The Walking Dead – Warlords

By: Kelly Kearney

This week timelines and characters merge as Maggie, Lydia, and Elijah head out on a rescue mission after a mystery man convinces the teens his people are in trouble. Elsewhere, Aaron and Gabe are also on a mission to reach out to a struggling community in need but when things don’t go as planned, a surprising former foe who went off on his own swoops in to help out. In Warlords we get our first peek at what’s really going on at The Commonwealth and it’s not all baked goods and spinning metal records; danger lurks!

Here We Go Again!

Ever since The Commonwealth rolled in with their food and fancy army the people of Hilltop have been abandoning ship. This time, it’s Lydia (Cassady McClincy) who bids a flirty farewell to Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari) as she heads to the first Commonwealth check point. She thinks she might return someday but Elijah doesn’t wait for that and asks if she needs company on her trip. The two don’t get their chance because on cue, a bloody man on a horse arrives outside their gate. He’s been shot and as he’s dying, he tells Lydia she has to go to Riverbend and says “their” executing people and “they” need help.  The nameless man hands her a bloody map and then dies, prompting Lydia to cancel her trek to join Elijah in a chat with Maggie (Lauren Cohan) about what all this means. Maggie’s receptive to their feelings of wanting to help but reminds them they are spread thin on supplies and people to fight. If they start stirring up trouble the fight that ensues could be their last. She is also leaning towards this whole thing being a trap to lure them away from Hilltop and allow some other group to sack their homes. Lydia disagrees and thinks the dying man seemed genuine.  She wants to help and questions whether or not this other community is in as dire strains as they are. Helping is what Maggie believed in and it’s what Lydia, Elijah, want to do too. It also doesn’t hurt that this is a little karma cleanse for the things Alpha did to communities just like the mystery man’s. The three get ready to leave while Maggie stews in her feelings of what’s right v. what’s practical and it’s not long before she’s saying goodbye to Hershel (Kien Michael Spiller) and joining the rescue team of teens. Deep down she knew Lydia was right and helping is the what they do so, the three drive off (thanks CW gasoline) and head to the location highlighted on the blood-stained map.

“I Want Things to be the Same Everyday”

In the truck ride to Riverbend, Maggie tells Lydia and Elijah a story about her father Hershel’s war with the Atlanta’s land developers who were sniffing around his farm with offers to buy it during the longest draught in recent history. He never gave in to their offers to help, even when his livestock was in need because he knew that they knew the drought would end and the land would be profitable once again. The drought was a rough patch and Hershel and his family made do and got by with what they could until the drought ended. They never accepted the bushels of food and feed for the animals, and they never lost any either. Getting through the tough times together makes the win feel that much better. The Commonwealth are the land developers is this story, but these two kids are tired and not interested in parables. They’ve lived their whole lives just getting by and now that they know safety and stability exists inside the Commonwealth’s walls, they crave it.  Food is a guarantee, and they could sleep without worrying about walkers or the next war. They’re still kids, even with the trauma they’ve lived through, but they know how a society functions and it is usually by way of voting.  When Lydia questions why, as the town’s leader, she didn’t poll Hilltop before she turned CW’s offer down and Maggie is shocked by it, but any further conversation ends when they see three walker CW troopers in the road. All three were seemingly killed by someone who knew their armor’s weaknesses- -slashes through neck guards and bullets in the gaps of their armor. Then they hear Aaron (Ross Marquand) yelling from down the street Maggie knows something is terribly wrong.

Sunday’s in The Commonwealth

It’s Sunday service and Gabe (Seth Gilliam) got his God mojo back! Apparently, going on a killing spree helped reset the pastor and part-time vigilante’s relationship with the big man upstairs and after an impassioned sermon about letting go of the past, he sits down with Aaron to talk about faith and the future. We learn Aaron is working in the CW’s government heading their immigration department thanks to his former job as an NGO. Now he is in charge of reaching out to struggling communities looking for sanctuary at The Commonwealth, what Gabe calls “god’s work.” Aaron has always been a uniter so when he tells Gabe that there is a small religious group hiding out and he wants Gabe and his friendly collar to help him make contact, the pastor isn’t surprised. A man of God would be the perfect welcome mat for these people but after their last outing, Gabe questions the safety of the trip. Aaron promises they’re taking troops, Jesse the annoying intern, and his very unusual boss, Toby Carlson, so they should be safe. Famous last words.

Cut to Aaron’s boss, Carlson (Jason Butler Harner), who is looking in on the Riverbend community through some binoculars. Aaron notices right away that this setup doesn’t seem friendly even though his boss promised it would be. He also notices the troops are setting up tents and they don’t appear to be going inside the building with Aaron or Gabe, but Carlson is over the top smiley and doesn’t share in their concerns. His good vibes mood is intense and definitely not comforting for a leader who announces the three of them will be going into this hostile apartment building alone to seem more friendly. Both let Carlson know they’re not comfortable going in because this looks like an ambush waiting to happen and Gabe even snaps at him with expletives saying he doesn’t want to die because his plan is “b*lls**t.” Carlson drops the nice guy act and lets them know he isn’t taking no for an answer. So, Gabe ditches the collar because he doesn’t want this guy to manipulate his faith now that he’s found it again, and Carlson doesn’t seem pleased about it but lets it go.

