Wait, What Just Happened to Kane on 'The 100'?!

Is Kane’s old body gone for good?

Definitely, maybe. Kane, as we know him, looked pretty expired as he was laying on the cot next to himself, and white sheets tend not to mean anything good in the medical or television worlds. On the off chance that the show is going to return Kane’s consciousness to his original, now-potentially-lifeless body, there’s a chance it could be done with that tree sap that instantly healed Diyoza, or the anomaly. Keeping Kane’s corpse is a little morbid, though. Would Abby return his body to cryo in hopes that she could one day return him to it?

Is Henry Ian Cusick coming back?

Last season’s hiatus was tough for Kane fans, given that he’d been cast as a regular on another show. Little to no information existed about filming and no behind-the-scenes photos showed Cusick, which made it seem as though Kane might have bestowed his last piece of moralistic advice. Now he’s something of a Schrödinger’s Kane—he’s not dead, but he’s not alive in the way fans have always known him. Given that The Passage wasn’t renewed for a second season, it’d be possible, in theory, for Cusick to return if the show could bend its own rules enough for him to jump back into his original body.

We need to talk about Kane and Abby…

It's likely a breakup is on the horizon. Marcus’ body might be different, but his brain is very much the same. No matter how she explains it, he isn’t going to comprehend why Abby would end a life to continue his.

Yes, there are parallels to him saving her in the bunker, considering she wanted to die and he kept her alive. This is different, though, because Marcus didn’t directly kill anyone to keep Abby from dying. Abby wiped a man’s mind to fill it with Kane’s. Given how he insisted on doing better and being better throughout the show, it stands to reason that even though Gavin said he wanted to serve as a host, Marcus will be horrified.

Kane, meet Gabriel

Kane needs to get down to Sanctum now that he has a body well enough to make the trip. Outside the radiation shield, there’s someone who might be able to help him. In a way, Kane and Gabriel now parallel each other; both didn’t want to be resurrected, and both were brought back by someone who loved them and couldn’t bear to let them die.

If restoring him to his original body isn’t an option, Gabriel could help Kane understand why Abby did what she did and help him acclimate to his new reality. That would also bring him back into Octavia’s orbit again, which would put an interesting spin on their formerly father-daughter relationship. How would Octavia react to seeing a body-swapped Kane? Given how much pain they’ve both been through, could they finally forgive each other? That’d also reunite him with Diyoza, which would be fun to watch.

A second new body?

Before “The Old Man and the Anomaly,” some fan theories supposed Kane would end up in Russell’s body by the season’s end. Could he still, even though he’s currently inhabiting someone else? As Josephine would say, “that answer isn’t a straight-up ‘no.’” If the group finds a way to return hosts to their original bodies, Kane would undoubtedly be the first to vacate his. What if Russell volunteered to have Kane take on his form?

If Josephine and Simone are dead and his leadership role is gone, Russell would have nothing left in Sanctum, and he’s probably been in his host’s body for so long that there might be nothing of the original person left. This would solve a litany of problems. It’d give Marcus the chance to see his host as a willing volunteer. And it'd keep JR Bourne around, who has proven to be an excellent addition to the cast and is more than capable of playing the moralistic, self-loathing, tortured soul Kane, since that’s kind of who Russell is. If The 100 couldn’t get Henry Ian Cusick back, this seems like a good option to keep the character of Kane on the show.

Unless…

This is a pretty far out-there theory, and it undermines the storytelling in a way the writers haven’t done so far this season. But—what if Gavin is faking it, and the resurrection didn’t take? He’d been around Abby enough to at least know her name and probably could’ve pieced together what the relationship was between her and Kane. Depending on how much he knew about him, he might have even figured out how to act when he woke up.

Now, Gavin seemed like a pretty nice dude, and it’d be Josephine levels of wicked to manipulate Abby and everyone else into believing he’s Kane. Post-procedure, he figured out something was wrong by looking at his arm, and it’s doubtful Gavin would’ve known enough to know the location of Kane’s brand. It’ll remain to be seen if Gavin-Kane is really just Kane, but if Gavin is pretending, that probably means the procedure was a total failure and Kane’s consciousness is gone for good.

Where does Kane go from here?

For now, let’s assume Gavin’s not faking it. There are four directions Kane’s story can head this season, assuming he isn’t killed in this new body. He’s either restored to his original one (which could happen this season or next), he stays in Gavin’s, which would be devastating for him, he switches to Russell’s if that theory holds weight, or he ends up in someone else’s body other than Gavin or Russell. The last three options make Kane staying with the larger group somewhat unlikely.

For one thing, it’d be hard for him to interact with his former friends in a totally different form, especially Russell’s. For another, it’s hard to imagine him sticking around Abby after all is said and done; whether or not they eventually get back together, he’ll need time away from her to come to terms with what happened to him and the role she played in it. Who’s to say Kane won’t end up living outside Sanctum if it still exists by the season’s end? The Children of Gabriel might still be out there. Kane could leave to join them and Xavier and maybe Octavia and Diyoza, or he could live by himself in the woods as a kind of Luke-Skywalker-tortured-hero figure. If he ends up as Russell the second option is most likely—the Children of Gabriel wouldn’t want him as Russell— but either option presents plenty of avenues for his story to explore in the future.