SDCC 2016: 'The 100' Star Marie Avgeropoulos Teases Octavia "Takes a Really Dark Turn" in Season 4

Nora Dominick ’17/ Emertainment Monthly Co-Executive Stage Editor
The hit TV show, The 100, is filled with strong, well-rounded characters that make up the post apocalyptic world. One of the best examples of this is Octavia Blake (Marie Avgeropoulos). On first glance, Octavia appeared to be a stereotypical pretty girl who would be the foil to Clarke (Eliza Taylor). This is so far from the character of Octavia fans know and love. Fans have eagerly watched her transform from one of The 100 to a fully-formed Grounder and in season three she continued this path.
At SDCC 2016, Marie Avgeropoulos sat down with us to talk about Octavia and Lincoln’s (Ricky Whittle) Shakespearian love story and the dark turn ahead for season four. Spoilers ahead!
In an emotional season three, Octavia lost the love of her life Lincoln during an altercation between Skaikru and the Grounders. A devastating and shocking death for fans, Lincoln’s death is something Octavia will continue to carry around with her in season four. Marie Avgeropoulos jokes that Octavia will continue to deal with his death with “Tears. Tissues. Booze.”
In all seriousness, Avgeropoulos says that Octavia had a very, very rough season three. She reminisces about Lincoln and Octavia’s love comparing it to a great Shakespearian tragedy. She says, “Octavia lost the thing that was the most important to her, which was her Romeo, Lincoln. They had that gorgeous Romeo & Juliet romance that was forbidden since day one. Whenever someone tells you, you can’t have that one it makes you want it even more. Isn’t that funny how that works?” She continues saying, “They just kept making these immense sacrifices for one another throughout their entire relationship and ultimately that’s how it ended as well.”
Avgeropoulos talks about why she thinks Lincoln and Octavia’s love story was so important for Octavia saying, “It was a really precious thing they had going and he taught her pretty much everything she knows that the Arker’s didn’t and wouldn’t because nobody really believed in her and dismissed her. Lincoln is the only one who hasn’t really done that, except for her brother of course.”

Touching on filming that final moment where Octavia looks in the direction of Lincoln being executed by Pike (Michael Beach), Avgeropoulos says it was very difficult because Whittle wasn’t even there. She says, “I had to do it staring at a telephone pole with an X on it. So, I really had to use my imagination to really service that moment because it was such a big one. They worked on their relationship to be together for like three seasons straight, so I had to pull my heartstrings every which way I could.”
Although Octavia will continue to deal with Lincoln’s death in season four, Avgeropoulos says don’t expect her to “start playing a violin.” She says her favorite part about playing Octavia is getting into the darker moments. She says, “My favorite part of my job is learning how to sword fight, better, and ride horseback and all that stuff. It’s so much fun and I get to put that on my tax return, I’m really lucky.”
Of course, fans want to know what is next for Octavia in season four. When fans last saw her, she epically stabbed Pike following the confrontation at Polis. Avgeropoulos teases that although the tone of season 4 will be a little lighter, that is not the case for Octavia. She says, “It’s going to be a really emotional journey for Octavia. She takes a really dark turn into some pretty nasty pastures. Octavia thought killing Pike would sort of band-aid that wound in her heart. It doesn’t.” She continues saying, “It actually triggers something even more disappointing because she thought it would fix that and make it all better.”
According to Avgeropoulos, Octavia will be in the darkest place fans have ever seen her for season four. She teases, “Octavia is going to do what she does best next season and that’s killing people. She doesn’t enjoy or take pleasure out of it, she just knows that’s her skill set. Her peers are doctors, mechanics, computer programmers. It took Octavia a while to figure out what she does best and now she knows what that is.” She continues saying, “She’s going to use that as an outlet to really excel on being the best assassins she can with a certain group that you’re all aware of, but I can’t tell you who. She’s going to have a really dark season.”

Catch Marie Avgeropoulos in season 4 of The 100, which premieres mid-season on The CW.