#anti sheidheda

[lopeforrestlope]

Words cannot describe how little I care about Sheidheda and his plot in this season.

[bookcastic]

If they kill Indra and let fucking SHEIDHEDA live, I’m going to throw up,, the Flame can go CHOKE

[float-me-now]

It's ok girl, season 7 never happened. Bellamy, Gabriel and Diyoza never died, Madi didn't end up paralysed, Murphy's storyline didn't suck, Sheidheda didn't explode, Gaia wasn't useless, Raven didn't get a disgusting storyline, there were no stupid alien gods, no time travel, no one transcended, Callie didn't make up trig when she was fucking 12, Cadogan was just a long-dead cult leader, Bardo was just another inhabitable planet, everyone is living in peace on Sanctum and they're not even dressed in those hideous Sanctum rags but have nice clothes, yeah that's it

[fen-ha-fuck-you]

the 100 crack  / /  (44 / ?) 7x10 edition ft. @animatedtext​

[travllingbunny]

I was thinking about something... Am I the only one who thought while watching 7x08 of The 100, the backdoor pilot Anaconda "Did Jason Rothenberg write Bill Cadogan as a more charismatic and more powerful self-insert?" Maybe subconsciously? Maybe that was one of the reasons why that episode was well-written, he was writing about something he knows a lot about. I noticed the similarities of the Cadogan family dynamics to the Lightbourne family dynamic from a season before (such as both men being called out for being megalomaniacs/narcissists).

It also strikes me that all the main villains of the last 2 seasons have been megalomaniac privileged white men - Bill Cadogan, Sheidheda, Russell Lightbourne. And even in the other season - we can add the two Wallaces (and the Wallace family dynasty was referenced in Anaconda, too, with the mention of President Wallace’s administration). In season 5 the most villainy villain was McCreary, as a sociopathic manchild who destroyed the Earth because he couldn't have it all for himself. In the entire show, the human Big Bads of all seasons have been entitled white guys. (The other Big Bads were a computer program and a nuclear disaster, and season 1 didn’t have an overall main villain but many minor ones.)

I normally wouldn’t find anything strange about that - it’s an obvious and safe choice for a villain - but the specific character traits of the megalomaniac, egotistical, power-obsessed and entitled white men of these last couple of seasons and especially season 7 and Cadogan, have really made me think that there may be something subconscious going on there on Rothenberg’s part (probably not intentionally, as that would entail way too much self-awareness).

And there’s also another pattern I’ve noticed this season in particular (though it did not start this season, but now it’s really been maximized). When I wrote my review of 7x12, I was still giving the show the benefit of the doubt and trying to find the positives as well as the negatives, but there was something that had been making me increasingly uncomfortable throughout the season, and I couldn’t help mention that the show finished the last season with the Brainwashed into a Cult Jordan storyline, which was then dropped and ignored in season 7, but only to be replaced by the Indoctrinated into a Cult storyline for another man of color, this time the show’s second protagonist/male lead. 

There is pattern of men of color constantly being portrayed as followers, manipulated and/or brainwashed, usually by white male villains. Even those MOC who still have a mind of their own and aren’t background characters (I think that’s only Gabriel at this point) are not leaders. (Gabriel may do his own thing, but he’s not in charge and agreed to be a Disciple.)

Jordan was brainwashed last season by an annoying Devout guy, a minor character called Trey . That didn’t end up having consequences  except for Jordan spouting pro-Prime propaganda and getting hated by the fandom, and was retconed/ignored/dropped in season 7, except for Jordan continuing to be manipulated by the Devout (Trey and Alyssa) and Sheidheda (as Russell).

But after dropping that storyline, the show had Bellamy - who was a leader and a damn good one - indoctrinated into a cult and a follower of Cadogan. Then murdered. I really don’t want to talk anymore about that horrible plot and death scene. I was deeply uncomfortable with the plot to begin with, but was hoping that the show would do something that makes sense and is respectful to Bellamy’s character. My ideal version was that his friends and particularly Clarke get through to him and he realizes that individual love is not bad, but that his visions and beliefs weren’t entirely wrong, and that he turns his back on Cadogan and his interpretations of it. We know how that worked out.

Nelson was a leader, but was manipulated and used by Sheidheda in a way that didn't even make sense, preying on Nelson’s emotions and impulsiveness. Later murdered. 

Sheidheda’s main follower was Knight of Sangedakru. There were some minor hints he may have been rethinking his loyalty and fans speculated he may turn, but nope.

Reese Cadogan was the child loyal and subservient to Bill, desperate for his father’s approval. And Bill thinks he may have been killed by his sister (because he can't imagine another reason he didn't bring him the Flame - in his mind, he couldn't have possibly broken away from his influence). 

Miller and Jackson are background characters, in spite of having been on the show since season 1. Miller's most important arc in the last few seasons was having been a loyal follower or Blodreina. Jackson spent most of his time in the previous 6 seasons as Abby’s sidekick.

Even if we go back to previous seasons... Not to go over the minor characters like Shumway (season 1 minor villain- a follower of Diana Sidney, manipulated and murdered by her). But even Jaha, who was a strong leader, love him or hate him, was a brainwashed follower of ALIE for a full season.

Monty and Lincoln were characters of integrity, but were never put in charge. Lincoln was also a brainwashed slave/monster for half a season - but at least he got to get a revenge on his brainwasher Cage Wallace. Then he got murdered the next season. 

I’d have thought Bellamy was an exception once the show seemed to have stopped trying to impose the idea he was a “follower” and let him be a really good leader in the later seasons.... And then season 7 happened.  (I used to argue the line about him being a “follower” rather than a leader was just something a villain used to taunt him and that was not meant to be gospel truth, but guess what, the latest season has decided to confirm that ALIE!Raven’s taunting was indeed the truth, including that about Clarke being poison to everyone close to her and bringing them all death...)

The only exception was Pike, and he was made to be more hated than any of the white villains who were much worse in terms of motivations, actions and having a sympathetic qualities/backstory to explain their actions.

[talistheintrovert]

The 100 Season 7 Crack 4/?

Episode 5 + Onion Headlines

[the-two-headed-deer-survived]

Sheidheda Should Have Been A Teenager

Okay, so hear me out, cause I really feel like this would have made his storyline more interesting, more nuanced, and more thematically resonant. 

We first hear about Sheidheda from Gaia (a flame-keeper) as the “dark commander” who killed three of his flame-keepers before being killed by his fourth. And that’s really all the evidence Gaia gives for why this commander was evil. But from what we see of the flame-keepers... they do not have the nightblood novitiates or the commanders interests at heart and are in fact a danger to them. From what we see in season 3, for example, the nightblood novitiates seem to only have Titus and Lexa as guardians/teachers/adult figures in their lives- and Titus (and Lexa but we’re talking about flame-keepers), besides essentially raising these children for the slaughter, was emotionally distant/unequipped to raise a bunch of kids (”love is weakness”) and played favorites- in which kid he wanted to live and kill all the others (as Luna says about Lexa being Titus’ favorite and what Lexa says about Aden being commander after her (in front of the other kids, even) supports this as just a thing that the people surrounding the nightblood kids did). And then Titus kills Lexa (unintentionally, but still he killed her while he was trying to control and manipulate her). And I feel like it’s worth noting that the whole system revolves around child commanders that aren’t expected to last long, with other (younger and more pliable children) in the wings should the they die- this is the perfect system for allowing (head?) flame-keepers to discretely (or not so discretely, see Sheidheda) do away with commanders that they deem too troublesome- that don’t follow their advice or, like Lexa, try to change traditions. And then the flame-keepers are still alive and institutionally powerful enough to control the narrative of the dead commander’s legacy.

So it’s easy to Sheidheda as having been made a commander as a child (say the same age as Madi, even), who’s just been forced to kill the children he grew up with to survive. And now, he’s friendless, surrounded by people watching with hawk eyes for weakness, with only a flame-keeper as an ally. A flame-keeper who’s emotionally distant (probably neglectful), who probably views Sheidheda as replaceable, maybe even would have preferred another child as commander and now resents Sheidheda for it. (And with how much power the flame-keepers have, especially over the nightblood children; well who would have stopped the flame-keeper if they were outright abusive). It’s to see how Sheidheda would see violence as the only way to survive (that is after all how he’s commander and his classmates are dead) and resents his flame-keeper or feel like his flame-keeper is a danger to him. So he kills his flame-keeper. And the next flame-keeper distrusts Sheidheda and Sheidheda distrusts the flame-keeper and eventually murders this flame-keeper, too. And so on, until the fourth flame-keeper murders Sheidheda, at say, age sixteen, confirming to Sheidheda that flame-keepers are dangerous, out to get him, and that he was right to kill the first three.  

