Lexa

Lexa was a recurring character in the second and third seasons. She was portrayed by cast member Alycia Debnam-Carey and debuted in "Fog of War."

As the Commander of the 12 Clans, Lexa was the reason the twelve clans united to fight against Mount Weather and without her, the Coalition would fail. Prior to that, the Ice Nation was the biggest threat to the alliance of the twelve clans.

Lexa sent Tristan to take over from Anya during The Woods Clan-Sky People Conflict. After the rest of The Ark lands, Lexa put out a bounty for all Sky People and Thelonious Jaha was taken captive. After the massacre in Tondc, Lexa released Jaha and demanded the rest of the Sky People flee or die. When Clarke offered a way to save Reapers, Lexa reconsidered and only demanded Finn Collins' death instead in compensation for the massacre.

Lexa and Clarke soon started working hard together to form an alliance and free their people from Mount Weather. They came up with a plan to take down Mount Weather's defenses and invade the Mountain. Emerson approached Lexa and offered a deal from Dante Wallace to free all of Lexa's people if she left and they never encroached upon the Mountain again. Lexa took the deal, saving her people but leaving behind Clarke and the rest of the Sky People.

Early Life
Lexa grew up with the Woods Clan. Born a Nightblood (a person with black blood running through her veins), she was believed to be a reincarnation of the first Commander and, as is tradition, was brought to Polis to be taught and trained as a warrior and potential succeeding Commander. At one point, Lexa was made the second-in-command of the Trikru's leader, Anya.

When Lexa was 16, at the Conclave after the death of the previous Commander, she was chosen to be the next Commander. She played an important role in uniting the 12 Grounder Clans and forming the Coalition and became the first Commander of the 12 Clans.

Lexa began a relationship with a Grounder named Costia. Costia was kidnapped, tortured and beheaded by another Grounder clan, the Ice Nation to learn Lexa's secrets.

Throughout the Series

 * -|Season Two =


 * -|Season Three =

Personality
Lexa, as leader of the Grounders, commands respect and is very powerful. She is considered a "visionary" and is willing to show mercy and to trust the Sky People in the hopes of forming an alliance. Lexa has a very neutral personality and is more logic-based and acts quite cynical. After Costia, the woman she was in love with, was killed by the Ice Nation trying to gain information on Lexa, she decided to detach herself from people emotionally, believing love was a weakness she could not afford to have. As a leader, she is willing to do anything for her people's safety. Lexa is loyal to her people to a fault, this can result in her going against her word when it benefits her people. She broke deals with both Roan and Clarke, because of her desire to do what's best for her people.

Lexa has a soft spot for the children she trains. In "Ye Who Enter Here", Lexa is seen training with one of the Nightbloods, Aden, praising him during their match and backing off when he manages to hit her rather than countering.

She has been shown to care greatly about the people she loves, like Clarke, so far that their opinions influence her decisions. This has been shown multiply times during the show.

Physical Appearance
Lexa is of average height, slim, with a high forehead, full lips, and a youthful face. Lexa wears tribal-like face paint most of the time but has been seen without it. Like many of the other grounders shown so far, Lexa keeps her hair out of her face with a number of layered braids.

Relationships

 * -|Anya =

Anya
Anya was Lexa's mentor before Lexa was called to be the leader of her people. Lexa has been shown to care very deeply for Anya. Lexa began trusting Clarke because of her past relationship with Anya, showing how close she was to Anya.


 * -|Gustus =

Gustus
"If you so much as look at her the wrong way I will slit your throat."

- Gustus about Lexa while threatening Clarke

Lexa is Gustus' leader and Gustus is presumably one of her high-ranking warriors in her clan. Gustus is very protective and holds high respect for Lexa. Gustus pretended to be the Commander in "Fog of War" so Lexa could gather information from Jaha and Kane when they were imprisoned in an underground cell together. After Lexa is revealed to be the real Commander, Gustus hands Lexa her armor back.

Later on, it is Gustus' loyalty to Lexa that gets him killed. In "Remember Me", he tries to ruin the alliance between the Grounders and Sky People in order to keep Lexa safe, however, Lexa orders him to be killed by the Death by a Thousand Cuts. Gustus seems to accept his punishment and tells Lexa to "be strong" before she kills him.


 * -|Marcus Kane =

Marcus Kane
Marcus Kane and Lexa had spent some time together following his imprisonment. Kane believed that Lexa was a visionary and would be open for more negotiations, referring to her practical nature.


 * -|Clarke Griffin =

Clarke Griffin
Both Lexa's people and Clarke's people have been at war with each other for the entire first season and first half of the second season. Lexa officially meets Clarke in "Long Into an Abyss" when Clarke goes to Lexa in order to put aside their differences and create peace between their people. They both respect each other very much and are shown to be alike in some ways. They shared a mutual respect and the task of leadership over their allied clans, often making hard decisions together. They kiss in "Bodyguard of Lies", however, Clarke notes that she is not ready for a relationship so soon after Finn's death under Lexa's orders. Their relationship becomes strained after "Blood Must Have Blood (Part 1)", as Lexa betrays the Sky People by not marching forward on Mount Weather in order to save her own people.

