“False Gods” is episode three of season seven of The 100.
A young woman enters the control room of Sanctum’s nuclear reactor. She tells one of the men there he can leave. So that she and the other, James, can be alone. Power is fluctuating, though, and James decides to raise the control rods. One sticks, so he decides to do it manually. Both enter primary containment and he lifts the rod, holding it up with a wrench. Then they both start suffering from the radiation. That was evidently not a good idea.
Clarke is looking at her mother’s ring which Russell gave her in “From the Ashes”. Just before she beat him up and accidentally burnt down the palace. Gaia joins her; Clarke says this is all she has left of her parents. Gaia says Clarke is what’s left. She has the Flame, all that’s left of the Commanders. Gaia agrees that burning the palace down was extreme, but Russell was responsible for so many deaths. Today he dies for it. They can all start over. Except for Madi. Both bury the ring and the Flame in the ground as Indra joins them. It’s time to speak to Russell.
Russell – except he’s now Sheidheda – is reading when Clarke and Indra enter. Clarke says he can choose how he dies. He can choose to make it quick. Russell chooses the pyre. His followers are seeing the death of a god. Then the power fluctuates. Russell says his people need to feel his death. And so does Clarke.
Outside it looks to be on the verge of a riot. Jackson and Miller are talking about the execution. Two of the followers are apparently plotting to stop it when Jordan comes over. He’s told by one that she’s afraid the faithful are planning something terrible to save Russell. Jordan thinks he should ask Russell to tell them to stop.
Raven walks in on Murphy and Emori. Power is out; she needs Emori’s help. They enter the reactor complex, where alarms are sounding. Never a good sign. Nor is it that no-one is there. Emori grabs a Geiger counter. Radiation is normal there. But in secondary containment there’s a coolant leak and radiation is higher. Raven sees the two dead in the core room; she says James must have pulled the control rod too fast. And the reactor is heading for meltdown. Which is bad.
Jordan heads to see Russell with clothes for him from Indra. He wants Russell to say something to stop the faithful from doing anything drastic. Go out doing the right thing.
Indra, Clarke and Murphy return with Emori. Raven fills them in. Someone needs to go into primary containment and get the control rods in place. Radiation is high. Nightblood is helpful but no guarantee of safety. Murphy volunteers Clarke who volunteers herself. But Indra says that Clarke is needed. Raven also needs welders to fix the coolant pipe. Indra asks what kind of danger they will be in. Puking for a few days as opposed to being dead. Clarke suggests using the Elegius crew. Raven is not keen on that idea.
Indra asks for volunteers in the Commander’s name. This doesn’t work; one of Wonkru demands to see the Commander. Something happened on the ship and she’s not been the same since she reached the ground. If the Commander wants volunteers, let her ask herself. Indra is going to go but Clarke and Gaia object. Gaia suggests telling the truth. And she does. This does not go well. When she asks for volunteers, one of the crus leaves and Indra congratulates her on losing Wonkru.
Wonkru is now in pieces. They have no welders to fix the reactor and not enough guards to keep the peace any longer. Plus, Russell is now Sheidheda. And Sheidheda was a Commander. A very competent one. Being a nasty piece of work doesn’t mean he can’t plan things. And he is planning.