The group reunites with an old friend during their preparations for the fight with Troy.
Armor-Piercing Response: Madison has a cold, brutal one when Charlie laments that Nick was like a brother to her.
Madison: Then you wouldn’t have shot him!
The Atoner: Charlie agrees to Madison’s demand to infiltrate Troy’s group and assassinate him if it means making amends for killing Nick in her eyes.
Audience Surrogate: Madison serves as a mouthpiece for viewers who may not have forgiven Charlie for killing Nick long after her Heel–Face Turn.
Back for the Dead: Charlie returns but kills herself by the end of the episode.
Big Damn Heroes: Downplayed. Luciana returns to take care of the walkers Madison accidentally let in, but Daniel and his men presumably had it under control given they were heavily armed and ready for the threat.
The Bus Came Back: Luciana, and surprisingly Charlie return for the first time since Season 7's "Amina".
But Now I Must Go: Madison herself leaves on her own, admitting that she doesn’t deserve to be followed after what she did.
Cheated Death, Died Anyway: Charlie managed to survive her radiation poisoning, only to end up having to kill herself to save PADRE’s location from Troy.
Madison meets Charlie again and learns she killed Nick, sparking a vicious desire to force Charlie to atone for her actions despite the rest of the group knowing she’s since repented. All it does is just get Charlie to walk into danger and ultimately be forced to take her own life.
Troy seeks revenge on Madison not merely for the loss of the Ranch, but because she apparently killed his wife that he had a daughter with. When he tries to claim he wants PADRE to have a safe home, Charlie points out that he’s still going to hunt and fight Madison even if he takes the island, which Troy doesn’t deny.
All the cycle does is get Charlie killed and Madison’s part in it leads to the group splintering, despite Troy’s threat to PADRE remaining.
Divided We Fall: By the end of the episode, the group has been split up by Charlie’s death. Daniel goes to join Luciana and her network of outposts and they wipe their hands of the conflict with Troy; Madison leaves Strand in charge of PADRE, unwilling to serve as their leader out of shame at helping lead to Charlie’s death.
Downer Ending: Charlie is dead, having killed herself to Troy of his hostage he was going to use to take PADRE’s location. Luciana refuses to aid Madison’s group any further, going back to her network with Daniel in tow, as they are both disgusted with Madison’s actions. Madison herself leaves PADRE due to her shame, leaving Strand alone in command of the island.
Due to the Dead: Madison is intent on finding Alicia’s alleged walker and putting her down to bury her. Upon finding out the group collected Nick’s remains and cremated them, she intends to bury them.
Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Troy genuinely loved his late lover and the child they had together, Tracy.
Evil Is Petty: Troy says that taking PADRE just to take Madison’s base from her is the icing on the cake.
Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: The joy from the group learning of Charlie’s survival soon evaporates into panic once they realize Madison is about to learn their friend who they’ve long since forgiven is about to be outed as the murderer of her son.
Gone Horribly Right: Madison initially attacked Charlie with seemingly lethal intentions and probably didn’t care if she failed in her assignment to assassinate Troy. Charlie ends up killing herself despite Madison having come around on her.
Heroic Sacrifice: Charlie kills herself so that Troy loses his hostage and leverage to get PADRE’s location from Madison.
Internal Reveal: Madison learns that Charlie killed Nick. Given everyone fairly assumed Charlie died from her radiation burns, Strand felt no reason to tell her until the truth comes out.
It Has Only Just Begun: Charlie points out that even if the group surrenders PADRE to Troy, he’ll still come after Madison’s next community just to continue his vendetta against her. Troy has a sheepish shrug that admits as much.
Leeroy Jenkins: Madison is gung-ho about challenging Troy due to supposedly killing Alicia, even when Daniel pragmatically points out they need to refuel.
Mama Bear: Madison’s already in a poor mood from the apparent loss of Alicia, but learning that Charlie killed Nick sends her into a rampage she barely manages to redirect onto some walkers.
My God, What Have I Done?: Madison blames herself for the deaths of her children, insisting if she hadn’t brought Charlie into the stadium she wouldn’t have killed Nick; and that if she’d hit Troy harder he wouldn’t have supposedly killed Alicia. Strand points out that she could’ve never known what would’ve happened and it’s not her fault. She later blames herself for Charlie’s death, with a bit more water to it.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Madison failing to enact radio silence upon learning Charlie has been cornered tips off Troy and ruins any chance she had of infiltrating his group. It ultimately inadvertently leads to Charlie committing suicide to save PADRE’s location.
"Not So Different" Remark: Daniel points out to Madison that he lost Ofelia to Troy just like she supposedly lost Alicia. He later laments that he doesn’t want to lose his adoptive daughters Luciana and Charlie. He ends up indeed losing Charlie in a way due to Troy’s hostage situation.
Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Troy rambles that he wants PADRE as it’s a place people like Madison couldn’t take from him, which is a paradox since if he took it from Madison, it’s not as defensible as he claims. Charlie calls him out on it and gets him to admit he’s mostly gunning for PADRE to get revenge on Madison. It’s later Played With a bit since it turns out he genuinely does want to provide a safe home for his daughter Tracy, but Charlie once again calls him out that even if he gets PADRE, he’ll follow Madison wherever he goes to continue their feud.
Not Quite Dead: A recurring theme of the episode. Charlie is revealed to have survived her radiation burns thanks to PADRE’s resources after June had given her a terminal diagnosis last season. Madison laments that she apparently didn’t hit Troy hard enough to kill him, leaving him alive.
Daniel becomes increasingly furious as Charlie walks into danger per Madison’s orders, and downright murderous once she kills herself. He leaves the group because of Madison’s machinations.
Troy also goes ballistic when he learns his daughter Tracy is unaccounted for.
Daniel: There’s something fundamentally wrong with you, Madison. Charlie’s the second time somebody dear to me dies because of you. There won’t be a third.
PADRE didn’t exile Daniel simply because they didn’t think he was useful. PADRE was going to execute him outright until Luciana asked for his life to be spared in exchange for being put to work refining gasoline.
Troy wants Madison dead because he claims she killed the mother of his child, Tracy.
Save the Villain: Madison saves Troy from a walker after he goes off trying to save Tracy, a child.
Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Daniel leaves Madison’s group out of disgust with her sending Charlie to Troy.
Trojan Horse: Madison tasks Charlie with infiltrating Troy’s group to kill him. She even tricks him into thinking she’s giving up PADRE’s location in a bid to either get Troy killed in an explosion from the tanker or to at least compromise his camp.
This Is Unforgivable!: Madison at first swears she’ll never forgive Charlie for killing Nick even after learning Alicia and the others forgave her and let her join the group. Strand points out that nobody is asking her to forgive Charlie, but merely to accept that she’s proven her worth as a loyal friend since then.
What the Hell, Hero?: Strand needles Madison over forcing Charlie to go on her mission against Troy. Over the course of the episode, Luciana and Daniel grow more and more disgusted with her for it.
When He Smiles: Daniel’s not known for being the cheeriest person, but his smile and excitement when he reunites with his adopted daughter Luciana is very adorable.
You Killed My Father: Discussed and defied as Troy admits his vendetta towards Madison isn’t over the death of his father Jeremiah. It turns out to be because Troy claims Madison is responsible for killing a woman he loved and had a daughter, Tracy, with.
