The Walking Dead – Wrath

By: Kelly Kearney

When it comes to “The Walking Dead,” humans were always more of a threat than the dead and for eight seasons Rick and company found that their survival depended on killing first and negotiating second. Thanks to Carl Grimes’ dying wish, change is finally coming to Alexandria. In a lot of ways this season finale didn’t just bring a long-awaited end to the war with Negan, but it served as an end to the old ways of surviving this new world. “There has to be something after,” was what Carl wrote in his letters hoping the waring factions could find mercy in their wrath and build a functioning society that was safe for everyone. Nothing comes easy in this world and the price of peace often comes at the cost of many lives, but the payoff just might be worth it.

Preparing For War

After reading the letters Carl (Chandler Riggs) left, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) remembers what it was like when Carl was young and the world was safe enough for the sheriff to walk hand in hand with his boy without the worrying about some threat. This memory of Rick walking with a young Carl sparks his curiosity over how his son managed to get bit. After checking on baby Grace, Rick asks Siddiq (Avi Nash) about how Carl was attacked and the young doctor explains it was a random act of kindness that led to the teen’s end. Carl was bringing Siddiq back to Alexandria and the two spoke of their mothers and the lessons they learned from them. Siddiq’s mother believed the souls of the living were trapped in the dead and killing the walkers would set them free. Out of respect for her and to get the newcomer to trust him, Carl decided to set a few souls free and wound up getting bit in the process. After hearing his son risked his life for a woman he never met, Siddiq reminds Rick that all they have left of the people who die are their ideas, like those in the letters Carl left behind.

While Rick’s trying to make sense of Carl’s death and final wishes, the rest of Hilltop is preparing for their final battle. Jerry (Cooper Andrews) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) talk about the fight ahead while Henry (Macsen Lintz) and Carol (Melissa McBride) predict they will come out on top. Everyone seems to be in positive moods going into this battle except for Morgan (Lennie James), who is still suffering from his visions of the dead. As Alden (Callen McAuliffe) and the other Saviors that decided to stay and fight alongside Hilltop, draw the walkers frim the community’s gates, Morgan loses it and thinks Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) men have infiltrated their walls. He raises his staff to strike down the men, but Henry gets in the middle and almost tastes the pointy end of Morgan’s weapon. It’s at that moment Rick and Maggie question if Morgan is mentally fit enough to fight, but the man is convinced his job is to protect his friends and kill anyone who gets in his way. Turning to Rick, Morgan talks about how both men are worse off now than when they first met. Rick disagrees and thinks they’ve done what was needed in order to protect the people they love. It’s clear Morgan is on the cusp of some enlightenment and all the senseless killing is starting to wear thin on his moral center. Killing to survive is one thing but killing just because it’s easier has left Morgan (and some would argue Rick) broken and vengeful.

Over at the Sanctuary, they too are preparing for war as well as shoving a beaten Dwight (Austin Amelio) into Daryl’s (Norman Reedus) old prison outfit. After forcing Dwight and Gabriel into his vehicle, Negan sends a convoy of Sanctuary laborers to trick Rick while he and his troops corner them in the least expected place. The map Gregory (Xander Berkeley) gave to Rick was a set up and Negan’s hoping Grimes is smart enough to figure that out and lead his people into the direct line of Savior’s fire. So far, Negan’s plans are falling into place because Rick and his group take out the convoy of laborers and realize this diversion was too easy. Meanwhile, Morgan’s having visions of a dead and mangled Jared (Joshua Mikel) as he plunges his staff into the chest of an injured Savior begging for his life. In a murderous haze, Jesus manages to wake him up just in time for Ezekiel to find another map on the body of Morgan’s victim. Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Carol agree this must be a clue to Negan’s true location, but we soon find out its just another trap.

A New Way

While on the way to their destination, Negan explains his plan to kill very single surviving member of Rick’s group and Gabe (Seth Gilliam) decides he can’t be a part of this. Like a total action hero, Father Gabriel throws himself out of Negan’s car and blindly waders through the woods until he’s stopped by a walker and eventually an armed Eugene (Josh McDermitt). Holding a gun on Gabe while another Savior kills the walker clears a path for Negan to deal with the priest himself. Instead of killing him on the spot, Negan decides to use Gabriel to teach Rick a lesson. The priest wanted his death to mean something and Negan promises him it most certainly will.

Over with Rick’s group, Jesus (Tom Payne) notices that Morgan is really struggling after their recent kills and offers him some sage advice. He grabs Morgan’s staff and points to the sharpened end saying, “This side for the dead.” He then flips the staff to the blunt end saying, “This side for the living.” He explains that they don’t have to always kill and maybe if Morgan switches up his tactics things will get better.  Before Jesus’ words have a second to marinate, Morgan and his fellow survivors spot a gigantic herd of walkers off in the valley, reminding them of who the real threat is.

