#d-e-a-d

so here’s what we know 

clarke is the first non-nightblood to take the flame, using ontari’s nightblood as a catalyst. (which is not even remotely medically sound but let’s go with it) 

clarke has some kind of physiological reaction to it. she either faints or goes briefly catatonic with a sharp rise in heartrate. whether this is from the flame or the botched transfusion who tf knows but ok 

after the flame is “seated”, clarke revives and she seems perfectly okay, and she has the knowledge of previous flames. “i know how to stop alie, i have to go into the city of light” 

“the flame will protect me. i don’t know how i know, i just know” so given this line we can assume that those previous commanders within the flame don’t speak to clarke in a direct manner, but rather might give her a “sense” or feeling, like deja vu or something 

we know that part of lexa was in the chip, despite that “it only enhances what was already there”. we know lexa herself wasn’t an AI, but given that previous commanders were “uploaded” to the flame, it goes to reason then that some part of lexa’s personality and/or essence was also uploaded into the flame (how? who knows? not jason! and definitely not us) 

we were wrong about the CoL inhabitants not being able to touch or see clarke. as soon as alie realizes clarke is there, she is attacked--on a physical level. (or mental? since her body wasn’t really there, it’s really clarke’s psyche they’re attacking but?? ok) 

so lexa being able to physically interact with clarke is nothing “special”. all inhabitants of CoL were able to do so. however, any commander could have appeared or helped (like becca or otherwise) but it was lexa.

“your mind is changing things” - since clarke wasn’t part of the CoL, her mind was basically conjuring up everything in the CoL. so when clarke knew the flame would protect her, it’s possible then that the flame manifested into the form clarke was most familiar with - lexa. 

moving forward, lexa says “i’ll always be with you”. 

this also goes into what is told to clarke about her mind merging with the flame. the flame is separate, sure, but how much of an effect does the flame leave on the brain itself? do we know what kind of aftereffect it has after the flame is removed? are there remnants left over, sort of residual information? traces of what was? 

clarke decides to destroy the city of light. this would then lead one to believe that lexa was destroyed as well, given that she only “existed” in the CoL 

here’s where things get iffy for me about the open ending, and why i’m irritated as hell 

the chip is removed from clarke, and it’s still fully functional. that means that alie 2.0 is not defunct, and wasn’t destroyed alongside the CoL 

CoL and the flame are two separate entities. lexa in the CoL was a “physical” manifestation of the flame itself, but she wasn’t part of the city of light herself 

they don’t reveal what is done with the chip. it’s removed from clarke, but they end up handing it to her anyways. if the chip was no longer relevant, why would they need to keep it? why would it still be functioning? 

so basically, the “open ending” leaves the possibility of lexa existing in some other form, whether she’s actually “shown” or not in the next season. even with the absence of adc, they could reasonably reference her or the flame, or residual knowledge clarke might have, in the next season (like clarke “remembering” things from previous commanders, or having the same dreams lexa had in 3x06) 

we know that some footage was cut and edited, likely in regards to clexa given how long they were shooting and the fact that only 5 minutes of it was shown in the episode 

so, 1) how much of the clexa scenes were missing and 2) what was the nature of the cut footage 

was there an open ending in regards to the fate of the flame originally, or was it done in order to avoid backlash (so jason could claim that lexa isn’t “really gone”), and the true ending included lexa/the flame being permanently destroyed?

when you think about it, the whole lexa/the flame nonsense, especially at the end, doesn’t make much sense within the context of the CoL/ALIE plotline. they “uploaded” clarke and the flame to the CoL, so it would stand to reason then that destroying the CoL would then destroy the flame, but we’re shown that 1) the flame is still relevant to the so-called plot, and 2) that it is still functioning when it’s removed from clarke’s neck (you see the tendrils moving)

not only does this literally make no sense, but it irritates me because there’s no real closure. lexa isn’t shown to “die” again in any real respect. she does say she’s going to hold off the CoL inhabitants but, 1) they don’t have weapons and 2) we literally see her take down like 7 people in five seconds flat earlier in the episode. so she clearly can handle herself in a fight, and the fact that they don’t show the result of said fight? i hate this 

add that to the flame nonsense at the end and there really is an “open ending” in regards to lexa. 

now before anyone says i’m spreading hope, i’m not. lexa is dead in the physical world. her body is long cold and at the sake of being gross, either burned or decomposing by now. (we aren’t shown lexa’s body actually being burned if you wanna take it there, but it HAS been days since lexa died, so? her body wouldn’t be in mint condition, i mean, even if they don’t burn her as grounder rituals would indicate)

what makes me mad is that lexa isn’t completely dead. if we were to make the assumption that jason could pull something out of his ass with amc, he could reasonably insert lexa in the same way he inserted ALIE. clarke could reasonably have side effects from taking the flame, and could “see” lexa, or rather a projection of her. or, even without amc’s permission, they could use “lexa” as a way to keep her relevant in the story without actually physically showing her, such as clarke having inexplicable prior knowledge of something “lexa told me”/”the previous commanders speak to me in my sleep”

and that’s why i’m pissed, basically. because jason dangled this “open ending” in regards to the fate of lexa’s “spirit”. there’s no finite closure in any way, shape, or form. that’s why many of us are unsatisfied with the way it ended. not just because the finale was shit (which it definitely was), but because it’s unfinished.