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Anaconda is the eighth episode of the seventh season of The 100. It is the ninety-second episode of the series overall.

THE PAST – Clarke confronts a new adversary. A surprising connection takes us back to the past and the nuclear apocalypse that destroyed the Earth.

Plot[]

On Bardo, Clarke meets the Shepherd, who is indeed Bill Cadogan of the Second Dawn. She recognizes him from Jaha's tablet shown to her in "The Four Horsemen". He understands Trigedasleng because it was created by his daughter Calliope. Gabriel explains to Clarke that "the key" is the the AI in her head. This is interesting because Gabriel knows that the Flame is no longer in Clarke's head, suggesting that the people on Bardo are not aware of its whereabouts.

Most of the episode is a flashback to the early days in the Second Dawn Bunker. Bill Cadogan's daughter, Callie, is on a video call with Cadogan when it is revealed that the bombs are in the air with the codeword 'Anaconda', hence the episode name. Callie and her mother, Grace, head off to the Second Dawn bunker, leaving behind Callie's friend Lucy because she is not a level 12 in the Second Dawn.

Once arriving in the bunker, Callie learns that there is room for more people. She and another boy, August, attempt to open up the bunker to let more people in, but are stopped by Reese, Callie's brother, and Tristan, a loyal cultist.

In the Cadogans' quarters, Bill reveals the Anomaly Stone, which he stole from Machu Picchu and believes will allow him to save the human race. He has supposedly tried over a million combinations but has failed to get the seven correct symbols.

2 years later, Callie and Reese are scavenging on the ground with radiation suits when they spot Becca Franko's escape pod from her spaceship, Polaris. She says she is "here to help" and is invited inside the bunker once they see her breathing the irradiated Earth's air. Tristan is exposed to radiation and Becca secretly gives him Nightblood serum, known only to Callie. When the door to the Cadogans' quarters is opened, Becca hears ultrasonic frequencies coming from the stone. She is able to detect which symbols are the correct ones to press by listening to the sounds. This allows her to activate the Anomaly Stone and open up a portal in the Cadogans' quarters. Bill is immediately intrigued, but Becca suggests that they do the science to determine whether it will be habitable on the other side. In the meantime, she wants to distribute nightblood serum to the bunker so they can all live on the ground, but Cadogan refuses, presumably wanting to continue his reign as their hero.

Callie later finds Becca working on the stone in the Cadogans' quarters. Becca now presses the symbols that were silent, allowing to her activate the stone in a new way. The stone levitates higher in the air and glow white. She is absorbed by it and returns, shivering, once Cadogan has entered the room. She claims to have seen a sort of "judgement day" that they are not yet ready for, refusing to share the code she used with Cadogan. She pleads for the stone to be shut down but Cadogan imprisons her until she agrees to share the code. 

Callie visits Becca and is told that she will have to retrieve the AI from Becca's neck. Becca gives her the codeword to remove it, "goodbye for now (in Latin)". Becca tells her to find a new bearer of the Flame who has a good mind and heart and has the Nightblood, beggining the tradition of the Commanders. Becca calls the AI the Flame and Callie essentially becomes the first Flamekeeper . Becca is dragged away and burned at the stake by Reese and several loyal members of the cult, but the Flame survives.

Callie has turned enough of the Bunker to her side by offering Nightblood that she can lead a revolt. She challenges Reese to a fight where the winner takes the Flame. She shoots her brother in the shoulder, grabs the Flame, and gives Reese the Nightblood serum, telling him where to find her on the ground. She and her allies retreat through the hatch in the bunker and are able to live on the surface while her mother, who didn't take the serum, is banished for helping them. However, Grace dons a radiation suit and presumably goes after the group. Callie lights a fire to attract other survivors, who she has enough Nightblood serum to treat 2,000 more people of.

Despite not being able to unlock the stone's true power, likely what Anders later refers to as Transcendence, Cadogan leads the remaining cultists in the bunker, now calling themselves the Disciples, into the portal, presuambly leading them to Bardo.

Back on Bardo in the present time, Clarke tells Bill Cadogan that Calliope is still alive in the Flame. This is potentially a lie, as she does not have the Flame in her head, and could potentially be using this false information as leverage. She refuses to tell Cadogan how the Flame works until she can see her friends. Octavia, Diyoza, and Echo step out of Disciple suits from behind Cadogan to Clarke's astonishment.

