Madi Griffin

Madi Griffin is a recurring character in the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons. She was portrayed by cast member Imogen Tear in her debut appearance in "Praimfaya". Beginning with "Eden", she is portrayed by cast member Lola Flanery.

Madi is a young Nightblood who runs into Clarke in Eden as the only Praimfaya survivors on the ground. After gaining each other's trust, Clarke takes Madi under her wings and raises her as her own child. Clarke trains Madi how to fight to defend herself.

After five years in the valley, Madi and Clarke are separated when Diyoza when the prisoners arrive in the Gagarin and kidnap Clarke. Madi hides in the forest until the Spacekru arrives. She goes with them to the Bunker where she finally meets Octavia. After learning that Madi is a nightblood and a potential Commander, Octavia starts training Madi to be her second. However, Clarke doesn't want Madi to become a Commander because it puts her in danger. Unhappy with Octavia's leadership, the Grounders with Bellamy's help, organize for Gaia the Flamekeeper to give Madi the Flame, making her a Commander against Clarke's wish. Madi is kidnapped by Clarke and taken to the valley by force as part of Clarke's deal with Diyoza to betray Octavia. Madi is angry with Clarke for betraying her people in the name of protecting her. She says that as a Commander, it's her job to protect her people. She sneaks out with Raven and Echo to lead Wonkru to victory in the Battle for Eden. After the Earth is destroyed, Madi and the rest of the survivors go into cryogenic sleep for 125 years. Before going into cryosleep, Madi reconciles with Clarke, who now rejoins the group.

On arriving at the new habitable world, Clarke wants to keep Madi in cryostasis for she's woken up later to help stop hijackers in the ship. Eventually, Madi rejoins Clarke and their friends in Sanctum. Since she is a Royal Blood (nightblood), Madi is a target by both the Children of Gabriel who want to kill royal bloods, as well as the Primes who want to use her as a host. Therefore, she has to make sure no one finds out she's a Nightblood.

Early Life
Madi was born on Earth and is a member of the Shallow Valley Clan. She is a Nightblood and was orphaned as the second Praimfaya plagued the Earth.

58 days after Praimfaya, she met Clarke. Thinking that Clarke is a Flamekeeper scout, Madi led Clarke into a trap and attacked her. However, after realizing that Clarke is also a Nightblood, Madi stopped the attack and ran away. Overnight, Madi stole Clarke's possessions. The next morning, Clarke found Madi spearfishing in a nearby creek, but Madi once again runs away from her. Later, Clarke manages to lure Madi by drawing an image of her.

Over the next six years, Madi and Clarke's relationship continues to develop and they form a daughter-mother bond. Clarke teaches Madi to speak English, drive the rover, and about the 100's history.

Throughout the Series
In Praimfaya, Madi is asleep in the rover and is later woken up by Clarke. Upon being woken up, she expects to finally meet Clarke's friends from the Ark but is confused when she sees the Eligius Corporation ship fly in instead. Clarke tells her that it is not her friends and tells her to get the rover out of sight and to load the guns.
 * -|Season Four=


 * -|Season Five=

In Eden, following the landing of the Gagarin, Clarke and Madi drive away in the rover. Madi questions Clarke as to why she is scared. Clarke tells Madi to hide in her hiding place. Madi does as Clarke says, but is found by several Eligius prisoners. Clarke then kills one of them and is about to kill the second when Madi tells Clarke that he is a good guy, but Clarke kills him anyway.

In Sleeping Giants, Madi and Clarke are being hunted down by Diyoza's prisoners. When Clarke gets injured, she shows Madi a place to hide, just before Clarke is captured and tortured. After realizing that Madi's hiding place is compromised, Clarke pleads with Diyoza to spare Madi's life in exchange for her co-operation. When Bellamy and the survivors from the Ark arrive, Madi runs to save them and tells them about Clarke. She leads Bellamy to the church where Clarke is being interrogated. She goes into hiding with the rest of Bellamy's team.

In Shifting Sands, Madi and the gang finally join with Octavia and Wonkru. She is immediately fascinated by Octavia, thanks to all the heroic stories Clarke has told her. When Octavia asks how Madi survived the Praimfaya, Clarke lies to her that Madi got synthetic Nightblood just like Clarke.

