12 of the Biggest Unanswered Questions After ‘The 100’ Series Finale
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the series finale of The 100, “The Last War.”]
Wednesday’s series finale of The 100 answered many of the show’s biggest questions, like what was the Last War, anyway? And did transcendence mean everyone turns into glowing balls of light? (Spoiler alert: It sure does.)
But for every question answered, there were a few that the final hour didn’t quite manage to address. Below are 12 things we’re still wondering about, now that Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and her friends’ fights are over.
The 100, Seasons 1-6, Netflix
Was it all a dream/hallucination?
Probably not, but that little flicker of Clarke in the first episode was… intriguing. The song that plays in the final moments of the finale is “I’m Not Sleeping” by U2, and the lyrics involve being “wide awake” and “not sleeping,” which, when paired with that image of Clarke from the pilot, raises some questions (and why even include that image if we’re not meant to wonder?). Was this all something Clarke made up in her head as she was daydreaming about Earth and drawing on the walls of her Sky Box cell?
What did the infinity symbols mean?
Throughout the series, there have been recurring infinity symbols; on Lexa’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) tattoo, on the ship that carried Becca (Erica Cerra) down to Earth, on the Flame, and so on. What did those symbols mean? Were they meant to represent humanity’s ceaseless struggle with violence?
Who were the beings in the cave, and what was up with Bellamy’s hallucinations?
When Bellamy journeyed through Etherea, he saw a trio of transcended beings. Now, they obviously weren’t Bardoans migrated off-planet, but they couldn’t have been human, either. Who were they, and how did they achieve transcendence? Oh, and what was the deal with Bellamy’s visions and his ability to affect the weather through prayer? We’re guessing it had something to do with Etherea’s atmosphere, but as it stands, it’s another example of Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson) being right.
Who were “the judges”?
We know they’re an all-knowing race that somehow has the power of eternal life vs. eternal crystallization, but that’s about it. Where did they come from? Who gave them the power of transcendence? Or is there just one of them, and that one is basically God? Also, did they build the anomaly stones, or were they created by someone else? And while we’re pondering the anomaly stones, why did they call specifically to O (Marie Avgeropoulos) and Diyoza (Ivana Millicevic)?
What happened to the rest of Eligius III?
There were three Eligius missions on the show—one comprised of Diyoza and her prisoners, one that had Gabriel (Chuku Modu) and Josephine (Sarah Thompson), and one that was a “colonizing mission.” Earlier in Season 7, we saw that one of the Eligius III crew on Sky Ring opened the anomaly. What happened to the rest of that mission and the ship they had? Were they the native Bardoans?
How did Emori transcend?
If the dead don’t transcend, how did Emori (Luisa D’Oliveira) transcend along with Murphy? Her body was dead by then; at that point, she was “alive” only in the sense that her consciousness was stored on the mind drive. Maybe the mind drive storing her consciousness was enough for transcendence, but there’s still a gray area there.
Did Kane transcend?
Yes, this is a pretty “out there” theory, but it’s not totally impossible. When Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) nobly floated himself last season, he died—but he had a mind drive in his head. Depending on whether that mind drive lasted the week or so between his death and everyone’s transcendence, it’s possible he went from a mind space to… well, whatever awaited on the other side.
Who were the original Bardoans?
This is something else the prequel might delve into, but right now, it’s curious to know there was a race of what very well could’ve been aliens… and they built a whole civilization and got wiped out before the show started. Who were they? What were they doing? Why weren’t they worthy of transcendence?
How was Cadogan right about everything, except that the “last war” was a test?
This is something the prequel might answer, if it gets picked up. Although his methods were horrific, Cadogan was right about almost everything; he was right about Etherea, he was right about transcendence and he was right that the dead don’t get to transcend (otherwise, Bellamy totally would’ve been there with the others at the end). How did he know everything? And how did he know everything, but still believe the last test was a war?
What was on the other planets?
