Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26247132-20160223183610/@comment-27929993-20160315202536

Myheartisskippingbeats wrote:

lexa bowing to clarke i get, but clarke bowing to lexa....... i never will, so please convince me how that made sense, because there was nothing her people would gain so badly, it would be worth bowing to lexa.....

please convience me otherwise.... I'll try then...

All you said is pretty much true and totally can see where you're coming from.

I also understand that you actually hated Clarke bowing to Lexa, and that's ok because knowing what happened before between them and the betrayal, it seems a wrong de diminishing move for Clarke.

What you have to understand is that for Skykru, joining the coalition is the only way, as the newest people on the ground, to be automatically in peace with all of the other clans at once, without having to fear them, and becoming equally powerful, by ensuring they have the same rights and the same protection.

Now they can only do this, if there is an actual functional coalition for them to join, and there is. But this coalition is at risk because of the power Clarke gained as Wanheda, which caused damages to Lexa's powerful image as Heda. So before all this, if she thinks that the coalition between all the clans is the best way to maintain peace and a civilized society, which it is, she only has two options.

One is to support the present coalition that already is functional and has an recognized leader, the Commander, who at the moment just needs her support (loyalty and recognition of Heda's power by bowing before her, 'cause it's the way all of them do it when they join) to gain back the powerful image and trust from her allies, and then the coalition can go back to normal with her image restaured. The second option is to not support the present Heda by refusing to bow before her, this would clearly lead to a riot, possibly Lexa's death and last but not least, maybe a war to decide who should be in charge and redefine rules, rights and the way the coalition should work. Skykru would be anything but safe in the middle of all this mess that would happen if she had chosen this second option. Frankly i think that all hell would break loose, and all the work Grounders had done to create and maintain this coalition would have been sent right down the drain.

Sooo, before this options, Clarke chose the first one, and in my opinion was the most pratical, strategical and logical one. If it meant that she would have to bow before her, so be it, she nows she would be doing what's right and better for everyone including herself, and she didn't dimish herself by doing that, she took the high road, she's still strong, she's still Wanheda. She just chose to show her loyalty and respect for Heda and the coalition, and by that got her people to join it. Ultimatly she saved a lot of trouble, a lot of eventual deaths and most likely a war, as Clarke said to Lexa it was a ceasefire that stopped a war.

At last, why it was Clarke and not Kane who bowed, because Ambassadors are the ones designated to represent their people, and they are frequently in Polis as we got to see. Kane couldn't do this, 'cause he already was Chancelor and needed to be in Arkadia, not Polis. Clarke on the other hand was possibly the most important person from Skykru, especially after the Wanheda thing, so she was the obvious right choice and she was available and willigly to stay in Polis, even because she didn't want to return to Arkadia.

I'm sorry for the essay but couldn't explain all my thoughts in a smaller text.

Hereupon yes, even from a merely strategical perspective i think she made the right call, it has a major point and makes sense.

So are you convinced now? Probably not... But well i sure tried my best to explain why and how all this makes sense to me! ;)