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

  • Nicole Muñoz as Lucy
  • Christin Park as Eriko
  • Kathleen Duborg as August’s mom
  • Chris Robson as August’s dad
  • Theresa Wong as Eriko’s mom
  • C. Douglas Quan as Eriko’s dad
  • Stephanie Izsak as Hayden
  • Yee Jee Tso as Cameron
  • Donia Kash as Female Cipher Tech
  • Alan Mak as Male Cipher Tech
  • Wonser De-Gbon as Female Tech
  • Xander Hall as Unit Guard
  • Heather Feeney as Night Nurse
  • Shawn Macdonald as Ragged Man
  • Otto Szabo as Person Watching
  • Kenya Jordan as Singer
  • Benjamin Kim as Drummer #1
  • Alexa Berard as Guitarist #2
  • Peter Robinson as Musician #3
  • Paul Kinman as Musician #4

Quotes[]

Bill Cadogan: "I'm coming in alone... Unarmed."
Raven Reyes: "Who are you?"
Bill Cadogan: "They call me the Shepherd, but you can call me Bill. You have me. Now let my people go."
Clarke Griffin: "It's ok. (the other Disciples leave) I've seen you before."
Bill Cadogan: "Then you must be Clarke."
Clarke Griffin: "I know why the Second Dawn logo was on that burial shroud."
Bill Cadogan: "Burial shroud. Then you were on Nakara. That explains the smell."
Clarke Griffin: "How the hell are you here?"
Bill Cadogan: "That's a very long story."
Niylah (in Trigedasleng): "Clarke, who is he?"
Clarke Griffin (in Trigedasleng): The bunker you lived in for six years... this is the crazy cult leader who built it."
Bill Cadogan: "We weren't a cult. We were a collective of great minds dedicated to the continuation of our species."
Niylah (in Trigedasleng): "How did you understand that?"
Bill Cadogan: "Slower, please. Um... It's been so long. It sounds different. My God. If her language survived, then that must mean... Is my daughter in the Key?"
Jordan Green: "Is your daughter in where?"
Gabriel Santiago: "The AI in Clarke's head. What you call the Flame, they call the Key."
Bill Cadogan: "Becca said that it would merge with a human mind."
Raven Reyes: "Becca?"
Clarke Griffin: "Yes. He burned her at the stake."
Bill Cadogan: "Did Callie tell you that? You recognized my face, you know things that you couldn't know. You speak a language that she made up as a child. Calliope?"
Grace Cadogan: "As we speak, there are people with connections all over the world scrambling for bunkers."
Callie Cadogan (in Trigedasleng) "Your fight is over."
Callie Cadogan: "Space ball, 2 million and 2. Cultural artifact thief, nothing."
Callie Cadogan: "Ok. The scar on your neck. My guess, it's from a neural implant. Knowing your work with machine intelligence, I'd say there's an AI on it. Somehow, it heightened your senses, allowing you to hear the space ball, doing in 10 seconds something my dad couldn't do in 12 years. How am I doing so far?"
Becca Franko: "More than adequate. The, uh, AI is my penance."
Callie Cadogan: "Penance? For what?"
Becca Franko: "In time. The program's name is A.L.I.E. 2, but I like to call it the Flame. It's, uh, an homage to --"
Callie Cadogan: "Prometheus, stealing fire from the gods? Cool."
Bill Cadogan "Where did you go?"
Becca Franko: "We're not ready. I have to shut it down."
Bill Cadogan: "What are you talking about?"
Becca Franko: "If you saw what I saw, you would let me shut it down."
Bill Cadogan: "Tell me what you saw and I might."
Becca Franko: "Judgment Day."
Bill Cadogan: "Judgment Day came and went and we're still here."
Becca Franko: "Because that wasn't Judgment Day. Please you have to trust me and know that none of us is ready for this."
Bill Cadogan: "I am."
Becca Franco: "Especially not you."
Callie Cadogan: "Dad, I think she came to you for a reason. It wasn't to open a bridge to another world, it was to help us remake this one."
Bill Cadogan: "I will save us, not her. Now get out."
Becca Franko: "There's more you need to know. Okay, without the blood alterations, the Flame will liquify the nervous system of the host rather than merge with it.
Callie Cadogan: "That would be bad."
Becca Franko: "Not as bad as what happens if it merges with the wrong nervous system. That's why you must choose wisely."
Callie Cadogan: "I must?"
Becca Franko: "Yes. I designed it to amplify what is already there and in the right mind I believe with all my heart that it can save the world. But with all that power in the wrong mind... You can't tell them the passphrase."
Callie Cadogan: "If I don't, they'll kill you."
Becca Franko: "I will be in the Flame. Get it back. Keep it safe. Promise me."
Callie Cadogan: (takes the Flame from Reese's hand) "I got you, Becca."
Grace Cadogan: "There's not enough of you to survive on the ground."
Callie Cadogan: "There will be. We've got enough doses for 2,000 more. If they're out there, we'll find them."
Bill Cadogan: "Get me that AI. I don't care what you have to do."
August: "You're not worried the fire's gonna draw attention?"
Callie Cadogan: "I am. I'm also counting on it."
Bill Cadogan: "Please answer me. Is she in there?"
Clarke Griffin: "Yes. Calliope is in here. But that's not how it works."
Bill Cadogan: "How does it work? Tell me."
Clarke Griffin: "Well, you killed my best friend so I'm not sure I want to help you."
Bill Cadogan: "Please. I'll do anything."
Clarke Griffin: "Our other friends, bring them here now."
Bill Cadogan: "I want to help you, Clarke, but I can't give orders to men who are not here."
Clarke Griffin: "Gabriel, open the door." (Gabriel opens the door)
Bill Cadogan: "Weapons down, all of you. Send in their friends." (Octavia, Echo and Diyoza enter dressed in full Disciple suits)

