Season 11, Episode 9
- Maggie’s group has their final clash with the Reapers.
As the hwacha rains fire on the walker horde, Maggie takes shelter in a small doorway, only to run into Fisher, who failed to retreat in time before Leah opened fire on the group. The pair quickly come to blows, and though Fisher nearly gets Maggie killed, Maggie turns the tables on him and knocks him out into the line of fire, earning him an explosive death when a firework lands in his back and detonates. Maggie retreats into a building and heads for an infirmary, where she meets up with Negan and the wounded Elijah. The trio hide in a secret room and tend to Elijah. Negan advocates raiding the pantry and fleeing, but Maggie reminds him they must defeat the Reapers to leave safely. When Carver investigates the infirmary, unable to find the secret room, Negan reluctantly agrees to see it through with Maggie.
The following morning at Alexandria, Judith and Gracie try their best to avoid the walkers as the basement continues to flood. Aaron and Jerry take shelter in a nearby building until they notice what's going on. Aaron goes to the girls' defense, slaying walkers and providing them a window of escape, while Rosita leads Diane, Lydia, and others in fighting walkers from the stairs in the house. Lydia is able to find and rescue Aaron from the basement.
Back at Meridian, Daryl gets into a fight with Gabriel's would-be killer Austin in a school room, succeeding in killing him just as Leah, Boone, and Washington arrive. Daryl hides while the Reapers grieve another of their fallen.
Gabriel finds his way to the Reapers' church where he finds Mancea again, who insists that God will have him stand down like at the graves, confirming that he saw him the day before. Gabriel questions Mancea for being loyal to the decidedly non-Christian Reapers, and Mancea admits he has doubts... but says that plenty of blood has been spilled in God's name so he sticks with his cohorts. Mancea continues to insist that Gabriel stand down and try to find God with him, sensing that he no longer hears him. Gabriel seems moved, but ultimately uses Mancea's offer to get in close and kill his enemy.
Maggie finds herself fleeing down a hallway with the bloodthirsty Carver chasing after her, seemingly to a dead end. Carver gloats, only to be surrounded by Negan and Elijah, who arrive via the other doors in the hallway. Elijah curses Carver for killing Josephine, and Carver is only amused and engages his three opponents in a fight. Though Maggie, Negan, and Elijah do their best, they prove to be little match for the trained, sadistic combat veteran. Elijah quickly falls due to his injury which is exacerbated when Carver stomps on his leg. Negan senses the tide of the fight, and ducks out into a hallway and returns with a bell he shows off to Carver. The Reaper is amused at the unusual weapon, but Negan uses his attention on the bell to throw sand in his eye, finally giving him the opportunity to knock him out with the bell. As the group rests, Maggie silently thanks Negan for saving her and Elijah's life.
Carver comes to just as Daryl arrives and knocks him out again. Despite Elijah's pleas, Daryl says they must keep Carver alive as a bargaining chip. Neither Maggie or Negan are delighted with the idea, but they decide to go with Daryl's plan as he radios Leah.
The group goes to meet Leah at a pre-arranged spot with the captive Carver and meet Leah, Boone, and Washington. Daryl demands that they leave Meridian and never come back in exchange for Carver being spared and returned to them. Daryl says they shouldn't be fighting like this, but Leah refuses to give up and has her sniper, Jenson, fire a warning shot, demanding that Carver be given back to her or they will all be shot. Daryl reluctantly lets Carver go, and naturally, he begins mocking the group as he gets off free, especially when Elijah demands that he face justice. Carver is finally shut up when he is suddenly shot through the leg, and when Leah calls Jensen, she only gets a reply from Gabriel, who now has the Reapers in his crosshairs.
The tide turned, Leah weakly asks to accept Daryl's deal, but Maggie rips into her for all the horrors the Reapers committed and her cowardice, and after hearing Negan's opinion, orders Gabriel to shoot them all. Daryl stops them and agrees to let Leah, Boone, and Washington go in peace, but Carver must stay. Leah says goodbye to the wounded Carver and leaves with her men. However, when Elijah continues to plead for retribution, Maggie decides to take a stand for all the people they lost to the Reapers. Despite Daryl's pleas, and as Negan watches warily, Maggie shoots Washington and Boone and scores a shot to Leah's shoulder, letting her leave both as a courtesy to Daryl and to let her live knowing she failed her people. She returns to the squirming Carver and chops into him with Elijah's scythe, finally killing him. Daryl tracks down Leah and orders her to never cross paths with them again, though he apologizes for how things turned out.
The group loads up Meridian's food supply and begin heading home. They take a stop so that they can retrieve Alden from the church, but Maggie only finds him as a walker, having died bringing down the Reaper who mortally wounded him. After Maggie buries Alden, she is approached by Negan, who tells her he understands she probably will not keep her promise to him, and that he is going off on his own. At their campfire, Daryl and Gabriel discuss their choices and their faith until Maggie returns and tells them Negan is leaving.
