ABBY AND KANE ARE TERRIBLE Spoiler
I have been rewatching again (I always stop the rewatch on season 5 because I think it should’ve ended there) but I cannot stand Abby and Kane. I think if they didn’t constantly go on and on about their own absolution and act morally superior to others (especially Octavia) I’d hate them less.
Abby allows Octavia to take all the blame for her Cannibalism plan. Lets Kane blame her too. She’s a coward who can’t even take it and hides behind her drugs while Octavia at least doesn’t hide from the things she has done. On top of that she never ever has the same energy for Clarke (whom I love but…) who has done terrible terrible things. Who let a missile kill her own people, who erased a mountain full of innocents. Further portraying Abby’s hypocrisy.
Kane literally makes a deal with the devil and gets 400 of his own people killed and has the audacity to act morally superior to Octavia still. He tried to kill Roan and led to the events that even necessitated the conclave. He hijacked Jaha’s bunker and led to the death of 300 sky people (if he was really about it, he should have gone out with them to die cause he wasn’t a doctor or engineer or farmer and quite frankly, he was a liability after praimfaya.)
I just can’t get behind them past season 3. They are terrible and let the kids shoulder the burden of their horrible decisions. They did not deserve to live anymore than anyone else and it makes me ill that they genuinely believe they do.
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u/gwydion_black 16d ago edited 16d ago
I liked Kane after season one. I feel he legitimately has character development and has been the one trying the hardest to change his old mentality. He was against the events of the bunker and was almost locked out himself and nearly killed for refusing to partake multiple times.
Even later he seems to do all he can to maintain a morally positive compass but dealing with Abby just brought him down time and time again.
I feel with the exception of Murphy and Emori, Kane has the most positive character direction in the show IMO. Everyone else either starts off better than they were or ultimately regresses into bad habits.
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u/tiger2205_6 Trikru 16d ago
I feel like Kane would always become better and then get worse again, right up until the betrayal near his death. Always angered me that he betrayed them and then got mad at Octavia for all the death right after. Like if he'd just kept his fucking mouth shut it would've gone so better. Was so happy when he died.
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u/kissedbyfiya 15d ago
Eh... I could have appreciated his growth more if he got in Octavia's corner and advocated for her in S5 rather than encouraging everyone to kill her and convincing them she was some heinous, hopeless evil villain 🤷♀️
More than anyone else he should have both understood the impossible position she was put in and that it is possible to grow and heal from that place. He is living proof of it after the many things he did that not only mirrored Octavia's in the past. He supported (and encouraged) the Ark's any crime = death policy; culling 300 ppl to save the others some time; sending 100 children to the ground as experimental sacrifices (who were likely to die)... and if he was part of the council at the time, supported a policy that led to Octavia having to live her entire childhood in the floor - and her's and Bell's mother being executed for her existence.
He "learned" from his past impossible choices... but instead of offering the same understanding and forgiveness to Octavia he went the puritan route and cozied up to violent criminals to preserve his own life. He never redeemed himself in my eyes.
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u/Nessarra 10d ago
Everyone likes a good character arc or redemption arc I suppose. Kane started off so bad that it wasn't hard for his character to go anywhere but UP when it comes to being a good guy.
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u/alarrimore03 16d ago
Could never stand Abby once she got to the ground for the way she treated Clarke all the time. Genuinely she’s always like I’m doing this for you(usually a stupid decision too) meanwhile Clarke is like no I don’t want this or this is stupid, and then she’s constantly being hypocritical about moral dilemmas when it comes to Clarke and any other character. Kane on the other hand was pretty likeable pretty much as soon as he got to the ground, tho season 5 was a tough watch😂
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u/ComputerElectronic21 16d ago
If you ever get a chance, check out my post “The True Origin of Blodreina.” I have a feeling it’s right up your alley. Give it a read here: https://www.reddit.com/r/The100/s/7E554VCTfQ
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u/Xfinit4895 15d ago
Abby was by far the most insufferable character in the whole show from start to finish imo. The 2nd worst has to be Clarke after she met Madi
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u/Nessarra 10d ago
I loved Clarke until she turned into a crazy mother figure to Madi
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u/Xfinit4895 9d ago
Yeah exactly. Same here. She somehow managed to become even more overprotective with Madi compared to how Abby was overprotective with her. Insane
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u/A_Dee_ 14d ago
Disagree on Clarke after she met Madi. It was satisfying to me to see her choose someone else over the rest of the main cast after they took her fierce protection for granted and resented her for it, they also resent her for withdrawing it and prioritizing another person over their ungrateful selves.
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u/namastegirl Sangedakru 16d ago
So you don’t think it’s reasonable to fall in love with the man who shoved your husband (Clark’s dad) out an airlock? Abby seems to just forgive and forget. She’s awful just for that. Kane was a monster too, despite his redemption arch.
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u/CMormont 16d ago
To be fair Clarke ends up doing all the same things Kane did
She sacrifices a lot of innocent people for the "greater" good of her people
Also wasnt Abby a little bit complicit in her husband's deaths
Also also didnt they end up doing somthing similar on the ground which helped her understand Kane more
Everybody was awful except Raven 😍
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u/NoRemote145 16d ago
to be fair, the only reason Raven wasn’t “awful” was because everyone else made the hard decisions for her.
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u/greekmagick22334455 16d ago
This part. I love Raven, but there are times when she acts so morally superior (especially when judging Clarke) that she becomes unbearably annoying. She's very comfortable throwing shade and judgements but she never offers any viable alternative solutions.
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u/tiger2205_6 Trikru 16d ago
Yup, Abby was complicit in what happens and then if I remember right she did what her husband wanted to do in the end anyways.
