Tear Jerker / The 100

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Season 1

Season 1

• "Earth Kills" has a plethora:
  • Clarke having to Mercy Kill one of those caught in the storm.
  • Her flashback of seeing her Father "floated" and coming to the realization that her mother was responsible.
  • The look on his face when he's executed. As first he's smiling at Clarke, and it looks like he's going to die with dignity, but then the airlock opens and his face transforms into a look of pain and fear for just an instant before he's unceremoniously vacuumed out.
    • Any scene with Clarke and her father, since we know what's going to happen.
  • Wells, a genuine Nice Guy, being killed because of his father "floated" one of The 100's parents.
    • What makes it worse is that both Wells and Clarke had reconciled, things was looking up for him and Clarke for a moment had her best friend and staunchest supporter back at her side.
    • And his killer? A little girl who was just trying to get rid of her recurring nightmare about her parents.
    • Who in the next episode commits suicide out of guilt.
  • Clarke, in a moment of (somewhat) drunken rage at Wells, tells him that if he were really her friend, he'd walk out into the acid fog and never come back. It's pretty sad to hear her talk like that, considering how much Clarke values the lives of others.
• "Murphy's Law"
  • Clarke, in a fit of anger at her mother, recklessly removes her wristband to make her Abigail believe she's dead. (Though also with the secondary purpose of letting Monty use it for communication.)
  • Clarke's rationalist mother going frantic when she thinks Clarke is dead.
  • All of the bracelets dying.
• When the Ark has to kill the over 300 people who volunteer by cutting off their oxygen in one area to buy more time for them to fix the failing air systems.
  • Especially when we as the audience know it's a Senseless Sacrifice, because the Earth is habitable.
  • It's both more heartwarming and more heartbreaking because they were all volunteers. When word got out that a sacrifice was necessary (it wasn't), hundreds of people showed up to die so that their loved ones could survive. The deaths are quiet and awful to watch- people holding on to each other or mementos of their families, and then the fans slow, and their heads begin to fall...
• "His Sister's Keeper":
  • After Octavia is rescued, she and Bellamy have a huge argument over which one of them is to blame for all of the bad stuff that has happened in their lives (which were the subject of the episode's flashbacks). It's capped off by his parting shot at her:
  Bellamy: My life ended the day you were born.
  • The way his voice cracks over saying "is she OK", when the guard comes to talk to him about Octavia.
  • Also he went onto that ship sure they were going to die. Why would he have gone?
  Guard: At least if you're there, Octavia won't be alone.
• "Contents Under Pressure":
  • Hoping to save Finn from the Grounder poison, Clarke gives Bellamy the green-light to torture the captured Grounder. Especially sad since she's normally the one who speaks out against descending into violence.
  • Seeing Kane who is driven to save humanity no matter the cost break down when he discovers that his impatience and self-appointed mission to keep life aboard the Ark sustainable helped lead to the unneeded deaths of over three hundred people is particularity saddening.
  • Jaha learning about his son's death. He nearly broke down.
    • And at the end of the episode, at the meeting, someone tells him that he doesn't deserve to share their pain, and he just EXPLODES. The look in his eyes is heartbreaking.
  Jaha: I LOST MY SON!
  • Also, Clarke tells her mother that she knows she had her dad floated. She yells at her in anger, breaking into tears. She tells him that Wells made her think he was the one who got her dad killed, because he didn't want her hating her mom. Her mother breaks into tears as well from the guilt. She says she never wanted any of that to happen, and that Jaha was supposed to talk her dad out of revealing the air shortage. Clarke doesn't want to talk to her anymore and shuts off the radio, leaving her mom to try to get back contact.
• "Unity Day":
  • After seeing Octavia hug Lincoln the dejected 'oh' Jasper makes is pretty sad. Seeing Octavia blame him for ruining their chances at peace with the grounders, even though the grounders had back-up aiming for them in the trees and Anya didn't look impressed with Clarke and Finn's reasoning for peace was also kinda sad.
  • The worst part was both sides showed up with protection for the same reason. Both the Grounders and the 100 came up with armed backup because they couldn't trust the other. And now despite the good intentions of Lincoln, Octavia and Finn, blood will be shed because someone thought it would be a good idea to gave Jasper (a former victim of the Grounders and already having issues with them due to that) an automatic rifle and a clear line of fire.
  • The drop ship meant to bring members of The Ark to Earth explodes in space, with hundreds of people onboard.
• Kane weeping, holds his dying mother and promises to plant their tree on Earth.
• "The Calm":
  • Clarke does everything in her power to save the Grounder girl who got caught in the explosion from The 100's bomb. She isn't able to, so Anya orders Finn executed.
• "We Are Grounders, Part 1":
  • Abbie doing everything she can to save a young woman who was critically wounded during the forced Exodus launch. Even though it seems pointless when everyone on the Ark could be dead in two days. It's only after she fails that she realizes that the that in reality she was trying to metaphorically save her daughter who she fears she will never see again or who will never forgive her.
  • Chancellor Jaha is drinking a vintage bottle of Scotch while looking over old recordings of Wells and Clarke preparing for Unity Day. It is equal parts heartwarming and tearjerker as we see that Wells and Clarke literally grew up together and see that Thelonius decided if he was going to die he was going to die looking at his son.
• "We Are Grounders, Part 2":
  • The Ark residents prepare for Earth Fall, however the remote detachment protocols fail. Needing someone to stay behind and manually launch the drop ship even if it means a slow death on the dying station. Cut to Marcus Kane getting up to do it.
    Kane: ( To Abby) " Salvation, comes at a price"
  • As he gets up to sacrifice himself, Abby squeezes his hand. Followed by other people in the dropship. A sign of solitary and thanks to a man who has walked the thin line between necessary monster and human being.
  • Then out of nowhere the Dropship detaches and starts to launch towards Earth surprising everyone on the Dropship. Then a voice comes over Abby's communication earpiece.
    Chancellor Jaha : " Godspeed my friends, God Speed."
    Abby : " Thelionius where are you ?"
  • Cut to Jaha in the Arks command room by himself , manually disengaging the Drop ship.
    Chancellor Jaha : Right where I'm supposed to be. Hold on tight Abby you'll see your daughter soon."
  • After he launches the makeshift Dropship to Earth he leans back in his command chair resigned to his fate. exhausted he looks up at the ceiling and says..
    Chancellor Jaha : " And I'll see my son."
  • Clarke cries as she is forced to close the drop ship door and give the order to set off the jets beneath the ship to incinerate their enemies — with Bellamy and Finn still outside.

