At the end of the last episode of The 100, Josephine Lightbourne had an interesting proposal for Murphy. But will Murphy really take her up on it?
John Murphy is one of the characters on The 100 who has seen the most growth over the course of the series — going from someone who always put his own interests first during season one to someone who values friendship and loyalty by the time we reach seasons five and six.
But even with the close friendships he’s developed over the past few seasons of the show, Murphy has always straddled the line between being selfish and being loyal. And the most recent episode of The 100 calls his values into question once more. At the end of “The Gospel of Josephine,” Josephine Lightbournes reveals herself to Murphy, making it clear to him that Clarke is gone and she’s inhabiting her mind and body.
And at first, Murphy seems rightfully disturbed by Josephine’s insistence that Clarke is dead. His reaction is one of disgust and horror, and he launches himself away from the person who stole his friend’s body. In spite of all Murphy’s issues with Clarke, the two have saved one another on more than one occasion. It’s natural he’d have a visceral reaction to news of her death.
Josephine, however, calms Murphy with an offer of immortality. And it’s hard to read whether Murphy is genuinely interested in what she’s proposing or if he’s just trying to save himself. After all, if he pits himself against Josephine — especially after what she’s told him — he’s likely to meet a quick end at the hands of the Primes.
Still, knowing Murphy’s tendency to act in his own interests, there’s a chance that he could actually be considering Josephine’s offer. If Clarke’s gone for good, revealing Josephine’s secret won’t bring her back. But after Murphy’s lamentation that he’s going to Hell earlier this season, he might be able to save himself from a similar fate by using the Primes to his advantage. Whatever Murphy saw while he was dead for a few moments spooked him enough that he might go against his morals to avoid it.
Of course, Murphy doesn’t know what transpired between Bellamy and Josephine just yet — and that could very well be a deal breaker for him. The two have gotten close since living together on the Ark, and it’s unlikely Murphy would sit idly by while Josephine imprisoned or killed Bellamy. That leaves them at a bit of an impasse, however, given that Bellamy isn’t likely to let go of what Josephine did to Clarke.
With all that in mind, it seems that Murphy will use Josephine’s deal to his advantage until he’s able to turn on her and help his friends. But the possibility of him going to Hell is looming in the background this season, and it’s always possible the old Murphy will resurface.
We hope that it’ll take more than the promise of immortality to derail Murphy’s redemption arc, but stranger things have happened on The 100…
The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.