The 100: Marie Avgeropoulos on How Octavia's Shocking Decision Honors Lincoln's Memory

[Warning: Spoiler's for the most recent episode of The 100 below.]

The 100's latest episode "Die All, Die Merrily" wasn't kidding about the "die all" part. During the bloody conclave, warriors were perishing left and right, including Roan (boo!), Ilian (eh) and Luna (yay!). But really, the only thing that mattered is that the massive pile of corpses didn't include our beloved Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos).

The warrior for Skaikru managed to use her skills as The Girl Who Lived Under the Floor to survive the miniature Hunger Games and returned to the Polis throne room victorious. Upon being given the power to give the bunker to Skaikru, Octavia revealed that she wasn't just fighting for the people of Arkadia -- she was fighting for all people and therefore, she was going to share the bunker with every clan.

In the moment, it was clear to see how proud Indra (Adina Porter) was of her fierce protégé and we began to think that Octavia might finally achieve a sense of closure over Lincoln's tragic death. But the happy moment was soon cut short when Octavia, Indra and Kane (Henry Ian Cusick) realized that Clarke (Eliza Taylor) and Jaha (Isaiah Washington) had stolen the bunker for Skaikru during the conclave.

TVGuide.com spoke with Avgeropoulos about how Octavia's noble decision was inspired by Lincoln (Ricky Whittle), how she'll handle Clarke's betrayal moving forward and the impact all of this will have on her relationship to her brother Bellamy (Bob Morley).

Last week, Octavia realized that she will always be a warrior and can't walk away from that life. What does that acceptance mean for her and has she finally found a sense of peace?
Marie Avgeropoulos: I think Octavia's skill set has always been a warrior. She's been a warrior at heart since the very beginning because she's always had such darkness and pain in her life, starting under the floor and always being the black sheep of the group and always facing rejection from her own people. Then, of course, the loss of the only love of her life with Lincoln. That sent her spiraling down such a dark path. And I think this season she lost all of her morality completely and she's accepted that that's who she is. She is that darkness and she uses that as her strength -- to put that to use, to find purpose within herself again, to fight in the conclave for her people.

How did Ilian's involvement in the conclave change things for Octavia?
Avgeropoulos: They've sort of been stuck together this season, even though they didn't want to be. He's kind of like a rash. He just keeps showing up. She gets stuck with him... But the last thing I think she wanted to do was have to murder him. She had the opportunity to do so [earlier this season], but then she was quickly reminded that she was no better than Pike if she did that back in Arkadia. So when she has to mercy kill Ilian during the conclave because Echo was in fact cheating and breaking all the rules, it really broke her heart to do that. But it really shows the audience and Octavia that she did learn from [Ilian]. She did take on a lot of the rituals that he taught her and the peaceful philosophies that mirrored Lincoln's as well.

How did Octavia's decision to share the bunker honor Lincoln's memory?
Avgeropoulos: Nobody else has really been there for her, so when Indra hands off Gaia's sword, that was such an incredible moment for Octavia because that sword would in fact be used to kill Trikru. But Indra reminds her, it's who you fight for that's up to you. That's the philosophy that she takes on when she's the champion of the conclave, because she decided that she was fighting for everyone, she was fighting for peace. That was a lot of the mindset and philosophies that Lincoln instilled in her ages ago, which mirrored Ilian's as well.

Right after Octavia made such a noble decision, she finds out Clarke and Jaha betrayed the agreement and took the bunker for Skaikru. How is Octavia going to react?
Avgeropoulos: Yeah, it's incredibly heartbreaking that, once again, Skaikru doesn't believe in Octavia, even though she's just been constantly trying to prove herself since she landed on Earth. Whether she was being foolish, young Octavia, all the way to the young woman that is now onscreen that you see today, it's incredibly frustrating to her that she was victorious in the conclave and they just stole it anyway, which really means that they don't believe in her or support her or think that she could become victorious and pull this off.

She doesn't even know what Bellamy's part in this was either. The audience knows that he was gassed and dragged into the bunker and left Octavia behind, but she doesn't know that at that point either. And it's even more heart-wrenching for her to think Bellamy had a part in this too. She's always known that Clarke doesn't necessarily believe in her and definitely [known Jaha doesn't], because Jaha is responsible for floating her mother and Octavia has always rebelled against the establishment anyways. But now they're faced with another challenge because prime fiya, the second apocalypse, is hours away and they're stuck on the outside.

What can fans expect now that Octavia is working in opposition to Clarke and Skaikru? Avgeropoulos: Their next challenge is trying to get the bunker open so they can have a chance at survival, but once that bunker door is open, Octavia was victorious. She's the champion and she's now the leader, so she gets to make the call. So it'll be an interesting altercation when she does face Clarke and Jaha and they standoff against one another [after] this ultimate betrayal.

Bellamy wasn't able to tell Octavia he loved her before the conclave began. Why do you think he had such a hard time showing Octavia how much he cared?
Avgeropoulos: I don't know. That's a good question. They've been at such odds this entire season and have distanced themselves from one another so much and haven't been able to see eye-to-eye. Octavia has gone so far off into left field and really has faced such an incredible depression that I just think he had a hard time being vulnerable with her since they've distanced themselves from one another all season. But you will see the Blakes come back together before Season 4 is over. It's just a matter of when, because right now they have the bunker door separating the two of them. So that's the next obstacle that the Blakes face.

The 100 airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

Additional reporting by Megan Vick

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