The 100 Season 3: What was the Body Count? Who or What is Polis? What’s the Episodic Recap?
At the end of Season 2, The 100 (or what’s left of them) rejoined with other survivors from the Ark, including Kane and Abby. The last person to descend to Earth was Chancellor Jaha, although he landed a little bit further away from everyone else’s camp. He bumped into an AI hologram named A.L.I.E., who thanked him for bringing a nuclear warhead from space to Earth. Meanwhile, Murphy ended up in a bunker where he found some liquor. Season 3 begins three months after the massacre at Mount Weather.
Episode 1 – Wanheda (Part One): Clarke, known among the Grounders as “Wanheda,” has been living in the woods as she refused to return to camp Arkadia following the Mount Weather incident. A bounty has been placed on her head. Bellamy and Kane lead a small team to find her, wandering deep into the vast woodlands. Murphy discovers a way out of the bunker and leaves with an outcast Grounder named Emori.
Episode 2 – Wanheda (Part 2): the search party’s ATV is attacked by other survivors from the Ark, who landed separately in the territory of the Ice Nation. Bellamy is injured, and the search group falls back to the camp. Abby considers opening Mount Weather as a medical facility. It turns out the bounty hunter is Prince Roan of the Ice Nation. In the city of Polis, Prince Roan delivers Clarke to Lexa.
Episode 3 – Ye Who Enter Here: Echo warns Bellamy of an imminent threat at Polis. Everything is fine when Bellamy, Octavia, and Pike reach the city. The warning is a mere trick to lure them away and keep them unaware of the actual danger, which is an assassin infiltrating Mount Weather. The assassin detonates the facility and kills dozens. Raven and Sinclair survive. Echo is apparently working together with Queen Nia of Ice Nation and is helped by Emerson, the last survivor of the Mount Weather massacre.
Episode 4 – Watch the Thrones: Lexa, the current commander of the Grounders coalition, brings Queen Nia to justice for the destruction of Mount Weather. However, Lexa is forced into a duel to death against Prince Roan. Although she wins the duel, Lexa kills Queen Nia and names Price Roan the new King of Ice Nation. Pike is elected as the new Chancellor of Arkadia and starts his plan to hunt some Grounders.
Episode 5 – Hakeldama: Pike successfully kills an army of Grounders around Arkadia and rejects the coalition between Sky People and Grounders. Jaha and the AI hologram arrive at the camp to recruit more people to come with them to the City of Light. He uses some sort of a “magic” pill to persuade the Arkers. Raven is now among Jaha’s new followers. Murphy is captured by Grounders, again.
Episode 6 – Bitter Harvest: Jaha is clearly not his former self as he cannot remember anything about his son. Pike continues his aggression toward the Grounders. A.L.I.E. asks Raven to search for A.L.I.E. version 2.0., believed to be lost in a destroyed space station called Polaris. Murphy is tortured for information by Titus the Flamekeeper.
Episode 7 – Thirteen: flashbacks reveal that A.L.I.E. was the brainchild of Becca and triggered the nuclear apocalypse 97 years ago. Becca actually attempted to build a more advanced version of A.L.I.E., but her research station—the Polaris—was destroyed. Becca survived in an escape pod, and more importantly, injected the new AI into her neck. Back to the present time, Titus kills Lexa by accident. A.L.I.E. 2.0. is discovered in the back of Lexa’s neck.
Episode 8 – Terms and Conditions: Arkadia is a mess. Pike wants to start another war, while Kane wants to hand him over to the Grounders. Jasper reveals that Raven has no recollection of Finn, her ex-boyfriend. Pike considers giving Kane a death sentence for the crime of treason.
Episode 9 – Stealing Fire: a former bodyguard of Queen Nia named Ontari murders the Nightbloods, genetically-engineered people resistant to radiation. Clarke is the new Flamekeeper and takes the new A.L.I.E. chip. Lincoln sacrifices his life in execution to give Kane, Sinclair, and other rebels a chance to escape.
Episode 10 – Fallen: Kane and Octavia are captured by Pike’s men. Bellamy tricks the men and hands Pike over to the Grounders. Raven asks Abby and Jasper to remove the mind-control chip from her body. Almost the entirety of Arkadia has now fallen under A.L.I.E., even Abby. Jasper escapes with Raven and encounters Clarke on the way.
Episode 11 – Nevermore: Jasper, Clarke, Octavia, Bellamy, Monty, and Sinclair plan to build an EMP device to destroy the chip in Raven’s body. Monty kills her own mother in an attempt to save Octavia. The EMP works, and Raven reveals that the Flame—the A.L.I.E. version 2.0—is the only way to defeat its predecessor.
Episode 12 – Demons: Clarke discovers Lincoln’s journal in the now-abandoned Arkadia. It contains information regarding Luna, another Nightblood. Emerson comes out of nowhere and Clarke kills him using the Flame. The search for Luna begins. Ontari is now under the control of A.L.I.E.
Episode 13 – Join or Die: Kane arrives at Polis, which also is controlled by A.L.I.E. Emori reunites with Murphy, who is still in a dungeon. Pike is incarcerated and tortured by a fellow prisoner. Murphy makes a case for a coalition between the Sky People and the Grounder in the fight against A.L.I.E. Meanwhile, Luna has been found but she refuses Clarke’s request to take the Flame.
Episode 14 – Red Sky at Morning: Raven discovers that A.L.I.E. has a kill switch. Luna, the leader of the Boat Clan, has Clarke and her companions returned to dry land.
Episode 15 – Perverse Instantiation (Part One): Abby and Kane have taken the mind-control chips. Clarke is captured and tortured by her own mother. Murphy and Bellamy rescue Clarke.
Episode 16 – Perverse Instantiation (Part Two): Clarke utilizes the EMP device to free Abby. A Nightblood transfusion from Ontari means Clarke can now be implanted with the Flame chip. Empowered by the Flame, Clarke finds the kill switch and destroys A.L.I.E. Octavia kills Pike.
The 100 Season 3 is an intense fast-moving story. Both the first and second seasons did an excellent job at massive world-building and establishing nearly all the entire series’ major themes. Thankfully, Season 3 offers an equally outstanding show. The relentless plot progression makes the season binge-worthy.
Have you watched Season 3? How does it look in comparison to the first and second seasons? We’d like to hear from you.
Other things you might want to know:
What is Polis?
Polis (formerly Baltimore) is the center of the Coalition, an alliance between the Sky People and twelve clans of the Grounders. The Commander of the Coalition resides in Polis. In Season 3, Polis is controlled by A.L.I.E.
What is the Body Count in Season 3?
By the end of Season 3, there are still thousands of Grounders and hundreds of Sky People. Among the remaining Sky People, only 46 of the original 100 delinquents are still alive.
Where is the City of Light?
Initially believed to be a real place, the City of Light is nothing but a simulated world created by A.L.I.E. Season 3 reveals that the AI intends to use the city as a place to save humanity from another nuclear apocalypse.
