“Red Queen” is episode two of season five of The 100.
In the previous episode, “Eden”, those on the Gagarin Prisoner Transport turned out to be, not a great surprise, former prisoners – and pretty violent ones too by the sounds of things. And perhaps one guard. Clarke and Madi have already encountered – and killed – two of them.
Those on the Ark saw the ship that the prisoner transport left and, having not managed to come up with any way of getting back to Earth, are heading to it to see if it has fuel. It’s a one way trip if it doesn’t.
Finally, the inside of the Second Dawn bunker was seen, and it looked as if Octavia was presiding over what looked like a probably fatal cage fight. Which does not look good.
The episode opens in the Second Dawn bunker, 46 days after Praimfaya. Indra is trying to get Octavia to take the Commander’s symbol. Octavia doesn’t want to take it, for her blood is red, not black, and will always be red. Indra tells her that symbols matter. Gaia will not support Octavia as Commander, though, and already cracks are forming.
Those in the bunker are supposed to be Wonkru, but they are still acting as separate clans. Octavia, at a meeting, is trying not to be as bloody as either the Ark or Grounders were when Kane hears something. It seems that there is someone outside.
Kane and Abigail suit up to go outside, the latter convinced that what they can hear is Clarke. And it is around the time that Clarke was trying to enter. They don’t know – yet – that the tower collapsed on the bunker. The door to outside is unlocked but will not open. So no-one is getting in. Or out.
This fact is found out very quickly by everyone. Kane says that they wouldn’t be able to live on the surface for five years, so they have five years to solve the problem. Jaha tells him that five years is not enough – that hatch is the only way in, which now has thousands of tonnes of rubble on it, and there are no other weaknesses. Even if there were, they lack the equipment to utilise them. So they’re stuck.
Even worse, the yield of the farm will not support the current population beyond five years. Which suggests population reduction, an idea that Octavia is not happy with. They can cut rations, which will be bad but they could survive. Longer, anyway.
Skaikru, or many of them, are not happy about the idea of losing more people. So a group seal most of Skaikru inside the farm. They have everything inside that they need to survive and those outside will die. Some of the Grounders decide to kill the remaining Skaikru, but Octavia stops them. Whatever happens, Skaikru does not look to be coming out of this well.
Jaha tells Octavia she must become a leader, not just a fighter, if she wants Skaikru to survive. So he tells her what they did on the Ark, and what it entailed. Clarke may be hard to kill, but Octavia – Sky Ripper – is really, really good at killing, and that is probably where the ‘Red Queen’ of the title comes from.
The entire episode is inside the bunker, most within a day or so, with the last bit six years later, and it seems that Octavia has had to become quite hard to keep people alive.