In Exit Wounds, Clarke reminds Madi that they can never let anyone know that she's a born Nightblood. If the Grounders found out, some would want her to become Commander instead of Octavia, leading to a power struggle which would put Madi's life in danger. Unfortunately, Gaia and Niylah quickly figure out Madi's secret. To protect Madi, Clarke decides to join the defectors and take Madi to the Valley with her where Madi would be safe from Octavia. Madi disagrees with Clarke because going back to the valley could get Clarke killed. So, she sneaks and runs to Octavia the last minute, making it impossible for Clarke to go ahead with her plan. Madi tells Octavia everything about herself and Octavia embraces her. Octavia performs a blood ritual initiating Madi as Wonkru. Clarke finds them and Madi assures her that everything is okay. Octavia promises Clarke that she will protect Madi and her secret. Octavia gives an order that Madi should start training immediately to prepare her for battle.

Madi starts her official training in Acceptable Losses. Worried that Madi might still be seen as a leadership threat, Clarke asks her to intentionally underperform. But Madi's acting is too obvious and Gaia figures out that she's holding back on purpose. Gaia agrees with Clarke's thinking that Madi should hold back so that she doesn't endanger herself. She assures Madi that as the Flamekeeper, it's her job to protect her. She shows Madi the Flame she's been keeping. Madi looks at it and is fascinated by it. Gaia tells that she will serve Octavia faithfully but that as Flamekeeper she must still ensure the Flame's succession. During the next training, Octavia is watching. At first, Madi holds back, but she changes her mind and gives it her best, defeating Ethan. She impresses Octavia but disappoints Clarke and Gaia. Octavia orders for Madi to be given a real sword, ready to fight for Wonkru. Octavia promotes Madi to be her second in command.

In Sic Semper Tyrannis, after poisoning Octavia, Bellamy is disappointed that Wonkru won't accept Indra as their new leader and her plan against the war. Since they know the grounders would listen to a true nightblood, they decide to push for Madi's ascension as the new commander. Madi doesn't like the plan because Clarke would be against it but Bellamy convinces her by telling her that it is the only way to save Clarke. So, Madi accepts. Gaia prepares for Madi's ascension ceremony. After learning about the ceremony, Niylah helps Clarke out of the chains so that they can stop Madi's ascension. Clarke goes to Octavia who has just woken up from the poison. They make a deal for Clarke to help stop Madi's ceremony and for Octavia to help Clarke and Madi escape. Madi takes in the flame but before waking up, the ceremony is interrupted by Clarke and Octavia. Octavia orders one of her guards to take Madi and Clarke to the rover. On arriving at the rover, the guard points a gun, ready to shoot them. Then, Madi wakes up and orders him to put the gun down. She recites the lineage, implying that Lexa's spirit has chosen her and she's now a rightful commander. She asks the guard to believe in her just like he believed in Lexa. The guard drops the gun and kneels down, acknowledging Madi as "Heda." Suddenly, Clarke shoots him and gets into the rover. Madi warns her that if they leave, Octavia wins, and Gaia, Indra, and Bellamy will die, but Clarke replies "They made their choice". Later at the bunker, Octavia makes a speech telling Wonkru about the treason attempts. She lies to them that Madi didn't recite the lineage, implying that she's not a true commander. She also tells them that Madi chose to run like a coward instead of staying to fight for Wonkru. Octavia declares that Madi is not Wonkru - she's an enemy of Wonkru; and they will deal with her later.

In The Warriors Will, Madi tries to run back to the bunker but Clarke forces her back into the rover. The flame makes her want to go back to lead her people. It starts giving her scary memory flashes of commanders who came before her including Becca, showing Madi the first commanders' death. Clarke wants to remove the flame but Madi tells her that if she removes it, she'd better destroy it or else Madi would put it back in. When Madi falls asleep and starts crying, Clarke is unable to remove the flame. Clarke then says that she considers Madi as her child and she would never want Madi to die like all those other commanders. That's why she will do anything to make sure Madi doesn't become a commander. On arriving at the Shallow Valley, Madi and Clarke are surprised to find McCreary has taken over from Diyoza and he's now killing the defectors. They ambush one of McCreary's people and force him to tell them where Abby is. After that, Madi kills him immediately to cover their tracks. She and Clarke go to the gas station/medical facility where they find Abby laying on the floor, unconscious because of overdosing.

