9 The 100 Actors Who Left The Show Before The Ending (& Why)

Many prominent The 100 actors left the show before it ended, though the “why” behind these departures varies greatly. The post-apocalyptic science fiction drama, which is an adaptation of Kass Morgan’s young-adult novels of the same name, aired on The CW from 2014 to 2020. Across 100 episodes, the popular show received flack for the harmful ways it killed off fan-favorite characters, putting the TV series’ creator Jason Rothenberg at the center of several high-profile conflicts. Even so, no matter how characters were written off the show, The 100 saw actors come and go for a variety of reasons.

While many of The 100‘s young actors rose to prominence thanks to the show, that also came with some pitfalls. That is, success on one TV series means the actors responsible for that acclaim will land roles in other projects — especially if they aren’t series regulars. While plenty of key members from The 100‘s cast of characters dipped in advance of season 7, The 100 star Eliza Taylor, who plays protagonist Clarke Griffin, remained on the series until its finale.

Collage of Clarke, Bellamy, Kane, and Octavia from The 100

The 100 Cast – Where Are They Now?

The 100 has a massive ensemble cast full of actors with varying levels of success, making it useful to see what they have done since the show ended.

9 Thomas McDonell As Finn Collins

22 Episodes

Nearly a century after a nuclear apocalypse ravages Earth, a group of juvenile delinquents is sent to Earth to test its hospitable nature. One of those one hundred teens is Finn Collins (Thomas McDonell). At first, Finn seems like the obvious love interest for protagonist Clarke — until it’s revealed that he’s seeing another young woman who eventually makes her way to Earth as well, engineer Raven Reyes (Lindsey Morgan).

After Finn goes on a Grounder killing spree, Clarke mercy kills Finn to prevent him from suffering an exceedingly violent death sentence. Given that Finn’s season 2 death was plotted from the start, McDonell’s time on the show was always going to be short-lived. Fans weren’t too sad to see him go, but the character’s death marked a turning point for Clarke’s character as she became the person willing to do what others wouldn’t to protect her people.

8 Ricky Whittle As Lincoln

34 Episodes

After first appearing in The 100 season 1, Ricky Whittle’s Lincoln — a Grounder warrior who is incredibly skeptical of Clarke and the other “Sky People” — stuck around for two more seasons. Lincoln became the love interest for Octavia (Marie Avgeropolous) and someone who was willing to try to find a compromise between Grounder nations and the people who came from the sky.

Despite nabbing a more prominent role during the second season, Whittle’s fan-favorite character suffered a dark fate, tortured and then executed as a Grounder representative. After The 100 killed off Lincoln in season 3, the actor spoke out about the show’s toxic work environment. The show’s unnecessarily violent on-screen treatment of one of its most prominent characters of color only furthered the harm felt by fans. After leaving the series under these troubling circumstances, Whittle went on to star in American Gods.

7 Alycia Debnam-Carey As Lexa

17 Episodes

Lexa was introduced as the surprising teen leader of the Grounders when she and Clarke were both trapped in an old zoo enclosure. While Clarke initially believed her to be a regular Grounder, Lexa eventually revealed herself as Heda, and a formidable warrior. Lexa didn’t appear in many episodes of the series, but she left a big impression as she helped to further develop the lore of the show and became someone who could soften Clarke’s heart.

Aside from Whittle’s Lincoln, the loss of Alycia Debnam-Carey’s Lexa stands out as The 100‘s saddest death and biggest misstep. The strong-willed warrior fell into a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romance with Clarke. However, Debnam-Carey nabbed a series regular role in Fear the Walking Dead, which meant The 100 needed to write her out.

Frustratingly, the series killed Lexa by employing a tired trope; much like Buffy‘s Tara, she’s hit by a stray bullet after finally finding happiness with Clarke. To make it up to queer fans, The 100 brought Debnam-Carey back a few times in sci-fi cameo form.

A composite image features Echo, Bellamy, and Clarke of The 100 over an image of the main cast

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6 Henry Ian Cusick As Marcus Kane

80 Episodes

Kane was originally someone scheming for political power on board the Ark. Bringing what was left of humanity to Earth, however, made him realize that he needed to put the needs of the many before his own. After six seasons, Henry Ian Cusick’s villain-turned-hero Marcus Kane left The 100.

Around the time of his departure, the actor was cast as one of the leads in MacGyver, leading fans to speculate about Kane’s ensuing death. While Cusick played out Kane’s death, the character’s consciousness was placed into a new body (Greyston Holt). Unable to live with himself (despite not consenting to the procedure), the new-Marcus Kane takes his own life. It was a shocking turn of events in-universe, but it wasn’t surprising given the actor’s new gig — and the way The 100‘s divisive ending killed its franchise potential.