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Marie Avgeropoulos, Tasya Teles, Ivana Milicevic and Neal McDonough all appear but do not speak.
  • This episode is a backdoor pilot for the prequel series that got cancelled.
    • Jason Rothenberg stated that if the series got picked up, the prequel series would have been called “The 100: Second Dawn”.[1]
  • This is seventh episode that Bellamy Blake did not appear.
  • Anaconda is the code word for "Missiles are in the air". Bill Cadogan tells this to Grace to warn her that the Nuclear Apocalypse has begun.
  • The Key is revealed to be the Flame and Trigedasleng was created by Callie Cadogan as a child. Clarke appears to have been so important to the Disciples as she was known to have the Flame at one point. She claims that Callie's mind still exists, but doesn't elaborate as she is disinclined to help Cadogan.
    • In "Welcome to Bardo," the last memory of Octavia's seen in the M-Cap before her escape was Clarke using the Flame to destroy A.L.I.E., likely explaining their belief that Clarke has it.
  • The destruction of Washington, DC during the Nuclear Apocalypse is shown in a flashback as is the destruction of Baltimore.
  • The Anomaly Stone on Earth was discovered by Bill Cadogan in a hidden observatory beneath the Temple of the Sun in South America's Machu Picchu and was subsequently stolen by him.
  • 1,104 people made it into the Second Dawn Bunker when the Nuclear Apocalypse occurred, 92% of the Level 12's slated to survive there.
  • The people who greeted Becca Franko in "Thirteen" are revealed to be a Second Dawn ground team that was scavenging in the ruins of Polis. The team included Tristan, Reese Cadogan and Callie Cadogan.
    • In "Thirteen," Titus identifies the people in the drawings with Becca when she comes to Earth as the First Nightbloods. This is shown to literally be true as at least three members of the team are some of the first people to receive the serum.
  • The Anomaly Stone code to Bardo was deciphered by Becca Franko with the help of the Flame.
    • The final symbol was the Infinity sign which Becca uses as the symbol for her company.
  • Nightblood is shown to be able to cure terminal radiation exposure if injected into a person afflicted with it.
  • Becca's notebook can be seen in the flashbacks and is mentioned to be what revealed the Flame's existence to the cult.
    • Becca is seen storing it in the Nightblood case, possibly explaining how it ended up in the hands of the Grounders if the cultists put it back after reading through it.
  • The name the Flame is revealed to have been chosen by Becca as an homage to Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and giving it to man.
  • The name Nightblood was chosen by August, a friend of Callie's.
  • Becca tells Callie that the Flame is the key to finding "the final code" and that once it is found, whatever is left of the human race will be wiped out in what she calls Judgment Day.
  • When Becca mentions Judgment Day, Bill Cadogan believes that she means the Nuclear Apocalypse. Judgment Day is what the Nuclear Apocalypse is called in the Terminator series which was also caused by a rogue AI.
  • Becca was killed by the Second Dawn in order to get the Flame as her notebook revealed that Becca's death would cause it to leave her.
  • The Second Dawn has a guard unit called the Disciples, the predecessor to the regime.
  • The Grounders are revealed to have been founded by Callie Cadogan and Second Dawn cultists she got to follow her and take Nightblood. Callie states that they have enough Nightblood for 2,000 more people when they find them.
  • It is revealed that Trikru's name is presumably inspired by the name of the environmentalist group "Tree Crew" that August and Callie Cadogan belonged to before the Nuclear Apocalypse. The symbol of Trikru appears on August's tattoo and Lucy's t-shirt. 
  • It is unclear how much information the Disciples got from Echo, Diyoza, and Octavia as the people on Bardo seem to be unaware of the fact that the Flame was passed to Madi.
    • It's highly possible that they didn't tell the Disciples about Madi having the Flame in order to protect her from them.
  • While Callie and Lucy are talking at the beginning of the flashback, its mentioned on TV that the "Wallace Administration" sent the riot police to suppress the Tree Crew protest. It was referring to the ancestor(s) of the Wallace family in Mount Weather.

Body Count[]

Behind the Scenes[]

  • This episode marks Eliza Taylor's 90th episode on The 100.
  • This episode has no cold opening and instead opens with the title sequence.
    • Beside "Pilot," this marks the first episode of The 100 that happened on the show.
  • The footage of the nuclear missiles crisscrossing the Earth is reused footage from "Thirteen" as is some of the footage of Becca's landing on Earth.
  • The news footage featuring Becca is made up of archive footage from "Thirteen" and "Nevermind."
  • Several minutes of footage was cut, including a scene in which Callie, Reese and Tristan went to a mall.

Multimedia[]

Music[]

  • The song Someday by Flipsyde starts playing when Lucy turns off the volume of the TV and turns on the music.
  • The song Into the Black by Chromatics is playing during the montage of Callie's faction leaving the bunker and the Disciples crossing to Bardo

Images[]

Video[]

See Also[]

References[]

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