The 100‘s final season has introduced an entirely new civilization of humans, but who are they exactly? Recent episodes have given us a few important clues, which could point towards a pretty huge reveal. Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and her crew on planet Alpha finally came face to face with one of these people, who called himself and his fellow soldiers, “the disciples of a greater truth.” That’s also what Orlando (Darren Moore) called members of his civilization during his five years with Echo (Tasya Teles), Gabriel (Chuku Modu), and Hope (Shelby Flannery) on Skyring/Penance.
Through Orlando, we got a lot of important information about the Disciples’ culture and history. Most obviously, these people speak English and Orlando knew what a Navy Seal was without having to be told. That’s an oddly specific thing for a member of an alien race (or at least interstellar human race) to know. It reinforces the idea that the Disciples were originally from Earth, just like the inhabitants of Sanctum. Though Orlando didn’t go into too much detail, he did say that the “Shepherd of all Mankind” delivered their society to Bardo and saved them from the fire that consumed the Earth. We’re going to go ahead and assume that was a reference to the first Praimfaya, aka Apocalypse One.
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The Disciples also sound like a very devout civilization, possibly even religious. Orlando mentioned Shepherd’s Law Number Four, which decrees “the day of rest” is one where everyone abstains from work in order to be more efficient the rest of the week. Sounds a lot like the Sabbath, right? And because Orlando chose not to rest, he was sentenced to 10 years on Penance, which lets you know how seriously these laws are treated. We also know that they have some kind of level system within their culture that corresponds with the symbols tattooed on their faces. Orlando was a Level 12, which is one of the highest levels attainable, according to Hope.
We know the Disciples are incredibly advance based on their tech. Not only have they harnessed the power of the Anomaly to create wormholes that allow them to planet-hop, the bodysuits they wear are beyond futuristic. They operate with a command center based on thought and allow whoever wears them to become absolutely invisible at the drop of a hat. That makes tech like the Flame and mind drives seem like kid stuff!
Tasya Teles, The 100
Hope also mentioned M-Cap, aka memory capture, which we assume allows the people of Bardo to view your memories. Though it’s not necessarily torture, it can be if you fight it, which Octavia (Marie Avgeropoulos) apparently did. This could explain how the Disciples know so much about our heroes. They correctly identified everyone by name, and they even know Clarke’s alias is Wanheda. These are all things that could have been obtained through memory capture.
Most interesting of all, the Disciples leader, whoever he may be, believes Clarke is “the key to winning the last war mankind will ever wage.” Right now, it’s hard to tell if the Shepherd is their current leader, making it a title that is passed down from person to person, or if he was simply the original figure their religion/culture was based. We do know the name of a man in charge called Anders, but we’ll keep a pin in that for now.
There are plenty of theories about who these people actually, but for now we’ll focus on the two frontrunners. The first theory presumes the people of Bardo are more descendants from the Eligius III mission — poor souls who wandered into the Anomaly and wound up on another planet. Gabriel mentioned that the people who’ve gone in over the years have never come out, so it’s possible some of them learned to properly navigate the wormholes and founded this new civilization.
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The second most-likely theory is that these people are actually the descendants of the Second Dawn cult from back in Season 4. While looking for a bunker to help them survive the second Praimfaya, Clarke and her friends learned about a cult that foretold the end of the world and made plans to survive it. It’s their bunker that Octavia and Wonkru eventually settled in. All the talk about a Shepherd delivering the Disciples from the fire that consumed Earth sounds a lot like the cult rhetoric the Second Dawn leader spouted way back when. There’s also the matter of the Season 7 premiere being titled “From the Ashes,” which was part of the Second Dawn’s motto: “From the ashes, we will rise.”
The 100 Season 7 premieres Wednesday, May 20 at 8/7c on the CW.
Eliza Taylor, The 100