So, what? Am I saying that Shiedheda should have been the good guy, an unfairly maligned commander? Not really. I still think Sheidheda should be a ruthless, merciless, violent commander who, paraphrasing from Luna, was taught by the flame-keepers to revel in his anger and violence. I am saying it would be more interesting if he was painted (at least somewhat) sympathetic villain, as a teenager who embodies of the cycle of violence. 

I also think it would be interesting if he genuinely had what he thought were Madi’s best interests at heart.

Maybe he sees himself in Madi (a child commander of a society that uses and discards nightblood children) or maybe he sees the nighblood children he grew up with before he was forced to kill them. 

And this could have easily fit with his actions for most of season 6. He repeatedly tells Madi to kill Gaia, because from his experience with flame-keepers, they’re dangerous so you’d better kill them before they kill you. And hell, Sheidheda is not exactly wrong about Gaia, either. Yes in the end she decides to sacrifice the flame to save Madi, but before that she stated- multiple times- that she would murder Madi before allowing Sheidheda control of Wonkru.

Sheidheda’s plans for murdering all the primes? Well, Madi clearly wants revenge for them murdering Clarke and they’ll be a threat to Madi if they find out she’s a nightblood. Better to kill them all now.

Telling her to kill Jackson while he’s forcibly taking her bone marrow is pretty self-explanatory (especially when you consider he didn’t seem like he was going to do anything when Russell ordered them to take enough doses that would kill her).

Even threatening to “kill this child” if Raven doesn’t stop trying to delete his code fits with this if you view it as self preservation (he’s looking out for Madi but he’s not willing to die for her) and/or a bluff because he thinks he’s the only one looking out for Madi and he thinks she’ll die without him (he’s projecting his experiences of being a child commander onto her).

And can you imagine the reveal, if for episodes we’d been hearing about this scary, evil commander and oh no, he’s starting to control Madi and telling her to murder Gaia, and then we go into Madi’s mindscape and holy shit Sheidheda’s sixteen.

And thematically, we could get into the cycle of violence. How when children are taught they have to kill to survive, that violence and anger are strength, they will kill and keep killing. How this system of child commanders and child soldiers hurts children, and is bad all around. How in order to “do better”, you have to stop this cycle of violence (and you can’t keep using fucking child soldiers, yes I’m talking about Madi). And- especially if you keep some of the season 7 “Sheidheda in Russell’s body” plot- the question of “how do you stop the cycle of violence when those still caught in the cycle are determined to still commit violence?” is much more present than what we actually got in season 7. 

[abstractmindscape]

Remember when Indra was like super smart and cunning and strategic and badass and a good enough warrior to train Octavia and second Lexa and then they were just like nah forget that let’s make her bow to the average white man

[spoiledforships]

yeah it would’ve been cool if e.cho had been better developed and much earlier on but also her storyline? i hate it thanks.

like imagine if she’d just stayed her ass on Sanctum to help indra, E/cho would have been an amazing second to indra for the sanctum plot, esp since her people knelt to a queen rather than the commander

or with the fracturing of Wonkru she was reborn as Ash to lead Azgeda? after her Roan hallucination she’s determined and sheds her good little spy armor and reclaims her agency by becoming Ice Queen????? sign me the fuck up.

creating an alliance with Sheidheda/sandgedakru to take the shit over divide and conquer style bc she’d have emori and murphy and the sanctumites to keep in check and he wants control of the grounder army

bonding with Sheidy over being kept in a cage & abandoned/abused by their leader/caretaker and how they grew up as fighters, tools for those who’d use them and then try to cut them down.

I was robbed.

[coconutnlime]

As numb as I feel about Bellamy getting shot, there’s still a tiny tinge of hope in me and so I will try to reserve judgement until the end of the series. 

Three more episodes to go, right?

A lot can happen. Right now, Bellamy dying just makes no sense. None whatsoever. So I will wait.

I refuse to give up hope that Bellamy Blake is not dead.

[invisibledorkette]

The 100 Thoughts 7×09

• "I love me an unwinnable war."

• Nikki's hot.

• Indra's amazing.

• She has big grumpy mom energy.

• Oh, Levitt is back.

• Good luck breaking their bonds with each other.

• Get between Hope and Diyoza at your own peril.

• Sheidheda wants a playmate.

