"We all felt that obviously it was going to be a huge, mind-blowing moment for Bellamy when he realizes that Clarke is alive," Rothenberg said. "The notion that he meets Madi [Lola Flanery] first and then through Madi he realizes that Clarke isn't dead felt like a really cool way to do that and an emotional way to do that. And then to cut to Clarke's perspective as she's obviously screwed beyond belief at the moment that Belllamy shows up and emerges from the headlights to save the day - it just felt right."
But finally getting Bellamy and Clarke to the same place at the same time actually turned out to be the easy part. When these two former co-leaders finally get the chance to talk and download on the past six years, they'll find their dynamic and relationship has changed. How could it not after such a long time apart?
"They are going to work together to a common goal, which is to get back to the valley and save everybody," Rothenberg said. "The truth, of course, is that they each have a different priority set now – Madi is not all that matters to Bellamy but she's certainly the thing that matters the most to Clarke. Spacekru is the family from the ring from the six-year period that they were together, and that's the most important thing to Bellamy. The two, what's right for each of those separate things is not always the same."
And that's where a big conflict of Season 5 is going to come into play. "It will be a very difficult line for the two of them as co-leaders to work out for sure," Rothenberg said. "That becomes increasingly challenging when Octavia [Marie Avgeropoulos] emerges as the character that she becomes, the Blodreina, and becomes more and more obsessed with getting her people, which is her priority, to the last survivable place on Earth. All the while, Diyoza and the prisoners live there, they won it and they're not giving it up without a fight."
Rothenberg added that "there are a lot of cross-currents and a lot of things that are going to work against Clarke and Bellamy keeping the same goal in mind," which is why "Bellarke" fans should start preparing now for a rough road ahead.
"Their journey this season is definitely fraught with conflict," he teased, "and the hope is by the end of the season they'll be on the same page but you have to tune in to see that."The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on The CW. For more on the series, see what Rothenberg had to say about Jaha's death in episode 2, and how it will shape the show.
Sydney Bucksbaum is a freelance journalist covering TV and film. Talk to her on Twitter at @SydneyBucksbaum.