Season 2

Season 2

• "Inclement Weather"
  • Raven's tearful, "I'm so scared," before her surgery begins. And then her realization afterwards that, even though she survived the surgery and gained the feeling in one of her legs, she still couldn't feel the other. "I'm still crippled."
• "Many Happy Returns"
  • Anya being killed after agreeing to seek an audience with her superior in Clarke's arms.
• "Spacewalker"
  • Clarke performing a mercy kill on Finn to spare him an agonizing death at the hands of the Grounders.
    • Raven's anguished scream when it happens, especially knowing that the only reason Finn was with the 100 was because he wanted to do a nice thing for Raven, it backfired, and he volunteered to be arrested instead of her.
• "Remember Me"
  • The Commander has to essentially kill her own Lieutenant, Gustus, because he tried to poison her to end the alliance.
  • Clarke is so broken up over Finn's death that she begins to hallucinate him, until she realizes that love is weakness and thus kills part of herself.
  • Abby has to see her daughter end up becoming incapable of love.
  • Clarke having to burn Finn's body in a Grounder ritual, declaring "Your fight is over" in Grounder language.
  • The look on Bellamy's face when Clarke essentially implies that what she previously said about not allowing him to sneak into Mount Weather because she cared about him too much was wrong.
• "Coup de Grace"
  • The look on President Wallace's face when his son usurps him.
• "Resurrection"
  • Jasper promising Fox that she'd be okay to calm her down just minutes before the guards attack and take her away. Bellamy saves her at first, but episodes later she ends up dead anyway from the same thing she was so afraid of happening to her.
• "Blood Must Have Blood, Part One" has nothing but tearjerkers in the end.
  • The Members of the Resistance who housed the 44 were all killed, it is especially sad because one man shouts, "Why!?" as his wife is shot, right before being shot himself. Jasper and Maya reveal themselves specifically so they won't be killed by the guards, and they kill them anyway.
  • The Commander brokers a deal to save her people, but leaves Clarke's behind. Clarke is absolutely heartbroken given everything she gave up to make the deal in the first place. To the point where she refuses to walk away from the door, even when the rest of the army leaves her there.
    • It's even worse because of the blink-and-you'll-miss-it development early in the episode. Wallace agrees to tell Cage how to save their people. Next thing we know, Monty is telling Bellamy that all the spare soldiers are converging on the harvesting cages. Lexa didn't just decide to break the alliance out of spite. Cage was holding her people hostage. She really, genuinely didn't have a choice. She made the exact same decision Clarke did duty to her people over morality. She did what a leader has to do. And Clarke may never know the details.
  • Octavia refuses to leave her brother behind, ending her time as Indra's second. She essentially has no home left, as she said.
  • President Wallace managed to save his people advising his son to give up the Grounders on the inside, but the act leaves him clearly distraught and almost catatonic.
  • Maya's father is killed by the time she reaches the harvester cells, leaving her to cry over his corpse.
• "Blood Must Have Blood, Part Two" continues the trend.
  • Even though she was just a minor character, seeing Fox's mutilated corpse, dead from harvesting being carelessly dumped into the bin in the Reaper tunnels is pretty depressing, since it is likely nobody went into the tunnels to retrieve her body and bury her, she was completely forgotten. It is even worse knowing she died a slow and horrific death that Bellamy saved her from a few episodes earlier, seeing the terror on her face as she is being dragged to the chair and the relief after when Bellamy saves her, but days later she's in the same position and nobody is there to save her.
  • Raven is, once again, submitted to Cold-Blooded Torture as she has her bone marrow forcibly removed.
  • Harper, who had her bone marrow harvested before and survived the procedure, is captured again and doesn't know if she'll have to be harvested again and is forced to watch as many of her friends undergo the same pain and horror she did-but unlike her, several of them, including Fox (Who took care of her when she was hurt.) don't survive it.
  • Jaha throws one of the two remaining survivors that followed him to his death and then leaves Murphy behind. Given how he had been in the beginning and willing to sacrifice his life to get his people off the Ark, it's just sad to see...
  • President Wallace doesn't join the others because he acknowledges that he's damned Clarke's people to save his own, and it's his sin to bear.
    • Likewise, Clarke can't go back to Camp Jaha because she'll recall what she did every time to free them and it's her sin to bear.
    • Even though Bellamy tries so, so hard to make her stay, in parallel to her convincing him in season 1 to stay with the 100 and not to let his guilt make him leave the people that need him. What really sells it is the Background Music, a new cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and Clarke and Bellamy's final lines to each other. "May we meet again." They are both visibly trying to choke back sobs as they turn away from each other.
  • Clarke kills President Wallace, leaving Cage to nearly break down. At this point all of them know they can't turn back and none of them has a choice anymore.
  • Clarke and Bellamy irradiated Level 5, killing basically every single one of the Mountain Men, including children and Maya.
    • From the way he acts afterwards, Monty is clearly disturbed by his own part. If he hadn't been able to set it up, Clarke and Bellamy could never have pulled the switch.
    • As soon as Jasper realizes what's happening, he rushes to find Maya. She ends up dying in his arms. The look he gives Clarke and Bellamy, still holding Maya's body, is absolutely heartbreaking. And then he asks Monty how he could let them do that.

Season 3

Season 3

• Wanheda: Part 1
  • After the events of season 2 Jasper is absolutely broken by what happened to Maya, reduced to drinking and being short with just about everyone.
  • Abby reveals Raven pushed Wick away because she keeps refusing help for her condition.
  • Clarke is alive, yes, but she's been hardened further than ever before, living in solitude in the wilderness, presumably in hiding (assuming she knows of her reputation). She has a friend in Niylah, a Grounder who also lives alone, and the two seemingly get along well, even sleeping with each other. However, Clarke leaves in the middle of the night to keep her out of danger, but you can tell that she didn't want to.
  • Seeing Murphy slowly go mad after being locked in the bunker for nearly two months is admittedly hard to watch. Poor guy even goes so far as to attempt suicide once he runs out of food.
• Wanheda: Part 2
  • Monty reunites with his mother... Only to discover that his father is dead, having sacrificed himself to save a group of children.
  • Clarke and Bellamy reunite, although it's very brief and Bellamy is nearly killed for attempting to save her from her captor.
  • When Abby, Lincoln, Octavia and Jasper return to Mount Weather to save Nyko's life, Jasper has a breakdown in a storage room... After he sees Maya's favorite painting. Octavia tries to console him, but he's still a wreck.
    Octavia: It'll get better...
    Jasper: (sobbing) ...When?
  • Roan finally brings Clarke to their destination. It turns out Lexa ordered Clarke to be brought to her, seemingly to make amends for everything that happened. Lexa even tells Clarke "I need you." Clarke, naturally though unfortunately, isn't having any of it, spitting in her face, screaming at her about how she's going to kill her, even calling her a bitch. Although Lexa did deserve to be taken to task for what she did, the dejected look on her face is heart-wrenching.
• Ye Who Enter Here
  • A member of the Ice Nation murders Gina, Bellamy's girlfriend, and proceeds to activate Mount Weather's self destruct sequence, destroying the entire facility and killing the 35 members of Farm Station inside of it.
  • Raven has a small breakdown when she fails to find the Mount Weather missile launch codes, bringing in her fears of the surgery that could save her life. It shows her in a much more vulnerable light. Sinclair, her biggest supporter, sings her praises, but she's too torn.
    Raven: What if I'm just broken...
• Hakeldama
  • The inevitable confrontation between Bellamy and Clarke after Pike slaughters the Grounder army where it's revealed just how hurt Bellamy is by Clarke's decisions in the season 2 finale. His outburst leaves Clarke in tears.
    Bellamy: You left me. You left everyone! Enough, Clarke! You're not in charge here. And that's a good thing, because people die when you're in charge. You were willing to let a bomb drop on my sister. Then you made a deal with Lexa, who left us in Mount Weather to die and forced us to kill everyone who helped us! People who trusted me!
• Thirteen
  • The flashbacks to how, a century earlier, Alie set off the nuclear war to cut down humanity's numbers. Becca, her creator, just stares from the space station at the explosions below. Meanwhile, a soldier manages to get through to his wife and tell her the news is true. Their daughter, unaware of what's happening, talks to him about getting a new bike and the soldier is telling her he'll teach to ride just as the connection is cut, indicating his home is now ruins. He, Becca and Becca's assistant stare out the window in tears as the Earth is covered with mushroom clouds.
  • Lexa is shot in an attempt to kill Clarke by Titus. Clarke does everything she can to try and save her but it's too late and Clarke says goodbye to Lexa with the full Sky People farewell. Clarke is devastated.
• Stealing Fire
  • Lincoln's Heroic Sacrifice and Octavia's face as she watches his execution.
  • Ontari beheading all the young Nightbloods that were trained to succeed Lexa. It's even more saddening considering how much Lexa cared for them, and made each of them vow to support the Sky People after her death.
• Nevermore
  • Throught the entire episode, Raven tries everything she can to either escape or manipulate her captors, AKA her former friends, into destroying her or each other. And from the looks on some of their faces, it nearly worked.
  • Monty having to shoot his mother to save Octavia. Sure she wasn't the most likable character, but having to look your mom in the eye and shoot her knowing she's not in control of herself had to be pretty hard on the series's only remaining Nice Guy.
