There were a lot of big mysteries and unanswered questions in season 7 of The 100, and episode 5, “Welcome to Bardo,” answered a lot of them. While season 6 had a strong ending, there was a lot left unresolved that obviously needed to be addressed in the seventh and final season.
While other episodes in season 7 have answered some questions, a lot was left unknown. There’s been setup for further conflict on Sanctum and some backstory for new character Hope Diyoza, but still things that fans were curious to know about the show’s main characters, and Bellamy’s sudden disappearance raised new questions.
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Rather than slowly doling out the answers, season 7 episode 5 “Welcome to Bardo” answered most of the questions to clear the table and get the plot moving forward. Here are all the things we learned in the latest installment of The 100.
Where Octavia’s Tattoos Came From
While not the biggest reveal, Octavia’s tattoos set up everything that happens in season 7. At the end of season 6, Gabriel discovers tattoos all over Octavia’s back that correspond to symbols on the Anomaly Stone. He recognizes those symbols and enters them on the stone, causing the Anomaly to open up.
“Welcome to Bardo” shows that those tattoos were added intentionally. Levitt, a technician on Bardo who was in charge of extracting and viewing Octavia’s memories, ended up bonding with and helping to free Octavia. Before he helps send Octavia back to Sanctum, he uses a device to put those tattoos on Octavia’s back, since she won’t remember anything when getting back to Sanctum. Specifically, he puts down the code that will let them pull Hope through the Anomaly, though that ends up going differently than expected.
What Happened to Octavia
After entering the code on the Anomaly stone, it flared up and engulfed Gabriel’s camp. Hope came out of the Anomaly, stabbed Octavia, and Octavia disappeared in a flash of green light, leaving Bellamy distraught. Instead of dying, Octavia was instead brought back to Bardo on Anders’ orders. Since the machines on Bardo never quite finished getting Octavia’s memories, especially the most relevant parts about Clarke and her role in Anders’ upcoming war, Anders needed her back to continue getting her memories.
Why Hope Stabbed Octavia
The other question behind season 6’s finale with Octavia is just why Hope stabbed Octavia. Hope hints vaguely at it, telling Octavia that “he” has her mother, Diyoza, but it wasn’t entirely clear what that meant at the time.
Stabbing Octavia wasn’t about killing or even injuring her. After Hope frees Octavia from Bardo in her first time there, Anders uses Diyoza, still in their custody as a bargaining chip. He wanted the information in Octavia’s memory, so Anders offered to keep Diyoza safe if Hope hit Octavia with a tracker. With that, Octavia’s disappearance is finally fully explained. Hope was coerced into attacking Octavia. When she stabbed Octavia with the tracker, the Bardo soldiers were able to locate her and pull her through the Anomaly, in the same way that the code Gabriel used at the end of season 6 pulled Hope through.
Where Bellamy Went
Back in the season premiere, Bellamy was taken away by some unseen force, later revealed to be soldiers from Bardo using their armor’s cloaking technology. He was dragged through the Anomaly, and the search for him became one of the driving forces of the story this season.
As expected, “Welcome to Bardo” showed that Bellamy had been captured and brought to Bardo. Rather than being a prisoner, he’d managed to overpower the soldiers, confronting Anders at the Anomaly Stone. Octavia offers to let Anders know anything he wants if he’ll free Bellamy, but it doesn’t go that simply. One of the Bardo soldiers sets off a grenade and Bellamy disappears after the explosion, either killed or disappearing through the Anomaly.
How Much Time Passed
The timeline of The 100 has rarely been complicated, but thanks to time dilation on the different planets, season 7 has been full of weird timelines. The first hint at this came from the appearance of Hope at the end of season 6, who still hadn’t been born just a few days ago when Diyoza went into the Anomaly. After “The Garden” set a timeline for a lot of the events in late season 6, “Welcome to Bardo” fills in the gaps and catches up to what’s going on now in season 7.
Octavia was last seen in flashbacks being taken by the people of Bardo. Her arrival there was 45 days before the present in the story, and she stayed there for 11 days before Hope frees her and sends her back to Sanctum, meaning the ten years on Skyring and 11 days on Bardo all passed in the seconds she was in the Anomaly from Sanctum’s perspective. The episode also shows Bellamy and Octavia’s disappearances as happening a week ago in Bardo time, though exactly how much time has passed from Sanctum’s perspective is a little unclear.
Where the People of Bardo Came From
While there are still a lot of unknowns about Bardo, the episode does explain some things. Orlando explained some of the religious side of Bardo and the Disciples, and Anders’ speech revealed more of their backstory. Unlike Sanctum or Skyring, the people of Bardo aren’t connected to the Eligius III mission. According to Anders, the Anomaly stone delivered them to Bardo from Earth. This makes the people of Bardo survivors of the first nuclear apocalypse on Earth, with Earth having its own Anomaly Stone.
Who is Anders
Anders was first referred to by Hope at the end of season 6 as the “he” who had captured Diyoza. This episode tells more of his story, revealing Anders as the leader of Bardo, a cult leader in charge of a fanatic group with very advanced technology. The episode doesn’t reveal everything, leaving some aspects of his personality and plan intentionally vague, but at least now he’s a more solid presence in the series.
“Welcome to Bardo” was a packed episode of The 100, answering a lot of lingering questions from season 6. Most of the bigger mysteries have now been answered, leaving the plot free to move forward to the big season and series finale.