The 100 season 7 episode 4 review: Who are the Disciples?

The latest episode of The 100 digs further into the Anomaly storyline, with Clarke and the others in Sanctum finally getting wrapped up in it.

The 100‘s final season has opened up a world of possibilities with its introduction of “the Bridge,” and this week’s episode brings fans closer to learning more about this ability to jump through time and space. The episode opens with Hope’s backstory, picking up after her mother and Aunty O were abducted by the Disciples of a Greater Truth. Following that traumatic event, Hope’s childhood is heartbreaking — though she does find a new friend and lifeboat in Dev, who she forms a father-daughter relationship with as she gets older.

She and Dev formulate a plan to escape Sky Ring on his Absolution Day, but things quickly go awry due to Hope’s inexperience in battle. While she makes it through the Bridge, Dev gets captured and stabbed by the Disciples of a Greater Purpose — leaving poor Hope with another family member gone.

Of course, while the flashbacks in “Hesperides” do shed some light on Hope’s character, they also feed into the gang’s plan on present-day Sky Ring. They intend to win Orlando over to their cause, using his Absolution Day in the same way Hope used Dev’s.

This leads to a montage of Echo, Gabriel, Hope, and Orlando getting to know one another, which is, admittedly a bit dull on first watch. Yes, it’s important to show them building their relationships with one another — particularly if so much time is passing on Sky Ring — but the episode definitely takes on a much slower pace than the previous ones this season.

Things do pick up a bit, however, when Clarke and the others on Sanctum get dragged into the mix. And there are some interesting developments there, even if we don’t have all the answers we need so far.

What Do the Disciples Want?

Our Sanctum storyline doesn’t get a lot of attention during this week’s episode, but Clarke and the others do get pulled into the Anomaly one. It’s unclear exactly how much time has passed in Sanctum in comparison to Sky Ring, but Clarke and the others finally seem to have noticed that some of their friends are missing — and they get approached by the masked men who call themselves the Disciples, and who also believe Clarke is “the key to winning the last war man will ever wage.” (Not creepy at all.)

It seems Wanheda’s reputation has made it to other moons, but unfortunately, fans don’t get specifics on how this group knows of Clarke or what they want with her just yet. Clarke and her friends agree to rendezvous in the woods, but they don’t trust the Disciples, and it’s a good thing, too. Raven and Jordan open up one of the masks and discover that Clarke is considered a “dangerous” target, and the two set off to disguise themselves as the Disciples and save the day.

Of course, saving the day involves killing the group that Clarke and the others were meeting with. Poor Raven is going to have some serious PTSD after these past few episodes, and one has to wonder where her story is headed in all this. But there’s really not a lot of time to focus on the psychological fallout of all that’s happened, as Clarke, Raven, Jordan, Miller, and Niylah all decide to venture into the Anomaly and try to find their friends.

This part’s a little iffy, as they don’t all enter together, but they do somehow wind up in the same place and at the same time. Unfortunately, it’s not the place they’re looking for, as the Anomaly seems to have dropped them in the middle of some snowy mountains. And without the Anomaly Stone, Raven questions how they’re going to get back. Yikes.

To make matters worse, Gaia also stays behind to protect Madi — but she’s taken captive by someone almost immediately after the rest of the group steps into the Anomaly. We don’t know if her captor is one of the Disciples or someone who works for the Primes just yet, but either way, that can’t be good for the Grounders or Madi. Things are about to go south really quickly in Sanctum….

Echo’s Choice

Although Orlando warms up to Hope and the others, in the end, he doesn’t fare much better than Dev did. See, Orlando is still a believer in the Disciples and insists that he’ll only help Hope and the others if they agree not to kill anyone. Echo, who’s more concerned about saving Bellamy than anything else, knows that promise may not be one she can keep — and she fears Orlando will betray them if they move against his people.

While she doesn’t go so far as to kill him, she leaves him behind on Sky Ring, telling him to “cut himself free.” When the Disciples are speaking to Clarke, however, they reveal that Orlando killed himself — potentially because he felt guilty about his betrayal (though it’s also possible the Disciples weren’t being completely honest here).

It’s nice to see some of Echo’s ruthlessness has survived, even after all her years in space. It’s still a mystery where these three ended up after stepping into the Bridge, but with any luck, their journey will either lead them to Clarke and the others, or straight to Bellamy and Octavia.

What did you think of this week’s episode of The 100?