Season 3, episode 13
Arrow On The Doorpost
- Andrea arranges a sit-down between Rick and The Governor to discuss a potential treaty.
A sit-down meeting has been scheduled with Rick and The Governor in order to call a truce. Hershel and Daryl stay outside and stand guard while Rick enters an abandoned barn, where The Governor indicates that they have a lot to talk about. The Governor removes his gun and sits down, while offering Rick do the same. Rick stays standing as it's revealed that The Governor has a hidden gun under the table.
Outside, Martinez drives up to the meeting site with a Woodbury soldier, Andrea and Milton. Andrea is angered to learn that the meeting started without her. When she enters and tries to talk to the two men, Rick indicates that he already knows about the prison raids and what happened when Maggie was threatened in Woodbury. Meanwhile, Daryl and Hershel meet with Martinez and Milton, and the two groups eye each other warily.
At the prison, Glenn is helping to barricade the prison. Merle says that they should go ambush The Governor while he's vulnerable, but Glenn doesn't want to risk Rick, Daryl and Hershel's lives to do it.
Meanwhile, Rick tries to give settlement terms, but The Governor laughs at him. Andrea tries to interject, and The Governor asks her to leave. Soon after, Rick accuses him of being a weak leader who intruded on the prison group's property. The Governor then tells Rick that he is misjudging him. Soon after, The Governor says that he would look weak if Rick's group were left as they are, and tells a story about his wife that insinuates he won't fail to act against the prison.
Outside, the two groups are still figuring each other out. Milton writes in a notebook about his experience, and speaks with Hershel about the latter's leg being amputated. Meanwhile, Daryl, Martinez and Andrea take part in an impromptu walker-killing contest, just before trading insights about the meeting going on between Rick and The Governor.
In the prison, Merle attempts to leave with a bag full of guns, and insinuates that Glenn is a coward for letting The Governor grope Maggie and get away with it. Both of them begin to fight, and are stopped by Beth firing a shot into the air. Merle then tries to recruit Michonne to help him assassinate The Governor, but she will have no part of it. Meanwhile, Glenn apologizes to Maggie for his recent behaviour towards her, and they have sex in the prison's loading dock.
Back at the meeting site, Hershel reveals to Andrea what happened to Maggie. Andrea realizes that she can't go back to Woodbury, but Hershel indicates that there's no going back if she joins the prison group. Inside, The Governor offers to settle his grudge with the prison if Rick turns over Michonne to him. Rick asks if he can trust The Governor, and the latter reveals that Rick doesn't have much choice, and gives him two days to decide. With that, The Governor and his men leave along with Andrea.
When The Governor's group returns to Woodbury, he indicates to his men that when Rick goes to make the deal, they will surround the meeting site and kill everyone besides Michonne. Milton realizes that The Governor is becoming increasingly unhinged as the latter indicates that there is no way to live in harmony with the prison.
Rick's group also heads back to the prison, and tells everyone that they're going to war. He then meets with Hershel and asks if he should give up Michonne. When Hershel asks why Rick is bringing this to him, the latter indicates that he wants to be talked out of it.
Tropes:
- Continuity Nod:
- Hershel told Andrea of Maggie's Near-Rape Experience at the hands of The Governor.
- The Governor brought up Lori's death.
- Conflicting Loyalty: This is perhaps where Andrea's attachment to both groups were fully displayed.
- Friendly Enemy: Milton is still bound by his allegiance to The Governor, but he still sits down to have a chat with Hershel.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Glenn and Maggie get busy in the prison's loading dock after they both get over their experiences in Woodbury.
- Go-Karting with Bowser: Daryl and Martinez enjoy a smoke break and a "walker hunt", while Milton and Hershel enjoy a lighthearted conversation.
- I Choose to Stay: Andrea chooses to remain with the Woodburry group.
- Moral Myopia: The Governor's Evil Plan.The Governor: (on killing everyone at the prison) It's the only way to prevent a slaughter.Milton: ...That is a slaughter.The Governor: Not on our end.
- Mythology Gag: The table in the room where Rick and The Governor are discussing looks like the one in the comics where the latter's comic counterpart amputated the former's right hand.
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Daryl and Martinez smoke cigarettes and discuss how they're both soldiers, and how the situation will inevitably lead to war.
- The Governor tries to persuade Rick by repeatedly bringing up their similarities.
- Punch-Clock Villain: Milton and Martinez interact with Daryl and Hershel outside the meeting site.
- Red Herring: The gun the Governor prepared is never used. Not that it matters.
- The Rival: Rick and The Governor cemented their status as such.
- Sadistic Choice: The Governor offers one to Rick to avoid a war: hand over Michonne or watch everyone he's come to care for die bloody.
- Shadow Archetype: The two groups also cemented their statuses as such. There's even a montage when they were going back to their respective bases shot simultaneously in almost the exact same angle.
- This Means War!: After The Governor declared war privately on the prison several episodes earlier, Rick heads back to the prison and tells the group to gear up for one.