We saw Alpha (Sanctum) and Beta (Sky Ring), but we still don’t know about planets Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. What were the other planets Eligius III discovered like?
Why don’t dogs transcend?!
If ANYONE DESERVED TRANSCENDENCE, IT WAS PICASSO. The fact that everyone became glowing balls of light except for the dog just feels wrong. Honestly, it’s a good thing Clarke didn’t transcend, so this wonderful pupper didn’t have to live the rest of her life by herself.
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O
The person who wrote this article seems like they didn’t even watch the show. So many of these “questions” were already answered.
It wasn’t all a dream. They showed Clarke at the end to reflect at how it all started and how it now ended
The infinity symbol was a corporate logo. Remember? Becca worked there, hence why the tech in the show had an infinity on it. From the flame to the mind drives. Lexa’s tattoo had it because it was the symbol of the commanders to them as it was on the flame.
Emori transcended because her mind drive was placed in Murphy’s head. Her consciousness was awake again.
Kane did not transcend because he died. His mind drive is in a dead body. It is not active. His consciousness is not awake. Also explained by Josephine when she mentioned that waiting for the mind drive to be placed in a body is “being on ice”.
The spirit trees that Bellamy found in the cave were already explained. It was mentioned that they transcended because they lived in a cave, meaning that they were pure hence worthy.
Picasso did not transcend because he is a dog. And before you get triggered, the reason for that is because the test was taken by a human. Therefore, the judge will decide if the human race will transcend or not. Is Picasso part of the human race? No.
Nice read tho.
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O
The dead don’t transcend because they are dead. The higher beings said that the consciousness of the entire species will become one, but the dead don’t have a consciousness. When Cadigan asked “Callie” if she was god, the judge smirked and lightly laughed as if she was amused by the question, and then proceeded to tell him that “for our purposes, you may consider me your judge.” It is pretty clear here that these higher beings are not god, therefore justifying why the dead cannot transcend. The afterlife for the dead was not explained, but going back to season 6 when Murphy temporarily died in the fight with Bellamy and was then resurrected by people of Sanctum using a snake, he woke up completed terrified and was sure he was going to hell. It haunted him and made him decide to help Josephine because she offered him immortality. Now this clue in itself suggests that there is an afterlife, and when our characters on earth die eventually, there is a high chance that they will be reunited with their dead loved ones. The real issue here is transcendence. Those who transcended became infinite. They will never die. It seems that the higher beings were able to defy death and therefore Madi will not reunite with Clarke when Clarke dies. If there was a season 8, it would probably revolve around finding out what the higher beings are and figuring out a way to infiltrate them and free the trapped consciousness of all the species.
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G
The finale gave fans a lot to think about, especially with Clarke’s ending and the whole transcendence storyline. Even now, people still debate whether the series wrapped things up the right way. I was reading some fan discussions on Grounders Source recently, and it’s interesting how many different interpretations people still have about the ending.
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R
For dogs to transcend one of them would have to take the test 😉
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G
Perhaps you can answer these questions for me. Who built the Anomaly Stones? Was it the Bardoans (Was that their real name or a name given by the cultists?)? Or was it the Judge or someone unknown? If you can say, which episodes give these answers?
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O
as much as i think picasso should transcend too, i think because raven repersented her species, and that would be humans, not dogs, of coz it seem unfair how it a dog gonna take the test, i cant answer that, of course
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O
Why the dead cannot transcend? If the Judge is supposed to be wise and fair, how is it fair for the dead to not transcend? Or, otherwise, what is the fate beyond death? This is total luciferianism. Also, those static silhouettes look like a boring state of being, and becoming infinite is just big-babbling-arrogance.
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B
What little flicker of Clarke in the first episode are you talking about?
I don't remember her flickering at all??
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G
At the very , very end of the episode, as the camera was panning away from the group, there was an image of Clarke from the beginning of season 1, in her cell, drawing on the floor of the cell transposed on top of the picture of everyone. It was blink-and-you-missed-it.
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