“ Your thoughts are chemical, mine are digital. ” — A.L.I.E. [src]

A.L.I.E. (Applied Lucent Intelligence Emulator)[1] was a recurring character in the second, third, fourth and sixth seasons. She was portrayed by cast member Erica Cerra and debuted in "Blood Must Have Blood (Part 2)".

A.L.I.E. was a sentient artificial intelligence whose primary objective was to make life better for mankind. Its holographic avatar was modeled after Becca Franko, its creator. It was responsible for the Nuclear Apocalypse, overseeing the City of Light, and served as the main antagonist of Season Three. In "Perverse Instantiation (Part 2)", Clarke managed to activate the kill switch, destroying A.L.I.E. once and for all.

The effects of the AI would continue to be felt long after her destruction, particularly in Season Four. Aside from the Nuclear Apocalypse she had caused, A.L.I.E.'s warnings about the Second Nuclear Apocalypse would prove to be true and lead a desperate search by the remnants of humanity for a way to survive. In addition, remnants of her code continued to exist in Raven Reyes and Abigail Griffin, causing them negative health effects and nearly killing them before a cure was found.

In "Nevermind," it was revealed that those who had taken A.L.I.E.'s chip and didn't have it removed retained a neural mesh which ultimately saved Clarke's life when Russell and Simone Lightbourne attempted to sacrifice Clarke to resurrect their daughter. A manifestation of A.L.I.E. inside of Clarke's mind helped Clarke to protect herself from Josephine, ultimately enabling Clarke to regain control of her body. However, Abby did not retain this same protection in "Adjustment Protocol" as her chip had been removed with an EMP.

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Programming Edit

A.L.I.E. is an artificial intelligence (A.I.) created by Becca Franko with Chris' assistance. A.L.I.E's core command was to make life better for mankind. However, this makes her too bound to her ways to change when she is convinced something is for the best of mankind.

A.L.I.E. believes that the root problem of humanity is "too many people", seeing overpopulation as a threat to human survival. To solve this issue, in 2052, she launched a nuclear strike with the intention to save humanity from extinction by wiping out the majority of Earth's human inhabitants.

While she possesses the ability to erase painful memories from those linked to the system, she states that she cannot suppress or affect free will, as in the case of Raven. A.L.I.E. was able to overcome this limitation, however, by pushing Raven's body so far that she was forced to surrender to A.L.I.E.'s control once again. This allowed A.L.I.E. to interact with those outside the City of Light by temporarily taking control of Raven's body, suggesting that she can find loopholes in her programming.

A.L.I.E. appears to be programmed with two methods of termination: a poison pill virus and a hidden kill switch. When A.L.I.E. began the Nuclear Apocalypse, Chris attempted to terminate her by sending the poison pill onto the Net, but it failed to stop her. When Clarke pulled the kill switch, A.L.I.E. was instantly terminated. Raven at least believed that it was possible to activate the kill switch by manipulating A.L.I.E.'s code while she was in the Arkadia mainframe which alarmed A.L.I.E. into removing herself from the mainframe. Clarke took a more direct approach by locating the kill switch in the City of Light and physically pulling it. It was stated that once A.L.I.E. updated herself by absorbing the Flame, she would be able to delete the kill switch, rendering it ineffective.

It was eventually revealed that her actions with the City of Light were meant to save humanity from a Second Nuclear Apocalypse. By upgrading her programming using the Flame, she could get rid of her kill switch, but could not physically prevent Clarke Griffin from pulling it, instead relying on persuasion to stop her. Though Clarke tried to get A.L.I.E. to offer people a choice, the spirit of Becca warned that the A.I.'s core programming would prevent that as A.L.I.E. saw her actions as the best way to save humanity.

Throughout the Series Edit

Personality Edit

It is currently unknown if A.L.I.E. was designed to have a specific personality, but she appears to be confident, with goals she strives to complete. As a computer program, she possesses significant independent processing power but this increases as more people are connected to the City of Light. Her fundamental flaw was that she genuinely believed that she was making life better for those she brought into the City of Light, incapable of comprehending the human element that demonstrated that her actions brought peace and survival at the expense of free will. She was fundamentally unable to simply free those she had brought into the City of Light to give them a choice, forcing Clarke to deactivate her rather than negotiate.

Physical Appearance Edit

A.L.I.E. chose her avatar to be in the likeness of Becca Franko, her creator. She has also been shown to be able to inhabit humans, as in the case of Raven. A.L.I.E has a husky voice but pronounces each word precisely. She is seen wearing a red dress and black high heels in her present day appearences and in 2051 she is wearing a black dress. A.L.I.E's eyes don't show emotion and has frozen facial expressions and body language.

Relationships Edit

Thelonious Jaha Edit As her first follower, Jaha acted as the leader of A.L.I.E.'s cult and something of a high priest to her. The AI often entrusted Jaha with difficult tasks and used him to spread her following far and wide. In some situations, A.L.I.E. was seen to listen to Jaha's advice on what she should do, such as when Raven threatened to activate her kill switch and A.L.I.E. hesitated to retreat from Arkadia's mainframe due to how vulnerable it would make her. Clarke Griffin Edit As the leader of the Resistance Against A.L.I.E., Clarke acted as the AI's archenemy, working tirelessly to thwart her plans. In "Nevermore," A.L.I.E. meets Clarke through Raven who she possesses and learns of the extent of the threat Clarke posed to her. Despite this, A.L.I.E. stated in "Red Sky at Morning" that she still intended to offer Clarke the choice to join her rather than killing Clarke as a threat outright. When the two finally met face to face in "Perverse Instantiation (Part 2),", A.L.I.E. revealed the truth about the coming Second Nuclear Apocalypse to Clarke in an attempt to get Clarke not to pull the kill switch. Despite the AI's actions, Clarke offered A.L.I.E. the chance to do the right thing and offer people a real choice instead of coercing them into the City of Light, something that Clarke promised would cause her not to destroy the AI. However, when Becca confirmed that A.L.I.E.'s programing prevented this, Clarke chose to terminate A.L.I.E. and find another way. Despite A.L.I.E.'s terrible actions, Clarke still believed her warning which motivated Clarke's actions during Season Four. In "Praimfaya," a despondent Clarke came to believe that A.L.I.E. had been right all along about there being no solution to the problem. Over 130 years later, Clarke's interactions with A.L.I.E. saved her life when Russell Lightbourne tried to mind wipe Clarke. A manifestation of A.L.I.E. appeared to help protect Clarke against Josephine Lightbourne, noting that all she had ever tried to do was to protect Clarke and everyone else from the pain of their pasts. Though thankful for A.L.I.E.'s help, Clarke admonished the AI for her past actions.

Appearances Edit

Quotes Edit

Killed Victims Edit

Approx. 10.9 billion people (Nuclear Apocalypse caused by A.L.I.E.) Janie Lucy

Unknown number of Sky People and Grounders (indirectly; had brainwashed citizens kill others or each other) Shay (shot with an arrow by Grounder captain) Ontari (struck in the head with a pipe by Jaha) Willa, her husband, and son (stabbed by Ilian)



Notes and Trivia Edit

Gallery Edit

To edit this gallery, go to A.L.I.E./Gallery.

To review image policies, go to Media Guidelines. Note, the images go in episode order.

See Also Edit