Im still processing this.
But I have gained perspective and more than ever, I am profoundly grateful to you, our fans.
No series, no episode of television, exists in a vacuum.
Credit: Cate Cameron/The CW
Every love scene or act of violence.
Every revelation or cliche.
Every original story and, yes, every trope.
The worst shows retread the formula.
The best transcend cliche, opening our eyes to new ways of thinking, and welcome new audiences in.
For many fans of The 100, the relationship between Clarke and Lexa was a positive step of inclusion.
Their relationship held greater importance than even I realized.
And that very important representation was taken away by one stray bullet.
But the end result became something else entirely the perpetuation of the disturbing Bury Your Gays trope.
Our aggressive promotion of the episode, and of this relationship, only fueled a feeling of betrayal.
While I now understand why this criticism came our way, it leaves me heartbroken.
I promise you burying, baiting or hurting anyone was never our intention.
Its not who I am.
My favorite shows in this genre embrace a similar sense of heightened urgency.
And I am very sorry for not recognizing this as fully as I should have.
Knowing everything I know now, Lexas death would have played out differently.
The 100 is a post-apocalyptic tragedy set 130 years in the future.
Its a constant life and death struggle.
In our show, all relationships start with one question: Can you help me survive today?
The things that divide us as global citizens today dont matter in this show.
And thats the beauty of science-fiction.
We can make a point without preaching.
We can say that race, sexuality, gender and disability should not divide us.
We can elevate our thinking and take you on a helluva ride at the same time.
Where people still face discrimination because of the color of their skin.
And where television characters are still not fully representative of the diverse lives of our audience.
This goes for physical injuries as well as emotional ones.
Clarke is experiencing the profound loss of someone she loved, and shell carry that loss with her forever.
Rothenberg and the cast ofThe 100is expected to appear at WonderCon this weekend in Los Angeles.
