Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-26537259-20150714020113/@comment-75.121.59.96-20150807212859

Couples, and how people perceive them, are truly different for everyone. Unless a couple is harmful to each other, there is no right or wrong when liking any couple because this is a television show, it's art, and will be interpreted by people differently. My interpretation of Clarke and Bellamy is that their bond has definite romantic undertones.

Bellamy is one of the most important people in Clarke's life, she confirms this when she tells him, "I can't lose you too." The "too" being Finn, the man she loved. I'm not saying she's in love with Bellamy, but the fact that she said that, in that way, says a lot about how important he is to her, romantic or not. And you can see it on Bellamy's face, how surprised he is that she just told him that she places him in equal value to her dead lover.

Bellamy understands Clarke in a way that not many others do. This doesn't mean that no one else understands her, just not in the way that Bellamy does. He understands what she's done and what she's had to become, and so he not only can relate to her in a way Lexa can't, but he also never judges her unlike Abby, Raven, Octavia, Jasper, and Finn. Pulling that lever with her showed how much he was willing to sacrifice for her, to help her carry the burden of that act. And the fact that he lets her go, without really trying to stop her, shows just how much he understands that him doing that wasn't enough for her. And so yeah, there's going to be resentment because realizing that had to hurt.

And just the same, Clarke knows Bellamy better than anyone else, "You're not a murderer. You always did what you had to do to protect your sister. That's who you are." The absolute shock on his face is because he's so surprised that she gets it, that she knows and sees it, even through all his assholishness at the time.

Over and over again Clarke is told that her plan in Mt. Weather may not work, yet whenever she's faced with naysayers, her resolve always comes back to her faith in Bellamy. And it is that faith that convinces Lexa to support Clarke over the council of her own men. Lexa may have feelings for Clarke, but she's not an idiot, she would only have made choices that she thought beneficial to herself and her people.

Bellamy listens to her. There's no question in my mind that Bellamy would've gone to Mt. Weather on his own to save the 100, but Clarke asked him not to, so he didn't. "I can't lose you too" is all it took for him to change his mind, but the moment Clarke changed hers and asked him to go, he does it without question. Yes, he was planning on doing it before anyways, but to risk his life, just because she asked him to, shows just how much he believes in her decision making. And you can see how much her asking him to leave, and telling him that his life is worth risking, hurt. But when they speak again and she tells him that she knew he'd come through, it's immediately forgiven, because she's essentially telling him that, yes, she risked his life, but it was for good reason, she wasn't just throwing it away. He matters to her and she believed in him, believed he could survive and pull off this hugely important mission.

Lexa says that Clarke cares about Bellamy more than the others. This is meaningful, not in some sort of love triangle/jealousy way, but because we are shown time and time again just how shrewd Lexa is. She sees what Clarke can't, sees how important Bellamy is to her and that Clarke's feelings for him (whatever they may be) are more than her feelings for everyone else.

Clarke and Bellamy's last scene said so much about what was between them, and how the felt/thought about each other. I do believe even Jason has said that Clarke is the head and Bellamy is the heart. Clarke is a logical thinker, Bellamy is more emotional, that's obvious in season 1 by how they lead the 100. But it's just as apparent here when she tells him that she can't deal with seeing their people's faces everyday without thinking about what she did. Bellamy on the other hand can, because seeing their faces will remind him of not what he did, but why he did it. But he understands Clarke is different, understands that unlike him she needs time to come to terms with, and truly think about the choice they made. Which is why he lets her go. He understands her. The parallel to 1x08 is heartbreaking, because Bellamy remembers what she said to him that night almost verbatim, and that shows just how much her forgiveness meant to him, and he tries so hard to give her the same. But they're not in the same place mentally and, again, he understands, even if he desperately wishes it wasn't that way. Until then, they've done everything together, and now, when everything's finally over, and they can learn to breathe again, she leaves.

He is literally the last person she sees, the last person she says goodbye to, not Abby, not Raven - him. She waits for him, just as he waits for her. That tells me that Bellamy is home to her, because when she's out there alone, missing home (and all the people that includes) it'll be Bellamy's image that she'll think of, and that's exactly how she wanted it. Clarke is not in love with Bellamy, but I think it's more than obvious that she loves him, just as he loves her.