The 100 season 5 episode 10 review: The Warriors Will

During “The Warriors Will,” Octavia struggles to hold onto the loyalty of her people, while Madi begins to accept her destiny as the one true commander.

While “The Warriors Will” wasn’t nearly as intense as the previous two episodes of The 100, it certainly proved a turning point for several of our characters. In particular, Madi begins to understand and accept the consequences of having the flame.

The episode opens with Clarke attempting to remove the AI from an unconscious Madi. Unfortunately, the girl quickly fights her off. “If you want to take it, you’ll have to kill me,” she tells Clarke, already demonstrating an attachment to the spirit of the commander.

Throughout the episode, Madi and Clarke continue to squabble over the flame. The girl chides Clarke repeatedly for leaving Bellamy and the others behind. Clarke incessantly reminds her that commanders have a tendency to die, something she won’t let happen to Madi.

Their interactions throughout “The Warrior Will” are very mother/daughter, and at one point, Clarke even exclaims that Madi is “her child.” If Madi ever does plan to return to her people, she will have to find a way around her mother figure to do it.

The pair also heads back to Shallow Valley, planing to tell Diyoza that “the eye” is down. Clarke hopes that Octavia will choose not to march if she discovers that the Eligius missile system is back up, but she’s clearly underestimating Bloodreina.

Of course, Madi and Clarke soon discover that Diyoza and the defectors have fled Shallow Valley. They find McCreary’s men when they reach the land, along with an unconscious Abby. The discovery forces Clarke to realize the severity of her mother’s addiction, though Abby seems to be alive and talking during next week’s episode.

“My disease versus yours”

While we’re on the topic of Abby, she and McCreary have quite a few scenes throughout “The Warriors Will.” During the first of these, they’re trying to outlive one another. Abby estimates that McCreary has about a week before his lungs fill with water, something she’s hoping will occur.

Unfortunately, she’s also going through withdrawals. And McCreary has her pills. The two attempt to see who can last longer in their current conditions, but McCreary’s words likely have some truth in them: “My disease versus yours. Something tells me you’ll break first.”

Abby nearly does break, but Vincent finds a way to bring her her fix. He almost becomes a sympathetic character — at least, until McCreary’s men find the two of them out. Then he starts attacking and eating them, all while Abby scrambles to pick her pills up off the floor.

And while we appreciate that the show is demonstrating how brutal addiction can be, we have to admit: The whole Abby, Vincent, and McCreary storyline just didn’t seem to fit into this episode. It’s become a bizarre (and in Vincent’s case, almost unnecessary) part of the show, though hopefully, Clarke’s presence in the camp will normalize things a bit.

Enemies of Wonkru

While Madi slowly comes to terms with the fact that she’ll one day lead her people, Octavia begins losing her grip on Wonkru. In her private quarters, Miller and a grounder delegate inform her that half of her people are refusing to follow her into battle. Word of Madi’s ascension has reached the grounders, and many of them have decided they’d prefer a commander to Octavia.

Wondering if she can use fear to regain her people’s loyalty, Octavia seeks the advice of an imprisoned Indra. She demands to know if throwing Bellamy, Indra, and Gaia into the fighting pit will solve her problem. And in a moment of desperate vulnerability, she begs Indra to “give her another option.” Sadly, her mentor tells her that there isn’t one.

The scene between the two women is a touching one, though it ends with Indra telling Octavia that she’ll make sure Gaia wins in the arena. Fearing for her brother, Octavia seeks out Monty in the hydro-farm. She asks him to tell her brother Indra’s weaknesses, admitting that she doesn’t want to watch him die.

Monty refuses. He tells her to call the entire thing off and follows up with the news that Wonkru can survive off of his algae. They don’t need Shallow Valley, but Octavia insists on marching. “The ghosts can have this place,” she says, killing one of the plants.

Realizing that Monty won’t help her, Octavia visits Bellamy herself. They reminisce on their childhood, and the old Octavia returns for a brief moment. But when she begins speaking of Indra’s weaknesses, Bellamy is no longer receptive. “Do you hear yourself?” he asks her.

“You turned this place into a story from your childhood,” he says. “The red queen? It’s a joke.” You can imagine that Octavia isn’t happy to hear the words. She wonders aloud whether she should even save him, to which Bellamy replies that the only way to do so is to call the fight off. Otherwise, she’ll have to watch him die in that arena.

On her way out the door, he tells her, “There’s no coming back from this, O.” And her tears afterward prove that she knows it. But she goes through with the fight anyway, insistent that she’s already too far gone to save.

Bellamy and Indra do get their epic battle in the arena, but Monty steps in before things get too bloody. He and Harper run onto the floor and tell everyone that there’s another way to survive. Upon realizing Octavia has deceived them into going to war, many of the grounders call for her removal.

But in a shocking twist, Octavia burns the hydro-farm (and the grounders’ choice with it). She tells her people that they can either live in Shallow Valley with her or die in the bunker. Most of them decide to march with her.

The episode closes with them heading toward Shallow Valley, but the political unrest among Wonkru is clear. If Madi does return to her people, Octavia will be overthrown. And given her recent actions, that might be for the best.

Next: The 100: Will Madi's ascension be enough to save her people?

The next episode of The 100 airs on Tuesday, July 24 at 8 p.m. EST.