Season 8, Episode 13
The Saviors strike Hilltop, with lingering consequences for the AHK fighters.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Hilltop manages to successfully fend off the Savior attack lead by Simon and have seemingly gained new allies in the form of Alden and a few other Saviors from the Savior pen. However, it ends with many Hilltop and other resistance members dead (from both the initial attack and the walker outbreak that ensured). Also, Rick is likely carrying a grudge with Siddiq, Morgan is suffering from hallucinations of Gavin and Henry's attempt to avenge his brother's death ends with him missing and Jared taking his weapon and escaping with a bunch of other Saviors (and Gregory).
- The Bus Came Back: Jesus makes his first appearance since "How It's Gotta Be", and Ezekiel appears for the first time since "Honor".
- Call-Back:
- Tara and Daryl discuss Dwight's actions in "Dead Or Alive Or".
- Simon muses that he was tricked when he gave Maggie the box in "How It's Gotta Be", that was later delivered to Negan in "The Lost and the Plunderers".
- The Chains of Commanding: Maggie is gradually becoming more and more distressed thanks to the Savior attack, the strained resources at her disposal, and the prisoner situation. She also has to reconcile her need to protect and save her people, and her personal desire for revenge on Negan.
- Character Death: Tobin, Bruce, Dana (the Kingdom's doctor) all die, the former two from infection, the latter from getting bit by Tobin.
- Continuity Nod:
- Morgan's hallucinations of Gavin, who is shown with the bloody hole through his throat that killed him, are similar to Tyreese’s in “What Happened and What’s Going On”, in which he saw visions of his dead friends and foes with the wounds that killed them.
- Daryl and Tara discuss their past with The Governor. Tara mentions how she was part of The Governor's militia in mid late Season 4, and also brings up Merle, who served The Governor in Season 3A.
- Dana makes her first appearance but was previously mentioned by name in "The Well" and "Mercy".
- Simon mockingly offers his condolences for Glenn's death in Season 7's "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be".
- Carol and Tobin discuss their brief affair in mid late Season 6, and her sudden departure at the end of "Twice as Far".
- Siddiq has Rick amputate a person’s arm after a walker bites them on their forearm. Rick previously had to amputate Hershel’s leg in Season 3’s “Seed” (with the same axe, no less), and helped amputate Tyreese’s arm in a failed attempt to save him from a bite in Season 5’s “What Happened and What’s Going On”.
- The walker outbreak occurs in a similar fashion as it did in Season 4's “30 Days Without an Accident” and “Infected”; a person within the community succumbs to infection not given to them by a walker bite, and goes on a killing spree that creates more walkers while the group is sleeping. The scene in which Rick, Carol, Maggie, Daryl, and Bertie determine the cause of the outbreak is also very reminiscent of when Rick, Bob, Hershel, Daryl, and Caleb did the same in “Infected.”
- Conveniently Timed Distraction: When Henry is counting down to when he's about to shoot some of the Saviors in the pen, one of the Saviors reanimates and bites another Savior, causing chaos in the pen which allows Jared to use this opportunity to overpower Henry and take his weapon and allowing the other Saviors to escape.
- Dead Person Conversation: Morgan sees hallucinations of Gavin with the wound that killed him, taunting him in death.
- A Death in the Limelight: Tobin gets some focus for the first time in about two seasons, and he dies midway through the episode.
- Decomposite Character/Composite Character: As Nicholas has been dead for over two seasons, Tobin takes his comic death of succumbing to a Savior's infected knife.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Tara and Daryl discuss whether Dwight is genuine in his Heel–Face Turn now that he's back with the Saviors, whereas we already know he is, as he shot at Tara with a clean arrow to alert her of Simon's imminent attack.
- Henry again demands to know who killed his brother, and is taunted by Jared, the culprit.
- Foreshadowing: After the battle, Rick begins taking down the boards from the windows of Barrington House, to get better air circulation and beat the heat since about a hundred people will be sleeping in the manor that night. Later, it’s shown that the front door is wide open for the same reason - and this is what helps the walker outbreak infiltrate Barrington House.
- A Father to His Men: Subverted by Simon. Though he reacted with rage when he learned his own men from the satellite outpost were captured, in this episode, when reminded of them at Hilltop's gates, Simon says "screw them", because he's more excited about killing the resistance.
- Heel–Face Turn: After hearing Simon abandon them, Alden and several other Saviors do not flee the Hilltop during the walker outbreak and instead work to help save it after the walker outbreak.
- I Have Your Wife: Invoked but averted. Maggie tries to pull it off with the hostage Saviors, but Simon dismisses them as "damaged goods".
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Tobin playfully teases that it’s been a long time since he’s seen Carol. While In-Universe it’s only been a few weeks at most since Carol left Alexandria, in the real world, it’s been two years.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Henry ignores the warnings of Carol and Ezekiel, and sneaks out to massacre the corralled Saviors until he finds the murderer of his brother. It ends up resulting in the escape of the majority of the prisoners.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": Besides the various points in the battle in which the tides turn, AHK suffers one when they realize numerous members of their own have turned. The Saviors in the holding pen also begin visibly crapping themselves when Henry prepares to gun them all down.
- Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: When Simon makes it clear over the radio that he doesn't give a rat's ass about what happens to the Saviors Maggie has hostage, quite of few of those same prisoners (including Alden) end up turning on them.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Henry's breaking into the pen allows Jared to overpower him, take his weapon, and flee with numerous prisoners as well as Gregory.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Barrington House is attacked by walkers and Henry attempts to slaughter them, Jared takes the opportunity to lead most of the prisoners, as well as Gregory, out of Hilltop to flee.
- Ship Sinking: Any chance for Tobin and Carol rekindling their romance is shot down when he dies and reanimates as a walker.
- Was It All a Lie?: Tobin has forgiven Carol for skipping out on him, but he does wonder aloud if any of their affair was real. Carol says she didn't want it to be, but it was.
- War Is Hell: The horrors of the war really hit Maggie in this episode, as the Savior attack and the walker outbreak greatly expand the size of Hilltop's burial ground.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: When confronted with the fact Hilltop is holding thirty-eight of his men once again, Simon disavows them and abandons them to their fate.