  • The moment when Jasper goes to destroy the flame, Clarke desperately telling him not to smash it because its all that is left of Lexa.
• Demons
  • Sinclair's suddenly being stabbed by Emerson and begging Raven to stay inside the rover as he dies.
  • It gets even worse when you think about it from Sinclair's perspective. He has no idea what Emerson's plan actually is and everyone Emerson took could be dead, for all Sinclair knows. He begs Raven to save herself, but she doesn't listen, and Emerson drags her away... And that's the last thing Sinclair ever sees. He dies thinking Raven was killed, too.
• Join or Die
  • We get to see most of the 100 kids all in one place back before they were launched to the ground, most of the ones who showed up in the flashback are now dead at this point in real time. Seeing Jasper back when he was a carefree dork may be heartwarming for a moment, but try not to ache inside when you see Jasper in his goggles and grinning, knowing what he's gonna have to go through in the next couple of years.
  • We also get a juxtaposition of pre-Character Development Kane getting a What the Hell, Hero? from Abby, to him screaming in pain from being crucified and shortly begging the chips to not shoot her.
• Red Sky at Morning
  • Murphy rushing to look at Emori after it looks like they defeated ALIE. After she smiles at him, it seems like they succeeded, but then they hear the pounding on the door and Emori says they were too late.
  • Lunaresisted defending herself against the torture inflicted upon her by her A.L.I.E-controlled people, until they tried to hurt a young girl she was earlier seen interacting with; she then kills all of them. This was extremely difficult for her because of her vow against violence, especially when she is forced to kill her lover Derrick who took the chip in an attempt to get A.L.I.E's people to stop torturing her and she is forced to kill him in self defense and she cries and screams in agony while cradling his body.
  • Monty having to delete the avatar of his dead mother, basically killing her again, but then learning it was all for nothing when A.L.I.E escapes from the mainframe just before Raven can delete her — because they hesitated when his mom spoke to him through the computer. He gets really angry at Raven for this as she was supposed to wait for Clarke to get back with Luna before she tried anything. The only thing Raven can tell him is sorry.
• Perverse Instantiation, Part One
  • Despite seeing all the bad that A.L.I.E. was doing, Jasper took the chip willingly. He was that hopeless and that desperate to escape from his pain.
  • A.L.I.E. forces Abby to hang herself to get Clarke to break, and it looks as if she succeeded. She barely survives thanks to timely intervention by Murphy and Bellamy.
    • It's worth noting that once Abby falls unconscious, the scene cuts to Kane, which have been intentional so to remind the audience that not only would the group lose their Team Mom, but Kane would lose a long-time friend...
    • Above all else, Clarke doesn't break, even when Abby stops thrashing, indicating how little time she has left before she asphyxiates. Clarke's become so hardened by the world that while it's clearly killing her to do so, she refuses to perform the ascension ceremony even with her own mother dying in front of her. Even ALIE seems shocked by this.
• Perverse Instantiation, Part Two
  • Abby can hardly contain herself when she has the chip removed and realized she tortured her daughter.
  • Even though the overall moment is victorious since A.L.I.E has officially been defeated and everyone gains control of their minds again, many of the reactions of people waking up are deeply upsetting.
    • Of particular note are:
    • Jaha, who simply falls down crying.
    • Kane, who wakes up in the midst of strangling Bellamy and stares at his hands, horrified, before breaking down in sobs in Abby's arms.
    • Emori, crying out for Murphy.
  • Octavia is clearly not well, as she sacrifices the group's chances of holding back the climbers by slicing Pike in her need for revenge, then, once everyone is safe, stabs him in plain site of, well, everyone and just walks away.
    • Bellamy had just told her that he didn't want her to have to live with the regret he lived with by acting out of revenge. The look on his face at the end when he realizes that he didn't protect her from that...
  • Everyone being reunited with the people they had lost to ALIE, and then there's Clarke, unable to take part in everyone's joy, having lost Lexa a second time and knowing that once again everyone is in danger.

