This episode of The Walking Dead, titled “The King, the Widow and Rick,” shows the communities fracturing even more. Rick wants to continue on with their plan as discussed despite their losses, though he winds up going on a solo mission to the dump. But Daryl, Tara, Michonne and Rosita have their own plan. The Hilltoppers, meanwhile, are still fighting over what to do with their hostage Saviors. And Carol and Ezekiel are at odds after their disastrous, deadly mission at the Saviors’ outpost.
“The King, the Widow and Rick” begins with Rick, Carol and Maggie all updating everyone on their mission through notes. Rick got all the Saviors on his mission, Maggie has to deal with her captives, and Carol announces that she, Jerry and Ezekiel are the only ones who made it back from their mission. Still, Rick says the rest of their plan is still on. They’ll meet at the Sanctuary in two days to end this war once and for all.
Negan and Ezekiel on The Walking Dead Actually Have a Lot in Common>>>
Will Rick and Jadis Make a New Deal?
For the next part of his mission, Rick heads over to the dump to see Jadis and the Scavengers. Jadis just happens to be making a sculpture while naked, by the way.
Rick tells Jadis that he wants the same thing he wanted before, despite her betrayal: a deal. Seriously? This seems ridiculous. Does he really think she can be trusted?
Jadis brings up the fact that she shot him and killed his people, but Rick says it was just a graze and he killed some of her people too. They need each other, and he swears he’s not tricking her despite her suspicions. He holds up pictures he took and shows the Scavengers what they did to the Saviors. He tells Jadis to forget Negan and switch sides and be a part of their new world, or Rick and the others will destroy them. Rick’s people know where he is and will react based on Jadis’ decision. Jadis just smiles and says, “No,” before some of her people lead Rick away. “Talks too much,” she says.
The Scavengers end up keeping a nearly naked Rick tied up in a storage unit with an ‘A’ on it. And we’ve definitely seen that ‘A’ before.
Will Maggie Save the Saviors?
The hostage Saviors’ fates still hang in the balance at the Hilltop. Jesus is doing his best to show mercy by giving the Saviors food, but Maggie comes out of the Hilltop with Gregory and Enid and tells him to stop giving away their food. Gregory wants to “build the gallows already,” but Maggie sends him back in. She tells Jesus that he never should have put them in this position and she’s not sure what to do with the Saviors. Every option is on the table right now. He asks what they’re actually fighting for and argues that they have to make sure what’s left is worth what they lost once the war is over.
Later, Gregory talks to Maggie alone. He says it’s not so easy to be a leader and that everyone else always judges those who are in charge. He thinks that selling out the Hilltop was a good decision and wouldn’t have gotten his people hurt, but Maggie says he was just trying to save himself. She says he’s only at the Hilltop so she can keep an eye on him, but Gregory says he can be the guy who can tell her it’s okay to follow her gut and get rid of the Saviors. At the end of the day, she’s the shepherd and can’t have wolves wandering among the sheep.
Jesus watches the Saviors later that night while the Hilltoppers build something. Everyone assumes they’re building gallows like Gregory said. One of the Saviors tries to humanize himself to Jesus, though.
Eventually, Enid comes out and says Maggie said to bring the Saviors in. Jesus leads the Saviors over to a pen she had built, and Jesus seems very relieved. Maggie says they’re keeping and feeding the Saviors, but she won’t tolerate disobedience. Gregory’s pissed and says they can’t let people they don’t trust inside the walls. Maggie agrees and says she thought about what he said about sheep and wolves. She decides to put a struggling Gregory in the pen too because he can’t be trusted. One Savior tries to get out, but Maggie knocks him down. He says she’s going to get people killed and already has. The Savior who talked to Jesus thanks her, though, but she says not to make her regret it or he will.
Later, the troublesome Savior tries to untie his hands, but the good Savior stops him before he gets them all killed. The Savior says that the Hilltoppers won’t kill them and that the Hilltop will soon be theirs. Gregory overhears them. This can’t be good. The plan is totally going to backfire on Maggie.
At the same time, Aaron, who brought that baby to the Hilltop, talks to Enid and Maggie about how much he misses Eric. Jesus then comes in and says he wants to thank Maggie for saving the Saviors, but she says not to. She’s keeping the Saviors around because they might need them as bargaining chips. But if they don’t end up needing them, they can’t let the Saviors live.
Aaron then tries to sneak away. Enid asks where he’s going, and he says to make sure they win the war, so Enid asks to come along.
Can Ezekiel Still Be the King?
