As tensions and the body count continues to grow on The 100, two demigods are exposed as false by their peers.

WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for The 100 Season 7, Episode 5 "Welcome to Bardo," which aired Wednesday on The CW.

One of the biggest recurring themes at the beginning of The 100's final seasonhas been the idea of false gods lying to the overzealous masses with hollow promises of a safe, better future. From Madi Griffin no longer bearing the Flame and uniting the Grounder tribes to the Primes on Sanctum seizing new host bodies to create the illusion of immortality among their followers, charismatic figures have been forming their own cults of personality since at least Season 6. And, as the political situation worsens on Sanctum throughout the start of Season 7, two false gods have been exposed as the charlatans they are, with fiery, bloody consequences.

With the Grounders having balkanized in the wake of the Flame being revealed as destroyed, Indra was forced to spare Russell Prime's life to appease his followers in order to prevent further bloodshed in the community. This action was not enough to quell the growing unrest, however, with the cult leader Trey demanding Russell's freedom. For every hour this demand is unmet, a follower will self-immolate, as evidenced by a woman who sets herself aflame before the community's horrified eyes. Unwilling to cow to the cult's demands, John Murphy reluctantly agrees to talk the cult down as the group still believes him to be Daniel Prime, a ruse he perpetuated in the season premiere to similarly defuse a violent standoff.

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Initially, Murphy approaches the cult with Indra safely watching over him from the shadows but, when he realizes the cult plans to set its children afire next, he angrily moves out of her supervision to confront the cultists himself. While attempting to leave the compound with all of the cultists' children to safety, he is exposed for not knowing the Four Pillars of Sanctum, the holy tenets established by the Primes to facilitate how their followers would worship them. Subdued, Murphy is prepared as the next sacrifice, forcing Indra to have Russell approach the cult to talk them down.

Of course, Russell hasn't been himself since the start of the season; after the Flame was purged of the digital consciousnesses stored within it to save Madi's mind, the malevolent Sheidheda had uploaded himself into Russell's body and killed his mind instead. This change is unnoticed by the Prime cult and he is still revered, however, Sheidheda is visibly enraged that his makeshift army nearly killed themselves before he could continue to develop his power base. After freeing Murphy, Sheidheda angrily admonishes the cult, with Indra realizing the truth about Russell's body after he uses similar authoritarian language as he had back on Earth.

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Indra quickly makes this deception known by speaking to Sheidheda in the Grounder's language which he instinctively responds to. Exposed, Sheidheda gloats that Indra still cannot risk making a martyr of him as she still lacks a unified Grounder army to hold back the Prime cultists. Still in command of the situation, Indra has the mind drive inside Russell's body cut outto ensure he can never upload himself to anyone else's body ever again. While Sheidheda is still evidently alive and well in Russell, the Dark Commander is now restricted to his current host body, raising the stakes for the villain while his secret is now known by a select few.

The 100 stars Eliza Taylor, Marie Avgeropoulos, Bob Morley, Lindsey Morgan, Richard Harmon, Tasya Teles and Shannon Kook. The series airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

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Sam Stone is a 10th level pop culture guru living just outside of Washington, DC who knows an unreasonable amount about The Beatles. You can read his work in the pages of Image+, follow him on Twitter @samstoneshow, and listen to his podcast Geek Out Show on iTunes and Google Play.

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