Romano can be pitied since he was presumably Just Following Orders and didn’t have any personal grudge with the group, and is now a casualty of Lance’s greed and imperialism. He also squirms when he realizes he will either die by the walkers or by Daryl’s hand, and picks the latter.
Leah can also be pitied as she was once Daryl’s lover who genuinely loved her family - but was too loyal to her family to ever consider that they were in the wrong. She lost her mind from grief at having lost everyone and became solely focused on getting revenge on Maggie, and dies broken and alone when Daryl kills her.
All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Lance attacks and forcibly subjugates Oceanside and declares Alexandria and Hilltop territories of the Commonwealth.
Alone with the Psycho: Max is alone with Sebastian and is clearly nervous knowing the lengths he will go to for money.
Arc Words: “Act of God” is used throughout the episode’s framing captions.
Benevolent Boss: Pamela insists to Max that she can tell her anything as her employee, though she isn’t interested in a scholarship fund for the less fortunate Commonwealth citizens and quickly shuts down Max’s suggestion.
Book Ends: Leah dies in the very same cabin she was introduced in.
Boom, Headshot!: Marco, Leah, and several Commonwealth troopers suffer this fate.
Bond Villain Stupidity: Despite being a trained military veteran who has experience capturing people, Leah didn’t do a good job tying Maggie’s restraints on her hands. She also doesn’t kill Maggie when she has the chance, instead wanting to taunt her about how she’s going to kill all her loved ones as revenge.
Leah wants to kill Maggie for having killed her family in “No Other Way”.
In “Acheron, Part 2”, Eugene had voiced his wish that Stephanie would’ve removed his status as a virgin. While he likely slept with Shira before "Rogue Element", this episode shows he's finally gotten to be with the girl he wanted.
The opening of the episode also is something of a Triumphant Reprise of the opening scene of "Rogue Element". There, Eugene woke up to find "Stephanie" reading his manuscript, telling him how proud she is of him. However, this time, he wakes up to find Max reading a physics textbook. While Shira was only reading the manuscript and showering him with compliments as part of her act as his dream girl, Max proves that she is his dream girl since she's reading something of her own accord, showing that she is her own person who loves him and has her own interests; whereas Shira's "Stephanie" was a character made to be as slavish to Eugene as possible with little else to her.
When Negan hears the approaching locust swarm, he remarks it’s not a good sign from God. In “Acheron Part 1”, he referred to the ominous groans of ages old pipes in the subway tunnel as a sign from God to turn around as well.
Character Death: Daryl kills Commonwealth trooper Romano; Leah kills Marco. Leah herself is killed by Daryl.
Cold Open: Subverted, the episode has perhaps one of the shortest opening prologues to date, consisting of a quick scene of Lance stepping in blood at Hilltop.
Leah takes Maggie to her cabin we first met her at in Season 10’s “Find Me”.
When Lance decides to conquer the Coalition, he declares “now we take it all”, completing Lydia’s comparison of the Commonwealth to the Whisperers - Alpha had similarly said “we take them all” when she declared war on the Coalition in Season 10’s “Morning Star”.
Oceanside once again ends up subjugated by a larger, hostile community and appear to be on the verge of another genocide. Seasons 7 and 8 detailed that Simon committed a genocide of Oceanside’s males over the age of 10.
Crazy-Prepared: Negan and Annie’s group have been taking refuge in a tunnel the Whisperers had dug as a safe haven.
A Death in the Limelight: Marco had been getting a bit more screentime and characterization than usual for being a minor character, and is quickly killed for it.
Didn't See That Coming: Leah is instantly killed and never sees that Daryl pulled the trigger.
Disc-One Final Boss: Leah manages to accomplish for the second time in one season, as her defeat is the lynchpin of the final episode of Part 2 of the season, with a final eight episodes of the season and series to go.
Friend to All Children: Despite knowing Hershel hates him, Negan is still more than willing to keep watch over him even before Maggie admits she’s starting to trust him.
Godzilla Threshold: The situation is bad enough that Maggie is accepting Negan as a trustworthy ally to charge with Hershel’s safety, and finally concedes Hilltop may be a lost cause after being dead set on repairing it the last six months.
Hypocrite: To show how far she’s fallen, Leah regards the Commonwealth troops she partners with who die in the bombing of Barrington House as collateral damage. This is after she previously killed Pope for regarding her family as collateral damage and after the Reapers hated their superiors for the same before the fall.
When Max claims she is clumsy after too much coffee, Sebastian eventually calls it’s a “poor man’s drug” to insult her lower status.
After failing to have Maggie killed, Lance conquers the Coalition, including Oceanside as punishment for being loyal to Maggie and has otherwise not done anything in the last six months against him.
Kill the Ones You Love: Downplayed. Daryl kills his former lover Leah, completely accepting that she is unfortunately their enemy and is too far gone.
Let's Split Up, Gang!: Upon learning Leah is involved, Daryl quickly splits from Gabriel and Aaron.
Never My Fault: Leah holds Maggie completely responsible for the deaths of the Reapers, completely unwilling to acknowledge Pope’s instigation of a pointless war to satisfy his own bloodlust, and her poor leadership in the name of Moral Myopia that led to the loss of her family. That said, Maggie makes no bones about her part in the destruction of the Reapers.
Pyrrhic Victory: Leah is killed, but Lance drops any pretenses and outright subjugates the Coalition’s remaining communities by force.
Sanity Slippage: Leah is in a poor mental state after the loss of her family, barely speaking to Lance at first and looking off in the distance.
Season Finale: The final episode of Part 2 of the final season.
Shipper on Deck: When Lydia has trouble opening the trap door, Elijah quickly runs to help her, spurred on by Marco.
Smug Snake: Leah is smug when she has Maggie captured.
Spotting the Thread: Daryl, Aaron, and Gabriel are able to realize they’ve been led into an ambush.
Tempting Fate: The moment Marco smiles and tells Elijah he’s ready to go with him to fight, he’s shot in the head by Leah.
Unflinching Walk: After killing Marco, Leah slowly walks towards Maggie to make sure she knows who’s coming for her.
Wham Episode: A bombshell report is published by Connie exposing Sebastian’s crimes, presenting a massive risk of uprising in the Commonwealth against Pamela. Meanwhile, after his plot to kill Maggie fails, Lance subjugates the Coalition’s communities by force.
Wham Line: Maggie tells Negan that she’s starting to trust him.
Where It All Began: In regards to Leah’s arc. She is ultimately killed in the same cabin she first met Daryl in.
You Can't Go Home Again: The Coalition’s communities are subjugated by Lance, and the Commonwealth itself is entering a state of unrest due to the group’s whistleblower story being published.
You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Leah lets the Commonwealth troopers teaming up with her die in Barrington House and declares her deal with Lance off on the spot.