5 Paige Turco As Abby Griffin

85 Episodes

From the start, Paige Turco played Abby Griffin, Clarke’s mother. Throughout the series, it was hard to pin the character down: at times, she was easy to hate, while, at others, she became important to Clarke — and the viewers. Pretty much right after The 100 ousted Marcus Kane, it also killed off Abby, making season 6 a heartbreaking watch.

Without getting too deep into the show’s lore, Abby first sacrifices herself, then gets her mind wiped, and finally sees her body taken over by another, forcing Clarke to kill what looks like her mom. Later, Turco cameos as her character when a being called The Judge takes Abby’s form.

Abby’s death wasn’t a way to oust the actor from the show, but instead, a way to raise the stakes in the sixth season. The sixth season was a particularly brutal one for the show, killing off recurring and main cast members alike as the threat to the existence of humanity evolved beyond Earth. Though the show was an ensemble series, Clarke Griffin is arguably the main character from the start, and killing her mother makes her feel truly alone heading into the final season.

4 Kelly Hu As Callie

Kelly Hu only appears in the very first episode of The 100. The first episode establishes exactly what the first few seasons of the show will be about: teens having to survive on Earth. As a result, many of the characters that appear on the Ark who aren’t the teens don’t survive for many appearances. Hu’s appearance, however, is one of the shortest-lived.

The 100‘s premiere episode left many viewers wondering why Kelly Hu didn’t return after the pilot episode. Although it was a brief stint, Hu played Callie, Abby Griffin’s closest friend on the Ark — the space station where human survivors lived pre-return to Earth. While giving Abby a confidant was a great storytelling move, budget constraints forced the show’s team to make some cuts. This led to an off-screen death for Hu’s Callie character — a resounding disappointment for viewers who connected with her during her brief appearance in the pilot.

Why Clarke Is So Unlikable In The 100 (& Why It Works)

Clarke was an easy character to hate in The 100 because of her horrible decision and actions, but that was ultimately the entire point of the show.

3 Devon Bostick As Jasper

56 Episodes

In the first four seasons of The 100, Devon Bostick plays Jasper, a goofy chemist who doesn’t seem to take anything seriously. That all changes after Jasper is captured by Grounders. From then on, the character grapples with living with post-traumatic stress disorder, leaning on his best friend Monty (Christopher Larkin) for support. After losing his short-lived love interest, Jasper turns to alcohol to numb his pain. Aside from Clarke, Jasper suffers some of the most damaging losses throughout the series.

That fact alone makes his death all-the-more frustrating. After dying in what seems like an Arkadia-related accident — one that Monty fails to save him from — it’s revealed that Jasper purposefully took his own life. Clarke even finds a note alongside the character’s signature goggles. Given that the Jasper character was supposed to die in season 1, but the writers kept Bostick around, it seems Jasper’s death was just another one of the series’ heart-wrenching plot choices, showing that not all deaths in the show were going to be in the middle of a battle.

2 Christopher Larkin As Monty Green

72 Episodes

Played for five seasons by Christopher Larkin, Monty always did the best things on The 100, making him the show’s only true good guy. He always tries to find a way around bloodshed, preferring negotiation over fighting. Ever the moral center of the series, Monty makes a huge decision in the fifth season that saves all of his friends.

Instead of entering cryo-sleep, Monty and his partner, Harper, stay awake to chart the group’s next moves. However, the couple never enter cryo-sleep: instead, they live out their lives together. When Clarke and company wake up a century later, they learn what Monty did for them. In season 6, Larkin makes a cameo appearance, but only as a manifestation of Clarke’s thoughts.

The actor is also a musician and has split his time between the acting world and the music world since ending his time on the show.

1 Isaiah Washington As Thelonious Jaha

60 Episodes

The former Chancellor of the Ark space station, Thelonious Jaha is one of three adults (alongside Abby and Kane) to join the 100 teens who are sent to Earth. While Isaiah Washington plays Jaha for five seasons, the character slowly loses everything he worked so hard to achieve.

Namely, he loses his position of power in the group after he and Kane clash over how best to handle the Grounders — though Jaha also loses his son early on too. All of this grief sets him on a surprising trajectory to the City of Light, an unreal realm controlled by the artificial intelligence called A.L.I.E.

In a move that proves The 100 ruins all characters after a while, Jaha returns to bring others into A.L.I.E.’s cult, convinced that escaping the pain of life is worth giving up one’s agency (and grip on reality). After coming to, a guilt-ridden Jaha struggles to redeem himself, but is ultimately stabbed to death by one of the group’s many enemies. Reportedly, the now-P-Valley star didn’t care for the direction The 100 was taking in season 5 and asked to be written off.