Join or Die

Join or Die is the thirteenth episode of the third season of The 100. It is the forty-second episode of the series overall. It aired on April 28, 2016. It was written by Julie Benson and Shawna Benson, and directed by Dean White.

Summary
Clarke is on a mission that could change everything. Meanwhile, Murphy gains insight that might prove useful in ensuring his survival. Lastly, Kane reaches a breaking point.

Plot
In Polis, Kane and Pike enter Polis where the majority of grounders have been chipped. Kane sees a man being crucified for refusing to take the key. Ontari immediately comes forward and gives the key to the grounder guards. Jaha tries to convince them both to take the key but they refuse. Pike then grabs Ontari and holds a knife to her neck but is taken away and locked up. Kane also refuses to take the key and is taken away, but Abby says to leave it to her.

In a flashback to The Ark, Jaha is telling Pike that he needs to teach a crash course on survival. Jaha refuses to tell him why they are sending the kids to the ground. Jaha sends Pike into the room of delinquents and welcomes them to 'Earth Skills'.

Clarke, Bellamy, Octavia and Jasper are searching for Luna with Lincoln's diary. Their path is blocked but they hear running water and head towards it. They head to the point where Lincoln said the Boat People were said to be but they only find piles of rocks. Octavia screams in frustration.

In a flashback, Pike it teaching the delinquents. He shows them how to make fire but the majority are uninterested in what he has to say. Pike asks Octavia what the key to surviving on earth is and she nervously replies, not dying. The others laugh and Pike is annoyed and says they have a lot to learn. Pike tells them they have to keep fighting.

In Polis, both Pike and Murphy are chained up in the same room as many other grounders that refused the key, including Indra. She is unchained and tells Pike that she will give him 300 cuts to make up for the lives he took. She begins to cut Pike causing him to wince in pain but not cry out.

Octavia starts a fire and they agree that they will split up and look for Luna the next day. Octavia is still furious at Bellamy and believes he is responsible for Lincoln's death. Bellamy gets annoyed that she won't forgive him and storms off. Jasper throws some plant leaves into the fire and it burns green. Octavia looks in Lincoln's diary and sees the same kind of leaf and realizes that the fire is a messenger fire. They throw more of the leaves into the fire and it burns brightly green.

Back in Polis, Kane has been locked in a room and Abby enters, pretending that she hasn't taken the chip. She pretends to be afraid and asks Kane where Clarke is as she knows that A.L.I.E. wants something from Clarke. Kane won't tell her and Abby tries harder by kissing him passionately. Abby pushes him onto the bed but by that time Kane has realized that she is chipped. Guards come in and take Kane away as he stares in horror. Jaha nails Kane to a cross and he screams in pain whilst the others watch unsympathetically.

Clarke walks after Bellamy and says that Lincoln's death wasn't his fault. Bellamy reveals that he was mad at Clarke for leaving and wonders if Octavia will be able to forgive him. Clarke says she will eventually but he first needs to forgive himself. They hug and then suddenly people start to rise up out of the water. They tie up Clarke and Bellamy and take them over to Octavia and Jasper. Octavia requests safe passage and says it is because of Lincoln. A boat person hands them all little vials which Octavia and Jasper drink. Both of them fall to the ground and Clarke and Bellamy eventually give in and drink it.

In a flashback, the delinquents are not paying attention to Pike's class. Pike asks Jaha if he can tell them or go down with them but Jaha won't allow, threatening to float Pike if he tells. In the class, Pike asks Murphy to assist him. He then punches Murphy and continues to punch him again despite cries from the class. Pike says that nobody is coming to help them as he assaults Murphy. Pike is finally dragged off of Murphy by the other delinquents and Kane is alerted by the noise. He believes that the children attacked Pike and tells them off and asks what is going on. Pike tells him it is graduation and everybody has passed.

In Polis, Indra is still cutting Pike whilst he screams. Murphy finally stops Indra saying that Pike isn't the real enemy. Murphy says that Indra will avenge her people but not today. Indra says that they must kill Jaha as he is the leader but Murphy reveals that A.L.I.E. is the real enemy.

In a flashback, the delinquents are being put into the dropship. Clarke is on a stretcher as she has been tranquilised and Abby questions if what they are doing is right. Abby kisses her forehead and coldly says to Kane that he got his extra year. The delinquents are shown falling to Earth in footage from the Pilot. Back in Polis, Kane is on a cross. Jaha gives him the key but Kane won't take it. However, Jaha then holds a gun to Abby's head which finally convinces Kane to take the chip. Kane looks up as his pain is relieved by the chip.

Clarke and the others awake in a metal box. Luna enters and Clarke shows her the flame. She says that Luna is her last hope and asks her to take the chip but Luna says no. They follow Luna out and they are revealed to be on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean.