In The Dark Year, Madi and Clarke are helping Abby regain consciousness when McCreary comes into the gas station. To Madi's disappointment, Clarke quickly tells McCreary all of Wonkru's strategy and makes a deal with him to let them stay. Madi confronts Clarke for betraying Octavia and teaming up with a dangerous murderer. When Clarke insists that she did it to keep her and Madi alive, Madi argues that they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. After learning that Abby was in fact the one responsible for what Octavia has become, Madi aggressively defends Octavia in front of Clarke. She tells Clarke that Octavia bore all that burden so that her people didn't have to - just like Clarke did at Mount Weather. Clarke is shocked that Madi knows about Mount Weather, thanks to the Flame. Madi then calls Clarke out for not telling her everything and pretending to be the hero. She tells Clarke that she is ashamed of her.

In Damocles (Part 1), McCreary's people start killing Wonkru as they march through the gorge into the valley. Madi can't bear listening to her people getting killed. She sneaks out to the rover so that she can help them; but she's apprehended by Clarke. Clarke tries to remove the flame from Madi by saying "ascende superius" only to find out that Madi has changed the activation phrase. She asks Clarke to let her go because she's the commander and her people are dying. Clarke refuses and instead puts a collar on Madi to shock her whenever she tries to escape. Later that night while Madi is sleeping, Echo, Raven and Shaw sneak in and ask Madi to come help them by leading her people. Madi readily accepts and asks Raven to remove the collar before Clarke finds them. However, Clarke walks in and points a gun at Raven, asking her to leave Madi alone. Raven lets Madi go to Clarke but Madi immediately knocks Clarke's gun down, giving Spacekru the upper hand. Raven turns off Madi's collar while Echo is beating Clarke. Madi asks them to leave Clarke alive if they want her to come with them. Before Madi can escape with them, McCreary and his men walks in and captures Raven and Shaw, leaving Clarke to interrogate Echo.

While talking to Echo, Clarke blames Bellamy for putting the flame on Madi but Madi says she took it willingly. Clarke calls Madi brave but reckless. Madi starts begging Clarke to let her do this. She tells Clarke that she loves her and reveals that contrary to what other commanders say, Lexa doesn't believe love is weakness. She says that Lexa keeps showing her the memory of when she left Clarke at Mount Weather. Clarke uses that to justify her betrayal since Lexa made a deal with the enemy as well. But Madi explains that Lexa is showing her that memory because it's her biggest regret and she doesn't want Clarke to make the same mistake. With this, Madi helps Clarke realize that she's been wrong all along. Clarke agrees to let Madi go with Echo while she goes to save Shaw and Raven. Madi wants Clarke to come with them but Clarke assures her that they will meet again. Madi goes with Echo to meet up with Murphy and Emori. She drives the rover while Murphy and Emori fire bullets into the air. Together, they rescue Octavia, Bellamy, Indra and Gaia from the gorge. Madi drives the rover and heads towards Wonkru's tents, ready to lead them to war.

In Damocles (Part 2), Madi and her crew arrive at the tents and find Wonkru desperate for a leader. After stepping out of the rover, Octavia takes out her sword and heads towards Madi. Bellamy and Echo try to block her but Madi orders them to let Octavia through. On approaching Madi, Octavia lifts her sword and sticks it onto the ground. Octavia kneels down before Madi, acknowledging her as the Commander. This leads the rest of Wonkru to kneel down before their new Heda, Madi.

After that, Madi starts checking in on the injured. While she's tending to Gaia, some Wonkru members start expressing their desperate need to get to Abby in order to treat the injured. Madi is in a dilemma because she doesn't want to lead her people to another massacre. At that point, Gaia advises her to listen to the commanders. Gaia puts her hand on Madi's face and asks her to close her eyes. The commanders show Madi the plan. The strategy is to have a few people lead the way in the rover and use their machine guns and weapons to take down McCreary's cannons. Once McCreary's men are out of weapons, Wonkru would then swoop in. Madi's plan works perfectly. Outnumbered and out of firepower, McCreary's group surrender. Madi wants to kill them but Bellamy advises her that they surrendered and it is time to end the cycle of war. She agrees to keep them alive and give them a chance to prove that they're worth it.

