Talk:Aden/@comment-24.229.103.142-20160209142325/@comment-27794543-20160214071022

Given the most recent episode, "Watch the Thrones", it would seem that "nightblood" literally means having dark blood (black or really dark red).

My guess is that it's a mutation. We've already seen other mutations, like in Emori. While most mutations are seen in a negative light, it would seem like nightblood is not. There have been real cases with humans with blueish or greenish blood, so why can't sci-fi have dark blood.

In the second season Lexa tells Clarke that Grounders believe in resurrection and the next Commander will be (kinda) a resurrection of her. In "Watch the Thrones", it was revealed that the 1st Commander was a nightblood. It would seem that Grounders believe that since the 1st Commander was a nightblood, any resurrection of a Commander must also be a nightblood.

Being a nightblood may just be a mutation with no real advantage – just coincidence that the first Commander was one. Or the mutation may be linked with certain advantages that make nightbloods better warriors or leaders. Genetic studies have already show that endurance runners are more likely to have a certain gene than non-endurance runners. So it's plausible that a mutation may have an advantage.