Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-29929311-20160912190346/@comment-95.83.253.63-20170112000900

First of all Lexa. I actually don't see her as an antagonist or a foil character at all. You are only factoring in season 2 and you are only looking at this from one angle. I understand you like Raven but let us start by pointing out the obvious. The Sky people abandoned the rest of humanity to die a horrible death 90 years ago as they tried to save themselves. Becca Pramheda tried to right that wrong and ended up becoming one of them, siding with the grounders. So then from the grounders perspective, 90 years later these people whose ancestors abandoned theirs, have come back to earth, claiming the land as theirs now and posing a threat to the settled locals. And Lexa who was in charge of protecting them, had to do so in the only way she was taught how, by being harsh to survive. Raven if you remember, was no sweetheart either after making the bombs which blew up the grounders, including the ones on the bridge. Both Raven and Lexa killed people. But as for Lexa torturing Raven, Lexa was abiding by the rules of the grounders. Lexa has often conveyed that she didn't like some of those rules but she believed it was the right thing to do for survival. Attack or be attacked. Lexa had no sympathy for Raven because she believed that she tried to poison her and therefore, had it coming. But when Clarke proved that she was innocent, Lexa paid the price for mistaking her by having to give the same form of execution to Gustus, something which pained her as you could clearly see. The fact she still did it though she hated it was her abiding by the laws of her people. But she had a heart and it killed her to do it. I'm sorry that you were offended from Raven's POV but at the end of the day, all of them did bad things and it wasn't as if Lexa was being a masochist, she was doing her duty, what she believed was right. Same as Clarke. Same as Raven. And she was punished for it herself. But antagonist for it, no way. She also learned her lesson for this because later on, Clarke was given the option for Emerson to be executed but it was Lexa who tried to persuade her to spare his life in a dramatic shift of roles so lets not forget that either.

I actually completely disagree, Alycia was anything but wooden in this role. Her face could say so much without saying anything at all. She was just fantastic. After this I watched Alycia in other stuff and was sorely let down to discover that outside of The 100, she was pretty much a one trick pony who played the same types of roles over and over; a popular yet often bratty/shallow/clueless teen who is the victim of some horror situation. Hence my appreciation of Lexa increased. Closed off yes at first only though. After Costia which must really have affected her badly, she tried to distance herself from others because in her line of work, people die all the time. But as I say, you are completely forgetting about the other side of Lexa. She did leave the sky people to die to save her own. But again,she was doing what was expected of her. She didn't want to leave Clarke and in season 3, she apologised to her and you could see she genuinely meant it. She was correct in saying that Clarke probably would have done the same in her place, given the choice. But she made up for it by putting Clarke first and putting the Sky People first after Bellamy screwed things up by slaughtering her army and then the grounder village that was invaded. Lexa nearly was killed by her own people for it. But if you are going to label Lexa as an antagonist for that, need I remind you that Bellamy also betrayed Clarke in season 3 and therefore could equally be called an antagonist and a foil. But Lexa had a heart and she wanted peace all along, Clarke showed her that a better way of achieving it existed and she took it, which pretty much cost her her own life. She sacrificed herself for Clarke and for all their people twice. Lexa was a hero and she genuinely loved Clarke and for you to suggest she wasn't in defence of Bellarke is untrue I believe. A foil character to the Arkers when she died twice for their sake in her attempts to restore peace? I don't think so. It's quite an insult to her character tbh, considering all that the Sky people including Bellamy has done.

I agree about wanting to hear more character insights from the actors. But Aussies curse as much as the next person so that's a bit unfair. Also, Bob has actually been openly supportive of Clexa and of Clarke being bi. I don't know if you are aware of this but Bob actually played a gay man on a tv show years ago so he knows what it's like. He did also say he thinks Clarke and Bellamy are just good friends. J Roth didn't handle the Clexa think too sensitively, agree with you there. But J Roth did say they were in love. And it's funny you should think that Clexa is forced because I actually think Bellarke would be forced, and forced for the fans and a ratings gain rather than to make sense with the plot. If Bob and Eliza said they don't want it, all I would be able to think about is how uncomfortable that would be. At least with Clexa, Eliza and Alycia seemed to have fun with it and actually bonded as friends in real life. Eliza was always tweeting selfies of the two hanging out. She even kept boasting at comic con that she was enjoying "kissing babes". So I actually don't think Clexa was forced or wooden at all, I was actually surprised about how natural it came across and how natural the actors chemistry was anyway. Bellarke though in comparison, would totally be forced and awkward imo.

By the way, this whole accusing me of the my ship is better than yours thing, well a) I thought we were having a discussion and b) I never said those words you did. I do think though that Bellarke would be forced and unrealistic and that both Bellamy and Clarke deserve and are better suited to, other potential characters.

So yes, onto Bellamy now. I thought he was numb because he seemed to slip into fazes where he had no regret for his wrongdoings such as killing a grounder army there to protect him and a village of innocent grounders  being massacred seemed to have no effect on him either. Even Lexa felt regret over her actions. But you say it is more because he is "ruled by his emotions" which is interesting. In no way do I believe your theory that bad boy Bellamy was faking it. Because no matter what he saw the guards doing, he took things to the extreme, even encouraging the torture of Murphy. He may have been there to protect his sister but it does not excuse his behavior. He didn't even seem to have an real regret for it except when Murphy got his own back on Bellamy. I do believe Bellamy had a sad and difficult upbringing. But I also believe it has shaped him to have a ruthless side too and we saw that season 1 dark side of Bellamy emerge again in season 3 when his sheer racism towards the grounders reached its all time peak in an unprovoked and deliberate attack as he betrayed everyone he loved and became the lackey of a man who was essentially like the hitler of the sky people. No friggin way.

