In Arkadia, Abby wakes up and starts scolding Alie for taking away her assistant’s memories of his mother, the memories that gave him the drive to go into medicine in the first place.
She demands to talk to her mechanic girlfriend, but Alie is still in Raven’s body. Jaha says she can see Raven if she takes the City of Light pill, but Abby resists. So Alie slits Raven’s wrists without flinching. (This scene was alarmingly graphic. Like, can-they-really-show-this-on-network-TV-at-9pm graphic. I was nervous about what Jaha meant when he was trying to teach Alie how to override free will, but this is worse than I ever imagined.) Raven falls to the ground, so Abby takes the key, to save Raven.
In Polis, Murphy and Ontari are looking for the list of Commanders in Titus’s lair but of course, it’s not there. Ontari is mad because she is the last natbleda and she won the conclave (arguably she cheated) so she should be in charge. So Murphy says she will be fake Flamekeeper to her fake Heda.
Ontari practices her speech while she waits for Murphy to bring in the ambassador from before. Ontari refuses to give the lineage, because she shouldn’t have to prove herself.
When he still insists that they uphold tradition, she interrupts him and asks if it was him who asked to see her. He says yes, and she thumbs out his eyeballs. Now he will see her.
Bellamy leads Pike along, seemingly toward the cave, but eventually leads them right across the blockade. Trikru appears and they have a bit of a standoff, but Bellamy offers up Pike, and after a bit of a tussle that takes down all of Pike’s guards, Pike is hit with an arrow and taken to the new Commander. Kane wants to come too, and when he shows his brand marking him as the leader of the 13th clan, they allow it.
Before he goes, he asks Bellamy if he did this to try to win back his sister’s favor or if it’s the right thing to do. Bellamy shrugs it off and says goodbye, but Kane insists he think about it; the difference is very important. Infinitely important. Intention matters.
One of Pike’s men stirs and Octavia leaps on him and kills him quick like the little baby panther she is. When she realizes Bellamy is watching she says, “Jus drein jus daun.”
Meanwhile, Ontari is strutting through the tower in Polis, ordering people around, chaining Murphy back up. Ontari doesn’t trust him, but decides to get naked for him. He says there’s someone else, which honestly surprised me. Partly because I forgot about his desert girlfriend, but also because I didn’t think he had a drop of honor in him. Ontari asks if this other woman is a commander, if she will kill him if he betrays her or lies to her, and it’s not a direct threat but it’s implied coercion and it’s icky.
He makes a joke about it before taking a step toward her, so I think we’re supposed to believe he’s consenting to the situation, but the whole thing is just gross and feels pretty unnecessary. She murdered sleeping children, we know she’s a ruthless Slytherin Ice Princess. There was no need for this.
