Clarke 'I have to save them' Griffin
Can we just think back on this this episode.
The bomb is coming, TonDC is about to be decimated, people are going to die. And Lexa? Lexa tells Clarke to not tell the people. We see Clarke pause at this, because this is the exact opposite of what her father would do. What he died trying to do.
Clarke herself was around 17 when her dad discovered the flaw about the Arks oxygen system. His first reaction, knowing it would kill him, was to tell the people.
Now, we know he is found out and is taken away to be floated, and Clarke is there when it happens.
And she promises her dad, who is about to die, that she will warn them. That she will follow in his footsteps and do what he taught her. To save their people.
After this, Clarke is put in solitary confinement for around a year. Now, factoring in her age, her life, the laws she grew up with, the knowledge that they were all going to die, AND her last real human interaction being her father being killed in front of her....
Its understandable that this left a mark on her. Fractured the way she saw things. Gave her a deep sense of 'protector' and 'saviour'. She thinks she owes it to people to save them. To give her life up for them, just like her father did, if it meant keeping everyone alive.
I mean, her mother literally says to her, after a year of not seeing her daughter that Clarke would have the instinct to put everyone else's needs before her own.
And the moment Clarke is on the ground, around people, she tells them about the Ark. She tells them about her dad. About the oxygen. About the councils decision to ignore it.
And Finns response is "We have to tell them". Clarke's own reaction is stating that that's exactly what her father said.
After this, we see Clarke's attitude towards him change. From going "I don't care" when Octavia called 'dibs' on him, to their relationship progressing quickly.
Skipping forward, we see instances where 'telling the people' or 'they have a right to know' mantras are fundamental to Clarkes leadership.
We see her tell everyone about the truth of their wristbands, the oxygen, the council. We see Clarke be honest with her people about the grounders being a threat, not sugar coating anything. She tells the truth to Bellamy about Octavia being in trouble to manipulate him into helping her. We see her tell, what she thinks is the truth, about Wells' death.
This instance however, this changes how she leads.
Because Murphy is hung, Charlotte throws herself from a cliff and then Murphy is banished.
This experience taught her that information is dangerous.
Clarke is more reserved with the 'truth's she tells people after this.
She keeps Bellamy's crime hidden (shooting Jaha) from the 100, she keeps peace talks with the grounders hidden, she offers little information about her plans to her people after this.
Yes, she still sacrifices herself. But she is more apprehensive to her father's beliefs that 'they have a right to know' about everything. She begins to think about the consequences information can have.
And then she finds out about the missile.
Now here she is, her first thought immedietly being 'Tell everyone, get them out, save them.' When she leaves Camp Jaha, her plan is to tell everyone about the missile, about the threat. To save their lives.
But sometime between this moment and getting to TonDC, Clarke hesitates. When she gets there she tells Octavia everything was okay before taking Lexa away and telling her in private.
Her response is the exact opposite of what Clarkes is. Of what her fathers and ex boyfriends is.
Lexa doesn't think anyone should know.
Clarke fights it, but eventually relents and leaves with Lexa.
While horrific, it is a deep character arch for Clarke to experience.
She is asked the question "Will you let them die for the cause? What are you willing to sacrifice? Are you willing to sacrifice the few to save the many?"
And for Clarke, the answer is yes.
We see Clarke immediately grow angry and resentful. To herself, to the mountain men, to Lexa.
This went against everything she ever believed in... And yet, it is exactly the path she was already taking.
Clarke tells Lexa "I could have warned them. I could have saved them." But she didn't, because she was beginning to seperate her 2 core values.
While we see her fallout from it, we see her refuse to do it again. She understands why, but after this experience, she draws a line in the sand. She isnt proud of it, but she never says she regrets it. She never tells anyone. Octavia finds out, but that's it. Otherwise, Clarke keeps it to herself.
This is when 'They deserve to know' is scrubbed out of Clarkes values. She stops telling her plans, stops involving people, she keeps shit to herself and bears the burden. Her only value left, the only value she can still cling to, is what causes her to do worse than TonDC. Is what causes her to live with it.
Clarke throws out one value to prioritise another.
This was the moment Clarke decided she wouldn’t rule like Lexa, but she wouldn’t lead like her father either….
I believe that this is when Wanheda was born.
TonDC allowed Clarke to see the extent she could be pushed when she was desperate enough. It gave her the chance to recognise a ticking bomb in herself built from desperation and fear. This experience is what woke Clarke up to the ground and had her prepare herself for what way her hand may be forced in the future.
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