Finally, the severely depleted group returns to the battered Alexandria and reunite, taking stock of their losses. Daryl announces Negan's departure, while Gabriel tells Aaron that Alden didn't make it. Daryl also reunites with Connie at last. At the walls, Jerry notices something coming - a caravan of Commonwealth troopers - and tells everyone to prepare for battle. Eugene suddenly emerges from the caravan and convinces his friends to stand down, assuring them they mean no harm.
Eugene introduces Lance to the assembled Coalition residents, and Lance tells them that it's clear they need some help. Lance promises food, fuel, and repairs for their communities, but also has a proposition for those willing for a change in scenery. Some of the group seem optimistic, while others, especially Maggie, are suspicious.
Six months later, Maggie is confronted by a group of Commonwealth troopers outside Hilltop's walls, who are demanding to be let in... and they are being led by a uniformed Daryl.
- Adaptation Distillation: Negan also left the group in the comics after a confrontation with Maggie, but in vastly different circumstances. He was already exiled by Rick and never returned save for a cameo in the Distant Finale, after a confrontation with Maggie that was adapted for Season 9’s “What Comes After”. This time, it’s Negan approaching Maggie at a grave.
- And This Is for...:
- Austin has this “for Pope” when he faces off with Daryl.
- Elijah has this for his sister Josephine when he tries to kill Carver during the standoff.
- Asshole Victim: The only pity one can feel regarding the Reapers' demise is that Leah, a more sympathetic character, has truly lost her entire family for good this time. Otherwise, the Reapers, particularly Carver, were all murderous psychopaths who deserved their fate.
- Bond One-Liner: Gabriel’s in prime form this episode, using “I don’t believe that” when he kills Mancea, and “Call me Gabriel” when he surprises Leah.
- The Bus Came Back: The twin marksmen from the Wardens return for the first time since “Home Sweet Home”.
- Bus Crash: After Maggie and co. were forced to leave Alden behind in the church after he became too injured earlier this season, this episode reveals he was killed by a Reaper offscreen.
- Call-Back:
- Mancea recalls how Gabriel didn’t attack him back in “Promises Broken”.
- Daryl lied to Leah that his family was all gone by the time they reunited in “Rendition”, because they picked a fight with the wrong people and lost. It ended up foreshadowing what befalls Leah, whose family is completely gone due to being wiped out by the group after Pope started the conflict unprovoked.
- Alden requested Maggie and Negan leave him behind in the church back in “Ghosts”.
- Character Death:
- Fisher is killed by the hail of fireworks.
- Austin is impaled and then choked out by Daryl.
- Mancea is gutted by Gabriel.
- Jensen is Killed Offscreen by Gabriel.
- Carver and the remaining Reapers minus Leah are killed by Maggie.
- Alden was killed by a Reaper while he was waiting in the church.
- Continuity Nod:
- When Elijah still says “for Josephine” as Leah’s party leaves the standoff, Maggie takes a moment to think, and goes to wipe out the Reapers and then kills Carver. She is no doubt remembering how she was in Elijah’s shoes when Rick and Michonne spared Negan at the end of the Savior War in Season 8’s “Wrath” against her wishes. This time, it’s Daryl who made the decision, and she is unwilling to accept the brokered peace that would let killers go without justice.
- Leah ends up almost exactly where she started when we first met her in Season 10’s “Find Me” - alone and the survivor of an attack that killed many of her friends but in this case, it was all of them.
- This is Daryl’s reunion with Connie after her disappearance in Season 10’s “Squeeze”.
- Eugene was the one who told the Hilltop/Kingdom refugees of his plan to reach out to a new community back in Season 10’s “Look at the Flowers”, and once again finds himself addressing a rather skeptical crowd.
- Additionally, Eugene finds himself once again trying to encourage Alexandria to accept an intruding party towards the end of the episode - he previously did the same when he had joined the Saviors in the Season 7 finale “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life”.
- Cruel Mercy: Maggie allows Leah to leave with a warning shot in her shoulder (as evidenced by how she came back to Carver intending to shoot him before finding out she was out of ammo), since she knows that Daryl still cares about her. She also allows her to survive since Leah will already have to contend with the fact her failed leadership resulted in the massacre of her people as payback for the massacre of the Wardens.
- Disappeared Dad: With Alden’s death, Adam is left fatherless.
- Disc-One Final Boss: The Reapers are defeated with only Leah surviving their war with Maggie, with fifteen episodes (a full regular-sized season’s worth) still left to go in the season and the series.
