Season 8, Episode 9
Rick and Michonne deal with the unimaginable.
- Bittersweet Ending: Dwight and Siddiq are now recruited with Alexandria and Gavin and his group are wiped out by Morgan, Carol and Henry, and Ezekiel has been rescued. However, with Alexandria bombed and now rendered destroyed, the survivors are forced to move to Hilltop and Carl who is dying kills himself leaving Rick and Michonne utterly distraught.
- Book Ends: "Cherokee Rose", had a conversation between Rick and Carl, where the former gave the latter his sheriff hat, as he was a part of the group now. It ends with Carl saying "I love you, dad", with Rick saying that he loves Carl too. This episode involves Carl giving this hat away to Judith while he is a death's door, and his final conversation with Rick ends with the same lines mentioned above.
- Character Death: Carl, dying of his walker bite, shoots himself to spare Rick and Michone from having to put him down. Additionally, Gavin is killed by Henry.
- Continuity Nod: Quite a few, as Carl reflects on his journey
- Carl takes a picture of himself and Judith. In Season 3's "Clear", Carl searched for a picture of himself, Rick, and Lori, desiring to find a picture of Lori so Judith could know what she looked like.
- Carol evacuates the Kingdom residents to her cottage she resided in during Season 7.
- Carl takes a look at his walker bite in the mirror in a similar manner that Rick looked at his own wounds in Season 4's "After".
- Carl remembers his mother's last words to him about beating the world in Season 3's "Killer Within".
- Carl recounts the events of Season 3's "Welcome to the Tombs": namely the incident in which he shot the surrendering Woodbury teen soldier, and afterwards when Rick took in the survivors of Woodbury.
- Carl then recalls how Rick gave up combat in an effort to salvage his family's humanity in early Season 4.
- In Season 4’s “Claimed”, Rick told Michonne he couldn’t be both Carl’s father and best friend, and she would need to be the latter for him. Carl’s last words to Michonne are calling her his best friend, but as Michonne’s “you’re mine” clearly attests, he is just as much her son as his best friend.
- Gavin taunts Morgan over the death of Benjamin, which he inadvertently ordered in Season 7's "Bury Me Here".
- Carl's death is similar to Andrea's - his loved ones wait outside while he pulls the trigger to shoot himself in the head.
- When Carl reaches for his gun to end his life before be becomes a walker, Michonne tearfully tries to stop him, stating that "it should be me". It reminds viewers of a conversation between Carl and Michonne in "The Next World", where Carl confesses to her that he would put her down if she turned, and Michonne replied that she would do the same for him.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Special mention goes out to the unfortunate Savior who grapples with Morgan in the Kingdom theater; as he's taken a nasty shot in the side, Morgan reaches into his wound and rips out his intestines. Spencer got off easy!
- Dirty Coward: When Gavin goes on a tirade blaming Ezekiel's defiance for the violence and insisting on Never My Fault. Ezekiel chews out Gavin for going along with the violence to save his own ass instead of opposing it.
- Dwindling Party: With Carl's death, the original Atlanta camp survivors are down to three: Rick, Carol, and Daryl.
- I Have Your Wife: After realizing some of his men have been killed, Gavin and the rest take refuge in the Kingdom's theater, using Ezekiel as a hostage.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Morgan slaughters several Saviors this way, and Henry kills Gavin by stabbing him through the back of his neck.
- It's All My Fault: Siddiq feels this way about Carl's death, and tries his best to do what he can as a doctor to help his savior in his last hours by providing painkillers to Rick and Michonne.
- My Greatest Failure: Rick clearly regards Carl's death as this, lamenting that a father's job is to protect his child.
- Not Me This Time: Spoken of the Saviors by Carl: he makes sure that Rick knows that his bite wasn't the fault of Negan or his cronies, but just a freak accident independent of them.
- Oh, Crap!: Gavin has this look when he sees Morgan rip out the intestines of one of his men.
- Once More, with Clarity: The mysterious flash-forwards seen in the season premiere are explained: they are Carl's wishes for a peaceful future.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Rick watches his only son dying in his arms. Michonne, despite not being his biological mother, is just as distraught about her adopted son's impending death.
- Passing the Torch: Siddiq, as someone who Carl gave his life to save, vows to carry on his legacy by helping Carl's family and friends. Carl also passes down Rick's sheriff hat to his baby sister.
- So Proud of You: Rick and Michonne essentially tell Carl this.
- This Cannot Be!: Rick and Michonne are in complete shock after learning Carl has been bit, to the point that Carl has to explicitly state what has happened to Rick a few times to help it sink in.
- Tranquil Fury: When Siddiq first offers aid to the dying Carl, Rick is visibly fuming with rage, clearly ready to blame him for the impending death of his son.
- Wham Episode: Carl kills himself after as he agonizes due to the walker bite, leaving his parents devastated. Alexandria, now accompanied by Dwight and Siddiq (who's revealed to be a doctor), is migrating to Hilltop in the wake of the town's bombing. Additionally, Gavin and his forces are wiped out by Henry, Morgan, and Carol, and Ezekiel has been rescued.
- Wham Shot: The final vision Carl appears to have showed Judith cheerfully greeting a reformed Negan, who is working some of Alexandria's crops. This is then followed by the final shot of the episode: Rick, sitting on the ground against a tree, bleeding on his side.
"I love you, Dad."
