Board Thread:Character Discussion/@comment-25176701-20150119013621/@comment-25176701-20150119225847

TotallyTinkerbell wrote: Good points. I really enjoyed reading your opinions.

My opinion :

Firstly, Bellamy did not know that 320 people would die. And they did try to stop the culling. They just simply weren't in time. That's a huge difference. Also, Bellamy was a selfish person in S1 because of Octavia. I might be clouded in judgement by the books, but he did not want adults down because of what the adults would do to him, and subsequently his sister. That's not 100% selfish.

Also, Bellamy did it knowing well enough that he was doing a bad thing. He knew what to do to execute his plan. Finn literally picked up a gun and started shooting because he could no longer handle all the questionmarks. To me, that is the bigger crime. I'm not saying Bellamy didn't do a TERRIBLE thing, but in the end it could have been prevented and he did not do it 'just because he wasn't given what he wanted'. And I think that in that light, Finn did make the bigger mistake.

You also need to keep in mind ; from pilot to the culling Bellamy didn't really change much. It was in line with his character. Finn was a peacemaker. It was not what he usually did, which is why the blow of that action is harder.

Well, keep in mind that Octavia would have been pardoned of her "crime" if the adults came down to Earth. Jaha promised to pardon ALL of the Delinquents. Octavia was one of the Delinquents. However, Bellamy probably would have been punished for his crime. Bellamy thought that he would be killed as punishment for what he did if the Ark citizens came down. He did not want to die so he did everything he could to stop the Ark citizens from coming down. He did not do it for his sister like he claimed he did. Even if he did do it for Octavia, keep in mind that HE was the reason Octavia was locked up in the first place.

And it doesn't matter if he knew about the Culling or not, the fact is that he caused all of those deaths. In real life if somebody had caused 320 deaths (even if they did not know the consequences of their actions) they would not just be pardoned for it, they would still get into some serious trouble.

You are right that he did it knowing that what he was doing was a bad thing, and that's my point. He did it KNOWING it was wrong. Finn did not know what he was doing as wrong. He lost his sense of right and wrong. He snapped. He thought of Clarke (the one person that helped him feel less alone while he was on the ground) being tortured by the Grounders. And on top of that most of the Grounders tried to kill him. He had to fight back to stay alive. And Finn's massacre could have been avoided if the Grounders did not act like warrior wannabes. It was their choice that got them killed. They were told to stay put and they did not and they paid the price for that. And keep in mind that Finn did not shoot entirely because of Clarke. He started shooting because the Grounders tried to kill him. He was about to leave but then that one dumb Grounder decided it would be a great idea to start running. By doing that, the old man Grounder shared part of the blame for the death of everyone else. He was indirectly responsible because if he had not moved the other Grounders would not have, either. But he did move and his stupidity led to other Grounders making more stupid choices.