The 100's decision to kill off Bellamy has been met with an overwhelming wave of controversy, but writing him off isn't the problem - the problem is how it all happened. Over the years, The 100's characters have battled several villains as well as faced their fair share of extinction-level events, but they've always come out on top and continue to survive - now light years away from where they began. Sadly, they've also now suffered the biggest loss they've ever had.

Clarke shot Bellamy in the chest in The 100 season 7, episode 13, "Blood Giant", just before entering the Anomaly portal. For most of the season, the Bardoans/Disciples have been after the Key - their name for the Flame - which they believe will help them start the Last War that will save mankind. But the Flame was previously destroyed, and Gabriel ruined the one chance the Bardoans had to recover the data they needed. However, Madi's sketchbook could help them fill in the missing pieces, which Sheidheda revealed to Bellamy - given that he himself was about to die and that was his final act of subversion - but everyone knows Clarke will stop at nothing to protect Madi from harm. If the Shepherd got his hands on the book, he'd come for Madi next.

Related: Where Is Gaia In The 100 Season 7?

To prevent Madi from being taken by the Bardoans, Clarke killed Bellamy, but his death came out of left field and was entirely anticlimactic. Choosing to kill off a major character in the episodes leading up to the series finale makes sense for a show like The 100, and that was even teased when Raven was confronted in the reactor room - but unlike Raven's story arc to redemption, Bellamy's death was nothing besides shocking. Most of his character development was tossed aside and only one element plucked out - his desire to follow a cause - in order to set up his final story: becoming a Disciple. Apparently that was all that was needed for him to turn and die.

The 100 Bellamy.

Bellamy was supposed to have learned his lessons from following Pike in The 100 season 3, when he and others delivered a preemptive strike against the Grounders, slaughtering hundreds of people who had been sent to protect them. Now his friends believed he was making the same mistakes again, but the experience he had on Etherea fundamentally changed him. What he saw in the cave, not to mention the winter storm clearing at the same time, convinced him to follow the Shepherd and devote himself entirely to the Bardoans' cause. It was as close to blind faith as someone could have, which is why Clarke and everyone else questioned him.

All of this came on top of Bellamy being absent for most of The 100 season 7 - the result of a request by Bob Morley to take a break from filming - so the idea of one episode radically changing his characterization and then killing him off a few episodes later seems sudden and disingenuous. The crux of the problem is that Bellamy's death was less about Bellamy as a character and more about pushing Clarke's story forward - and it was all for naught since Clarke left the book behind anyway. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened, and it may not be the last. The 100 season 7 still has a few more episodes to go, and the fallout of Clarke's decision may cause her friends - particularly Echo and Octavia - to turn on her.

Next: How The 100 Season 7 Sets Up The Prequel TV Show