While Clarke, Bellamy and Jaha seek out a bunker they hope will become a place their people can use to ride out the coming radiation storm, Octavia has her own battles to face, as she works quietly (and under the cloak of night) to keep the peace in Polis.
To keep an injured King Roan from fighting (and probably losing) in single combat, she killed his challenger, the Embassador Rafel. Getting to play this Season 4 version of Octavia has been a lot of fun for actress Marie Avgeropoulos.
“It’s been my favorite season for Octavia,” Marie told AccessHollywood.com. “She’s been such a pleasure to play and I just love how dangerous she is and how she uses her skill set to propel things forward.”
Wednesday night’s episode – “The Four Horsemen” – is another big one for Marie’s character, and she told us more about what’s ahead.
AccessHollywood.com: [What was Octavia’s motivation for killing the Embassador]? Is part of it political? Is part of it she’s still bloodthirsty and hurting over what happened with Lincoln?
Marie Avgeropoulos: Roan’s injured and Trishanakru got wind of that and [Rafe’s] plan was to try and kill the King so Octavia had to just do whatever she needed to do to keep the King alive. So yeah, she’s bloodthirsty, but this season, she also does a lot of it for good reasons. And that’s what’s making her a really good leader, because she’s using her skill set to do what’s best for her people at the same time. Octavia’s a very emotionally damaged character, and she’s very impulsive. She doesn’t always do the right thing, which is why I love her so much. Nobody’s perfect right? So she’s a perfect example of that — how deep her wounds really run. But she really gets carried away during this season and she’s going to have to really check herself because of how she’s choosing to deal with Lincoln’s death, by turning to the sword … [It] has become really damaging to her integrity.
Access: You have to think that a character, who basically grew up under floorboards, is always going to have some real demons to deal with. She had to hide for most of her life.
Marie: Right. She’s had to hide for most of her life, which is why her communication skills are pretty subpar. So when she doesn’t get what she wants, she turns to the sword, but again, she’s been using this as a grieving mechanism and it’s taken her down really dark, dangerous path that does eventually catch up with her.
Access: We haven’t seen a ton of stuff between Octavia and Indra this season [so far], but they are very close. She trained her. Is there more awesome stuff coming up between the two of them? Indra has been a real rock for your character in many ways.
Marie: Yeah, Octavia’s almost become closer to Indra this season than Bellamy, and Octavia does find herself in a very powerful position, which she does find very intimidating towards the end of the season. And Indra really steps into that mentor position that she always does [for] her and encourages her and reminds her how far she has come and that really anything is possible for Octavia. The problem is, with Octavia, her self-esteem is just so incredibly low underneath her tough exterior. She only ever reveals that part of her to Indra, because otherwise her walls are up with everybody else. So, when you see Octavia and Indra come together this season, it’s really quite dynamic.
Access: Bellamy – is he understanding why [Octavia is] doing the things she’s doing this season?
Marie: I think Bellamy becomes worried about Octavia because he knows how sideways she’s sort of gone since the death of Lincoln and she’s really leaving a cloud of dust everywhere she goes. So, I think he’s becoming concerned for her survival.
“The 100” continues Wednesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
— Jolie Lash