The 13 Colonies' Settlements

Lore & Background

After the devastating conflicts that pitted the Mountain Men, the Grounder clans, and the Sky People against one another, a fragile ceasefire held. The 13 Colonies were not founded in a single triumphant moment but negotiated slowly, settlement by settlement, as former enemies learned to share water rights, trade routes, and children. Each colony retained its local customs—the Mountain Men still hunted in the high passes, the Grounder clans still tended their agricultural terraces, the Sky People still maintained their radio towers and small workshops—but all answered to a common Assembly.

Clarke Griffin, who had spent the series' middle years as a warrior, healer, and reluctant leader, became the face of this new political order. She argued in the Assembly hall not with a sword but with a voice hoarse from years of shouting orders in battle. Bellamy Blake, who had carried the weight of the Sky People's survival since the Ark's fall, served as a military and logistical anchor, ensuring the colonies' defenses held. Octavia, shaped by her time among the Mountain Men, bridged the cultural gap between the two peoples and became a voice for those who had lost everything in the wars.

The colonies' greatest test came not from an external enemy but from the knowledge that Earth's atmosphere and resources were degrading beyond recovery. The Assembly's final deliberations—whether to stay and fight for a dying world or to build a ship and seek a new one—defined the end of the 13 Colonies' story. They chose the sky again, carrying the memory of the land with them.

Reader's Guide

You arrive at the central settlement on foot, following the old radio-tower path that the Sky People first cut through the forest. The air smells of woodsmoke and wet stone. The Assembly hall is a long, low structure of packed earth and timber, its walls thick enough to muffle the thunder that rolls in from the eastern passes. Inside, the seats are arranged in a rough circle—no head of the table, no throne. A carved wooden token marks each colony's delegate.

To the north, the Mountain territory rises in jagged grey spires. The clans there still paint their shields with the old war-sigils, though the designs now incorporate Sky People geometric patterns alongside the traditional mountain motifs. The passes are narrow, defensible, and cold even in summer. You'll see hunters tracking ibex along the scree, their movements silent and practiced.

South of the central hall, the Grounder agricultural terraces cascade down the valley in green steps. The clans here grow grain, root vegetables, and medicinal herbs. Their longhouses are low, round, and warm, with hearths that never go out. Children chase each other between the drying racks, and the smell of fermenting grain hangs in the air.

The Sky People quarter sits on a slight rise to the west, identifiable by its rectangular buildings, the hum of generators, and the radio mast that still catches the wind. It's smaller than it once was—many of the original Ark structures have been repurposed or dismantled for the colonies' shared infrastructure. A workshop at the edge of the settlement is where the ship's components are being fabricated, the clanging of metal echoing at odd hours.

Over the course of the series, the settlements shift: walls are reinforced, then torn down; trade routes open and close; the Assembly hall is expanded as new delegates arrive. By the final days, the whole network is in a state of controlled urgency—fields are harvested early, stores are packed, and the radio mast is being dismantled piece by piece. The land is being left behind, and everyone knows it.

Did You Know?

• The 13 Colonies' Assembly operates without a single head of state; leadership rotates and decisions require broad consensus, reflecting the show's theme that no one person should hold absolute power.
• Clarke Griffin's role shifted from field commander to political figurehead over the course of the series, and her leadership of the colonies is one of the show's central arcs in its later seasons.
• Octavia Blake-Santos, shaped by her years among the Mountain Men, became a crucial cultural bridge within the unified society, advocating for Grounder traditions in the Assembly.
• The colonies' ultimate decision to abandon Earth and seek a new home in space echoes the original premise of the series—the Ark's fall—completing a full narrative circle.