War at any cost: The 100 season 5 episode 10 ‘The Warriors Will’ recap

What is Octavia willing to do to make sure that Wonkru goes to war? Find out in this recap of Tuesday’s episode of The 100.

When season 5 of The 100 started, Octavia’s harsh tactics seemed justified. In order for Wonkru to survive in the bunker for six years, they had to do whatever it takes. Now, they are free so of course they are going to fight for the last remaining habitable piece of land on Earth.

But, slowly, Octavia has been marching toward crossing the line between doing what is best for her people vs. just wanting to fight a war she can’t win. This episode marks Octavia blowing that line out of the water to get what she wants.

It all starts when Miller informs Octavia that half of Wonkru no longer wants to march into battle. Now that Madi has the flame, they want to follow the true Commander. It is suggested that the only way for Octavia to gain back control of Wonkru is if she makes Bellamy, Indra and Gaia fight it out in the arena.

For as much as Octavia wants her war, she is conflicted about sending her brother to his death against the woman who made Octavia who she is. So, she goes to Indra for advice. Indra informs Octavia that she will always be her Second, but she can no longer follow Blodreina. Not when there is a true Commander out there.

Indra knows that Octavia’s only move to get her war is to open the arena again. But, Indra is not going to kill her own daughter. She will kill Bellamy and then have Gaia slit her throat. So, if Octavia goes ahead with the fight, she will be sending her brother and Indra to their deaths.

In an effort to save Bellamy, Octavia goes to Monty to get him to pass Bellamy a message about how to beat Indra. But, Monty wants no part in any more killing. If Octavia wants to get information to Bellamy, she will have to face her brother herself. Besides, Monty is busy using his algae to get the bunker’s hydro farm to work again.

Monty tells Octavia that there is no more need to go to war for the valley. He can grow enough food to feed everyone in the bunker. And in a few years, Monty can use the algae to make the wastelands around Polis farmable as well. But, Octavia doesn’t want to hear it, she wants war.

Without Monty’s help, Octavia goes to speak with Bellamy. She talks about when they were kids, yells at him about poisoning her, and then tells him how to defeat Indra. But, Bellamy has his own plan, to not fight. If Octavia wants to save him, she will need to stop the fight. Bellamy can still tell when his sister is scared. She needs to do the right thing and strike a peace deal with Diyoza, save her people rather than backing her favorite childhood story come to life.

An angry Octavia storms out to cry about having to watch her brother get killed for her war. Just as one starts to sympathize with the tough choices Octavia has to make, she cuts her arm to cover her face in blood. Blodreina is ready to watch a fight in the arena, even if it means watching her brother and Indra die.

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Before the fight, Indra and Gaia get a couple minutes to go over the plan. Gaia wants to kill Octavia, so that she can have Madi be the Commander of Wonkru. Indra knows that would lead to Gaia getting executed, so she tells her daughter to stick to the plan. Bellamy then arrives to tell them of his plan to not fight. Indra says that will mean instant execution by Octavia, something Bellamy says he wants.

In the end, and with a promise of a quick death from Indra, Bellamy fights. Despite being made to fight for his life, Bellamy saves Octavia from a spear thrown by Gaia. Before Octavia can respond, Monty and Harper burst in to tell everyone that they don’t have to go to war anymore. The farms are working and Octavia knew this. Wonkru turns on Octavia, but she manages to get away to make sure Wonkru will have to follow her in to battle.

As Bellamy, Monty, Harper, Indra and Gaia look for Octavia, the fire alarm starts going off. Octavia burned down the hydro farm, so now Wonkru’s only option is to follow Octavia into battle. The episode ends with Wonkru marching out of Polis towards the valley.

Other highlights from this episode of The 100:

• Madi is mad at Clarke for taking her away from the bunker and leaving Bellamy to die. Thanks to the flame, Madi is having nightmares about the past Commanders. This week, she gets to relive Becca’s death. Still, Clarke doesn’t remove the flame.
• Removing it would force Clarke to destroy it and she can’t do that. Madi and the audience knows it is because she doesn’t want to destroy that little piece of Lexa that is left. Still, protecting her daughter comes above everything else, so she will destroy the flame if it means saving Madi.
• In the woods on the way to the valley, Clarke and Madi come across McCreary and his men. They are killing the deserters from the bunker who don’t know where Diyoza and Kane are. Madi goes into protective Commander mode and wants to attack. Clarke holds her back until there is only one man left. Then they get information about where Abby is, and Madi slits the guy’s throat for killing her people.
• Back in the valley, Abby is refusing to cure McCreary. So, he takes Abby’s pills, knowing she will cave and treat him for the pills. Using Vincent, who kills a couple of McCreary’s guards, Abby is able to get her precious pills without curing McCreary. When Clarke and Madi arrive in the valley, Abby has overdosed on the pills.
• McCreary may not have found Diyoza this episode, but he found her journal. Seeing as it contains all of her battle plans, this is probably going to factor into McCreary’s storyline in the final episodes.
• Next week, The 100 will finally explain the much mentioned Dark Year. Exploring what exactly happened during the six years in the bunker and how Abby, Octavia, Kane and Indra, became the versions of the characters seen during this season of The 100.