The 100: Clarke beats Josephine in “Matryoshka,” but the fight against the Primes isn’t over

During this week’s episode of The 100, Clarke makes an emotional return to her mind and body. But even with Josephine out of the way, the battle with the Primes is far from over.

Clarke has been battling against Josephine for control over her mind for the majority of The 100‘s sixth season. Bellamy has been equally determined to bring his friend back, and during the most recent episode, he finally succeeds in doing so. (Okay, it was mostly Gabriel’s doing, but Bellamy had his shining moment at the end.)

During “Matryoshka,” the relationship between the two girls gets far more interesting. They actually seem to appreciate one another, and we even see a brief glimpse of Josephine’s humanity — something that holds Clarke back from simply killing the other girl and taking back what’s hers.

“I wasn’t always like this,” Josephine says sadly, after watching a memory of her and Gabriel. Clarke agrees with her, and in that moment, makes it clear that the two of them are parallels to one another. Unfortunately, that doesn’t prevent Josie from turning her back on Clarke at the very last minute.

But even when Clarke’s ready to give up, Bellamy won’t let her. Even with Octavia and Gabriel insisting she’s gone, Bellamy continues trying to resuscitate her, shouting for her to keep fighting. It’s an emotional moment that highlights Bob Morley’s acting skills, and it’s also a tactic that works. Clarke picks up a knife and takes out Josephine, returning to her body once and for all.

While things are looking up on Clarke’s end, however, relations at Sanctum couldn’t get much worse. For most of “Matryoshka,” Russell plans to kill a member of Skaikru for Madi’s and Bellamy’s crimes — and he even attempts to kill all of Skaikru after one of his own people defects and stabs Simone.

Thankfully, Murphy at least partially redeems himself with his quick thinking. Just as they’re all about to be burnt at the stake, Murphy suggests that Abby can show Russell how to use bone marrow to bring Simone and the other Primes back. It’s another ominious callback to season two, and it’s also something that Abby hasn’t actually done before. But hey, it buys the gang more time.

Of course, the Primes aren’t Skaikru’s only problem anymore. Madi’s thoughts have been almost entirely taken over by Shedheida, and Gaia gives us some backstory about the dark commander this week. Apparently, the Flamekeeper would need to kill the commander to rid them of Shedheida — something the group actually seems to consider, at least until Abby steps up and tells them she won’t allow it.

With any luck, Clarke’s return will set Madi and Skaikru straight again — but then, things are never that simple on The 100, are they? And with Josephine gone, Russell may not be inclined to give Skaikru the gift of mercy. It’s a good thing that with Clarke, Bellamy, and Octavia working together, he probably won’t have much of a choice.

What did you think of the most recent episode of The 100? The show airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW.