Carol’s deal appears to go through without a hitch, but Max and Judith are unsatisfied and take matters into their own hands.
The Atoner: Max wants to make amends for being in Pamela’s office but never doing anything about her and Sebastian.
Big Bad Wannabe: Pamela accuses Lance of being this, saying he was never a power on her level. Lance disagrees, but it's clear the taunting gets to him.
Big Damn Heroes: Mercer, Carol, and Pamela’s party arrives to defuse the standoff between Daryl and Maggie’s group and Lance's men.
Bread and Circuses: Sebastian thoroughly discussed this, stating that the happy imagery and events are just to distract the poor from the fact that the inequalities of the world will always remain in place. Founder’s Day even has a wrestling tournament.
The Bus Came Back: Downplayed, but this is the first time Cyndie has been mentioned since Season 10, whereas Season 11 has thus far never mentioned her.
Negan and Annie are unsure of Carol’s deal given how Lance wiped out so many of her people during the events of “Warlords” and “The Rotten Core”.
In “The Lucky Ones”, Pamela denied Maggie’s accusations of her being an autocrat. However, this episode shows that she believes Sebastian is supposed to take over the Commonwealth from her by birthright, flying right in the face of her claims to Maggie.
Eugene visits Lance in his cell, after Lance had visited him in a cell in "Promises Broken" and "Rogue Element".
Eugene, who had saved Sebastian from a walker much earlier, becomes the one to indirectly kill him by shoving a walker down on him.
Lydia apologizes to Carol for getting together with Elijah, due to her relationship with Henry back in Season 9.
Daryl thanks Lydia for saving Carol at the climax of Season 10’s “A Certain Doom”; and Lydia thanks him for saving her from the Whisperer camp back in Season 9’s “Guardians”.
Judith reflects on her mother’s desire to hang up her katana when there was no further need of it, which she tried back in Season 6.
Ezekiel recalls when he, Eugene, and Yumiko set out to find the Commonwealth in "Look at the Flowers".
Negan and Annie see a scan of their child in a shot-for-shot recreation of a similar scene in Season 6’s “Knots Untie” - only then, it was Glenn and Maggie seeing the unborn Hershel.
Daryl puts on his trademark vest with the blue wing Judith designed for him, with some of the same musical score returning from the first time he wore it in Season 10’s “Morning Star”.
Gabriel and Rosita have a heart-to-heart in his Commonwealth church, discussing some of the same themes they first discussed back in Season 7’s “Hearts Still Beating”.
R.J. is seen reading the same issue of Invincible that Michonne was seen presenting Carl with in the Season 4 premiere. Given Carl was also seen reading Invincible in Season 6's "The Next World", it's safe to assume Carl's comics were passed down to his half-brother who was born long after his death.
Cryptic Background Reference: Lance claims that if he suffers consequences for his actions, certain alliances the Commonwealth has will be in danger of collapsing.
A Day in the Limelight: The episode heavily focuses on Max’s scheming to bring down the Milton family.
Death by Adaptation: In a shocking turn of events, Sebastian is killed by a walker at the end of the episode. In the comics, he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering Rick Grimes, and was seen as an old man behind bars during the Distant Finale.
A Death in the Limelight: This episode and the previous one turned out to have been one for Sebastian. More of his family history and backstory is given that explains his motives and shows that even with some humanizing traits, he’s ultimately still a small, weak coward who deserves the fate he gets.
Dirty Coward: Both Pamela and Sebastian. The former angrily demands Mercer protect her during the chaos of the walker invasion of the square; and the latter is reduced to screaming for help when the walker he tried to use to kill Max is turned onto him.
Engineered Public Confession: Max goads Sebastian into ranting about how he really feels about the lower classes of the Commonwealth while a taper recorder is recording nearby. She then hands the tape to Eugene, who plays it for everyone to hear during the Founder's Day celebrations.
Even Evil Has Standards: Lance calls Sebastian a sadistic piece of shit despite being a piece of work in his own right.
Et Tu, Brute?: Sebastian is enraged when he realizes Max set him up, since he had genuinely opened up to her.
Exact Words: Daryl lets Lance live, but not before stabbing his hand out of pure spite. He shrugs that he’ll live, after all.
Pamela telling Daryl in the Cold Open that it’s not just about him is big talk coming from someone who has proven to have a nasty self-absorbed streak, especially for someone in power meant to be a public servant to her people.
Pamela insists that Sebastian leading the Commonwealth one day as his birthright flies right in the face of everything her father ostensibly stood for as a president who obeyed the peaceful transition of power.
I Choose to Stay: Ezekiel says he will stay in the Commonwealth even with the Coalition pulling their people out, enjoying the work he does that makes people happy too much.
Karma Houdini: Max actively defies this, refusing to let Sebastian get away with his crimes nor Pamela for being willing to sweep them under the rug.
He is killed by the walker he just tried to feed Max to.
The citizens of the Commonwealth he derogatorily referred to as people who will always be stuck in the lower class do absolutely nothing to help him.
He dies on Founder's Day, a glorification of the corrupt Milton family.
This particular Founder's Day is supposed to be a PR repair for the Milton family and Pamela wants to show the people that her son is capable of taking over - but he dies proving that he is completely incapable of it, due to his cowardice, malice, and selfishness.
Mythology Gag: Judith putting down the walker that kills Sebastian has a lot of weight to it, given that his comic counterpart shot and killed her father Rick.
Parents as People: Daryl admits that he doesn’t know how to be a parent and tells Judith his first priority is her safety nonetheless.
Despite the deal brokered by Carol, Judith and Max are unsatisfied with it; and Lance’s people also create a group of walkers within the Commonwealth’s walls.
Sebastian actually goes off script and makes a heartfelt, sincere speech, surprising Max who didn’t think he had it in him. It doesn’t stop her and Eugene from airing the hot mic remarks he made.
Spotting the Thread: Lance recognizes that Eugene didn’t come alone and calls out to both him and Max.
Wham Episode: Sebastian gets his due comeuppance for his crimes by suffering a Death by Adaptation. Not only does this flip the comic storyline completely on its head, it also likely means the deal Carol made to keep her friends safe is for naught now that Sebastian is gone, as Pamela will surely demand justice for her son's death and Lance, despite being jailed, still has a hidden agenda of his own.
You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Subverted. Max implores Sebastian that he can be more than just a spoiled asshole son everyone knows him as - but she’s leading him into sealing his own demise by recording his angry ranting.
You Can't Thwart Stage One: Carol’s deal gives the Coalition everything they need to rebuild, but it’s clear from the outset that with six episodes to go, not everything is fixed.
