The 100 season 5 episode 8 review: How We Get To Peace

For an episode entitled “How We Get To Peace,” this week’s installment of The 100 promises anything but peace.

With all of the violence and betrayal during this week’s episode of The 100, it’s unlikely our characters will ever get to true peace. They’ve never been so divided, and viewers have to wonder whether relationships will ever return to the way they were.

When “How We Get To Peace” opens, Octavia declares that war is here. Of course, she doesn’t realize that Bellamy and Clarke have a plan to stop her.

A divided Eligius

The Wonkru camp isn’t the only place with high tension and low trust. The power struggle between Diyoza and McCreary has been present since the first episode of the season, but things escalate to all new levels during “How We Get To Peace.” When Murphy offers to trade McCreary’s life for Raven’s, Diyoza refuses.

“Two radio calls, two problems solved,” Diyoza tells Kane, clearly indicating McCreary as one of her “problems.” And after the heartfelt discussion she and Kane have about hope, it’s easy to understand why she feels this way. Diyoza truly wants a better world, while McCreary wants to cause pain. He’s a threat to both her leadership and her vision.

Unfortunately, Murphy makes the mistake of telling McCreary about Diyoza’s decision. The man then makes a deal with Murphy and Emori, granting their friends freedom if they aid him in taking Diyoza out.

And when the group returns to the valley, it’s clear who holds the love and loyalty of the prisoners. McCreary is greeted by cheers and applause. Diyoza meets him head-on, but the tension between the two is obvious. She’s right to be worried.

Abby’s discovery

To add to the already looming threat of McCreary, Abby has a realization that allows her to cure her first prisoner. She discovers that sound waves make the abscesses disappear, but she needs help from an engineer to continuously replicate the effect. She enlists the most capable person for the job: Raven.

Raven is reluctant to save any of the prisoners, believing that they don’t deserve the help. She agrees when she believes Abby is in danger, but she soon discovers the real reason Abby wants her help: to get more pills.

Haunted by her own mother’s addiction, Raven tells Abby she won’t help her get her next fix. She attempts to walk away from the situation when Abby uses her shock collar against her. It’s a heartbreaking moment and a dark turn for Abby’s character. It’ll be a wonder if she ever returns to her normal self.

Failed plans for peace

Despite Abby’s twisted actions, the bulk of disturbing scenes this episode take place within the Wonkru camp. Clarke and Bellamy act on their plan to get Octavia to surrender, believing she’ll have to accept Diyoza’s terms if the worms are gone. They drug Kara Cooper and use her as a scapegoat, making it appear that the worms killed Cooper and escaped while she was tending to them.

The duo watches as Cooper is ripped apart by the parasites. It’s a disturbing moment that forces viewers to ask whether they’re any better than Octavia. Bellamy insists that it’s one life to save hundreds. Clarke claims that it’s how they get to peace, but it’s questionable all the same.

Indra secretly agrees to aid them, turning on the gas and killing the worms once she “discovers” Cooper’s body. She attempts to persuade Octavia to surrender now that their primary weapon is gone, but her leader has a surprising answer. It turns out that Wonkru planned to use the worms’ eggs, not the worms themselves, to attack Eligius. “Whoever wanted this to look like an accident didn’t know that either,” Octavia observes.

Things intensify as Octavia demands that her people find Clarke and Bellamy. They arrest Clarke for murdering Cooper, and Octavia declares that she’ll be executed. She leaves Bellamy with only a warning, once again showing her weakness when it comes to her brother. It’s a move she later realizes is a mistake.

Finally acknowledging that his sister is no longer the person she used to be, Bellamy makes the difficult decision to poison her. Using her trust in him, along with Monty’s algae, he puts his own sister into a coma to save Clarke (and possibly the human race). It’s one of the most emotionally packed scenes of the entire season.

It’s hard to say what’s more heartbreaking. Bellamy’s guilt over the betrayal or Octavia’s realization that she can’t trust her own brother. Things between the Blakes will likely never be the same. But as Bellamy states in the closing lines of the episode: “My sister, my responsibility.”

Next: The 100: Let's talk about that major Diyoza reveal

Viewers have two long weeks to wait for the next episode. “Sic Semper Tyrannis” will air during The 100‘s new time slot on Tuesday, July 10 at 8 p.m. EST.