510 - "The Warriors Will" was written by Julie Benson & Shawna Benson and directed by Henry Ian Cusick

Growing Pains

Fleeing Polis, Clarke pulls over to try and get the creepy AI full of ghosts out of Madi, who freaks the fuck out. They have a fight, because Madi is upset that Clarke left everyone else to die and now that she's commander I guess she's going to be a pain in the ass about it. I'll wave my Team Clarke flag, everything about the commander tradition is fucked up and trying to bring it back is a mistake. It didn't work to keep peace before, why will now be any different? And rightly, Clarke doesn't want to see Madi's life wasted the way Lexa's was, serving as the patron saint of bloodlust and lost causes.

Clarke and Madi hit the road again, but not before throwing out all the worm eggs, which I think constitutes as littering. Good luck whoever hikes that trail next.

Meanwhile, Pax is rooting through Diyoza's journal to get a spoiler on the finale, and then remarks on how sick Abby looks. MacCreary tells Abby that she'll break before he does, and says she can have her pills when she cures him. Abby calls on the most lovable serial killer in town, and Vinson comes to her rescue. Vinson delivers Abby's pills and then murders her guards by ripping out their throats with his teeth. This was the unexpected delight of the season. (Why is he so weirdly adorable? Help me.)

Forests and Trees

Back at Polis, Miller reveals that half of Wonkru won't march because they still believe in Madi as the true leader, Miller says they can still take Eden, but Not-Cooper points out they can gain followers by throwing the traitors in the fighting pit. Octavia then goes to confront Indra about her betrayal and begs her for a solution. Indra says there isn't one (besides surrender) and promises that she'll kill Bellamy and then let Gaia win.

Octavia doesn't want to see Bellamy die, so she goes to see Monty, and Monty tries to convince her that algae will bring peace. He says in a few years he can grow them a new valley and they won't need Eden, but for some reason Octavia rejects his offer, and in return Monty refuses to go and see Bellamy to help him win the gladiator match. Octavia sucks it up and goes to see Bellamy herself, and Bellamy tells her he isn't going to fight, so she can either make a deal for the valley or let him die.

Family Matters

Back on the road, Madi is having a screaming nightmare reliving what turns out to be Becca's memory after she came back to earth, where it turns out that Cadogan burned Becca alive at the stake. I'm bummed about this because it implies Bill is likely dead and my Bicca dreams went up in smoke, but if the woman who burned down the world with an AI came to pitch you another AI, you might burn her too, it's a very poetic ending. Man, Becca is such a fascinating character, what a well-meaning megalomaniac she is.

The dead commanders continue to plague Madi with horrible terrible visions of how much being commander sucks, all the way back to the valley, but Clarke decides she can't take out the flame and destroy it because it's San Diego Comic-Con this week and WB doesn't need another PR headache. She promises to rip it out the moment Madi gets any delusions of grandeur though.

Clarke and Madi make it back to the camp, but they find Abby has ODed and is unresponsive, it's unclear whether she accidentally overdosed or deliberately tried to kill herself to prevent Pax from being cured though. We'll see. Madi's also starting to exhibit some spooky personality shifts, so things are looking troublesome for Clarke right now.

In the pit, Bellamy and Indra put up a good fight, both Indra and Bellamy are trying to stop Gaia from assassinating Octavia for different reasons, but when Gaia throws her spear, Octavia just tosses it back in to continue the fight. BUT! Monty bursts into the room, showing Wonkru the apple blossoms he's been growing and reveals that Octavia knew about them. Wonkru is upset they were lied to and breaks down the fighting pit. Could Algae really be how they get to peace? Is that message way too beautiful for this show?

Yes. Yes it is.

So Octavia decides to burn down the hydro farm. I was sort of on board with the tough leadership thing up until this point, but it got me thinking that there were probably similar motives to burning Becca too. It raises some interesting questions about the nature of control and unification, one leader being the only option for people's survival is definitely culty, but does it work long term? Could the two groups have lived peacefully on either side of the desert? And why is winning Eden so important to Octavia? Something to chew on.

TL;DR Vinson is the hero we deserve. Abby takes a tumble. Your own death is not a great bargaining chip. Monty is supergreen. Seriously Bellamy's hair. Clarke and Madi go home. The saga of Bicca rises and falls. Octavia sets hope on fire. Wonkru march on Eden.

This and that:

• Every now and then I have to stop and marvel at how much damage Becca did to the planet. Like...fucking wow, gurl.

• For all its frustration and gloom, this episode was beautiful, well-directed and stunning with its visuals and music. Kudos to you, Henry. Big props.

• Sorry for anyone who missed me last week, totally not my fault, this one goes out to all the lurkers!!

• What's better? Crocodiles or sharks?