Murphy. Indra was not amused.

Next week, Emori will try to bring everyone together. The promo showed Nelson pointing a gun at her. Murphy had a gun pointed at him in the trailer so that scene is him trying to keep Emori safe. Also, Lindsey Morgan directed the episode and it looks like she did a great job.

Whew! I made it! Until next time!