“Ashes to Ashes” is episode eleven of season six of The 100.
In the previous episode, “Matryoshka”, in order to stop everyone being burnt at the stake, the Primes were told that Abby could create new Hosts using Madi’s bone marrow. This episode opens with Jackson working on Madi in the Primes’ medical facility. She manages to dupe him into releasing her, but he still manages to sedate in. Sheidheda tells Madi that she should have gone for the throat. Madi ends up demanding to know what he wants her to do. To rule this world, as Sheidheda did the last. To kill everyone who gets in the way. To get revenge for Clarke. Madi asks what she has to do.
Clarke wakes up at Gabriel’s camp. Bellamy apologises for not protecting her. Clarke reassures him that it’s because of him she’s alive. Bellamy wants to know how they save everyone he left behind. Clarke tells him that if he hadn’t done what he did, Josephine would have killed them all. The plan was good. Bellamy says the plan was to use Josie’s mind drive to bargain for peace. There’s no mind on the drive, Josie having stayed in Clarke’s head to fight her. A fight she lost. Clarke says she can pose as Josephine. Bellamy says she’s dead as soon as Russell realises the truth. Which he will, because she has no drive. Gabriel suggests putting it back in. Bellamy doesn’t like that idea. Octavia enters at this point and asks what the pan is.
Murphy is still locked up with Gaia and Nelson. Gaia is worried about Sheidheda’s effect on Madi. Murphy reassures her. In his own way. Then Jade comes to take him to Russell.
Russell is telling Echo that the punishment for what she’s done is death. He can be merciful. Who else other than Tai did she speak to? No-one. Pity they can’t ask Tai themselves. Russell tells her Tai’s punishment for murdering Simone was death. Echo states that wasn’t murder; Simone will be back. The person who has to die for that. That will be murder. Murphy is brought in as Russell tells Echo the life will be hers, and tells Ryker to take Echo to the machine shop to test Abby’s formula. Murphy manages to get a message to Echo in Grounder.
Russell tells Murphy he plays both sides, for his own self-interest. Russell likes that. Because it means he can trusty Murphy. Along as there is something in it for Murphy. If Murphy gets Josie back, he and Emori will still become immortal. If he refuses, he won’t. If Murphy fails or acts against them, Emori will pay the price.
Clarke is asking why Gabriel hasn’t disabled the shield; as a Nighblood, he could walk straight through. Octavia says it’s because he wants to save the people inside. Bellamy doesn’t care. Gabriel says he doesn’t have the code anyway. Ryker won’t help, either. He wouldn’t help Gabriel stop the resurrections; he only released Gabriel to stop him from being burnt at the stake. Gabriel destroyed the embryos on the way out. Bellamy says Gabriel just made things worse.
Octavia wants to talk to Bellamy outside, about their issue. She leaves the tent and Gabriel tells Bellamy Octavia is special, and explains why. He also mentions giving Octavia the Red Sun toxin, and how it’s everywhere, not just at the time of the Red Sun. Simone weaponised it; Gabriel just worked on an antitoxin. Outside, Octavia tells them that Gabriel’s friends are there.
The Children of Gabriel didn’t know that Xavier was Gabriel. They do not take it well. One in particular, Layla. Because Xavier was her brother, and he’s been dead for ten years. She wants to shoot Gabriel but Bellamy explains their plan – which the others didn’t know about – of smuggling a weaponised Red Sun toxin bomb into Sanctum, then getting Raven to deploy the shield. Good plan, but Gabriel has to kill Josephine Prime first. Except that isn’t Josephine. Things are more than a little awkward.
Octavia really wants to talk to Bellamy. Deploying Red Sun toxin in Sanctum would cause massive casualties, and Clarke would like a solution that’s a little less Mount Weather-like in nature. Echo reveals something about her past to try and convince Ryker to discontinue his course of action.