Season 4

Season 4

• The Four Horsemen
  • Just the idea of having to put together a list of 100 people who get to survive the end of the world. Poor Clarke is practically breaking down throughout the episode as she avoids, and then inevitably is forced to compile the list.
  • Bellamy still doesn't think he should live after the world ends, and tells Raven that he won't worry about starving because he won't be inside.
    • Then Clarke puts him down in the 99th spot.
    • When Bellamy sees it, he just says, "If I'm on that list, you're on that list. His voice breaks and he's clearly just as torn up about the whole thing as she is. And Clarke still can't put herself on the list. Bellamy has to do it for her.
• A Lie Guarded
  • Bellamy's reaction to Octavia's "death." While we, as fans, know Octavia isn't dead, Bellamy has no idea she is actually alive and just collapses in grief.
    • Kane's reaction is more a My God, What Have I Done? due to their less than friendly last words and is no less heart wrenching.
    • For what it's worth (which may not be must), Echo appears instantly sorry when Octavia falls off the cliff, and is visibly upset watching Bellamy's breakdown.
• Gimme Shelter
  • Emori screaming for John as her would-be attacker drags her by the ankle in the kitchen.
  • Pretty much all of Bellamy's scenes in this episode. He races against the black rain, getting burned in the process, hoping to save one of the 100 but his rover gets stuck in the mud just shy of reaching him. As he laments his failure to Kane over the radio, the scene starts off as a Heartwarming Moment until Kane says, "Your mother would be proud of the man you've become. I know I am." Bellamy's face immediately hardens as he reminds Kane that Kane killed Aurora before slamming the walkie talkie down. Kane looks crushed on the other end. Then, when Bellamy returns to Arkadia and Kane apologizes, Bellamy just replies, "You can't save somebody who doesn't want to be saved." You get the feeling he's not talking about Octavia.
  • Octavia very nearly walking into the black rain when she realizes that killing no longer takes away her pain.
• God Complex
  • Murphy completely breaking down and screaming at Clarke when it appears that Emori is going to be put in the radiation chamber.
• Die All, Die Merrily
  • The heartbreaking deaths of Ilian, Luna, and, most of all, Roan.
  • The look on Bellamy's face when Jaha says that it was Clarke's idea to take the bunker by force, leaving Kane and Octavia to die, while Clarke's own distressed face silently admits this.
    • The realization that Clarke may have stepped across the Moral Event Horizon with this decision.
• The Other Side
  • Jasper's death counts as this, if only for Monty's reaction.
  • Bellamy being shocklashed to keep him from exiting the bunker, while a sorrowful Clarke watches.
• The Chosen
  • Much of what takes place regarding the bunker in season 4, episode 12 qualifies. The whole situation is reminiscent of the culling in season 1.
    • David Miller putting his son's name in the lottery in place of his own is sad in itself. Then when Nate's name is drawn, Nate refuses to leave his father behind. Ultimately, the two are among the hundreds of Arkadians gassed when Jaha and Kane decide to make the decisions themselves. As David wanted, Nate is saved while he is left to die.
• Primfiya
  • Clarke breaks down when Bellamy tells her that the radio died and she can't say goodbye to her mom.
  • When it looks like their oxygen is going to run out and they're going to die, Emori and John realize she has about 2 minutes more than he does. He's happy, because "At least I don't have to watch you die."
  • Bellamy's utter devastation at having to leave Clarke behind. Every single person in the rocket knows the toll it took on him and their sympathy is clear on their faces.
    • Even worse when they believe she didn't reach the Ring.
  Bellamy: We're going to die and I left her.

