The 100: In Defence of Lexa
Well The 100 has done it again. The show known for making bold and surprising choices and story decisions at every turn went and shocked the hell out of fans on Wednesday night with Part 1 of the Season 2 finale, “Blood Must Have Blood.” There was no death this time around, but just some good ol’ fashioned betrayal.
Grounder Commander Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) went and completely destroyed her alliance with Clarke (Eliza Taylor) by making a deal to secure the Grounders that were being held captive in Mount Weather. Unfortunately, that meant that the 44 Sky people left inside would be used by the mountain people and have their bone marrow depleted. The deal not only destroyed the shaky alliance that Lexa and Clarke had secured between their people, but it also stopped any hopes of the burgeoning romance between the two leaders … at least for now.
Lexa’s decision, as can be expected, was met with much passion, anger and shock throughout The 100 fandom. On the surface it’s very easy to be upset with Lexa for the betrayal and for leaving Clarke with no help at rescuing the remaining Sky People. However, I’d like to offer up a few arguments in defence of Lexa and her decision. Let us take a look:
1. Lexa did her job
Lexa is the commander. She saved her people. Plain and simple, cut and dry, but it’s true. While many may not like how she went about it, she did her job. This is war and there are tough choices that need to be made at every turn. Lexa made those. She kept her people safe and in the process also prevented the Mountain Men from turning her people into Reapers.
This is war. If you’re not making horrific choices at every turn, it isn’t true to life. Lexa saved her people. That was her job. #THE100
— Kim Shumway (@kimshum) March 5, 2015
2. She sacrificed her own happiness
I think it’s safe to say that Lexa was in love with Clarke, or at least pretty well on her way towards being in love with her. Who could blame her either? It’s more likely than not if you’ve ever seen any of The 100 then you are a tiny bit in love with Clarke Griffin as well. I know I sure as hell am. Lexa knew if she made the deal how Clarke would react and that there’d be no chance at a future relationship with her, and yet she gave up any possibility of future happiness of her own in order to save the lives of her people. That is a true leader.
‘@thefandomfeeels #the100 It was a real kiss. What Lexa did hurt her as much as it hurt all of you. But at EOD she saved her people
— Jason Rothenberg (@JRothenbergTV) March 5, 2015
3. She stayed true to character
The 100 has never backed down from letting us know how ruthless Lexa can be. She has an edge and has routinely told Clarke that she leads with her head over her heart and that sometimes that means making the hard choice. She even proved that when she recently let a good number of her own die in order to service the larger mission. Lexa has always said she will save her people. That’s exactly what she did. It’s not like she hasn’t been honest with us that was her goal the entire time. I have to respect someone that sticks to their beliefs, even when times get tough.
It seems Lexa ruffled some feathers tonight, but she’s never pretended to be something she’s not. Her people come first. Head over heart. — Alycia Debnam-Carey (@DebnamCarey) March 5, 2015
4. It kept Lexa alive
Going into the finale fans were almost certain Lexa was going to die. As she walked off to complete the mission I was almost sure that’s what was going to happen. Hey, it’s not like The 100 hasn’t taken beloved characters from us in the past right? Plus with Alycia Debnam-Carey going off to join The Walking Dead spinoff it’s not like it would’ve been THAT shocking. Thankfully, for now Lexa is just riding off into the sunset with her people and the story is open to live on for another day. Besides, just think how interesting that reunion/confrontation between Clarke and Lexa is going to be one day!
5. Who’s not to say Clarke wouldn’t have done the same thing?
Yes, what Lexa did seems downright evil. But when we stop and think about it, would Clarke have made the same choice if given the chance? I’m thinking there’s a very high possibility that she would have. We’ve all watched the show from the point of view of the Ark people and know them. We care for them. We want them out of the mountain and to be safe. But what if you switch your point of view and think of it from the Grounders perspective then what? Lexa sacrificed the lives of 44 people to save many, many more and prevent future Grounders from being turned into Reapers. Yes, Clarke likes to think with her heart over her head, but 44 as opposed to thousands of lives? I’m not sure many emotions can argue with those kind of numbers.