- Dwindling Party: The Reapers quickly begin getting overrun one by one by the group.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Leah and her other companions are shown grieving their fallen members as they fall to the group.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Subverted. Mancea admits that the Reapers’ violent ways are not what he’d prefer… but then he recounts how there’s been countless holy wars in God’s name, so he’ll get over it.
- Final Solution: Maggie tells Negan they have no choice but to wipe out the Reapers due to being unable to risk such a dangerous group following them home. Negan, who initially opted for getting the food and leaving, is quickly convinced to agree once they overhear Leah ordering Carver they all must die.
- Foreshadowing: Negan's reactions to watching Maggie break the deal and slaughter the Reapers with prejudice are prominently shown, explaining why he feels he needs to leave to not give her the chance to go back on her promise.
- Friendly Fire: Fisher is killed by the fireworks when Maggie is able to fight back and shove him into the line of fire.
- Friendly Sniper: Gabriel jumping the Reaper sniper Jensen directly gives the group the advantage.
- From Bad to Worse: Alexandria’s infrastructure just gets worse as the day goes on due to the Alexandrians lacking the numbers to combat the invading walkers and the storm not letting up.
- "Hell, Yes!" Moment: Negan is genuinely delighted when Gabriel turns the tide in their favor.
- Heroic BSoD: Daryl is shaken after Maggie violates his deal with the Reapers and kills all of them except Leah, and asks Gabriel if the choices they make even matter anymore.
- History Repeats:
- Leah is once again left alone, only this time, she’s truly the Sole Survivor as all the Reapers have been killed by the group (whereas previously she only thought they were all dead).
- Once again, a deal is brokered to let the enemy party survive in defeat despite the wishes of some survivors who lost loved ones to them. This time, Maggie refuses to accept Daryl’s deal and kills all the Reapers except for Leah.
- Immediate Sequel: The episode begins immediately where the previous left off.
- Just Following Orders: Gabriel accuses Mancea of this mantra, and Mancea doesn’t disagree.
- Karmic Death: The Reapers end up massacred after Pope had previously forced his people to do such a crusade against the Wardens. Carver in particular is gutted with his own scythe.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Leah always stated how important her family was to her, but showed just about no regret for the lives the Reapers took during their crusade against Meridian. By the end of the episode, she’s lost her base and her entire family to the woman they took it from.
- Male Gaze: Thanks to Maggie using Pants-Positive Safety, the camera has to linger on Lauren Cohan's curves as she draws her revolver to kill the remaining Reapers.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Carver’s poor attitude despite Leah’s repeated orders to stop results in Gabriel putting a bullet in his leg and results in the Reapers losing the standoff.
- Oh, Crap!: Fisher is clearly distressed in his final moments realizing he’s about to die at the hands of his own forces.
- Oh, No... Not Again!: Gabriel looks so tired and weary when he hears Jerry sound the alarm from the gates, having just come off the casualty-ridden mission to Meridian.
- One-Man Army: Carver is able to largely outperform the combined might of Negan, Maggie, and a wounded Elijah. The latter two he had dead to rights before Negan was able to get the jump on him.
- Papa Wolf: Aaron practically drops everything when he hears Gracie’s emergency whistle and fights tooth and nail to get her and Judith out.
- Pet the Dog: Maggie nonverbally thanks Negan for defeating Carver and saving her and Elijah, and later genuinely asks for his input during the standoff. She also lets Leah go after scoring a gunshot to her shoulder, knowing that Daryl still cares for her.
- Put on a Bus: Negan decides to leave the group, reasoning that Maggie would eventually break her promise and try to kill him anyway.
- Smug Snake: Carver’s attitude remains perfectly intact throughout the episode.
- Sole Survivor:
- Leah becomes the last surviving Reaper by the end of the episode.
- With Alden’s death, Gracie is technically the last known surviving former Savior still with the group (not counting the now departing Negan).
- Taking You with Me: Alden was able to kill the Reaper who killed him, as Maggie finds that Reaper’s walker in the church.
- Time Skip: The final scene jumps six months ahead to a confrontation at a rebuilt Hilltop where Daryl is a part of the intruding Commonwealth troops.
- Wham Episode: The Reapers are defeated and Negan has left the group, and the Commonwealth has arrived at the battered Alexandria to offer aid and a place to stay for its people. And if the ending is anything to go by, assimilation into the Commonwealth is going to create a major divide in the group’s ranks…
- Wham Shot:
- The aforementioned final scene, especially when Daryl is revealed to be a Commonwealth soldier who is invading against Maggie’s wishes.
- Maggie discovering Alden as a walker in the church, revealing that he was killed by a Reaper before Maggie was able to return.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Daryl is aghast when Maggie defies the terms of the standoff and begins slaughtering the retreating Reapers.
