AMC/Gene Page(NEW YORK) — (SPOILERS AHEAD) Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead began with King Ezekiel smiling despite the approach of Negan’s men. “We will lose not one of our ranks,” he assures his people.
Negan’s men approach and surround them, but Carol and more Kingdommers pop out of the bushes and decimate the Saviors.
Meanwhile, Rick is still being held at gunpoint by Morales. “This whole time it was you?” he asks, incredulous that the guy he used to call Officer Friendly was the “monster” Negan spoke about. Morales says Negan has a prize on Rick’s head — his, Maggie’s and Ezekiel’s — and even if they can’t get him back to Negan, Morales promises he’ll settle for Rick.
Meanwhile, at the drive-by outpost, Rick’s people continue to hold off the Saviors, who are still doing battle with their comrades-turned-walkers. They turn their guns from Rick’s people to defend their flank.
Meanwhile, Aaron has a tearful goodbye with his boyfriend Eric, who is bleeding out from his gunshot wound. Eric urges him to leave and get back to the fight.
The Jesus, Morgan and Tara contingent travel down a road in trucks, leading a group of tied-up Saviors as prisoners. Tara takes aim at them, mock firing her pistol. “Maggie will know what to do with them,” one urges. “Yeah, she will. She knows what they did,” Tara says defiantly.
Morgan is of the same mindset. He and Jesus disagree as to what to do: “We don’t execute,” Jesus says. “I have,” Morgan says.
Meanwhile, Morales and Rick are still catching up. Rick learns Morales’ family never made it to Birmingham. Rick fills him in on who he lost — and what Negan did to Glenn, who Morales knew — and that “the widow” Negan wants is Maggie.
“Are you ‘Negan,’ too?” Rick asks. After what he’s been through, Morales assures him that he’s not changing sides. “We’re the same. But I’m the one with the gun.”
Rick suddenly yells, “NO!” Morales whips around, when out of nowhere, Daryl shoots a bolt into his neck.
“That was — ” Rick protests. “I know who it was. Don’t matter,” Daryl says. Not one little bit.”
They realize the guns they’re after aren’t there — and that Negan’s men have entered the building.
As Morgan leads the Savior prisoners, while Jared, who took his staff last season, continues to taunt him, especially about the death of Morgan’s protege Benjamin, who Jared fatally shot.
Just as Morgan moves to execute him, they all find themselves surrounded by walkers.
Negan’s gang is still bound. It doesn’t take long for the walkers to set on them. A group of those that can, attempt to flee into the woods together, chain-gang style.
Morgan breaks from the rest and pursues them into the woods. He starts executing. Jesus saves the prisoners by knocking the rifle from Morgan’s hands.
The other heroes gather the straggler prisoners, giving Morgan and Jesus time to face off. Morgan comes to the conclusion that Rick’s army and The Saviors are basically the same from a certain point of view.
Jesus explains that even the Saviors one day will have to come to peace with Rick’s united militia.
Morgan responds by going one-on-one with Jesus.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel and company continue their winning ways, dropping bands of Saviors on the way to flushing them from their final destination, another compound.
Elsewhere, Rick and Daryl are outmanned and outgunned, with Saviors all over them. Daryl’s out of ammo. Rick puts a round into a fire extinguisher, filling the hallway with fog, which they use as cover to kill some Saviors by hand. Reinforcements arrive to help the heroes.
At the Hilltop, their coward former leader Gregory finally returns with the car he stole from Fr. Gabriel. Maggie refuses to open the gate. He grovels. Maggie calls him out for betraying all of them, and opens the door. He continues to grovel. Maggie relents. “He’s not worth killing. Not yet, anyway,” she tells Enid.
Just then, Jesus arrives with the Savior prisoners. Jesus tries to reason with Maggie about their fate: “We can’t let them go, and we can’t kill them.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere, more Saviors are turning, and Rick, Daryl, and the rest clear them out from their compound, with Rick taking pictures of the scene with his Polaroid.
Elsewhere, the other heroes are tending to their dead.
Aaron looks for his boyfriend Eric, finding only a bloody spot where he left him. He’s turned, and shambles away in the distance. Crying, Aaron feels he can’t leave him, even in walker form, until a comrade convinces him to turn away.
Rick, meanwhile, rescues baby Gracie from the home in which he found her. Aaron begs Rick to let him shuttle her to the Hilltop.
Rick and Daryl get ready to leave, when suddenly someone starts taking shots at them. Rick offers the sniper a chance to leave and live in exchange for information.
A shrimpy guy emerges, and tells them the heavy weapons they were looking for were moved recently to Gavin’s compound — where Ezekiel is. Daryl headshots him.
At Gavin’s compound, Ezekiel’s is informed that, as he predicted, nobody was lost. He looks as if he doesn’t believe it.
Suddenly, he notices movement in an building’s vent. “Scatter, NOW!” he shouts, too late. The heavy weapons open up, and many fall, including some soldiers who shield him with their bodies.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday, November 12 at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC.
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