The 100: The 5 Best Things Clarke Has Done (& 5 Worst Wanheda Did)
Living in a post-apocalyptic world requires making difficult decisions to survive, and the characters of The 100 know that better than anyone. Each major player on the show has had their share of wins and mistakes, and as the series' lead, Clarke Griffin has repeatedly experienced both -- sometimes in the course of just a few episodes.
There's no denying that Clarke is a ruthless leader when she needs to be, and that's part of what earned her the name "Wanheda," the Commander of Death. But Clarke's leadership has also undoubtedly done much good for the people she surrounds herself with. These are the five best things Clarke has ever done (& the five worst Wanheda has).
10 Best: Brokered Peace With The Grounders
Skaikru and the Grounders had a tumultuous relationship with one another for the first few seasons of The 100, mostly due to misunderstandings that led to bloodshed on both sides. Clarke put herself at risk and made major sacrifices to build a bridge between her people and the Grounders, and the peace she brought about has lasted -- however shakily -- all the way through season seven.
Clarke even sacrificed the life of the boy she loved to ensure her people had a chance at peace, and it's clear she did the right thing, however difficult it was in the moment.
9 Worst: Burned The Grounders Alive
Of course, before Clarke was able to broker a peace with the Grounders, she and her friends went to war with them -- an the results weren't pretty. During the season one finale, Clarke came up with a plan to keep the attacking Grounders at bay while the delinquents hid on their ship. Unfortunately, that plan involved burning hundreds of Grounders alive.
Although it's clear that Clarke would have preferred to work things out diplomatically -- and that she had little other choice to save her people -- this decision is one that haunts her and her relationship with Lexa's people for some time, and rightfully so.
8 Best: Helped Make Skaikru The 13th Clan
It's one thing to call a truce with the Grounders, but it's quite another to become them. Despite the tensions between Skaikru and the Grounder clans, even after their peace treaty, Clarke agreed to bow to Lexa and make her people the 13th clan.
This served as a way to prolong the peace between the Grounders and her people and allowed them to live together in harmony down the line. It was a good call, despite the backlash Clarke received at the time.
7 Worst: Pulled The Lever At Mount Weather
Just as the end of season one saw Clarke killing hundreds of Grounders to save her people, the finale of the second season showed her facing a similar choice: kill everyone in Mount Weather or watch her own people be wiped out.
Clarke made the decision to protect her people, whatever the cost, and it led to the end of many innocent lives. Again, Clarke had little choice if she wanted her people to survive, but her actions at Mount Weather are arguably the worst in the entire series. (They're also what earned her the title "Wanheda" in the first place.)
6 Best: Stopped Becca
Most of Clarke's decisions stem from her desire to save her people, but in season four, Clarke is tasked with saving all people -- even her enemies. When Becca Pramheda began brainwashing people in the City of Light, Clarke put the Flame in her own head to stop it.
Not only did Clarke nearly kill herself trying right Becca's wrongs, but she also chose free will over a painless end to the human race. Her decision here saved humanity in the long run, proving it was the right thing to do.
5 Worst: Tried To Steal The Bunker
Following the news that the world would end soon -- again -- Clarke and the rest of the people residing on Earth were left to figure out how they could save humanity from the impending Death Wave. They discovered an underground bunker that could save thousands, but naturally, none of the clans could come to an agreement about how to share it.
While the Grounders planned a Conclave to decide who would wait out the radiation in the bunker, Clarke made a morally questionable decision, stealing the bunker for her own people. It was messed up, particularly since so many of her friends were on the outside when she and Jaha took over, but thankfully she realized the error of her ways before it was too late.
4 Best: Stayed Behind To Get Her Friends To Space
Despite Clarke's best efforts to ensure the people she cared about were safe in the underground bunker, she and several of her friends got stuck outside when the Death Wave arrived. The group came up with a plan to return to space and live on the Ark until Earth was survivable again, but that plan required Clarke to manually get the nearby satellite working.
Unfortunately, that endeavor took longer than Clarke or her friends anticipated, forcing the former to stay behind and fix the satellite dish while her friends took off for space. Clarke was willing to die to save them, and that showed the best of her.
3 Worst: Backed Diyoza Against Wonkru
Luckily, Clarke managed to survive the Death Wave and the years that followed, but spending six years away from Bellamy, Octavia, and the rest of her friends noticeably impacted their relationships. When they reunited, tensions mounted between Clarke and Octavia, especially when Octavia realized Clarke's adopted daughter might be a threat to her place as Commander.
It's understandable that Clarke and Madi fled from Wonkru for their safety, but Clarke's willingness to help Diyoza and the Eligius prisoners defeat her former friends is still jarring.
2 Best: Let Madi Save Wonkru
Clarke may decide to back Diyoza's troops without hesitation at first, but Madi makes it known that she's against betraying Wonkru. And when Clarke's former friends show up to retrieve Madi, she eventually lets the girl claim her rightful place as Commander, something that saves the Grounders and Skaikru in the end.
Had Clarke failed to make this decision, it's possible Diyoza would have wiped out her friends completely. That's something she wouldn't have been able to live with, so it's good she came to see reason. (Not to mention Madi's arrival ended Octavia's reign, which was probably for the better.)
1 Worst: Brought War To Sanctum
Now that season six has ended, fans know the people of Sanctum were being brainwashed and manipulated -- but there's no denying they were living in peace this way. When Clarke and her friends arrived, that all changed. And even if they didn't intend to, their presence altered the lives of the Primes and their followers for the worse.
It's a harsh realization that Clarke was both indirectly, and in some ways directly, responsible for bringing violence to yet another group of people -- especially after Monty begged her and the others to do better.