6. It makes Clexa all the more interesting going forward
I am by no means saying that the potential romance between these two wasn’t already supremely interesting and worth my emotional investment. But more so than any other show on television right now, The 100 routinely goes one step further with their characters and stories and you end up somewhere you didn’t even think was possible but that you totally love. I think this can definitely be the case for “Clexa.” Their journey has just begun. They’ve just learned how to lean on one another and be open with one another about their feelings, fears and conflicts. Lexa had no knowledge of the deal until it was presented to her in the moment. Her feelings for Clarke in that kiss were very real. As Lexa said “May we meet again,” and I’m not sure it couldn’t have been said any more perfectly than that.
This may very well be the end of Lexa and the Clarke/Lexa romance storyline for now. I don’t suspect we will see her in the second half of the finale, but hey, when it comes to The 100 I’ve certainly been wrong before. Given the passionate “Clexa” fan base the show has out there though I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of Lexa on the show. I for one, cannot WAIT to see the reunion between her and Clarke.
Clarke is never one to take things lying down, and like Lexa she always speaks her mind. I’m sure it’ll be one hell of an encounter when these two meet up again and Clarke lays into Lexa. By then, the shock and initial pain of Lexa’s betrayal will have worn off and all that will be left in Clarke will be anger. Clarke is also a leader though and I suspect logically, after some time and when this war has passed she’ll look back and realize why Lexa had to make the choice she did. Will that understanding allow for forgiveness? I know one thing, Clexa fans sure are clinging on to that hope for dear life right now!
The 100 Season 2 finale airs Wednesday, March 11 at 9 p.m. ET on the CW.
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Bridget Liszewski
Editor in Chief Bridget Liszewski comes from a long line of TV Junkies who fostered her love of television from a very young age. She's channeled that passion into covering both US and Canadian television shows, and is thankful everyday for the invention of the DVR. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, she loves college football and is a fan of sports in general. Bridget is always up for talking TV and you can follow her on twitter at @BridgetOnTV.
I Just Want Say I Totally Agree With You.
I certainly thing Lexa will die under Clarke’s hand after this, I think she made a mistake sacrificing the alliance with he Sky people that are the only ones that can help her people to defeat Mount Weather.
I think Lexa made a big mistake because she sacrificed winning the war to win one battle for her people. She & her people have been at the mercy of the Mountain People for years, & when presented with the opportunity to show them that they were not as all-powerful as they thought, & to deal them a serious blow, she bailed, condemning her people to more years of suffering at their hands. She will live to regret her decision.
I can’t agree with this. We’ve seen Lexa make ruthless tactical decisions, but never were shown that she was untrustworthy/unfair. She has always been incredibly just, killing anyone who threatened the alliance, or did something wrong.
The only reason the mountain men were in the position that they had to make a deal with the grounders is because of the sky people. period. Lexa used them, and then screwed them over to get what she wanted. Lexa united the 12 clans, she was the commander that made alliances. I just find it hard to believe she’d be that fickle with an alliance, breaking it as soon as it benefited her.
I am 100% behind Lexa’s decision. The battle was not going according to plan, they didn’t have an inside army, and she had to make that call.
HOWEVER, what does need to happen, now that the grounders in the cages are safe (let’s face it, they were way too weak to be an army) is for Lexa to double cross the mountain men.
The mountain men have been bleeding out grounders and turning them into reapers for 50 years. The grounders deserve justice. The mountain needs to fall. Lexa has been promising them that all season.
Trick them into thinking the army retreated. Come back with a stealth group and take them down. Anything less (like for instance the original “kids” being the only players in the finale) invalidates the entire grounder arc this season.
