The earth is headed for Apocalypse 2: The Reckoning, and, frankly, there's not much The 100 can do to stop it.

Luck and genetics teamed up to pull humanity through 97 years of fallout, but neither fate nor fortune will smile down upon the last bastions of civilization when The 100 returns this winter. Once the great white hope of the clean energy movement, the world's nuclear reactors will turn toxic in season 4, putting Grounders and Arkers alike on a path to extinction.

The City of Light had enough room for the last vestiges of the human race, but now that ALIE's dream is no more than a faded nightmare, Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Co. will quickly learn that the warped paradise was perhaps their only hope.

Season 1 was the origin story, season 2 was Mount Weather, season 3 was the AI, and season 4 is 'The Ground Strikes Back," series creator Jason Rothenberg told EnStars ahead of The 100's San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday. "We'll see the atmosphere deteriorating. We'll see nature acting in really crazy scary ways, and, eventually, It will be clear to our heroes that there is no stopping it, it's only, 'How do we survive?' Of course, then there'll be, 'There are not enough lifeboats. How do we decide who gets to live and who gets to die?'"

Don't b alarmed - Rothenberg is still planning a fifth season. The coming storm will certainly rack up a death toll, but there will be those who find a way to fight on.

"They're certainly going to have to figure out ways to survive. There are a lot of different options on the table. I don't think there's any one way," Rothenberg explained. "I think a lot of people won't survive it...It's not, by the way, designed to be a series finale."

Are you ready for season 4? The 100 will return to The CW in 2017.

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