#They're still unsure about what to think of her because of the whole scavenger murder thing

[north-winds1]

Sleepy slugs

[murphystartedthefire]

Your meta on Murphy's moral development made me wonder: how do you think we're supposed to reconcile Murphy's reaction to Jaha's throwing Craig into the water with his reaction to Emori having the unnamed grounder put in the radiation tube? I know they're not exactly the same, Jaha abusing a position of power and trust whereas Emori was an outsider acting out of fear, but Murphy was initially going to speak to Clarke about those fears, and it was still ultimately the death of an innocent person.

Great question! Sorry, this ended up being very long because I think there’s actually a few things going on there. (Partly, of course, that it’s just a darker/more backslidey moment in Murphy’s arc.)

1. There is the Jaha/Emori difference you mentioned – the fact she is powerless and this is a pattern of her protecting herself out of necessity, whereas Jaha was the self-appointed Leader and Messiah Guy, so it’s a much different pattern for him.

And really the whole sea-monster situation was… kind of analogous but kind of not. He knew Emori was terrified that she, specifically, was going to be sacrificed (regardless of whether Murphy totally believed that yet or not). There was something inevitable about *somebody* going in that machine by the time it happened. (And it’s! the Griffins! who did that! They’re as much the Jaha as the sea monster in this situation, tbh.) Whereas Jaha was the one who dragged them all into danger to begin with, and it was a scarily sudden turn from them all being in the same boat (literally!) to Jaha making the choice to sacrifice one of them.

(Plus Murphy’s been onboard for murder like ALL DAY already in “Gimme Shelter”, so there’s already less shock about it happening, only about the reason behind it.)

2. But I actually think a bigger difference here is Craig and not!Baylis. You mention that they were both innocents, but that’s… not completely true? Don’t get me wrong here – *absolutely neither of them deserved to die*, and certainly not as horrifically as they did. But I would argue that, especially from Murphy’s POV, Craig was much, much more of an innocent victim. He knew him. He may have actually been younger than Murphy, or at least close to his age. He was part of the pilgrimage group, presumably because he trusted and believed in Jaha at some point. He hadn’t done anything except freeze up when the creature attacked. Between him and Jaha (and Murphy for that matter), Craig was probably the *most* innocent person there. And Murphy may be evolving a lot, but he still really doesn’t like unfairness.

The dude they got microwaved to death was not the evil abusive monster Emori said he was, but he DID nearly stab her to death before Murphy and Clarke came to her rescue. He’s a thief/scavenger/murderer and that’s what Emori *also is*, but that puts them on equal kill-or-be-killed footing at least. If Emori had killed him in self-defense, or not stopped Murphy from bashing his head with the cutting board (lol), they probably would not have lost any sleep over that.

So I do think that’s a factor in Murphy not really caring what happened to him. If at the *very least* he gave Emori that bruise on her head, then fuck that guy, he should’ve known who he was messing with. :p His reaction might have been different if it was some totally innocent villager or something. It would *definitely* be different if it was someone Murphy knew and felt sympathy for, I think.

3. ALSO. I think Murphy in a weird way is more accepting of Emori ‘cause she’s just… openly trying to save her own skin. She’s upfront about that and doesn’t try to morally justify it the way that Jaha does constantly – immediately talking about destiny and “sacrifice a few for the many.” Murphy has never been down with that, because he has often been at the bottom of the which-few-get-screwed-over side. (Literally jump one episode later to his reaction when Clarke says she’s “trying to save us” as justification for testing Emori, because IT SURE DOES NOT FEEL LIKE EITHER OF THEM ARE GETTING SAVED.) Emori’s speaking more to a worldview that he gets, and there’s no pretense or superiority-complex going on.

4. Honestly, separating the whole thing from morality for a minute? Jaha killing Craig made Murphy also feel unsafe in a way that Emori’s actions didn’t. I’m not saying he wasn’t also Judging Him, but there’s an element of Murphy just being done with any faith he had in Jaha. (And the last nail in that coffin is when he abandoned him in the bunker soon after.) He’s certain if it had just been the two of them, Jaha would’ve thrown him over.

He certainly *could have* responded that way to Emori also – because she had fooled him too and maybe it should’ve made him a little more uneasy how remorseless she was about the whole thing – but he still wholeheartedly trusts her. They would not betray *each other*, they’re still on the same team.

5. Finally, duh: Murphy is very, very attached to Emori in a way he hasn’t been with other people. And when faced with her doing something fucked-up, maybe he’s just a little bit of a hypocrite and willing to bend his developing moral compass. ;p That was honestly a dynamic in season 4 that I enjoyed, because Emori brings out a lot of good and loving qualities in Murphy, but he can also be vicious in his protectiveness of her. His willingness to throw Echo under the bus in “The Chosen” even after she saved them like 40 seconds ago is a sign of this too. That’s ALSO A MOMENT where my heart went “uh Murphy I thought you were better than this” and canon was like…

I agreed with people when 4x07 aired who felt like Murphy was unsure how to react for a moment to the Baylis reveal, and in the pause he sort of *decided* to be okay with it. And even proud of her, like he would’ve done the same thing. (Even though he wouldn’t have necessarily. Like you said, he just wanted to talk to Clarke and straighten it out.) 'Cause at the end of the day Emori matters to him more than other people, so… he was on the same page with her there.