The two reunite in Wanheda (Part 2), after an intense meeting, Lexa starts making strides to help heal their relationship. In Ye Who Enter Here Lexa had respected Clarke's refusal to meet with her for a week before confronting her about having Sky People join the Coalition. Later Lexa bows to Clarke and promises not to betray her again. In Watch the Thrones Clarke warms up to Lexa slightly, saying she doesn't want to watch Lexa die and later treating her injured hand after the fight. In Hakeldama Clarke and Lexa agree that "blood must not have blood" and Lexa allows Clarke's people to live after killing 320 of her warriors in hope to prevent a war. In Bitter Harvest Clarke and Lexa are comfortable in each other's presence. Clarke comforts Lexa after a nightmare and had drawn Lexa while she was sleeping.


 * -|Costia =

Costia
Lexa tells Clarke about Costia in "Remember Me". Costia was captured by the Ice Queen, Nia, because she belonged to Lexa. They tortured her and cut off her head because they thought she might know Lexa's secrets. Lexa got over the pain of her death by recognizing that love is weakness.

In Watch the Thrones it is hinted that Lexa kills Nia as punishment for killing Costia. Lexa says "Jus drein jus daun" before killing Nia.


 * -|Nia =

Nia
Lexa and Nia have a very hostile relationship. At some point before the Grounders formed the Coalition, the Ice Nation (Nia's Clan) and the Woods Clan (Lexa's Clan) were at war with each other. During the war, Nia captured Costia, Lexa's lover at the time; then tortured her for information on Lexa, killed her, and cut off her head.

In the episode "Watch the Thrones", Lexa kills Nia by throwing a spear at her. Before throwing the spear Lexa says "Jus Drein Jus Daun", claiming blood in return for Costia's murder.


 * -|Aden =

Aden
Lexa and Aden spar in "Ye Who Enter Here". She praises him during the fight before he manages to hit her, causing her to tell Titus that Aden is ready for the convocation and that he is a better fighter than she was at his age.

In "Watch the Thrones", Lexa tells Clarke that Aden is the most promising of the Nightbloods and believe he will succeed her. Aden hints that he doesn't want Lexa to die in her fight with Roan by saying "If" he becomes Heda rather then "When." Aden is present during Lexa's fight and is relieved to see she won.


 * -|Luna =

Luna
Luna and Lexa grew up together since they were both Nightbloods. They were paired up to fight to the death during the second round of their Conclave. Luna flies before the fight so she wouldn't have to kill Lexa.

In return, Titus tells Clarke that Lexa wouldn't allow him to hunt down and kill Luna.

Killed Victims

 * Unspecified Number of Delinquents (indirectly)
 * Finn Collins (indirectly; ordered death)
 * Gustus (Death from a Thousand Cuts)
 * Quint (indirectly; wounded and left to die)
 * Around 250 Grounders & Sky People in Tondc (indirectly with Clarke)
 * Around 350 Mount Weather residents (caused)
 * Ice Nation ambassador (kicked off the Polis tower)
 * Queen Nia (stabbed with spear)
 * Some City of Light residents (In simulation/to protect Clarke Griffin)

Notes and Trivia

 * The character was named after Alexandria, a city in Virginia, close to Washington, D.C.
 * Lexa is her full name.
 * While naming Lexa, they tried many variations of "Alexandria" including Alexa, Andria, and Xandria.
 * Many new characters have temporary names in the writers room. Lexa's was Rosslyn, after a neighborhood in Virginia.
 * The reason Lexa's hair was covered when she first appears is because her braids were so intricate that she'd need to have help with them, which would defeat the purpose of her disguise from Kane and Jaha.
 * A tweet from Kim Shumway teased a "Lunexa" ship, indicating that she and Luna may be friends.
 * Lexa is a couple of years older than Clarke.
 * Lexa has been trained to be a warrior since she was two.
 * Lexa was originally imagined as a child around ten or so, but the idea was scrapped due to restrictions on working with children.
 * Lexa is the first Commander of the 12 Clans, unifying them all into a Coalition.
 * Gustus says in "Remember Me" that Lexa played an important role in uniting the 12 Grounder Clans into a coalition.
 * So far, Lexa is the highest ranking Grounder as the Commander of the 12 Clans.
 * Lexa has been the Commander for at least three wars, one with the Ice Nation, one with the Sky People, and one with Mount Weather. It is unknown if she was the Commander previous to the war with the Ice Nation.
 * Titus states that he advised four commanders before Lexa, making Lexa the fifth commander he has advised.
 * Lexa was Anya's Second.
 * Lexa was the first character revealed to be LGBT.
 * Lexa's death sparked social media outrage due to her being one of the most recent of a string of copious LGBT character deaths on TV shows.