3.4 Watch The Thrones Despite the Sky People being welcomed by the grounders as the thirteenth clan last week, it appears that this is only binding as long as Lexa is in power. Her bias towards Clarke is well known among her people and most likely the source of a lot of salacious gossip, so it makes sense that any deal made between the two would be a little tenuous. If Lexa is overthrown, then Clarke and her people would be in as much danger as ever. Nia challenges Lexa, who refuses to pick a warrior to fight in her place. This obviously worries Clarke a great deal, having seen what Roan can do with a sword, and she spends much of the episode trying to manipulate people into stopping the fight before it can happen. Back at camp, leadership is no easier to pin down, with an election placing Pike as chancellor rather than Kane or Abby. What’s more, Bellamy has switched sides following the loss of his girlfriend at Mount Weather and, if there’s anyone who could tip the scales in favour of one tribe or another, it’s him. Lincoln gets the brunt of their anger due to him standing around in increasingly hostile territory, but that will soon expand to the rest of the grounders when Pike’s plan to take them out with automatic rifles comes to fruition. I can’t imagine the show allowing Bellamy to become a mass murderer (though I definitely would have said that about Finn just a season ago), but will it be Clarke who convinces him otherwise? We get some clarification on leadership this week – they’re not always women, it just so happens that currently Lex, Clarke and Nia are the best people for the job. Now, though, Roan will take over the Ice Nation and Pike is the new Chancellor. This changes the dynamic of the impending war, and I wonder what the show will do with that. One casualty of the battle is any loyalty the group have to Clarke as leader, personified by Jasper’s ongoing downward spiral. He sees her as a killer, along with everyone who helped her take out Mount Weather last year, and his position this season is still up for grabs. Will the prospect of losing Monty’s friendship lead him to forgive his people for their actions, or will he join whoever stands against them? The group is more fractured than ever, and that’s only going to be aggravated by the events in Watch The Thrones. We’re learning more about the world these characters live in this year, which has allowed the writers to go much deeper with the politics of the show without losing its characters and their relationships. It’s certainly different from season two, and worlds away from season one, but it’s just getting more dense and interesting with every passing week. Read Caroline’s review of the previous episode, Ye Who Enter Here.
