The 100 season 5 finale, “Damocles, Part 2,” is almost here. Find out what to expect from the evocative conclusion to the season, with exclusive teasers from Jason Rothenberg.
The 100 season 5 finale, “Damocles, Part 2,” airs Tuesday, August 7 at 8/7c on The CW.
The 13th and final episode of the season brings everything to a head, as war finally comes to Eden.
The official synopsis of the episode reads:
“SEASON FINALE PART TWO — In part two of the fifth season finale, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and her friends must risk everything to fight one last battle for survival, only to glimpse an even darker threat to the last living valley on earth. Bob Morley, Paige Turco, Henry Ian Cusick, Marie Avgeropoulos, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Chris Larkin and Tasya Teles also star. Dean White directed the episode written by Jason Rothenberg (#513). Original airdate 8/7/2018.”
In anticipation of the fifth season finale, we’ve been able to preview the episode and interview showrunner Jason Rothenberg in order to set you up for what to expect — before and after the finale.
So make sure you check back to Hypable after the episode has aired for the full interview with Rothenberg, in which he gives some excellent teases for what to expect in The 100 season 6!
For now, “Damocles, Part 2” awaits…
The story so far
Six years after Praimfaya destroyed the world, the heroes of The 100 returned to the Earth’s surface, descending from the sky or rising from beneath the ground, hoping to salvage what remained of humanity and build a better future.
Much had changed in the years the characters had been apart: Bellamy and SpaceKru had formed a happy commune in space; Octavia reigned over Wonkru as the terrifying Blodreina; Clarke had found a family in the Nightblood child named Madi, living in the one spot of green that survived the second apocalypse.
But as soon as the newest faction of survivors, the Eligius prisoners that heralded from pre-apocalyptic Earth, landed in Clarke’s Eden, the hope of peace diminished. Once again, humanity descended into an ‘us versus them’ conflict, with Octavia Blake on one side, Charmaine Diyoza on the other side, and everyone else stuck in the middle.
Old friendships were torn apart as new alliances formed and broke, everyone now loyal to another ‘us’ and trying to identify the opposing ‘them.’ The cycle of violence continued, and the characters appeared helpless to stop it.
As Jasper wrote in his suicide note, read aloud in “Acceptable Losses,” “There is no light at the end of the tunnel, there is only the tunnel. Another enemy to fight, another war.” Jasper did not believe that the cycle could be broken. He did not believe that better days were ahead.
And, as the season 5 finale is upon us and the characters did, indeed, fail to stop the (wholly unnecessary) war for Eden, it would seem that he was right. After a season of friends-turned-strangers, slippery allegiances and selfish, destructive ploys on behalf of one ‘people’ or another, our heroes have to reckon with the fact that, whether they like it or not, they are still stuck in that cycle.
Not that some did not try, desperately, to bring peace. As Indra told Bellamy in the penultimate episode: “You did your best to stop this.” So did she. It wasn’t enough.
So, swept up in the tide of war, everyone’s choices are now limited: they can run or they can fight; they can protect their own people, or the ground itself; they can attack, or they can defend.
Previewing ‘The 100’ season 5 finale ‘Damocles, Part 2’
As personal betrayals and back-stabbings have guided much of the action of this season, it is perhaps fitting that it is Kane and Diyoza’s abandonment of Wonkru in favor of McCreary — trading devils for demons — that turns the tide of the war in “Damocles, Part 1.”
McCreary’s new intel costs Wonkru their advantage, setting them up for a massacre and leaving Octavia, Bellamy, Indra and Gaia stranded on the battlefield. Out of supplies, and without a leader to guide them, there seems to be no hope for Wonkru.
And yet there is one person still willing to stand up and fight: The promotional images for “Damocles, Part 2” reveal none other than Madi kom ClarkeKru, Heir to Becca Pramheda, in full Commander gear, standing in the midst of the war, the Flame in her head urging her to stand with Wonkru against McCreary.
Having spent all season desperately trying to keep her child out of this conflict, Clarke finally has to reckon with the fact that Madi is now compelled to save her people. And, in the penultimate episode, Clarke realizes that she needs to let her try.
“At the end of episode 12, [Clarke] comes around to the realization that she has to let Madi transcend and become the Commander,” says showrunner Jason Rothenberg. “She can’t be a helicopter mom anymore. She needs to let Madi be herself and let her go and let her soar on her own. [But] she’s still going to do everything in her power to keep her child safe.”
So Clarke sends Madi off to war, with the promise that they will meet again. The end of “Damocles, Part 1” sees Madi and SpaceKru come to the last-minute rescue of Octavia, who had stepped out in front of Eligius’ bullets to save her family and atone for her sins as Wonkru’s leader-turned-dictator.
But, as the promo for the second part of the finale reveals, McCreary won’t go down without a fight, chillingly declaring, “If I can’t have this valley, no one can.”
So how does it all end? In tears, according to Rothenberg, who hopes the end of the finale will leave you thinking, “Oh. My. God.” While crying.
Having previewed the episode, I can confirm that this finale certainly wrings emotion out of you in a way The 100 has never done before.
Bob Morley, who plays Bellamy, recently described “Damocles, Part 2” as something that could have been a series finale, and once you watch it, you’ll understand exactly why — and you’ll be desperately happy that it isn’t.
Five years in, The 100 has mastered the art of a good finale, and “Damocles, Part 2” is no exception. It’s big, explosive, fast-paced, dangerous, contemplative, and a little bit beautiful.
The season 5 finale will leave you feeling satisfied, yet simultaneously wanting (so much) more, and by the end of it, you’ll be feeling so many different, conflicting emotions that we can spend the whole hiatus unpacking together.
(Translation: When Sachin Sahel told us we needed a group therapy season after the finale, he was right!)
Ultimately, as with all the best The 100 finales, the real gravitas of “Damocles, Part 2” comes through the emotion wrung out of who these people are to each other, and who they are to us. It is in the quiet moments that you really feel the full weight of those relationships, and their importance to the story as a whole.
And, as with all the best The 100 finales, there are welcome notes of hope and possibility sprinkled on top of the action and devastation.
Hope, such an elusive yet constant presence all season, lurking there in the bottom of Pandora’s Box, has always been important in this show, and it continues to be important in the finale. With, you know, the show’s trademark pain.
And the ending… well. There is a reason why everyone involved with the show has been dying for us to see it.
‘The 100’ season 5 finale teasers from Jason Rothenberg
In order to give you something to speculate about in this final week before the end of season 5, I asked Jason Rothenberg to give one word to describe each character in the finale. (This, by the way, happens to be his “definition of hell,” so let’s appreciate his sacrifice.)
In The 100 season 5 finale…
- Octavia is “broken.”
- Madi is “transcending.”
- Murphy is “‘Murphy.’ As an adjective.”
- Emori is “resolute.”
- Monty is “peaceful.”
- Raven is “uncompromised.”
- Shaw is “heroic.”
- Echo is “controversial.”
- Diyoza is “slippery.”
- Gaia is “protective.”
- Abby is “broken.”
- Kane is “broken.”
- Bellamy is “complete.”
- Clarke is “accepting.”
And there is one particular character who simply cannot be summed up in a word. New arrival Shannon Kook, whose character has been celebrated and anticipated by the fandom for months without us actually knowing anything about him, shall remain… indescribable.
So many emotions. So many broken people, all scrambling for survival, all fighting for themselves, their friends, their people, their home.
This is an absolutely can’t-miss episode of the show, so make sure you watch it live!
Are you ready for The 100 season 5 finale? Yes. You are.