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'The 100' Series Finale Countdown: The Ark in promo has fans wondering if everything is just a simulation

Seeing the Ark in the promo was a source of comfort for longtime fans and hopefully, that comfort is reflected in the series finale

Spoiler Alert for 'The 100' Season 7 Episode 15 - 'The Dying of the Light'

'The 100' is hurtling towards the end now and the penultimate episode of the seventh and final season saw the unthinkable happen. Madi Griffin (Lola Flanery) was tortured by Bill Cadogan (John Pyper-Ferguson) so much that she is now in a vegetative state. Cadogan's efforts to get the code to the Last War saw him using the M-Cap machine on her to the point that the parts of her brain responsible for voluntary movement was destroyed.

Clarke Griffin (Eliza Taylor) is once again forced to make a difficult decision but before she can do it, Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos) steps in. The moment is a callback to many previous incidents, including when Clarke killed Atom (Rhys Ward) to end his suffering way back in Season 1 and when Clarke killed Finn Collins (Thomas McDonnell) so that he was not tortured to death by the Grounders. Just before Octavia can pull the trigger, Disciple-turned-rebellious-hero Levitt (Jason Diaz) tells them that Cadogan is on his way to start the Last War as he has the code. So Madi is left as is for now as Clarke and Octavia head to find Cadogan. Everything is in disarray: Emori (Luisa d'Oliveira) is dying as John Murphy (Richard Harmon), Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan), and Eric Jackson (Sachin Sahel) rush to save her. Some are stuck on Earth — we don't even know what's going on in Sanctum. And worse, we don't know yet whether Echo (Tasya Teles) and Niylah (Jessica Harmon) are okay.

Echo's face appears in a flash during the promo for the series finale titled 'The Last War'. But what has fans talking more is another familiar picture that was seen as the promo began: the Ark. The Ark was where it all began: where the 100 delinquents were rounded up in the very first minutes of the series as they were being packed up to be sent to Earth to see if it was livable. The Ark was dying at that point. By the end of the first season, the Ark crashed to the Earth as the adults still on board found a way to get them all to Earth somewhat safely. It's such a minor detail but it got fans talking and bringing about "what if" scenarios. Truly, there must be something else, because, at this point, Clarke has lost everyone important to her. Sure, she has her friends. But everyone she has loved is dead or gone. There must be a better alternative.

One fan's theory was elaborate. They tweeted, "Theory: Why do we see The Ark in the Series Finale Promo? I don’t think it’s a flashback. What if The Last War is a test to see if humanity deserves to survive and instead of transcending they will be given a second chance to do better. What if we are going back in time?" They also added, "What if taking the test will take them back to the beginning which is why when the delinquents are being sent to the ground in the Pilot they are told "You’ve been given a second chance. Not as a chance for you but a chance for all of us. Indeed for mankind itself" #The100."

There is another more common theory, however — that it is all either a simulation or a dream. One fan tweeted, "what if this was all just a simulation that the ark put them in to see if they would survive and when they die they wake up from the simulation #The100." Another wrote, "#The100 the ark is in next week's episode and it got me wondering. it was all a dream." A fan joked, "watch it be all a dream and Clarke will wake up in the ark again “I feel the sun on my face. I see trees all around me (...)” lol #the100." Another tweeted, "what if this was all just a simulation that the ark put them in to see if they would survive and when they die they wake up from the simulation #The100."

We do not know at this point whether the picturization of the Ark truly means whether we will actually be going back or if it is some form of flashback. This is the series finale, after all, and ti could be anything. One thing is for certain. Seeing the Ark in the promo was a source of comfort for longtime fans and hopefully, that comfort is reflected in the episode.

'The 100' airs on The CW on Wednesday nights at 8/7c. The series finale will air on Wednesday, September 30.