Another time travel fix-it idea
You want to prove you can do better?
The alien judge agrees to send her consciousness back to a younger version of herself. She can choose when. She can also choose one person to go back with her.
Very well then. Good luck.
She chooses to go back to the ark. She tells her father that the ground is survivable, that he doesn’t have to risk everything to tell the people of the ark that it’s dying. They can send down the delinquents and volunteers to test it. She tells him everything and manages to convince him.
She finds Bellamy and is hesitant because the last time she saw him, she shot him. She isn’t sure if he knows why he’s back or if he even wants to see her. But as soon as he realises that she is the Clarke he knows he grabs her in a hug. She’s crying and apologizing and he is too and they hash through their shit.
‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive myself for what happened before. I have to do better this time.’
‘You did the best you could with the information you had at the time. Of course you’ll do better this time. Besides, forgiveness isn’t about what people deserve. Even if it was, you DO deserve it. I didn’t agree with you but I understood even when it happened. I’ve been in your shoes Clarke, trying so desperately hard to protect the one you love.’
‘I loved you too though.’ She whispers, ‘And I killed you.’
‘I made my choice though. You didn’t understand it, couldn’t believe it and I don’t blame you for that. If I hadn’t gone through what I did on Etherea I wouldn’t have either. But I was trying to save us all.’
“And you were right. I was wrong.’
‘Not about everything. You knew Cadogan was bad news after all. I was too blinded to see it. That’s why we work best together. Maybe if I had explained it to you first, talked to you. Instead I told him you didnt have the flame and betrayed you. You aren’t the only one whose made mistakes Clarke.’
So The delinquents wont be the same if they go early but they manage to get the key members to volunteer at least. Raven, Finn, Miller (and Bryan), Murphy, Monty, Jasper, Harper, and so on. Aurora and Bellamy will volunteer and she makes sure (with her dads help) that Octavia gets on, either officially or snuck on. Jake will stay with Abby.
Clarke makes sure her dad knows that Praimfaya is coming and they will need to fix the oxygen problem so the ark can survive till after Praimfaya. They still need some people on the ground to run the bunker for the grounders though.
Clarke wont let them all die just because it would be safer and easier for the ark. She wont let Indra, Lincoln, Nyko, Lexa, Niylah, Emori and so on die. She wants to give them a chance. Between her and Bellamy and knowing the language and culture, they can pull it off.
Working together again, on the same side, reminds them how good they are together, how much better everything is together.