The Second Culling (Sky People)

This article is about the Second Culling. You may be looking for the First Culling.

The Second Culling
Type	Murder/Population reduction
Location	Second Dawn Bunker
Season	Four
Episode	The Chosen
Participants	364 Sky People (victims) Kane and Jaha (perpetrators) Octavia Blake (indirectly, ordered to get out)

“	This is how we save our people.	”
— Marcus Kane to Thelonious Jaha after they gassed the bunker.

The Second Culling was an event within the Second Dawn Bunker to reduce the Sky People's population. This was necessary because there were over four times as many Sky People within the bunker than the number of spots they were given.

Background

After Thelonious Jaha discovered the Second Dawn Bunker with Monty Green's and Gaia's assistance, there was a disagreement on whose people should get to use it since it can only support 1,200 people for five years. The clans agreed to hold a Final Conclave, where the victor will determine who gets to use the bunker.

In "Die All, Die Merrily", when Luna announced that she was going to compete in the Conclave, Clarke Griffin and Jaha improvised a plan to secure the bunker for the Sky People. They feared that Luna would win the Conclave and the bunker would remain unused. While everyone else was paying attention to the fighting, they secretly moved all the Sky People into the bunker. An unidentified Sky Person knocked Bellamy Blake out and brought him inside as well.

Octavia Blake ended up winning the Conclave and she declared that all the clans are "Wonkru". She decided that each of the twelve clans, including the Sky People, will get a hundred spots within the bunker. However, by that time, approximately 459 Sky People (plus Emori and Niylah) were already sealed inside, with only Octavia and Marcus Kane (plus a few Sky People who were not in Polis at that time) left outside.

In "The Other Side", after waking up in the bunker, Bellamy is angry that they did not wait for the Conclave's results. Jaha argues that "If only one clan could survive, it might as well be ours." Bellamy believes Octavia could have won and is desperate to know the results. After Clarke reveals the communication console, Bellamy gets a hold of Octavia. She reveals that she did won but she decided to share the bunker. She and Kane are stalling the Grounders but fear that they will realize something is wrong soon. Bellamy wants to open the doors immediately, but Jaha says they can not since right now their people are safe. Bellamy responds that the only way that they can stop him from opening the door is by killing him. Jaha then cues Nathan Miller to shock Bellamy and locks Bellamy in the turbine room.

Later, Clarke asks Murphy to guard Bellamy. Murphy goes to the turbine room and sees that Bellamy's wrists are bleeding due to him trying to escape. Murphy talks to Bellamy and Bellamy tries to convince him to set him free, but Murphy ends up leaving the room and Bellamy screams in anger. Later, Abby Griffin comes down to aid Bellamy's wrists and Bellamy convinces her to help him escape. A little later, Murphy comes inside to check on Bellamy, only to be injected and knocked out by Abby.

Bellamy runs to the bunker entrance door, and simultaneously, Clarke realizes that Bellamy escaped and rushes towards the bunker entrance. When Bellamy is about to open the door, Clarke aims a handgun at him and tells him not to open the door. Bellamy refuses and Clarke fires a warning shot to show she was being serious. Bellamy says that the only way to stop him is to shoot him. Clarke shakingly aims her gun at Bellamy but then gives up and lowers the gun. Bellamy proceeds to open the door and go outside where he finds Octavia and Indra waiting. Bellamy hugs Octavia and tells her that he loves her and, Octavia says "I knew you could do it."

With the doors open, 1,100 Grounders come inside. This however meant that there was no longer enough room for all of the Sky People.

Event

Although they were originally allocated 100 spots within the bunker, the Sky People were left with one less spot after Octavia gave Niylah, a Grounder, one of the Sky People's spots. With less than 24 hours until the second nuclear apocalypse, Jaha, Kane, and Abby struggled to choose the 99 people to fill the Sky People's quota within the bunker. Kane thought a lottery was the best option. Jaha disagreed and argued that people would riot since they believed themselves to already have been safe within the bunker. However, Kane refused to start a war with the Grounders.

