The 100 season 4 premieres in a week, and the official poster has finally been unveiled. What do you think?
We’re in the home stretch now, and the promotional campaign for The 100 — somewhat slow to start — has finally kicked off for real.
Not only are set video interviews hitting the ‘net (check out this great batch from our friends at Seat 42F), but the official season 4 poster has been revealed at last!
Related: Listen to Hype Podcast’s The 100 season 2 retrospective
Unlike the fake leaked poster that had no characters at all, this one shows Clarke and several of her friends looking out towards an oncoming radiation blast that appears to be consuming the Ark:
First of all: It’s a stunning poster. Very Christopher Nolan. I’d love to have it on my wall, just sayin’.
But beyond the very visual representation of the coming apocalypse (the nuclear blast being a potential reference to what happens in the first season 4 promo when an unidentified woman is disintegrated), and the symbolic value of the Ark going up in flames, what does this poster actually mean?
Even having seen the first three episodes and having a general idea of where the story is going, I couldn’t tell you, so instead of trying to give hypothetical answers, I’ll pose some questions for everyone to ponder.
- Who is this? Don’t let the radiation-shine on his hair fool you, the writers have confirmed that it’s Jasper! This means that the characters depicted on the poster are the seven young adult leads: Jasper, Raven, Monty, Clarke, Bellamy, Octavia and Murphy.
- So where are the adults? This poster only depicts seven of the 11 lead characters, leaving out the adult trio of Abby, Kane and Jaha (as well as new main character Roan). Perhaps this was just for aesthetic reasons, perhaps the Ark is still meant to symbolize the adults, or perhaps the number of characters on the poster is significant. At the risk of overthinking it (ha, who am I kidding), seven is a highly symbolic number, and The 100 has been known to draw on mythological and religious references in the past. So, seven: Creation, completion, judgement, the Seven Sisters that Zeus turned into stars… take your pick. Intentional or not, it’s all probably relevant somehow.
- Does the placement of the characters matter? Beyond the boy-girl order, is it significant that Monty and Bellamy are the characters closest to Clarke? Bellamy is a no-brainer; he’s the lead male character and will likely be by Clarke’s side at least through the first part of the season, but what about Monty? (Hey, if this poster is just implying that Monty will play a big role this season, I’m good with that.) Perhaps it’s a dividing line, suggesting that the people on either side of Clarke will be the ones on either ‘side’ of the debate about how to save humanity? That would essentially pit Jasper, Raven and Monty against Bellamy, Octavia and Murphy, with Clarke in the middle, ultimately having to make the decision.
- Is the poster foreshadowing how the season will end? It’s a stunning visual and could be just that — a visual — but there’s something foreboding about how these characters are turned toward the obliteration of their home in something like surrender (except Raven, who’s getting the hell out of dodge, because she’s smart like that). If something like this were to really happen to the Ark, does the poster imply that at least these six characters won’t be inside it when that happens? Or that, following Clarke’s lead, they choose to stand by and let others die so they (and whomever they define as ‘their people’) may live?
- Why is there a Dark Mark in the sky? ALIE already warned us that “The end is coming,” but no one said anything about Voldemort! For real though, this could be a subtle hint that death is very specifically coming for one or more of the seven characters whom this Dark Mark hovers over. Or the people in the Ark. Or everyone. Well it’s that, or else we’re finally getting the official Hogwarts House sortings for the characters? Here’s hoping…
- Is the Ark purposefully shaped like a fiery halo around Clarke’s head? This placement is probably both aesthetic and symbolic — after all, it’s not a big leap to go from the Commander of Death to the Angel/herald of Death, which is essentially the role Clarke takes on at the start of season 4, when she is the one who has to convey ALIE’s message of doom to everyone.
- If not a halo, is the burning Ark another callback to the Nine Circles of Hell? The 100 does love its Dante’s Inferno references, after all. Or maybe that’s just me.
- Added post-publication: A lightbulb and a heart? Thanks to commenter ‘imbubbles’ who pointed out something I didn’t notice the first time around — but can’t unsee now: There appears to be a lightbulb and a heart above ‘Team Head’ (Raven, Monty and Jasper) and ‘Team Heart’ (Bellamy, Octavia and Murphy) respectively. I LOVE THIS and wish I’d thought of it, because while I don’t know if it was intentional, it seems too fitting to be a coincidence.
- Is this poster the ultimate proof that they don’t stop the apocalypse? Some part of me still hopes that they somehow find a solution, but that’s dumb, because this is The 100 and there are no good
guyssolutions. Yeah, the world is definitely gonna burn. Fun times! - This poster’s great, but will we get individual character posters, too? And throw in some promotional posters for the new characters while you’re at it!
- Was the poster inspired by this meme:
Because if yes, kudos.
Wild speculation aside, was the poster everything you hoped it would be? At the end of the day, I just love getting something new to speculate about, but really, we just want season 4 already. Bring on February 1.
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Bonus: Is it a dragon? A dinosaur? A Michelin Man? This hiatus has officially made me lose my mind, and I’m taking you all down with me!
