Apologies if some version of this has already been shared, I haven't been keeping up with everyone's alternate finale ideas. I didn't hate the finale as much as a lot of people seemed to, but here's how I would have done it instead. Obviously, spoilers ahead.

TL;DR: The "test" is reaching the space bridge and seeing all of the universes that split off from your universe every time you made a decision. In other words, there are universes out there where Clarke never pulled all of the levers and where some combination of Madi, Bellamy, Lexa, Lincoln, Monty, Harper, and Jasper are still alive. The "test" then is deciding whether to abandon your universe for another or to stay and accept your prior decisions as what they are: imperfect and human.

At the beginning of the episode, Cadogan quickly learns that it's not a war, it's a test. The show took the "test" part a bit too literally. As many people have pointed out, the whole concept of god-like aliens judging humanity based on a single conversation with a single individual doesn't make a lot of sense and isn't very satisfying, particularly because a central theme of the show has always been humanity judging itself. If we think back on the many hard decisions Clarke et al have had to make, there's always been a question of whether humanity and the human spirit can persist despite being surrounded by so much destruction and violence. Some people (Jasper) clearly thought not. Others were more optimistic.

I probably would have killed off Cadogan before he ever reached the space bridge, but I did like Clarke executing him point blank. Regardless, let's imagine Clarke and Octavia reach the space bridge together. They quickly realize that this appears to be a jumping off point to a bunch of other "planets", similar to how the stones have allowed them to travel between other planets and timelines all season. It would seem really feasible at this point that there might be other planets out there.

As they start to look closer, they notice that a lot of these planets actually seem to be Earth in various states. In some cases, the Earth is still completely destroyed. In others, it's lush and green. Eventually, they come to realize that these are not other planets but other universes and timelines. I don't think having aliens explain this makes a lot of sense, but maybe Becca left behind a version of ALIE to guide any future humans that eventually reached the space bridge.

So ALIE shows Clarke and Octavia all of these universes including ones where some combination of our favorite characters like Lexa, Lincoln, and Bellamy are still alive. There are universes where there was never Bloodreina or Wanheada. There are universes where Clarke never pulled all of the levers. This is sort of a mixed bag though because, in a universe without Bloodreina, everyone in the bunker probably dies. Without Clarke pulling the lever at Mount Weather, maybe she never meets Madi. And maybe in the universe where Clarke doesn't shoot Bellamy, everything ends up about the same, so she comes to realize (like we did) that shooting Bellamy was totally unnecessary.

So, the test. ALIE explains that they can jump to these alternative universes, but there's no guarantee of what will happen if they do. Things might end up "better" or they might end up "worse". Clarke could reunite with Bellamy, but she might also have to watch Madi die again. If they jump (similar to how we've seen time dilation work), they lose all of the memories of events that happened after this universe branching point. If they do decide to jump to another universe, it's not a given that they'll ever be able to reach the space bridge again. In that way, this decision of whether to jump may be the last major decision they ever make.

All of this would help to explain why Becca decided to come back to the same universe from the space bridge. She would have seen a universe where her creation didn't almost destroy all of humanity, but she also would have recognized the gravity of the multiverse and what might happen if humanity suddenly had access to this universe-jumping ability. She could have abandoned the universe she created for a (potentially) better one, but she felt obligated to come back and right her wrongs. And then she got burned at the stake. Bummer.

So Clarke and Octavia would learn all of this and they would have to grapple with the choices they've made. Together, they would recognize that they've both had to make tough choices that weren't always "right". They would recognize that they've both made mistakes, but that they made the choices they did in order to try and keep themselves and the people they love alive. They would accept their choices and themselves as imperfect, as human, completing their character arcs. This would provide a nice foil to Cadogan's idea of transcendence and perfection. Whereas Cadogan would have jumped to another universe (to try and become the savior of humanity), Clarke and Octavia would recognize that perfection and humanity are incompatible but that, together, they can still "do better".

Ultimately, they would decide to return to the universe their choices created and in this way, they would "pass" the test. In the end, they would return to Bardo, stop the war, and perhaps take everyone back to Earth to start over. Maybe they destroy the stones somehow, maybe not. And yes, at the end of it all, they can still have children.

And that's my idea! Thanks for reading. I'm an almost 30 year old professional (I know there are others of you out there) and this has been a great community over the years. I've really enjoyed the wild ride that has been The 100.