Afterwards, Sky People lined up outside the office to enter the lottery. They would each enter and place a piece of paper with their name into a bowl. David Miller wrote his son's name instead of his own, to give his son a second chance to win a spot. Outside the office, Hardy asked Jaha to take care of his son if his name was not picked. Instead, Jaha told him that they should fight for their spot, and they made a plan.

Later, everyone gathered around as Kane started drawing names. After a few names were called, Kane noticed Jaha secretly going somewhere, so he asked Jackson to take over. Kane followed Jaha to a supply room where he finds Jaha packing gas grenades. Kane attempted to convince Jaha to stop, but in the main room Hardy started a riot. To prevent a bloodbath, Kane and Jaha use the gas on their own people.

The Grounders, led by Octavia and Indra, entered the room, prepared to kill the rioters, only to be shocked to find the Sky People unconscious. Kane and Jaha then have to decide who gets to stay. They decide to use Clarke's list (written in "The Four Horsemen"), saying "It was always our best chance for survival." With help from the Grounders, they sort through the unconscious people, leaving the chosen inside while the rest are removed from the bunker.

Aftermath

The aftermath of the Second Culling leaves a huge emotional impact on the remaining Sky People, which causes them to hold a grudge on Octavia Blake, whom they blame for the deaths of their loved ones. As a result, Kara Cooper leads a coup, which Octavia quells by herself. 

On Eligius IV, Abby mentions that the Sky People in the mess hall have lost their loved ones in Praimfaya, which implies that they hate and blame Octavia for the Second Culling. Even when Octavia gets into a fistfight with James Crockett in the mess hall, the Sky People beat up Octavia for killing their loved ones in the Second Culling.

Victims

Assuming that Sky People were not given extra spots, then 357 to 364 Sky People were culled. They included:

• David Miller
• Geoff Hardy
• Bryan
• Pei Chao
• Sonya Hassler
• Paula Sevaga
• Doug McCrae
• Kara Cooper's husband

Notes and Trivia

• There were at least six names drawn in the lottery before Hardy terminated it. They were Pei Chao, Sonya Hassler, Nate Miller, Kimberly Ginsberg, Paula Sevaga, and Doug McCrae.
  • However, since Clarke's list ended up being used instead, four of them were presumably culled. Those four are Pei Chao, Sonya Hassler, Paula Sevaga, and Doug McCrae.
  • Kim Ginsburg was on Clarke's list and presumably survived.
  • Even though Nathan Miller was not on Clarke's list, he was not culled. Kane told the Grounders (who were removing people from the bunker) that he stays.
• While Clarke's list was used to determine who was saved, there were some changes.
  • At least seven people got spots who were not on Clarke's list. They were: Kane, Nathan, Ethan, Niylah, Costa, Kara Cooper, and Macallan. Niylah was saved by Octavia's order. The rest were saved by Kane's and Jaha's decisions.
    • Clarke's full list was displayed at Unity Day 2018 fan convention. The majority of the list was not seen during the actual series, giving the crew some leeway. So while the seven people were not on the prop list, it is possible the prop was inaccurate.
    • When the lottery was being used, all the children under 16 were guaranteed spots. After they switched to using Clarke's list, Kane told the Grounders who were removing people from the bunker that all the children stay. It is unknown how many children there were and how many of them were not on Clarke's list.
    • Jason Rothenberg revealed that Macallan is still alive at the 2018 New York Comic Con, but the character has not been seen since Season Three.
  • Clarke, Bellamy, and Raven, who were on the list, were not in the bunker at the time of the culling, but it is unknown if their spots were still being saved.
  • At least 33 Sky People died after the list was written but before the culling. Since there were approximately 500 Sky People at the time the list was written, that is approximately 7 dead per 100 people. If the list follows the same ratio, that would mean approximately 7 people on the list would have already been dead, which would have freed up spots.