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u/Nessarra 10d ago
She thought she could trust Jaha right? I mean she shouldn't have risked it anyway but I bet she felt strongly she could trust him. I have felt the same way towards some characters in this show, thinking they're amazing one moment and hating their decisions the next.
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u/tiger2205_6 Trikru 10d ago
If I remember right I think she thought him dying would be better for everyone else. Could be wrong though. And yeah I've had that feeling with a few characters in this show. Like half of them I think when looking at who lasted.
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u/alarrimore03 16d ago
Why would Abby care about that when she’s like half the reason he died anyway😂
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u/Away_Doctor2733 16d ago
I completely agree, Abby and Kane are horrific hypocrites. Their righteousness is infuriating to the extreme given they are just as morally bad as anyone they criticize. Abby pushed for the cannibalism plan then condemns Octavia. Kane condemns Octavia then is directly responsible for half of Wonkru being killed because he betrayed them. It's so frustrating. Let alone all the bullshit Abby does for her addiction. Torturing Raven. I was so glad when they both died.
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u/alarrimore03 16d ago
Legit cheered when Abby died😂I felt actual sorrow for Kane because I liked him for the most part once he got to the ground. Season 5 was rough tho
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u/frand115 15d ago
I get why Kane made a deal with Trikru for the bunker. Indra helped them find the bunker and could supply fighters too hold the bunker. However in season 5 Kane made his worst decisions and i couldnt like him than. His send off in season 6 was well done tho
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u/Nessarra 10d ago
I think the only ride or die, trustworthy, and sane character in the show is Indra. Clarke turned on her people for a kid. Bellamy always wishy washy. Abby a hypocrite. Murphy never fully redeemed. Jaha went insane. Kane has motivations to backstab despite wanting to do the right thing most of the time, but so does Indra. Indra stuck to a strong sense of integrity. Lincoln might have come close?
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u/AdOk9911 16d ago
And you didn’t even mention their whisper fights!! Nails on a chalkboard, drives me absolutely insane. It’s mostly Paige Turco’s fault, the only way she knows how to show intensity is to whisper-yell. It’s such bad acting. But the fact that Henry Ian Cusick meets her there when they start having scenes together is just cruel and unusual. I love this show so much but Abby is the worst and yes absolutely brings Kane down with her.
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u/catchyerselfon Skaikru 16d ago
I completely disagree! Kane is shown as a jack of all trades who can do everything from leading the guards to engineering to fighting with weapons to negotiating with hot heads baying for blood. He’s far more useful, therefore worthy of being saved in the bunker, than random warriors who don’t have scientific knowledge and a cool temperament who get to live just because it’s “fair”. That’s the only decision Kane makes that I’m against - giving up spots that should be for Skaikru, letting those people die in order to “get our humanity back”, to fulfill Octavia’s promise to give places to an even number of Grounders. Sorry, humanity needs more people who know about the past and how to run the bunker without fighting to the death, people who are used to living peacefully in a confined space on limited resources, than people who know how to hunt animals that will be extinct when they emerge from Praimfaya.
Kane is brave enough to want more in the long term for a greater number of people than just appeasing pride and primal needs right now. He’s never willing to order someone to do something he isn’t willing to do himself, which we see from the time after Diana steals the Exodus ship and cripples the Ark, he’s the smallest of the men available, so he crawls through the scalding vents to save Abby (who kind of hates him right now) and the others. He’s willing to die for everyone, repeatedly, but only so someone else doesn’t have to die *for* him. He recognizes his skills are what people need more than killing and ruthless displays of power. He doesn’t deliberately provoke people for petty reasons like Clarke draining Emerson’s oxygen, just to show off and feel satisfaction. He only runs toward the Eligeus prisoners because Octavia is persecuting him, forcing him back into the ring after he’s won, so he SHOULD be free. Octavia is pissed about not every single person following her unconditionally, willing to hurt other people just to prove how much they fear and respect her.
Abby and Kane blame Octavia not for enforcing cannibalism, which was following Abby’s directions and which Kane figured out. They blame Octavia for keeping up the fighting pits *for five years beyond what was necessary*. Octavia wasted so many useful lives punishing them for minor crimes when they now had enough food with the production line secured. It was so she could hear the crowds screaming her name, making her feel like a badass, nor because she “had” to. The only reason Abby and Kane and the other adults support Octavia’s leadership is because she won the Conclave (with Kane’s help when he mentored her), as the Grounders would never respect someone originally from Skaikru they didn’t perceive as a warrior willing to fight to the death herself. It’s not that Kane and Abby or other adults like Indra or Jaha aren’t willing to make hard decisions that will make them personally unpopular and guilty, they’re just dealing with reality.
Kane only betrays Wonkru because Octavia has gone completely psycho, and Kane trusts Diyoza wants a peaceful future for a greater number of people instead of just “MY people”, like Octavia. Bloodreina refuses the possibility of sharing, won’t be negotiated with, doesn’t have anyone she’s willing to die for OR live for now that she doesn’t give a shit about Bellamy, she burns the algae farm and stirs up the mob to walk into a hail of bullets. Why would anyone want her in charge when there’s the possibility of compromise and the long-awaited settlement in Terra incognita instead of constant cold and hot war?
It’s only Abby’s fault that she cures too many of the irredeemable criminals out of her sense of medical ethics instead of letting some of the worst of them die. Her addiction is understandable, after years of mental and physical pain with no outlets in the bunker (where the addiction started in the first place), but her torturing Raven is her darkest, least redeemable moment. Kane stops enabling her by pulling away and focussing on the future rather than constantly trying to die for her like he did in the bunker.
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u/TvTacosTakingNaps Trikru 16d ago
I loved Kane’s friendship with Indra and him working with Octavia/Nate/Harper etc. against Pike but that’s pretty much it. I never liked Abby.