• Why are there so many creepy cults on this show?

• Call Echo out, Hope.

• God, I hate Echo rn so much. So much for loyalty.

• Levitt has the big heart eyes.

• Did Hope fail the last test?

• This episode is bad for my blood pressure.

• What are they going to do to Hope?

• Indra how did you not see that coming?

[float-me-now]

Comments on 7x07 let’s go bitcheeees!

WRITTEN BY: Miranda Kwok DIRECTED BY: Lindsey Morgan

Miranda Kwok is the same writer who wrote 4x09 (DNR) and 5x09 (Sic Semper Tyrannis) aka two of my favourite episodes, but also 6x08 (The Old Man And The Anomaly) which may be one of my least favourites episodes ever so yeah, I didn’t really know what to expect, but for what concerns the writing, I think it had some pretty good moments.

Lindsay absolutely SLAYED. I'm so proud of her, this ep was so good from the acting/directing point of view, she deserves all the praise she’s getting and more. Loved the lighting in the Sheidheda/Murphy scenes and the transitions!! 

The beginning kinda gave me season 5 vibes. Emori and everyone else doing things and Murphy being once again left out of it and without a precise function. 

"She got to go looking for our friends while we're stuck here babysitting fanatics" thank you Murphy for summarizing my take on this storyline.

I can't believe Emori mentioned fucking hell to Murphy to talk him into joining the ceremony when he didn't want to. She literally played with his biggest fear and you can see the moment she mentions it, he freezes. 

“You’ve been worshiping me for years” must be one of the cringiest lines ever in the history of the show. Worst thing is, it’s coming from the person who treated him like shit for a whole season (yes guys, season 5 actually happened).

The scene with Madi and Jackson was very cute. Kinda weird because we're not used to see characters discuss their feelings and process stuff, but nice. Poor Jackson should be the one getting therapy tho lol.

Also, I don't recall Madi being that scared of being Commander in season 5, but it's been a year since I've watched it so my memory might be failing me.

And after Jerry, here's Russ! 😂 Murphy and his nicknames!!

"No rush. It's not as if lives depend on it" okay but Sheidheda kills me,  what a character.

The Becho scene on the ring was so nice and profound and it really adds depth to their relationship. Echo’s take on loyalty and fearing that she'll lose the family she gained on the Ring brings a whole new intensity to seasons 5-7.

Octavia regrets beating Bellamy after Lincoln's death OMG and that scene with Echo was just *chef's kiss*

"That's dishes young lady"  😂 I died, I legit died.

Murphy remembering Lexa OMG and his whole head to head with Sheidheda trying to outsmart him was absolutely great. JR and Richard killed it. Great atmosphere, great dialogues, great actors. Damn.

I was NOT expecting McCreary to pop up into Diyoza and Hope's conversation! I thought they would just overlook him as per usual! And Hope wanted to know everything about him JeSus.

OmG the “Sachin” part!! What a wonderful tribute to Sachin! Holy shit but cut poor Nelson some damn slack. 

From a strategic point of view, Emori's idea was bad right from the start and it only served to create the occasion for Nikki to go wild in a place full of people. Seriously, I appreciate Emori's intention to unify Sanctum but a party is a piss poor idea given how tense the situation is AND the missing guns.

All in all, I liked this episode and I’m looking forward to some good ol’ nuclear apocalypse in 7x08

[fen-ha-fuck-you]

the 100 crack  / /  (43 / ?) 7x09 edition ft. @animatedtext​

[eclectic-aussie]

Random Thoughts #5

I saw a post by sometimesrosy that I found interesting.

You can’t help the way you feel, but I agree that you are responsible for how you express those feelings and the fallout that may result from it and I honestly think how (most of) Spacekru responded to Clarke for the later part of season 5 and the parts of season 6 before Clarke ‘died’ were just...bull to be honest.

Every member of Spacekru except the Greens (Monty, Harper and Jordan who were in either one season or the other respectively) have either actively tried to kill Clarke themselves (Echo tried to strangle her, and so did Bellamy but he at least was under the influence of the Red Sun Toxin), would have stood back and done nothing while she was murdered in front of them (Raven), or actively worked with her attempted murderers to hide Clarke’s death so they could further profit from her loved ones (Murphy). Now Emori was kind of half and half, because she did applaud Murphy’s actions with Josephine and the Lightbournes as the ‘survivors move’ and was initially going to help ‘get Clarke out of her own head’, she did confess the plan to erase Clarke to Bellamy...but it was because she knew it was something that would hurt Bellamy more than she actually cared all that much that Clarke was dead. I’m not saying she was indifferent to it, more that she would have just accepted it as the price of her and Murphy’s immortality like the Primes accepted the erasure of the Hosts. So if Bellamy had said to keep to their deal with the Primes I think Emori would be a little shocked at his choice, but would jump at the chance to be immortal at the cost of Clarke’s life.