The Welcoming Crew

Ominous music pipes in as the three approach the building adorned in a bloody cross painted over the front door and windows smashed out where we see hooded men holding scythes out the windows. Aaron announces their arrival and after some loud pounding the doors open up to an intimidating bald woman (Jenique Hendrix) holding scythe, followed by three guards all who don ceremonial robes. She orders the three to hand over their weapons, letting Aaron keep his arm which she seems to smirk at like she’s impressed with his DIY skills. Gabriel sees the situation quickly going south and admits they’re not alone; their peacekeepers are nearby waiting for them to check in so *hint* don’t try anything.

Once inside the group’s lair they meet the leader, Ian (Michael Biehn), or who Carlson refers to as a warlord, and he’s a paranoid trigger-happy skull collecting lunatic. He kills every “raider” who crosses their path and places their heads on his trophy wall. Not a good sign. He assumes they are there to steal their food and supplies and when Carlson, the self-professed leader of the trio, refuses to tell Ian the location of his land of ice cream and safety, he pulls out a gun and makes Carlson get out his knees. His people must’ve been through a lot because Ian accuses these immigration officials of coming for their meat, meaning he assumes they’re cannibals, which Aaron scoffs at since they brought his people water and food. Why would they come to sack this dilapidated starving gang of 40 something people when they have enough supplies for 50,000? As Ian starts to realize he was wrong, Carlson takes a shot and wrestles the gun away, shoots him in the leg and then executes his guards like some sort of sniper. Aaron and Gabe freak out because Ian was ready to let them go but Carlson doesn’t care, ordering them to take the leader prisoner while he leaves to handle the rest. With excitement in his eyes, he cocks the gun and runs out the room.

Flashback to one week and one hour ago, and we see Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) in a private and electrically charged meeting with Carlson. We quickly learn that a shipment of guns and cargo was hijacked by this religious group in eastern Virginia. What was in that cargo is unclear, but Lance is worried that now the group has guns to protect itself from handing over the stolen goods and he can’t ask Pamela (Laila Robins) to fund troops to swoop in because she has no idea about the ambush. That brings him to why Carlson is in his office. As a former assassin for the CIA, Lance wants Toby to go into the community, execute the thieves, and take back their shipments. At first, Carlson declines using the excuse that he’s enjoying the easy life, but Lance isn’t taking no for an answer and threatens him if he doesn’t agree. Carlson turns that threat around and puts his finger in Lance’s whiskey drink and then licks his finger while asking if he’s ready to die. Lance pulls back claiming the guards who were killed in the ambush were in their ‘20s and he feels responsible. This is something Carlson understands and begrudgingly agrees to do the job—including roping Aaron and Gabriel into the mission because both men are expendable.

“This is How we Make the World Safe”

Down in what looks like the basement of Ian’s group’s hideout, Commonwealth troops surround the room as Carlson tries to torture the shot man into telling him where the guns and cargo are hiding. Gabe tries to stop him and for his effort gets a shiny pair of handcuffs as he and Aaron watch Carlson murder Ian. He doesn’t stop there; Carlson’s rage is unleashed as he toys with the body and puts the boots to the warlord’s corpse. Aaron looks terrified and filled with his own level of rage as he reminds his boss that they were told this was a mission to help people. Carlson responds, “this is the other side of it. Snuffing out threats. This is how we make the world safe. “

Soon, all hell breaks loose. Everyone hears the sound of a horse, and The Commonwealth troops shoot Jesse (Connor Hammond) in the back as he’s fleeing. The quirky intern was the dying mystery man outside of Alexandria. Aaron is next in Carlson’s crosshairs but luckily, the crazed man is out of bullets and Aaron takes off before the backup troopers can finish the job. The Commonwealth is killing their own people anyone who gets in their way expansion goals.

Back in the present and we see Aaron catching Maggie up on what went down and admits he wasn’t the one who gave Jesse the map. Flashback to the attack and we see Jesse trying to steal a hitched getaway horse when he runs into a robe wearing Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) alongside a woman. The two hand him a map and tell him to go find Maggie at Hilltop and tell her that Aaron and Gabe are in trouble. He gives the kid the horse and sends him on his way and then we see him witness Carlson’s speech when kills the warlord. He as his female companion overtake the guards, killing them by way of their armor’s weak spots, and then saves a handcuffed Gabe. Negan knows what’s going on with The Commonwealth and he’s working behind the scenes to keep the people who hate him most, safe.

Cut to the present and Carlson is on the roof with a few hostages announcing the residents of the complex have been deemed enemies of The Commonwealth. For their thievery and murder-the punishment is death. He orders the hostages to tell him where the supplies are and when they say they don’t know, he starts kicking them off the roof and to their deaths. Inside, Negan and the others listen in horror as the bodies smash apart on the concrete below. When Carlson doesn’t get anyone to talk, he orders the troopers to go room to room and execute everyone they find.  Crowded in one room with Negan, the woman, who we learn is Annie (Medina Senghore), steps into the leadership role for a pep talk– hoping to inspire the remainder of the group to come together and prepare to fight. She says they only survived this long because they’re family, and together they can defeat this Carlson and his troops. We catch an instant flirtatious vibe between Negan and Annie as he tells her he’s impressed with her speech. That’s when we cut to Maggie and the others coming through the entrance of the building and dragging dead Commonwealth troops out of their way. Maggie and Negan are going to be working together again. I hope this Annie is ready for that blood-feud.