“Perverse Instantiation: Part 2” is episode sixteen of season three of The 100 and the season finale.
So, things are still not going well. In the previous episode, “Perverse Instantiation: Part 1”, although Clarke and the others managed to get to Ontari, even with it being a trap, Alie had ordered that she be killed so that she couldn’t be used as a host for the Flame. Being under Alie’s influence – she certainly wouldn’t have done it otherwise – Ontari submitted. Although not dead, she is brain dead, which means the Flame cannot be used on her. Alie had also transferred the City of Light into orbit in “Red Sky at Morning”. With Luna’s refusal to take the Flame, they are now out of Nightbloods. Monty and Raven have managed to get a plan for getting into Alie’s code, but Jasper is under Alie’s influence.
Clarke, Bellamy, Murphy, Pike, Octavia and the others are trapped at the top of the tower in Polis and this episode opens with Clarke destroying the chip inside her mother with the EMP. The EMP could only be used once, but with Ontari brain dead, it was pointless using it on her. Clarke’s new plan is to put the Flame inside her head. Even though Emerson’s death in “Demons” proved pretty conclusively that taking the Flame if not a Nightblood was very quickly fatal. Clarke wants her mother to transfuse Ontari’s blood – she’s brain dead, not actual dead – into her, the same way Mount Weather did with the Grounders. Which is still incredibly risky. Alie’s people are meanwhile climbing the outside of the tower. Both time and options are limited.
Back at Arkadia, Jasper has Harper and will probably kill her unless Raven hands over her machine. Jasper, as Alie, tells Raven that she only has a 2% chance of success anyway of reaching the kill switch she discovered. Monty manages to disable Jasper by shooting him in the leg and then Harper knocks him unconscious. So, one problem currently out of the way.
Murphy knows how to activate and implant the Flame. Clarke doesn’t immediately die. Which is a plus. She knows how to stop Alie, but Clarke has to take a chip so that she can enter the City of Light and activate the kill switch. Clarke knows that the Flame will protect her – perhaps taking the chip after the Flame works better than the other way around would have, which would have given Alie control over it. When Clarke gets to the city, it is initially empty – then many people appear inside it. They do not appear to be able to see her though. The City itself looks like a pretty ordinary 21st century city.
The attackers are managing to get into the upper levels of the tower pretty quickly, and Octavia still wants Pike dead for his execution of Lincoln in “Stealing Fire”. Which is a bit of a distraction at this point. It looks like the Flame is still causing damage to Clarke, even if not as quickly, and Alie has found out that she is in the City and is sending everyone after her. Ontari is dying and Clarke’s body is rejecting the Flame. Alie’s code is updating to 2.0, and when it’s complete, she will delete the kill switch. However, Clarke has an unexpected ally in the City, thanks to the Flame – Lexa.
It’s a race against time before Alie manages to upgrade, before her people manage to get to those in the tower, including Clarke’s body, before the Flame’s protection is eroded by Alie and before the Flame kills Clarke. Raven manages to lend a hand.
Alie isn’t the only problem – she has discovered something that promises to destroy the world. Giving a lead in to season four. Everything is building up to a last minute climax. The title of the finale episodes is also defined near the end.