Meanwhile, things are pretty dire at the Kingdom. Despite Jerry saying the King isn’t receiving visitors, Carol bangs on Ezekiel’s door. She says that they promised to meet Rick and the others and that they need to get everyone who can fight, but Ezekiel doesn’t answer. Jerry says that Ezekiel told him to leave, but he wouldn’t. Carol storms away and a kid, Henry, offers to fight with her, but she snaps at him.
Henry winds up following Carol into the woods and kills some Walkers, and Carol’s pissed. He knows she was going back to the Saviors herself, and he begs her to let him come and get back at the people who killed his brother. So Carol gives him a gun and lets him come along.
Carol ends up bringing Henry back to Ezekiel’s place. She’s about to shoot the door down, but Jerry says the door’s not locked. So she goes to see Ezekiel, who says he can’t do what she wants. She tells him people out there need him and that he’s their King, but he says he just played a part. He can’t be what they need and asks her to leave him alone.
Carol starts to walk away, but she comes back and asks why he kept visiting her back when she was living alone. He says it was his duty to make sure she was okay. She doesn’t buy it. Finally, he says she made him feel real. Carol gets emotional and says he is real to her and to the Kingdom. The people need their King to lead them. Ezekiel says Carol can lead them, but she says it has to be him. He’s the one who inspired them to build the Kingdom and believe in something. He has to help them grieve, move on and end this. He owes it to them. And if he can’t be the King, he has to just play the part. “I can’t,” Ezekiel whispers.
Quiz: Which TV Vigilante Are You?>>>
Daryl and Tara Team Up
Tara approaches Daryl and says he was right not to kill Dwight and that they couldn’t have gotten this far without him. But she’s still going to kill him afterwards, and she has to be the one to do it. Daryl says maybe they can do it together.
Michonne and Rosita’s Mission
Rosita, meanwhile, notices Michonne’s about to head out of Alexandria. She tries to stop her because she’s still healing, but Michonne wants to go out and check up on things. So Rosita gets in despite Michonne’s protestations that she’s still hurt too.
Rosita asks Michonne why she needed to come out there. She says she’s had a siren going off in her head ever since the others left to fight the Saviors. She helped start this war, so she needs to see what happened at the Sanctuary to make herself feel better.
Suddenly, Michonne tells Rosita to stop the car. They hear music, so they get out. They don’t think that sound can reach the Sanctuary, but they’re not sure so they head into the woods and track the music to some building.
They make their way inside the building to find a man and woman talking about Negan and Rick. They have speakers they’re going to use to drive the Walkers away from the Sanctuary. Michonne accidentally kicks a ball, though, so the Saviors know they’re there and a fight quickly breaks out. The woman tells the man to get to the Sanctuary and leave Rosita and Michonne to her, but Rosita uses a rocket launcher and kills him. The woman drives off with a truck full of the speakers blasting music, but a truck suddenly crashes into her. It’s Daryl and Tara! They all decide to team up and work together.
Eventually, Daryl, Tara, Michonne and Rosita make their way to the Sanctuary. Daryl wants to forget Rick’s plan and end this conflict right now.
Carl Makes a Friend
Ever the optimist, Carl heads out to find that stranger from the gas station again. He finds him in the woods and says his dad was shooting warning shots above his head earlier, not shooting him. He introduces himself, and the stranger introduces himself as Sadiq. Carl gives him food and water because Sadiq had said his mom talked about helping people and Carl’s mom had talked about doing what’s right.
Carl then asks Sadiq the three questions they always ask prospective new members. Sadiq has killed 237 Walkers and one person because the Walkers tried to kill the guy but didn’t succeed. Carl notices that Sadiq makes Walker traps, which partly explains why he’s killed so many Walkers. Sadiq also explains that his mom hoped that killing Walkers would free their souls, and he kills them for her. Carl asks if killing them makes it harder to survive, but he says you have to honor your parents. “If I was honoring my dad, I wouldn’t be talking to you right now. I definitely wouldn’t be bringing you back to my community,” Carl says.
So Carl leads Sadiq towards Alexandria. They come across some Walkers and kill them for Sadiq’s mom. A few almost kill Carl, but he kills them. Carl’s really shaken up. He says that he’s responsible for Sadiq now. Sadiq doesn’t want to cause trouble, especially with Carl’s dad, but Carl says sometimes kids have to find their own way to show their parents the way.
Do you think Maggie was right or wrong to save the Saviors? Was Carl right to bring Sadiq to Alexandria? Can Ezekiel recover? What will Jadis do to Rick? And what will happen on Daryl, Michonne, Rosita and Tara’s mission? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
The Walking Dead season 8 airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
