Madison embarks on a final quest to see if Alicia’s ways of living are indeed stronger than surviving through fear.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Russel unleashes a horde on PADRE, and firebomb the fort in order to smoke everyone out so that they can't ride out the attack. Afterwards, even though the horde is wiped out, the island is no longer habitable, so the group divides up their resources and spread out to help as many people as they can all over the country.
And the Adventure Continues: The group lives to fight another day and separate, leaving the door open for future adventures.
And This Is for...: Before they make their last push, Sherry declares it's for Finch.
Back for the Finale: Alicia returns for the show's final episode, and has Skidmark with her.
Big "NO!": Strand gives a massive one when he makes it to the island only for them to be cornered with Daniel and Luciana unable to provide aid.
Book Ends: Bluebonnets return for the final episode of the series.
The Bus Came Back: The parents who formed Daniel's militia, including the woman who mistook Odessa for her lost daughter, return.
Character Death: Russell gets fed to the horde invading PADRE.
Chekhov's Gun: Madison putting the medallion in the gun saves her life when Tracy shot her.
Cliffhanger Copout: A commercial break starts with PADRE’s forces surrounded by walkers and Madison seemingly dying from a gunshot. When the episode resumes, Strand tells Tracy how things resolved themselves. Madison also turns up alive and well after the next one after it was strongly implied she had died in the explosion of PADRE with Tracy explaining how she spent half a day rescuing her and treating her.
Continuity Nod: Madison tells Tracy of how she killed her father long ago. She later saves PADRE's survivors like she saved the group at the stadium.
Death Faked for You: Alicia began using an alias when she heard the fake story that Troy had killed her, feeling that the story of her did more good than she did alone. At the end of the episode, Madison likewise decides to let everyone assume she died in the explosion on the island, as the story of her sacrifice motivates them more than she herself could do in person.
Dragon Ascendant: Russell continues Troy's original mission to take over PADRE.
Driven to Suicide: Tracy considers suicide after burying Troy but is stopped by Strand.
Earn Your Happy Ending: The group manages to survive the fall of PADRE and Alicia has returned and reunited with Madison. The Clark’s leave with Tracy in tow, with everybody optimistically looking forward to what the future holds.
The Fellowship Has Ended: Downplayed, as while half of the group decides to split up to fan out and keep doing good as part of a larger network, the other half all go off on their own.
June and Odessa head to Texas to John Dorie’s cabin where the former will teach the latter in medicine.
Dwight and Sherry decide to recolonize the Sanctuary to make it a good, stable home for survivors.
Luciana and Daniel return to their network.
Strand, Frank, and Klaus go off on their own as a family.
Madison, Alicia, and Tracy form their own family unit as they set off on their own.
Honor Before Reason: Even when everybody points out the gaping flaws in her logic, Madison refuses to listen to reason due to her intention to teach Tracy.
Karmic Death: Russel gets fed to the horde he unleashed on PADRE.
Last Stand: With a fire caused by Russell's men burning the island, Dwight leads a desperate united push through the invading horde to escape.
Mama Bear: Madison's maternal instincts immediately kick in for Tracy now that she knows she's her granddaughter - or is led to believe it, anyway.
"Not So Different" Remark: Strand states that the reason Daniel doesn't like him is because he reminds Daniel of the worst parts of himself.
Properly Paranoid: Daniel isn't willing to let Tracy roam free given how fanatical Troy's men are and what they might do to protect her. Tracy herself is understandably not willing to trust Madison after he killed Troy.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Madison, Strand, and Daniel take turns ripping each other apart for their long combined history of misery. Daniel gets the last word in, telling Strand off for being a pathological liar and for Madison constantly putting everyone in danger to save her own agenda.
The Reveal: Russell reveals that Troy didn't kill Alicia, and that she disappeared when he was sent to finish her off after a fight with Troy. Towards the end of the episode, Alicia herself reveals that Tracy is not her daughter; Troy only said that to motivate Madison to protect her.
Violently Protective Husband: Upon losing contact with Frank and the island, Strand goes on a rampage letting the walkers in, determined to fight his way to PADRE to save his family.
Wendell, Sarah, Jacob, and Josiah are all missing after last having been seen evacuating into the Gulf of Mexico last season. The showrunners admitted that they did not have the time to bring back the characters for the final season, but "in [their] imagination", the twins and Jacob are part of Luciana’s network helping work the roads between Texas and the east coast.
Al and Isabelle are still on the run from the CRM after leaving the show last season as well.
Tobias was last mentioned to still be alive but true to the show runners’s word, never returned.
Mickey never returned after disappearing offscreen in last season's "PADRE".
that they did not have the time to bring back the characters for the final season, but "in [their] imagination", the twins and Jacob are part of Luciana’s network helping work the roads between Texas and the east coast.