Season 5

Season 5

• Eden
  • The very idea that Clarke spent nearly 2 months alone on a desolated planet.
    • Her breakdown in the desert, where she falls to her knees crying about everything that she has lost, and very nearly shoots herself.
• The Red Queen
  • It's revealed Abby is trying desperately to get to Clarke from the bunker while at the same time, as we see in "Eden", Clarke is trying desperately to get to her mom in the bunker.
• Sleeping Giants
  • When the group finds out that Raven is staying behind because someone is needed to navigate from space, Emori instantly shouts, "Let it be John!" Murphy looks close to tears. It's clearly a breaking point for him as he volunteers to remain behind with Raven.
  • For the second time, Bellamy is forced to leave a beloved friend behind — first Clarke in "Primfiya" with whom he developed a close and loving relationship with on the ground, and now Raven in this episode, who is one of their tiny group that had spent six years in space together and are all they have. With Clarke, Bellamy still feels her loss, as he believes she died in Primfiya, and now Raven must lie about an emergency pod that will get her to the ground just so Bellamy will reluctantly agree to leave.
  • Bellamy's face when he learns Clarke is alive.
• Pandora's Box
  • Many of Kane and Abby's interactions in this episode qualify. We learn that Kane is in the fighting pit for taking the fall for Abby, who stole pills to feed her addiction. Octavia knows that Kane isn't guilty but is so angry that, even after he wins, she condemns him to fight again. Abby, meanwhile, is locked away, screaming for them to let Kane go and take her instead. When he leaves for the second fight, they are both confident that he is walking to his death.
    • Abby leaving Clarke with the Eligius prisoners in order to save Kane
  • Octavia angrily blaming Bellamy when the Eligius prisoners betray them, mere hours after he rescued her after over 6 years apart.
• Shifting Sands
  • Raven and Murphy being subjected, again, to Cold-Blooded Torture. Particularly gutwrenching are Raven's pleas to save Murphy when McCreary holds a knife to his throat, especially since she truly does not know how to activate the missiles and thus is completely helpless.
  • What begins as a sweet moment of Octavia thanking her brother takes a drastic turn as she warns him never to speak out against Wonkru again. It's striking because Bellamy clearly thought he had finally reached her and, with her words, realizes she's even further away from the sister he knew that he had previously thought.
  • Clarke's face when she sees Bellamy and Echo kiss.
• Exit Wounds
• Acceptable Losses
  • Kane gives Abby an ultimatum: "Me or the pills." It breaks his heart when she doesn't immediately pick him.
  • Raven reluctantly going along with Echo's plan and turning on Shaw is sad enough, but even worse at the end when he is thrown into the room with the defectors wearing a shock collar and a bloodied face, and giving Raven a Death Glare while she watches guiltily.
  • Jasper's suicide note.
  "There is no light at the end of the tunnel. There is just the tunnel."
  • Madi looking right at Clarke before revealing her true abilities to Octavia. It's sad for Madi, because she clearly just wanted to show everyone who was underestimating her how talented she was, but brutal for Clarke, who knows that Madi is making herself a huge target to the woman she grew up idolizing.
• How We Get to Peace
  • Emori telling John that, even though she is still in love with him, they can never be together because he is going to fall apart when their struggle for survival ends and break her heart again. What's worse is that it is clear that John did not see this coming. He obviously thought that them working as a team together would restore their relationship.
  • Abby may have crossed the Moral Event Horizon by using the shock collar to coerce Raven into helping her save the prisoners so she can get more pills. Raven's Broken Tears at the end of the episode speak for themselves.
  • Monty's breakdown after Clarke and Bellamy rope him into committing another murder.
  • The Ironic Echo of Bellamy's, "My sister, my responsibility." While it had previously meant he was responsible for caring for Octavia, here it takes a darker, more tragic meaning as he poisons her and silences her cries for help in order to save Clarke and negotiate for peace. His "responsibility" essentially goes from protecting Octavia to protecting everyone else from her.
• Sic Semper Tyrannis
  • Loved ones going against loved ones to save other loved ones:
    • Bellamy risks Octavia's life to save Clarke and must betray Clarke to save Echo, Raven, Murphy, and Emori.
    • Indra goes against Octavia, a girl she loves as her own, for the sake of peace and to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. Indra ends up in the fighting pit alongside her own daughter.
    • Clarke must leave Bellamy to save Madi from Octavia.
    • Octavia has Bellamy and Indra arrested for treason in belief she is saving her people.
• The Dark Year
  • The pure nightmare fuel that was life in the bunker underneath Polis, but it isn't shown just how bad it was until this episode.
    • A food shortage forces Octavia to make some pretty tough choices, and at Abby's advice is forced to resort to cannibalism as a means for Wonkru to survive, turning those who perish in the fighting pits into food for the others to consume so they can get enough protein to survive.
    • When Kane and other members of Wonkru refuse to participate, Octavia is forced to ask if she should make it a crime not to be a cannibal. And Abby agrees that she should, as anyone who dies of starvation will be an ultimately useless drain on resources, and their bodies will waste away to the point little to no protein can be gained from eating them.
    • Which then leads to Octavia getting to the point where she's forcing Grounders to participate. At gunpoint. She even shoots one man for not playing ball, on the grounds that he didn't want to eat his own brother.
• Damocles - Part 1
  • Bellamy and Octavia's dynamic throughout the episode is nothing short of heart wrenching.
    • They are attacked and blown up together and forced to lie side by side in the dirt, watching members of Wonkru stand up to reach Octavia and then get shot down. They argue about the situation, with Octavia again blaming Bellamy and Bellamy finally telling her that it is her fault that her people are dead because she burned their food source and forced them to march into a battle they knew they would lose.
    • When Octavia tries to stand up and Bellamy instinctively pulls her down, she shoots back, "Why do you care if I die? Isn't that what you want?" Bellamy doesn't even hesitate to reply, "Yes." Octavia looks so stunned and hurt and not at all surprised.
    • When Octavia finally decides to sacrifice herself so Indra and Bellamy can carry Gaia to safety, Bellamy pulls her back but doesn't stop her from going. They just stare at each other for a few seconds before Octavia tells him, "My brother, my responsibility." She goes to what could be her death without either of them saying another word to each other.
  • Indra is living a real nightmare as she holds a dying Gaia in her arms the entire episode. At the end, it it still unclear whether or not Gaia will survive.
• Damocles - Part 2
  • Monty's video diary at the end. Seeing him go from the Monty we know to an old man who lived an entire life with Harper while everyone else was in cryosleep. They have and raise a son together, grow old together, Harper dies of a genetic illness and all the while, Monty still manages to save the remainder of the human race by finding a new planet after Earth is wiped out. And Monty doesn't even live to see it.
    Monty: It took me 30 years, but I finally cracked the Eligius Three mission file. Turns out it wasn't a mining mission. After sucking the Earth dry of oil, they went looking for another planet to tap. Two suns? I set the coordinates a week ago. If I'm right, you should get there in 75 years. I'm tempted to put myself in cryo to see it, but without Harper... Anyway, it's in the Goldilocks zone of a binary star system. But that's all I know. Eligius Three never radioed back or, if they did, it was after apocalypse one, so, no one heard it. Can you see it? Is it beautiful? It is in my dreams. I hope we do better there. I hope Jasper was wrong and we aren't the problem. I hope your lives there will be as happy as mine has been. Be the good guys.