Before celebrating their victory, Madi learns from Raven that McCreary has launched the deadly "Hythylodium" fuel, to destroy the valley. Madi must quickly lead her people into the transport ship so that they can escape before the hythylodium tanks hit the ground. On getting to the ship, Madi is beyond thrilled to be reunited with Clarke. While waiting for her people to get in, Madi convinces Bellamy to forgive Clarke's betrayal. Later, after successfully escaping the Damocles Event, they went on board the Eligius IV. On learning that cryogenic sleep is the only way to survive until Earth is habitable again, Madi authorizes the plan. Clarke comes to talk to Madi before putting her to sleep. Madi's cryogenic chamber reveals that she is entered into the system as Madi Griffin.


 * -| Season Six =

In Sanctum, Clarke chooses to keep Madi in cryostasis until they've ensured that the "new planet" is safe.

However, in Red Sun Rising, Madi is woken up by Raven and Diyoza when they need her help to take down the intruders who hijacked their ships. Madi hides in the vents and swoops in to save Raven and Diyoza when their plan to trick the intruders fails. She fatally shoots Faye one of the intruders and notices that she's a nightblood. After that, Madi asks about Clarke's whereabouts. When Raven flies some of the leaders to the ground, Madi wants to come with them but Abby forces her to stay behind for her safety. She then trains with Gaia.

In The Children of Gabriel, Madi is sitting outside the transport ship with her Flamekeeper, Gaia who is helping her learn how to control the commanders' voices inside her head. She tells Gaia that there's one commander that scares her and Gaia advises her to avoid listening to him because he is Sheidheda - the dark commander. Suddenly, a group of people calling themselves the Children of Gabriel approaches from the bushes and shoots Madi, Gaia and Diyoza with paralytic darts. They lie down paralyzed while the Children of Gabriel steal their guns. Diyoza reveals to Madi that she's not actually paralyzed and asked Madi to blink to her how many people are on the scene. Before Diyoza's move, Octavia arrives and kills all the remaining Children of Gabriel at the spot. Octavia's friends led by Bellamy arrive to take them and the ship to the Sanctum settlement where Russell Lightbourne welcomes them. However, when Madi mentions Diyoza's name, Russell kicks Diyoza out because they know her as one of the worst terrorists in history.

In The Face Behind the Glass, Madi tells Clarke that she loves it in Sanctum and says that she would like to go to school and have a normal life like other kids. However, Clarke refuses to let her go to school because it could risk exposing Madi as a Royal Blood (Nightblood). Clarke also mentions that Gaia told her about Madi hearing voices from Sheidheda - the dark commander. She cautions her to be careful and suggests that they might have to remove the Flame, if it helps her stay safe. Madi agrees and leaves to join the rest with Delilah's naming day celebrations.

In The Gospel of Josephine, Madi is surprised when Josephine, posing as Clarke allows her to go to school. She happily starts attending school, but is soon taken back home by Gaia after figuring out that she is in danger of being used by the Primes as a host once they figure out she's a nightblood. Madi begins to question why "Clarke" suddenly changed her mind.

In Memento Mori, Madi is communing with the other commanders including Sheidheda. Gaia mentions to Josephine (pretending to be Clarke) that Sheidheda is getting too strong and they need to perform the Separation Ritual to stop him. Josie ignores Gaia's advice and wakes Madi up abruptly. After that, Madi starts seeing the Dark Commander whenever she looks in the mirror. She becomes terrified and screams out loud, attracting Gaia's attention. Gaia tells her that they must perform the Separation Ritual right away in order to call upon the other commanders to stop Sheidheda. During the ritual, Madi finds herself in a room with no one but the Sheidheda. Sheidheda tells Madi that Gaia is lying to her in order to restrict her. He tells her that his own teacher used to control him too; so, he killed him. He urges Madi to kill Gaia. Madi refuses and wakes up.

Later on, Madi learns from Bellamy that the Primes killed Clarke and used her body as a host for Josephine. After learning that Clarke, Madi goes back to her room, and Gaia follows her. Sheidheda convinces Madi that Gaia is to blame for Clarke's death. He asks Madi to kill Gaia but Madi banishes her instead. Taking advantage of Madi's anger and grieve, Sheidheda asks her to kill everyone.

In The Old Man and the Anomaly, after learning that Clarke is alive inside Josie's brain, Madi suggests killing the Primes and taking over Sanctum. She proposes a plan that involves killing Miranda Prime. The other Primes would suspect the Children of Gabriel; and when they're gathered together, Madi and her friends would swoop in and kill all the Primes. Bellamy disagrees and questions whether it was Madi's idea or Sheidheda's. Echo agrees with Madi, but warns that they might have to kill any other Sanctum Citizens who come after them. When Jordan questions her plan, she pulls a rank on him, saying that she is the Commander. Under Sheidheda's influence, Madi goes rogue to execute her plan by killing Miranda. As everyone gathers around, she pulls a knife ready to stab Priya but Jordan stands in her way, hoping to save Delilah. In the confusion, Madi accidentally stabs Jordan.