Meanwhile, The Saviors split up and some attack Hilltop while others surround Rick’s group on their journey through the woods and fields. Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Alden try to protect Hilltop and at the last-minute Oceanside shows up to fire bomb the Saviors and offer Tara a well needed hand. Over in the fields and to their horror, Rick’s group hears the familiar sounds of whistling broadcast through a megaphone. Surrounded by nothing but green grassy hills, the combined AHK draw their weapons but they can’t see the Saviors or their location. Negan uses a megaphone to brag about Eugene’s bullet making skills and tells Rick he’s going to kill Gabe and force Dwight to watch. On the count of three, the Saviors pull their triggers and BOOM! Eugene sabotaged the bullets! The guns backfire, taking out Negan’s entire line of defense and that’s cue for the surviving AHK to attack. With all the Saviors either down or on the run, Gabe and Dwight tackle Negan but he manages to break free just as Rick sees him staggering off in the distance. Armed with his bat and Rick with his gun, the chase is on while Rosita (Christian Serratos) saves Eugene from being pummeled by a few Saviors over their sabotaged weapons. It’s clear Eugene finally did the right thing and he has Gabe’s faith to thank for inspiring his turn. Rosita accepts the Mullet-man’s change of heart, but then turns and punches him in the face for vomiting on her in last week’s episode.

My Mercy Prevailed Over My Wrath

While Maggie and Michonne gather the remaining Saviors, Rick takes off shooting at Negan who’s hiding behind a tree under two familiar stain glass signs (we saw them in the season opener). Charging forward, Rick misses his shot and Negan nails him in the side with Lucille. The two men engage in a battle of bloody fists, both looking for their final death blow. Rick’s side is torn open from the attack and Negan is barely standing as he brags about finally ending this war. Rick asks for a ten second truce to hear Carl’s plans that include both men laying down their weapons and finding a compromise. It’s a tense moment and Negan pauses after hearing Rick out, as it is unclear if he’s pondering this better world. But Rick takes it as a sign to pounce. With a hidden knife in his hand, Rick slits Negan’s throat who then falls to the ground mumbling about how wrong Carl was. Bleeding out, Rick turns to his group and tells Siddiq to save Negan! Maggie (Lauren Cohan) loses it and runs towards Negan screaming about payback for killing Glenn. Michonne (Danai Gurira) holds the distraught woman back and Rick explains that there must be something after this war. All this killing was what led them to this moment, but the future is about rebuilding the society they lost when the dead took over the world. That herd they saw is coming for them and it’s going to take the Alexandria, the Saviors, Oceanside, Hilltop and the Kingdom to work together and keep their new world livable. Slowly the group wanders back to Hilltop. Morgan decides to go off on his own after giving Carol his armor for Henry and Rick leans up against the tree muttering, “My mercy prevailed over my wrath.” It’s a prayer and promise to Carl that what was isn’t what will be and Rick finally realizes that his son was always leading him to this path. He makes a quiet promise to build the world of Carl’s dreams.

Back at Hilltop, everyone starts the rebuilding process and Maggie allows Alden to stay since he thinks he can be an asset to the group.  Elsewhere, Morgan heads to the trash heap to offer Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) a place in their community. After she accepts we find out her real name is Ann and she’s going back alone, Morgan isn’t coming with her to Hilltop. He decides to stay at the dump and work out his issues alone, even after he convinces her that being alone isn’t healthy since people are all that matter.

We soon find Michonne and Rick explaining to a delirious Negan that he will live the rest of his days in prison. Only Maggie, Daryl and Jesus agree that Rick and Michonne’s mercy was the wrong choice. The couple may want Negan to live as a reminder to others that things have changed, but Maggie still wants Negan to pay for what he’s done. The three schemers agree to bide their time while strengthening Hilltop’s defenses until the opportunity comes to show them how wrong they were.

Whether or not the show plans to have an insurgence within the community is unclear, but after three seasons of war and five seasons of killing to survive it’s time “The Walking Dead” find a new way to live. The fight has been long and drawn out, but what’s ahead can only be good for them and for the fans who’ve been begging for a change for some time. What comes after the war is anyone’s guess, but after eight years of fighting the big bad and losing their home only to fight a new enemy, there must be an end goal or at least a lesson to be learned from all of this. Hopefully, Maggie, Daryl and Jesus realize that you can’t have a functioning society without justice and murder is never just.  One way or another they will figure out that if they come for the “Ricktatorship,” they may wind up sharing a cell with Negan and even turning into the very thing they hate. It’s a new dawn in Virginia and I, for one, cant wait to see what’s in store for Season 9.