Season 6

Season 6

• Sanctum
  • Shaw's very sudden death.
• Red Sun Rising
  • The eclipse has nightmarish effects on everyone, but for Clarke in particular, it comes in the form of her mother's voice telling her that everyone would be better off without her. Clarke is so convinced that she holds a knife to her neck and is only talked out of it by Murphy proving to her that it's an illusion (the walkie talkie is off.) Even when she knows it's fake, she still struggles and yells at the voice telling her to kill herself through tears.
• The Face Behind the Glass
  • Delilah rushing back to Jordan and begging him not to let her be a "face behind the glass" just before her Naming ceremony. Although she's been raised to believe it's an honor, she is clearly terrified. And rightly so.
  • Clarke's death. She is paralyzed and unable to do anything but watch as Russell comes at her with the needle, thanking her for her sacrifice, and a Single Tear goes down her cheek.
• Memento Mori
  • Everyone finds out Clarke is dead and are sitting with the information and discussing what to do next, when Madi walks down the stairs. She doesn't know, and needs to be told, adding another layer of sadness to the situation. Gaia looks heartbroken for her, and Madi is suspicious. Bellamy, in tears, takes the initiative to break the news, getting down on her level to do so. Madi's only response is to throw herself into his arms like the actual child she is behind the Flame.
  • The next shot is Bellamy, sitting alone by the pond, crying.
• The Old Man and the Anomaly
  • Octavia breaking down as she flashes back to last season when she had Bellamy Bound and Gagged and thrown in the fighting pits.
• What You Take With You
  • Kane choosing death over living in a new body, destroying all of the nightblood serum to prevent the primes from making more hosts. If it's Indra’s Tearful grounder prayer and the music that get to you, it's Abby being forced to watch her Second Love die the same way as her first: Thrown Out the Airlock.
• Matryoshka
  • Gabriel realizing that Josephine means to continue living forever, and then realizing that he has to let her die.
    • It only lasts a split second, but Josephine's face when she realizes that Gabriel is going to let her die for real.
  • Bellamy's absolutely heartbreaking desperation to revive Clarke. He performs CPR while absolutely begging her to wake up, his voice breaking numerous times as he tells her how much he needs her and that he can't lose her again. Behind him, Octavia is struggling not to cry as she watches him break down.
  • When Bellamy shows up to save them, Octavia is overjoyed and runs to him. She's missed him so much, and has been through a lot since she saw him last, and it's shown that she very deeply regrets throwing him in the fighting pits. But Bellamy's feelings toward Octavia haven't changed too much and he only hesitantly and half-heartedly returns her hug.
• Adjustment Protocol:
  • Abby's death. Taken out to be Simone's host with her last memories being Clarke growing up.
  • Far worse is the fact Richard did it so Abby wouldn't live without her daughter, not knowing Clarke is still alive.
  • Even worse' is Clarke's reaction when Simone steps out in Abby's body. She whispers "Mom?" with everyone assuming it's Josephine reacting to her mother returning when it's Clarke realizing her mom is gone. Then being embraced by Simone trying to soothe "her daughter's" tears.

