Thursday’s season finale of The 100 (The CW, 9/8c) sends Clarke to Downtown Vancouver the City of Light, where she’ll attempt to destroy ALIE once and for all — encountering a very familiar face in the process.

“I think people have seen photos online and know already that Alycia [Debnam Carey] is coming back for the season finale,” Eliza Taylor tells TVLine of Lexa’s long-awaited return. “It’s just a matter of how and in what capacity. Shooting downtown in Vancouver, there was no way we weren’t going to get found out. So I can’t say anything about how it happens or how much we see of her, but I think people are going to be happy.”

Read on for more of Taylor’s finale teases, her thoughts about life after Lexa and why she has new respect for the casts of Arrow and The Flash.

TVLINE | Before we talk about the finale, I’m still squirming thinking about Abby stabbing Clarke last week. That was intense.

That’s a very hard thing to do in the moment, to personalize being stabbed by your mother. But Paige and I are very close friends, so I worked with a feeling of “My friend is working against me,” and I guess that translated to “My mom is turning against me… and she’s about to hang herself!” … I thought it was super awesome when she was like, “I’m not doing this, Clarke. You are.”

TVLINE | Honestly, I didn’t think Clarke would be able to hold out, but she did.

And isn’t that terrifying? She was like, “As much as I love you, lady who gave birth to me, I’m not giving up this password.” Clarke is all for the greater good.

TVLINE | Clarke has been faced with some tough decisions in the past, but this one was on another level. Do you see this as yet another turning point for her?

I absolutely do. God, what hasn’t she been through at this point? It’s crazy. I do wonder if she’s treading a line. … She wants to get this A.I. into a human so that Lexa can sort of appear and be her again. So is this just Clarke wanting to get her love back, or is she really trying to save the world? I like that people don’t quite know, and I don’t either. As an actor, it’s a very interesting role to be playing.

TVLINE | Most of your three seasons have been filmed in the woods or on a sound stage. Did you feel like a fish out of water filming in downtown Vancouver?

It was honestly so strange for me. I have newfound respect for people on The Flash and Arrow who are downtown every day. When you’re doing big stunts in a city center, people pay attention. We had people taking photos of us and yelling at us from their office windows. In a matter of an hour, we had 20 to 30 fans who brought banners and signs and photos for us to sign. I was like, “Oh my God, this is actually kind of a popular show!” We’ve been in the forest this whole time, so we didn’t think people would just give up their day to talk to us. It was like being at Comic-Con a little bit.

TVLINE | Have you bugged [showrunner] Jason Rothenberg to find out what’s coming up for Clarke in Season 4?

You know, I have, but it’s so hard to get an answer out of him. One thing I do love about him, though, is that he keeps me guessing the same way he keeps the audience guessing. He’s so vague about what’s going to happen, but you can see in his eyes that he has a master plan. So it’s frustrating, but also great, because I know we’re going to shoot something great. … I just wish I knew what it was.

TVLINE | Since it sounds like the finale will offer Clarke some closure with Lexa, do you hope to see her find love again soon?

It’s so hard for me to say. When someone you love passes away, it takes years for you to feel like yourself again. I kind of want to stay true to that, as an ode to Lexa and what they were to each other. I don’t think Clarke had ever experienced a love like that before. In a lot of ways — selfishly, as Eliza — I’d love for her to be happy and get it on with someone new, but I think Lexa was Clarke’s love, and it’s probably going to take a long time for that to not hurt. And in true The 100 fashion, there are much more important things to worry about right now. It’s not about how you feel, it’s about how you’re going to survive.

Your hopes for The 100 finale, and Season 4 while we’re at it? Drop ’em in a comment below.