Not to mention it would be a huge step backwards and a lousy military decision for Lexa to completely walk away and allow their biggest enemy to go free and eventually make it above ground.
Lexa, who doesn’t trust, can’t suddenly trust the mountain men not to launch any more missiles. We know the mountain considers the grounders savages and wants to exterminate them first opportunity they get. That would be a terrible decision for the Commander, and she’s smarter than that.
Not to mention, when Lexa made peace with the sky people, she asked for Finn, who was responsible for killing 18 innocents. She can’t make peace with the mountain men, uphold that deal, and NOT demand grounder justice. For the thousands of grounders bled out, for the 250 in TonDC, for the reapers.
So. I’m hoping we’re gonna see the grounders in the finale pt 2 take down Mt Weather. They are the best part of the show.
I agree with all the points you made, and I think you are exactly right. Lexa has been shown to be intelligent and ruthless, and above all, her people are her priority. I agree with other commenters that she has always been just and always set out to protect the alliance, too, but when faced with a deal like that, with the option to save every one of your people instead of losing for sure a huge amount of them, if not all of them / die yourself, which choice is the best one to make? There are obviously no “good” choices here. The best choice for her, though, was like she said, the one she made with her head and not her heart.
Also, just as a sidenote, I agree too that the Clexa ship has now been made even MORE interesting and more exciting, and I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next.
This still does not make sense to me. There would have to be something we don’t yet know about to make this make sense.
As it is:
1) What stops the Mountain Men from blowing up more of Lexa’s villages with rockets?
2) What stops the Mountain Men from fixing the acid fog machine and poisoning Lexa’s people?
3) What stops the Mountain Men from continuing to enslave Lexa’s people by making them into Reapers?
4) Lexa probably sacrificed more people in Tondc when she allowed a missile to hit it than she saved by stabbing Clarke in the back.
5) Now the Mountain Men will use Clarke’s people to cure themselves and so they will come out of their mountain…. looking to take Lexa’s territory away from her as they expand!.
As far as I can see Lexa has not completed her mission and she has not won the war. Her mortal enemies, the Mountain Men are still fully capable of continuing most of their aggressive activities towards her people that they have always done. Lexa only rescued a handful of prisoners. And Lexa didn’t even do that, Clarke did that. Clarke blow the damn generators, Clarke opened the door, Clarke freed the Grounder prisoners.
So for all those reasons I don’t understand what Lexa had to gain from this.
It would only make sense to me if Lexa had another reason we don’t know about yet. Like if Costia was one of the Grounder prisoners that was freed in the deal. Or if Lexa had some other scheme up her sleeve that she was unable to discus with Clarke because it only came to he when the Mountain Men offered her the deal.
I hope there is more to this that we will discover in the final finale because right now – it doesn’t make sense. Not to me.
That being said it was a GREAT plot twist!!
I#m not sure where I stand in this debate.
I see the pros and cons.
One thing which is often left out is the question of how Lexa wants to cure the reapers without the help of the sky people? So it’s not exactly true, that she saved all her people. No, she also let a lot of them down -> the reapers who might die without the knowledge of the sky people of how to get them through all those terrifying and life threatening moments/days/weeks ? of cold turkey.
And… are we sure that the Mountain Men won’t have a go at them again? The MM are shown as very cruel people who only look for their advantages – so who knews, oif one day circumstances are changing in a way, that the MM see a benefit in killing them again? Maybe for land interests or whatever?
I don’t understand some of this comment. Even the crew and Alycia herself explained that Lexa used her head, not her heart. Which means it hurted her to take this decision, but sometimes, the best decision is also the worst one. She didn’t used the Sky people to get what she wanted. She just made what was best for her people. That’s all. Even if it hurts her to leave Clarke and the Sky people behind, she had to do it.
I know I’m late to the party. …but lexa’s people are supposed to be savages. She let the mountain men torture and slaughter her people for years and when they just give them up its ok? That makes lexa look like a puss. She got zero revenge for her people.