Honestly I’m curious to see what, if any, repercussions Spacekru will face for the choices they made to ensure their own survival, no matter the cost. I mean they got bubkes for taking down the Eye at the cost of betraying Shaw (which I thought was incredibly stupid since he was so much more useful than he was given credit for by Echo) and unlocking the missiles. Or being responsible for putting McCreary in charge which would have made the peace treaty Bellamy poisoned his sister and betrayed Clarke to put the Flame in Madi’s head for kind of..impossible. Add to that, that Raven and Murphy woke up the 283 prisoners in cryo to save their own lives which, since Diyoza only took 22 people with her to the ground and Clarke killed 4 and Madi killed 2...yeah they pretty much screwed the pooch on that one in regards to everyone besides themselves) and Echo made the (baffling to this day) decision to take the two people the prisoners needed to bomb everyone in the gorge with the missiles Echo had Raven unlock to take Madi back, by force if necessary, to an active war-zone to lead an army into battle instead of taking, say, Emori and Murphy who are known for their sneaking and stealth skills and Raven and Shaw were...not.

But I’m sure Echo’s choice to take Raven (who has actively spoken out against Clarke’s decisions on multiple occasions only to stand back and do nothing but watch as CLARKE makes the impossible decisions with no perfect answers where everyone’s safe and no-one dies) and Shaw (who’s only real loyalty/affection was to Raven so would probably follow her lead) had no nefarious connotations whatsoever, such as knowing Raven probably wouldn’t protest that much if Echo was ‘forced’ to kill Clarke in the course of taking Madi back to ‘fulfill her destiny’ as Commander and lead Wonkru into battle for a piece of land that they had no more claim to than the Prisoners but felt entitled to anyway. But I’m sure it was nothing like that, even when we saw for ourselves how quickly Echo tried to kill Clarke to ‘avenge’ Bellamy and how neither Raven or Shaw lifted a finger or gave any protest to Echo’s actions. Coincidence, I’m sure.

And yet, none of them were held even the slightest bit accountable with how THEIR actions were key in contributing to the destruction of Earth and the original massacre in the gorge, which might partially explain why they leaned so hard on ripping into Clarke: if everyone’s focused on her sins they don’t ever have to acknowledge their own parts in what happened because they can always just say her actions were worse.

And that was just their actions in season 5.

So going into season 7, will this trend continue with Clarke getting the lion’s share of the blame because in their version of the story she’s the Monster and they’re the Heroes trying to ‘be the good guys’ but failing because of the evil Primes they have to make deals with for the good of ‘everyone’, or will the Sanctumites judge them more harshly for the things they did to save their own skins, irregardless to the cost to anyone else?

[earthenterran]

sheidheda was just a means to a wasteful end. but he had to be there, so he was dragged along. 

every time he didn’t die was circumstancel, or sudden ignorance by the people who had the means to end him.

there was no earning of his continual existence. he was intimidating with his history among the grounders sure, but he wasn’t terribly clever. he.... just needed to be around to be the conflict no one else could control 

[sometimesrosy]

Since episode 7x03 I've been thinking that that damn reactor is going to be a problem. Now Sheidheda knows that it can be used as a weapon. Are they going to have to leave Sanctum and return to Earth? 👀 Btw, in the last days of filming, someone from the crew shared a video of people wearing anti-radiation suits. Then they deleted it and by then episode 7×08 had already been filmed. 4x13 2.0?

Is Sanctum going to get wrecked the way Earth was wrecked? MAY BE.

Sheidheda and his followers are certainly NOT breaking the cycle of violence. Is Sanctum the next planet to have to pay for humanity’s greed and violence? Can our heroes save it? Just because a moon is toxic and makes everyone crazy doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to keep on mooning.

We have some foreshadowing. “Do you have a weapon here?” “Does a nuclear reactor count?” 

Yes, Emori. Yes it does.