Personality
She is an energetic girl, shouting and jumping at the spaceship. She finds lessons exhausting but is generally obedient to Clarke. Madi is shown to deeply care about Clarke, trying to help her against the Eligius prisoners multiple times. Madi is at first cautious about killing the Eligius prisoners, but she is well trained in combat. She is fierce and objects when Clarke tries to hide and protect her. She easily trusts Bellamy and the other Skaikru. She sees Octavia as her hero and was very excited to meet her. She wants to impress Octavia and goes to her regardless of Clarke's objections. Madi is also shown to be forgiving – she offers Ethan a hand after beating him even though he previously mocked her.

Physical Appearance
Madi has pale skin, braided dark brown hair and blue-green eyes. She is seen wearing Grounder clothing.

Clarke Griffin
Madi and Clarke have a figurative mother-daughter relationship. They have a strong bond and both acknowledge that they love each other. They lived together for six years on the ground, isolated from all other humans. During this time, Clarke told Madi stories of her friends and the pair shared a home and many meals. Clarke acts like a mother towards Madi and is willing to protect Madi regardless of costs. During season 5, Clarke lied towards a lot of people, including allies, to protect Madi. She told everyone that Madi was made a Nightblood by a bone marrow transfer instead of the truth, that Madi has been born a Nightblood. Though Madi defies Clarke a few times during the season, as normal teens do against their parents, she also cares deeply about Clarke and is willing to take the Flame in an effort to save Clarke's life.

Quotes

 * -| Season Five=
 * Madi Griffin: "Die Flamekeeper!"
 * — Eden


 * Madi Griffin: “Put the gun down Joroum. You are Joroum from Sangedakru, son of Lisbeth from Sangedakru. You served with honor, as the royal guard of Lexa kom Trikru, you believed in her, now believe in me.”
 * — Sic Semper Tyrannis


 * Madi Griffin: “That's right, I did it because I love you.”
 * Clarke Griffin: “I thought love was weakness. Isn't that what the commanders in your head tell you?”
 * Madi Griffin: “Yes...all but one.”
 * — Damocles (Part 1)


 * -| Season Six=
 * Madi Griffin: "First, tell me what happened to Clarke."
 * — Red Sun Rising

Killed Victims

 * Eligius prisoner Baines
 * Eligius prisoner Falk
 * Eligius prisoner Harris
 * Eligius prisoner Nash
 * Faye
 * Miranda's boyfriend
 * Miranda Mason's latest host

Notes and Trivia

 * Madi met Clarke 58 days after the second Praimfaya.
 * Madi has been living with Clarke for over five years in 2156.
 * Madi is Clarke's foster daughter.
 * Jason Rothenberg hinted that Madi was Clarke's reason to live after Praimfaya.
 * In the Season Five Comic-Con trailer, Madi retells the story of the 100's history. She called the delinquents "bad children" and their adversaries—which included Grounders, Mountain Men, A.L.I.E., and the death wave—"monsters".
 * Madi is the third character to have been recast. The first was Council Member #1 and the second was Ethan Hardy.
 * Imogen Tear announced on her Twitter that she would appear in the Season Four finale as Madi a few days before the episode aired.
 * Lola Flanery tweeted a video of the Comic Con season 5 promo, with the caption "Want me to tell you a story?" On August 15, 2017, it was confirmed that she was recast as Madi for Season Five.
 * Madi's name is misspelled as "Maddie" in the credits of the episode "Praimfaya".
 * Madi and Gaia are the only characters that were introduced in Season Four who are known to be still alive.
 * It was revealed in "Damocles (Part 2)" that Clarke's last name, "Griffin", was given to Madi which was shown on the screen as she was put into cryosleep.
 * She is the first Commander whose region isn't Earth since after the Damocles bomb, the survivors left Earth for a new habitable world.
 * Chronologically, Madi is 137 years old, making her the oldest known Commander.
 * She is chronologically older than Jordan Green but younger biologically.
 * She is named after Madison, Wisconsin, US.

Gallery

 * -|Season Four=