Season 7

Season 7

• Welcome to Bardo:
  • Octavia's Madness Mantra when Hope, Gabriel, and Echo find her after having (seemingly) witnessed Bellamy's death. She just lies there, strapped to a chair, muttering to herself over and over.

"Anaconda"

• Cadogan realizing if Clarke has "the Key", then his long-lost, estranged daughter may still be in there. Holding Clarke's face, he asks her if Callie is still in there, and at the end of the episode, Clarke angrily pushes him away and coldly answers that — even if she did still have the Key — it doesn't work that way.
• The state of the world right before ALIE sets off nukes. Overpopulation is rampant, refugee camps are commonplace throughout the country, the government is losing its control over the U.S., environment activist groups are seen as terrorists, and the Second Dawn is a popular cult. That it's also near Christmas time also rubs some more salt in the wound.
• Callie's mother knocking out Callie's best friend and giving Callie little choice in leaving her behind during the evacuation, arguing that this is Mercy Kill for her. Callie never gets over it and believes that there could have been more room for her and many other people in the bunker.
• Callie and her brother's strained relationship. Her brother is jealous of Callie getting all the attention from their father for being more talented and spends all his time trying to get his praise, even if it means turning against his sister and mother. And even then, he's shocked when Callie actually does go through with fighting him by shooting him by surprise, and at the end, he vows to his father that he'll hunt down Callie.
• Callie's mother sacrificing herself to help Callie and the Grounders escape, and her Et Tu, Brute? reaction when Cadogan ruthlessly throws her into the airlock to die from radiation exposure as punishment.
• Becca's death. She's touched by Callie fangirling over her and the two bond over what they know, and when Callie sees her one last time before Cadogan has her executed, Becca quickly tells her everything she needs to know and her last words to her are reminding her of how to open the Flame: "Goodbye for now."

• The Dying of the Light:
  • Madi's catatonic state and Clarke breaking down over it before deciding to mercy kill her, but Octavia stops her to do it instead. As Clarke comforts her daughter and Octavia prepares to shoot her, Levitt discovers that Cadogan got the code from Madi's mind before abandoning her to die. Clarke, Octavia and Levitt take off to stop Cadogan with Clarke promising to return for her daughter once they are done. As the group leaves, a tear rolls down Madi's face as she remains conscious but unable to do anything.
  • Emori's Impaled with Extreme Prejudice status back in the bunker as everyone tries to save her.

"The Last War"

• Octavia asking Levitt if she'll see Bellamy again if they transcend, and he answers no, because according to the Bardoans, the dead stay dead and only the living transcend. Octavia sheds a Single Tear in response to this.
  • This was possibly a factor in why Clarke's companions may have chosen to reject transcendence; in life, they would at least still have each other and get to live life, because even if they do transcend, they'll still never see their dead loved ones again.
• Clarke's interaction with the Judge who has assumed the form of Lexa. She cannot resist hugging the Judge, even knowing that it's not the real Lexa.
  The Judge: I'm not her, Clarke.
  Clarke: [tearfully] I know.
  The Judge: [reluctantly returns hug]
• When the Judge tells Clarke that she can feel Clarke's pain, Clarke lists all of the worst moments of her life; holding Lexa as she was dying, watching someone else take over her mother's body, killing Bellamy to save Madi, only to have her turn herself over to Cadogan and now being left good as dead. Clarke calls out the Judge for judging her and tells her that it is no better then any of the other murderers she's had to kill or herself. The Judge shows condolence for all that Clarke has lost but says that, if she is the representative of humanity, then they don't deserve to be saved.
• The Judge appears to Raven as Abby instead of her biological mother.
• Clarke's tearful goodbye to Madi as she encourages her to transcend, not willing to see Madi live in a catatonic state.
• Clarke discovering everyone except her and Picasso have transcended. They return to Earth and when Picasso runs off, Clarke freaks out, not wanting to be alone like she was during Praimfaya until she found Madi. The Judge appears in Lexa's form to show Clarke that her friends returned to life for her however she also tells Clarke that she cannot transcended due to murdering Cadogan.
  • Lexa telling Clarke that Madi chose to ascend, knowing that Clarke wouldn't want her to be stay mortal with no one to grow up with.
  • The Judge's people have made it so that those who chose not to ascend won't be able to have offspring.