Starring

 * Eliza Taylor as Clarke Griffin
 * Paige Turco as Abigail Griffin
 * Bob Morley as Bellamy Blake
 * Marie Avgeropoulos as Octavia Blake
 * Devon Bostick as Jasper Jordan


 * Christopher Larkin as Monty Green (archive footage)
 * Lindsey Morgan as Raven Reyes (credit only)
 * Richard Harmon as John Murphy
 * Isaiah Washington as Thelonious Jaha
 * Henry Ian Cusick as Marcus Kane

Guest Starring

 * Erica Cerra as A.L.I.E.
 * Michael Beach as Charles Pike
 * Genevieve Buechner as Fox
 * Adina Porter as Indra
 * Rhiannon Fish as Ontari
 * Nadia Hilker as Luna
 * Chelsey Reist as Harper McIntyre
 * Jarod Joseph as Nathan Miller


 * Sachin Sahel as Jackson
 * Victor Zinck Jr. as Dax
 * Shane Symons as Jones
 * Katie Stuart as Zoe Monroe
 * Aaron Miko as John Mbege
 * Celia Reid as Roma Bragg
 * Eli Goree as Wells Jaha (archive footage)

Quotes

 * Pike: "Welcome to Earth Skills."


 * Pike: "Perhaps you'd like to tell us the key to surviving on the ground."
 * Murphy: "No, not really. No."
 * Pike: "Ms. Blake, how about you? The key to survival on Earth, what is it?"
 * Octavia: "Not dying?"
 * Pike: "You can laugh all you want, but we've got a lot to learn here... making fire, tying knots, how to navigate using the stars, how to hunt. You have to learn which plants you can eat and which..."
 * Jasper: "Which ones we can smoke?"
 * Pike: "Mr. Jordan, that is precisely why we had to separate you and Mr. Green. Listen. The answer to my question. The key to surviving on the ground and on the Ark is to keep fighting at all costs against all odds. The minute you give up, you're dead. Am I boring you, Mr. Murphy?"
 * Murphy: "I'll survive."


 * Bellamy: "Come on, O. How long?"
 * Octavia: "I don't know. I can't even look at you... because every time I do, I see Pike putting that gun to Lincoln's head. I hear the gunshot. I see him fall."
 * Bellamy: "I didn't kill Lincoln."
 * Octavia: "No, but he is dead because of you."
 * Bellamy: "I came to you. You didn't take my help. If you had just trusted me, I..."


 * Jasper: "We're running out of daylight. We should stop in the sun, recharge the battery."
 * Clarke: "What sun? We keep going until it dies."
 * Octavia: "We keep going until we get to Luna."


 * Indra (to Pike): "You should have killed me on that battlefield. I won't make the same mistake. You killed 300 of my people. Now you'll take 300 cuts by my hand."


 * Bellamy: "Let me guess, you came here to fix things, Wanheda the Peacemaker."
 * Clarke: "I came to see if you're ok."
 * Bellamy: "Well, I don't need your help. Clarke, I've lost her."
 * Clarke: "Give her time, Bellamy. There may be blood on your hands, but it's not Lincoln's."
 * Bellamy: "Some of it is."
 * Clarke: "Maybe, but you didn't want that to happen. You tried to stop it. Octavia will forgive you eventually. The question is, will you forgive yourself?"
 * Bellamy: "Forgiveness is hard for us. I was so angry at you for leaving. I don't want to feel that way anymore."
 * Clarke: "You know, you're not the only one trying to forgive yourself. Maybe we'll get that someday... but we need each other, Bellamy. What we're doing now, the only way we're gonna pull this off is together."


 * Murphy: "Listen to me! Our real enemy is out there. Jaha has an army of chipped soldiers. They don't feel any pain. That means they're not gonna stop until all of us either join them or die."


 * Murphy (to Pike): "Go float yourself. Everything I learned, I learned on the ground."


 * Murphy: "What are the odds?"
 * Pike: "John Murphy?"
 * Murphy: "Told you I'd survive."


 * Murphy: "Ask yourself this. You want your revenge or you want your people to live?
 * Indra: "Both. I'll get my revenge. Just not today."


 * Clarke: "Luna, you're the last of your kind. The last Natblida.
 * Luna: "So, Lexa's dead as well."
 * Clarke: "Her spirit has chosen you to become the next Commander. Titus entrusted me with the flame to give to you.
 * Luna: "Then he should have told you that I left my Conclave swearing to never kill again."
 * Clarke: "You don't have to kill. To lead is your birthright. How you lead is your choice."

Notes and Trivia

 * Luna and the oil rig are first seen in this episode.
 * Crucifixion can be seen in Polis (the dead grounders on the crosses in Polis)

Body Count

 * Several grounders hang on crosses, and the blood of countless others runs through the streets. The title of the episode suggests many are dying for refusing to join A.L.I.E.'s cause.

Behind the Scenes

 * This episode is Isaiah Washington's favorite.