Since one-hundred juvenile delinquents first landed on the ground, Bellamy Blake had been an integral part of the story. Introduced as an angry and desperate young man wishing to protect his sister Octavia and leave the Ark behind, Bellamy’s true colors eventually come to light. He is protective and caring, growing a strong bond with his co-leader Clarke and many members of the hundred. But, the show’s final season gave Bellamy a significant backseat to the plot and managed to hurt the character in the process. When Bellamy finally returns to the forefront, portraying his experience on Etherea, he returns with a different mindset that costs him his life.
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But, nothing in The 100 had made Bellamy’s fate believable. By the final season, everyone was exhausted from fighting wars. Still, the concept of doing whatever they needed to for those they loved remained a regular part of everyone else’s character. Bellamy holds on to some of that, but his experience on Etherea has changed his perspective enough to side against his friends. However, even though Bellamy questioned the best way to save everyone, his conclusion was wrong for the series. Although being a main character could not have guaranteed Bellamy’s survival, as a central figure on the show, Bellamy deserved a better conclusion than he got.
It Contradicted Years Of Character Development
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From seasons one through six, Bellamy undergoes some of the most significant character development of any character on The 100. His actions and the events he goes through have affected his efforts and thoughts as a leader. Bellamy had gone from wanting to fight to understand the importance of negotiating peace. His relationships with Clarke, Octavia, and the rest of the group had grown immensely up until season seven, when Bellamy’s character is given massive changes. Bellamy had always fought against cult-like actions, so when he becomes one of Cadogan’s Disciples, even the Bellamy-centric “Etherea” is not enough to justify his change in perspective.
When Bellamy returns to Bardo as a total believer in Cadogan’s ideas, it may be understandable that Bellamy, so tired of fighting, wanted to believe in a non-violent way to save his people from another painful fate. However, Bellamy’s ways of going about it get lost in the shuffle. Bellamy may have been right about Transcendence, but his actions resulted in his friends losing trust in him because of how drastically he had changed. Although Bellamy practically begs Clarke and Octavia to understand his change of heart, Bellamy’s final moments show the massive difference. Bellamy is willing to put Madi’s life at stake, knowing handing over her drawings would result in Cadogan crossing the line. Bellamy dying on the opposite side of the war from those he wished to protect contradicts what he had spent the entire series attempting to do.
It Didn’t Lead To Anything
Clarke’s reason for killing Bellamy comes from wanting to protect Madi. But, what does Bellamy’s death lead to? Madi decides to go against Clarke’s actions, going straight to Cadogan herself. By doing that, Madi undermines the reason Clarke killed Bellamy in the first place. Had Bellamy died changing his allegiance back to his friends, dying similarly to Gabriel in sacrificing himself for Madi, perhaps that could have been a death that gave his friends one last thing to fight for. Instead, Echo and Octavia seemingly determined that they had lost Bellamy long ago, and that the man Clarke killed was not the same person they had all cared for.
Bellamy’s ending, sadly, is considered almost meaningless. He does not die for his beliefs during a big battle, and given how Transcendence occurs anyway, Bellamy may have been better off surviving until the end and choosing to live happily on Earth with the rest of his friends. Furthermore, given how Bellamy was a significant character with integral relationships in the show, his death should have had a more prominent place narratively. Instead, while those closest to Bellamy are sad that he is dead, the determination that he was not himself when he died strips some emotional connection away.
Bellamy Should Have Played A Bigger Role In The Final Season
For a character that has been so vital to the plot, Bellamy spends most of the seventh season on the sidelines. Bellamy immediately disappears through the Anomaly, and plenty of season seven surrounds the rest of the group’s search for him. The mystery of Bellamy’s whereabouts is a bigger deal to the season than Bellamy himself. Instead, given how little he spends on screen throughout the season and how much of his screen time is spent brainwashed by Etherea, it feels like the Bellamy Blake that viewers had gotten to know barely appears in the final season. If Bellamy was going to be absent, his ending should have involved him reuniting with his friends. Instead, The 100 ends feeling as if Bellamy Blake never indeed returned after going through the Anomaly. But, barely appearing all season followed by a death a few episodes before the series finale is not fair to the character that had been so involved.
