Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.Ugh, what a gut punch. I hate you, The 100 . Well done.

The 100 fandom has been scared of late. Very scared. Because it was hard not to think Lexa was doomed. And here we were, with this big battle about to break out, and Lexa and Clarke kept having oh-so many notable moments. Great moments. Because this show really hit pay dirt with Lexa as a new character this season and by pairing her with Clarke. Oh, no apologies here - I’m on a super, mega, hyperdrive equipped rocket ship called “Clexa.” And so I was trying to prepare myself for the “Clarke holds a bloody, dying Lexa in her arms” ending to this season, and wondered if it might happen in this episode.And what was happening really played into that. All those aforementioned moments grew. They had meaningful glances. They led together. Lexa talked about plans she and Clarke could make, together, when this was all over. All familiar tropes in the “This would-be happy duo are about to suffer” stories. And then she went off on her mission and it felt like this was it - this was where she walks off to her doom, because something bad is about to happen.

The 100: Alycia Debnam-Carey Talks Lexa and Clarke

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And, essentially, the trope did play out - this was the end of “Clarke & Lexa”, given what was about to occur. But it wasn’t through death, but through good old-fashioned betrayal.It was certainly upsetting to see play out, and I’d say the one difficulty thing to reconcile here is how it all happened offscreen, so we have to imagine Lexa learning about this offer, pondering it, thinking it through and accepting it, rather than seeing her go through it. And yes, this was a sacrifice for her, to be sure, because it’s easy to assume she’s, essentially, in love with Clarke at this point (or certainly on the way), but that she felt this was, in the long run, how she could save her people. So she gave up her own happiness for their lives… while also showing her more mercenary side by giving up the 44 at the same time. They never backed away from how focused and hard edged Lexa could be, so I don’t feel this is a cheat. Hell, she just recently let many more of her own people die in service of the larger mission. So yes, I could see her making this choice, when she considered it would not only save those immediately in danger but could put an end to the Mountain Men ever fighting them, taking them, killing them and turning them into Reapers. But we didn’t want her to make this deal, which is why it was hard to see play out.I’m guessing Lexa isn’t in the season finale, given how much there is to deal with the wake of her and the Grounders leaving - or maybe we see her for one little scene, thinking about the choice she made. Regardless, I think it’s safe to assume this was, essentially the conclusion of the Lexa storyline… for now. Because she made it through! She’s alive, despite Alycia Debnam-Carey going off to join The Walking Dead spinoff (a big reason most figured she’d have to be killed off). And I’d be shocked if we never saw her again on this show. Let them work out the logistics behind the scenes that will sneak her away from her new full time gig for a bit to The 100 set in Vancouver. They’ll make it work at some point, I’d bet. But yeah, the way this story played out, on top of not having access to the actress on a full time basis, may have signaled the end of any chance for Clarke and Lexa as a happy couple, and it’s to The 100’s credit that so many fans care so much that it ended this way. Even some who scoffed at any “CW love stories” when this show began!This was an excellent episode overall. The opening, as Lexa and Clarke laid out the big plan was thrilling, both for how focused and determined everyone was and for how it showed these two women so united and on such equal footing, leading their people. It was really cool seeing how the plan was working, as all the different groups got into position - complete with crowd-pleasing moments like that Grounder shooting one of the Mountain Men through the eye, to give Raven and Wick access to that room (though hey, where’d that guy go?! Raven and Wick could have used him later!).The dynamic between Dante and Cage was excellent as well, as Dante bemoaned his son’s actions, believing he’d led them to their doom. Dante’s been a really interesting character - as opposed as he was to forcefully using those from the Ark for Mount Weather’s purposes, he’s hardly “good,” and it was telling how he kept referring to the Grounders as “savages.” After all, he’d never stopped the Reaper program from continuing, having his own skewed perspective on which outsiders were worthy of being treated equal or not. But he had his code and was trying to stick to it……but, like Lexa, he wanted to save his people, above all else. And that’s what made it so fascinating to discover he had come up with the plan to free all the Grounders and form a truce with them, in exchange for keeping the 44. It wasn’t how he wanted things to go, but you have to hand it to him for figuring out how to save the day - From Mount Weather’s perspective.There were moments in this episode that made me wish they had a little more time to let things play out. While well played by Eve Harlow, Maya discovering her dad’s dead body would have been even stronger if we’d known him better through the season. And it was a little clunky to have Octavia pretty much immediately go from the joy of being completely accepted by Indra and welcomed as a Grounder, to being left behind by her in, what, their next scene together? Still, we’d seen enough of those two together, and followed Octavia’s journey this whole way, that these two scenes — even if I wish they were a couple episodes apart — still both landed the appropriate highs and lows. Octavia’s “I have no home” was yet another heartbreaking moment, even while her decision to stay to make sure Bellamy got out was commendable and emotional.On top of that, we got Lincoln being really cool throughout - whether immediately jumping in to protect Clarke when they came under fire, or shooting that arrow with seconds to spare. And his own inner turmoil and conflict could be seen throughout as well, from how he didn’t join in with the other Grounders chanting in the beginning, to how he tried to stay behind and help when Lexa ordered everyone to leave.Some bullet points to end on:-The Raven and Wick dynamic continued to be really strong. Their mixture of banter (those dam jokes!) and uncomfortableness felt genuine, as they dealt with how weird things were between them. The double meaning of her saying “Please don’t leave me” — referring to both the immediate situation and her overall fears — was a great beat.-Monty hiding to save himself was another moment I wish we could have seen, rather than have him describe afterwards. Oh, Monty, maybe Season 3 will give you more to do.With the badass warrior queen(s) leading their soldiers into battle and the crucial missions to blow up power generators and open bunker doors, I found myself thinking at one point,, wow, this is like Game of Thrones meets Star Wars (Episode VI, obviously). Pretty freaking cool.