You see you and I believe the opposite almost. Yes I acknowledge that Bellamy is good to the people he cares about at times. But at other times he is not because as you said, he becomes ruled by his emotions. I don't think any side to Bellamy is fakeness or bravado, I think that is just denying the fact that he does have a dark side, due to his own life experiences as you say. He controls women through sex, you even said so yourself. And yeah what he said about Harper was kind of objectifying her, as if she is just there as a thing for pleasure which is wrong. He liked Charlotte because he reminded her of Octavia. But although he does love Octavia, he can be equally a threat to her. He is overprotective of her to the point where he has tried to control her. He kept telling her to stop playing grounder, even though she tried to tell him repeatedly that this is who she was. The amount of times he tried to tear her and Lincoln apart, despite knowing that Lincoln would never hurt her. Again, it was his prejudice towards the grounders showing. In the end he got his wish, he in no way so much as protested at Lincoln's execution. He was more worried about Octavia finding out. And rightly, she gave him a good beating for it. Yes he was more relaxed around Clarke absolutely. He felt he could  talk to her without being judged and felt closer to her for it. But Clarke never showed any signs of interest in that department. And it's a bit contradictory if he hates himself but never tries to right the wrong or refrain from doing bad things. Nobody is forcing him to do these things, that is the problem I have with Bellamy. You called Lexa closed but while she never showed her emotions, she never let them rule her like Bellamy. She even told Titus this when she reminded him that despite the Ice Queen beheading Costia, she still accepted her into the conclave. Clarke has converted to grounder life nearly as much as Octavia at this stage. And I'm sorry but although Bellamy had a difficult time watching his mother being treated that way, he should no better than to think that is normal. I don't want him to control Clarke through sex or otherwise. I don't want him to start dictating to her or trying to coax her away from the grounders and the life HE doesn't want for HER. He was already showing signs of sulking and frustration when she refused to go with him in season 3 but rather stayed with Lexa. Lexa would have never tried to hurt Clarke in any way or control her. And I'm sorry but Bellamy's not faking it. He is who he is and his attitude towards women and grounders alike quite frankly sucks and is unhealthy. I do not trust him with Clarke. Clarke is a strong women who will be more vulnerable with her fresh grief. I don't want him to take advantage of her situation and to take advantage of her period.

Okay firstly, Clarke was never "with him" in the first place for him to lose all sense over that. Again what is he going to do, force her to love him? She didn't feel that way. Fair enough that he didn't know Lexa as many don't seem to. But need I remind you that the Arkers aren't innocent either? As I said, put yourself in the grounders shoes of being left to die 90 years ago and now these people coming back down to invade their land and possibly be a threat. Remember the bad experiences the grounders had with the mountain men too. And there were far far more casualities on the grounders side than the sky people in their war because they were blowing them up. But the thing is, although Bellamy didn't trust Lexa, he didn't trust Clarke that time either. She begged him, he betrayed her. But the thing was he had no regret in killing them because to him, they were the enemy. He didn't put himself in their shoes. If he met two good grounders it should have convinced him that there were more. But I guess that didn't matter, just the facct they were grounders alone was enough for him to warrant them dead, even Indra barely made it out alive. You are now trying to make the whole grounders sound evil by saying look at what they do to their people. It isn't right, definitely but it is a part of how they were raised to surive, they were never shown a better way like Lexa. Lexa was going to take on the role of showing them this before she was killed. But the bottom line is, the sky people were a threat to the grounders too. The grounders didn't have a reason to trust Bellamy either. And until Bellamy screwed up, it looks like the grounders at least, were for a brief period, starting to accept them after Clarke killed the people at MW. But innocent Arker blood on their hands? Not all Arkers were innocent either. The problem with people like Pike and Bellamy is that when they got to the ground, they thought it would be easy living. When the grounders constantly threatened this, they never stopped to think about it from the grounders perspectives, like how Clarke and Octavia and Kane learned to do it. They are foreigners trespassing and they have to learn to be equals with the grounders, not try to control them with their culture.

Perhaps Bellamy is xenophobic but perhaps he genuinely does prefer the Sky Peoples culture. As I said, he never wanted or tried to understand them, even when he had opportunities to do so like with Lincoln. He only saw one angle of it. But either way, his mistrust was understanding to a degree but promoting and then standing up for his decision to kill the grounder army that was there to protect him wasn't. If it was Clarke she would have looked for another way. He just wanted them dead.

I explained to you why Bellarke is toxic above. Unhealthy, totally. Clarke never showed signs any feelings for him before other than friendship. And Clarke was way more like Lexa than Bellamy. She and Lexa understood eachother and were in the exact same positions. Clarke doesn't have a dark side or lack of control over her emotions like Bellamy, he would just drag her down and control her. She is not his therapist and should be able to find someone now like Lexa that will find common ground with her and be someone who she can share her memories of Lexa with since she will always be a big part of her life. That's why I think someone like Roan or Luna might be better for her. Bellamy hates the grounders so like Octavia, he will probably hate what Clarke has become to and try and convert her back. But Clarke cares about the grounders. They differ in opinion over a very very big issue. They are different. Clarke has changed and is not the teen Sky girl of season 1. Bellamy would be in no way good for her imo. You think he is faking his dark side, I do not.

I do want Clarke to be happy. But in my eyes, there is no other character that I can see that would fit her so well as Lexa did and that shared that same bond. I'm sure she would still have affection for that person but at the same time, in that relationship I bet she will still have moments where she will think about and miss Lexa. Because you never forget your first true love. Especially if they died for you. Twice. I don't think that kind of bond will happen again but of course she might find someone that will make her happy. I'm glad you are open to other options too.