r/The100 • u/Dorkside Grounder • Feb 18 '15

Episode Discussion: S02E13 "Resurrection"

Original Airdate: February 18, 2015

Episode Synopsis: Clarke questions Lexa's decisions; an injured Kane needs Abby's help; Indra pushes Octavia.

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u/mororon Adventure Squad! Feb 19 '15

What's the symbolism of a pale horse on fire?

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u/TheWoosterCode Feb 19 '15 edited Feb 19 '15

Spitballing, here.

White is traditionally associated with purity and peace, but it can also symbolise death. Fire is associated with change, purging/cleansing, ressurection. White horses hold a special significance in various mythologies because of their rarity; they are attributed with exceptional, fantastical properties. They are known to symbolise anything from illumination (divinatory visions or warnings of danger), an end of times saviour and resurrection, depending on what mythology you're looking at.

So. You have a white steed, on fire, galloping away from an inferno and into the unknown. Perhaps the steed is a portent of death, but it is on flames that don't hinder its path away since it strongly gallops on, forward. This would strongly indicate it being a symbol of ressurection – it came out of the inferno and pushes forward, with no loss in its strength.

It's a sign for the journey Clarke is undergoing – ethical (remember Abby telling her to not forget they're the good guys), social identity (there's talk about how the Ark's authoritarian rule has directly led to her sacrificing lives for the greater good and she tells Lincoln 'you are my people', now she could very well just be talking about Lincoln but I assumed she meant grounders) and as a leader (she tells Lexa to stop telling her about hard choices, or somesuch and most of her actions surprise or are viewed with reluctance from Lexa).

The white horse rushes past Clarke just as she is coming to terms with the consequences of her decision. She launches herself into seeking redemption to relieve her conscience of her actions (she tells Lexa she will kill ALL the Mountain Men and then she later embarks on a mission to kill the sniper, drawing his fire and eventually killing him). She returns to the camp and tells Abby that 'they're going to kill all of my friends'. Clarke is going to war, not to avenge the deaths of those whose deaths she feels responsible for, but to protect her friends. To further drum in that point, The Spiritual Machine's song 'Couldn't Stop Caring' kicks in over a close-up of Clarke's face with the lyrics 'I couldn't stop, couldn't stop, stop caring'. We are beginning to see the old Clarke emerge out of the chaos of this season, she has sustained some damage like the flames on the horse, but that doesn't stop her striding on in her journey, her ressurection, and we don't know what we'll find at the end of it.

Sorry guys, I write a lot.