The 100 has not begun shooting Season 4 yet but that doesn’t mean the stars haven’t gotten a chance to read the first episode’s script and discuss their characters' arcs for the new season. Friday morning at Comic-Con, we had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with the stars: Henry Ian Cusick, Christopher Larkin, Eliza Taylor, Marie Avgeropoulos, Lidsey Morgan, and executive producer Jason Rothenberg to chat about their thoughts on Season 3 and give some insight as to where The 100 is headed as it enters it’s fourth year. Check out what they told us.

• Cusick described the first episode of Season 4 as “full of action,” which is to be expected from a show that constantly threatens to end the lives of the Skaikru. He also pointed out that everything they’ve gone through and the remnants of their decisions are always in the back of their mind. “There will be moments when the characters will have to think about what they’ve done," he teased.

• The vacuum for a new Grounder leader will immediately be filled in the first episode. The big set up has already been presented in the Season 3 finale. The story this season will be very different compared to others. Rothenberg referred to this season as “The Earth Strikes Back” and said we’ll begin to see the environment start to collapse around the survivors.

• Cusick lit up when asked about the future of Abby and Kane’s relationship, “Now that they’ve expressed their love or desire for each other it will be interesting to see.” He does, however, keep in mind that the Earth is in danger of potentially ending and the prospect of happiness and romance seems a bit unattainable at the moment. “Are they going to plant vegetables and watch sunsets or are they going to try to stop this from happening? I’m guessing the latter," he said.

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  Clarke hasn’t had a chance to properly grieve Lexa’s death and Taylor said that seeing her in the City of Light was both closure and a reopening of the wound she’d left behind. “I think it was beautiful. It was probably my favorite episode. It was so nice to see them together, touching each other, in a world where no one else could touch them,” Taylor said, describing Lexa’s death as the most physically and emotionally challenging scene to shoot in Season 3. As for Season 4 Clarke, Taylor would like her take more pride in her actions and be less apologetic for the things she does.

• Taylor noted that there will be repercussions for Clarke after her decision to pull the lever, “They’re going to be mad. It could get a little intense in Episode 1.” Rothenberg confirmed these suspicions, “We’re going to see a lot of different reactions to that in the first episode.” He continued, “People are going to be pissed off when they find out the truth—some of them.” The pulling of the lever has now turned into a sort of symbol for Clarke, and Rothenberg said he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of having another one in Season 4. “I might make it a button just to differentiate,” he joked.

• We haven’t seen the last of the flame but it won’t be a big focus like it was in Season 3. It will be important in showing who is in control and who will be making the decisions for the Grounders but it won’t be remotely close to the significant meaning it had last season. “It’ll come back and play an important role eventually,” Rothenberg stated.

• The show has received a lot of criticism and some backlash from fans for how they handled certain storylines in Season 3, and no one is better aware of that than Rothenberg. He makes it very clear that it’s not his or the writers’ job to do fan service. “We don’t sit around and talk about how we’ll appeal to everybody,” he said, “I’m literally the only person that I’m trying to please and I hope that when I like something, the fans like it.” The disapproval surrounding some of the characters’ journeys doesn’t influence how the writers decide to tell the story. “I have to trust my instinct as a storyteller,” he added, “We’re trying to challenge the audience and always put our characters in impossible situations.”

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  One scene that made fans raise a few eyebrows was Octavia’s treatment of Bellamy after Lincoln’s death. Some considered it to be a bit extreme and violent but Avgeropolous defended Octavia’s reaction. “[Lincoln’s death] was the biggest, emotionally tragic thing that’s ever happened to Octavia,” she said, “Bellamy played a part in his death and Octavia took it out on the person she was closest to. They’re siblings; that’s what you do--you take it out on the people that you love.”

• Avgeropoulos compared Lincoln’s death to Romeo and Juliet.  The loss of the most important male figure in her life—aside from Bellamy—still weighs heavy on her. We can expect to see her take a very dark turn in Season 4 apart from the group. “She becomes an assassin,”  Avgeropoulos teased, assuring that Octavia knows exactly the path she is taking when she takes off on her own at the end of Season 3.  “Indra was in trouble the last time we saw her, so I would assume that she’d be heading there first,” she concluded.

• There might be a reconciliation happening between Monty and Jasper. Larkin said he’s excited to explore the possibility of them finally forgiving each other and being the brothers they’ve always been to each other. He also expressed his excitement over his character’s romantic endeavors with Harper.

• Season 3 saw Raven and Monty teaming up as they tried to overtake Alie.  Larkin said it was about time to put the two brightest minds together and he would like to have the opportunity to work with Morgan again. “I hope we have more scenes together,” he stated, pointing out that it’s hard to have moments of levity on the show given that their lives are always in peril.

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  What can we expect from Raven in Season 4? Morgan said her character’s gone through so much already that it’s almost as if she’s been reincarnated. “Her physical pain is still there but I think she has found a new way to manage it and respect it. She chose to feel the pain over being numb,” she noted, describing Raven as a builder and a worker and saying her arc this season will deal with her embarking on something that is like a manifesto for her character. There have also been significant changes to her after being under Alie’s control. “She’s in top gear and she’s smarter than ever, she can cope and she can understand technology she didn’t used to [understand],” Morgan stated, teasing that we’ll be seeing that evolution in play when the show returns.

• The possibility of a Raven and Bellamy romance seems like a thing of the past but Morgan said she’d love to work with Bob Morley again. And she’s open to the idea of them exploring more of the feelings that were presented earlier in the series. “There’s a big Bellarke world out there that doesn’t want us to be together,” she said laughing, acknowledging that it wouldn’t be a very popular relationship on the show. However, the fact that they share a secret that nobody else knows lends itself for a great storyline that she’d love to see explored. “I’m a Braven.  I ship us,” she said with a smile.

Season 4 of The 100 is scheduled to premiere in 2017.

Check out the sizzle reel and Season 4 teaser for The 100 below: