Ranked: The 15 Saddest Deaths on CW’s The 100
By Sabrina Reed
1. Lexa kom Triku
You probably guessed Lexa’s death would be ranked the saddest on our list. Her accidental murder by her fleimkipa Titus just hours after Clexa made love for the first time was not only tragic but traumatic for a large swathe of The 100 fan base.
It triggered a backlash that reverberated through fandom. People who weren’t even viewers of the show weighed in on the writers’ handling of her character, her death, and the aftermath of her loss both in the show and outside of it because she was a lesbian character.
A much-needed conversation about the “bury your gays” trope entered the mainstream immediately after “Thirteen” aired and devastated fans took to social media. An outpouring of grief, the likes of which those involved with the series did not anticipate, flooded timelines and feeds.
Lexa’s death forced showrunner Jason Rothenberg to contend with a writing decision that played into a harmful trope that hurt his audience. Fans weren’t only grieving Lexa’s loss, they were also expressing their fury over being subjected to yet another depiction of an LGBTQ+ character whose life ends abruptly and violently directly after a moment of happiness and love.
No matter a writer’s intention, the message when that happens is that LGBTQ+ people will never have access to love. That even in fictional worlds, they cannot count on lasting happiness like their straight and cis counterparts. It’s a message that can affect a person’s mental health and their ability to see a future for themselves. It’s also a message that is harmful because it’s not true.
It’s a skewing of reality for LGBTQ+ people who live full, happy, and loving lives in their communities, with their families and friends. Their partners, spouses, and children. And it’s a message that makes it very difficult for teens and young adults who are struggling with their identity to feel seen and valued by mainstream storytellers who use the deaths of the characters that represent them for shock and buzz.
In the wake of Lexa’s death, a movement centered on educating people about harmful tropes written time and again for LGBTQ+ characters and advocating for better representation for the LGBTQ+ community in media was started. LGBT Fans Deserve Better was birthed from this movement and so was the fan convention, Clexa Con.
Out of pain came action but that doesn’t mean the circumstances weren’t incredibly sad for all the fans who were hurt by the death of Lexa kom Triku, Commander of the 12 coalitions, and lover of Clarke Griffin.
Next. The 100's final season failed Clarke Griffin. dark