Is Ezekiel a fraud or a true leader? That’s what this episode of The Walking Dead, titled “Some Guy” examines. As Ezekiel deals with the aftermath of the Saviors’ ambush on him and his subjects, he has to decide whether or not he’s really a king and whether or not people should truly be following him.
The Walking Dead Poll: Is the War Taking Too Long?>>>
Ezekiel Goes to War
“Some Guy” begins with a flashback. Ezekiel is basically getting into character and becoming King Ezekiel.
Ezekiel then watches from his window as his soldiers emotionally say goodbye to their families before they head out to war As he walks outside with Shiva, his people all make way for him. He goes up to one little boy, Henry, and tells the boy he’ll be brave while they’re away because he’s already brave. Ezekiel then gives a motivational speech about how they have to fight for their way of life. It will be a hard war, and yet he smiles because they will win. “You trust the king. We will win. I smile. I laugh. I rejoice this day. For on this day, we are joined in purpose and vision. We are of a singular heart and mind. On this day, we are one!” he yells. He chants, “We are one,” again and again.
Later, Carol asks Ezekiel if he’s ever fought before. He fought someone in the woods with Shiva once, and he’s been training and practicing and is ready “to become what I must.” Ezekiel explains he was a zookeeper before. He was a meek guy, but then a 500-pound tiger, Shiva, needed his help. So he thought about whether or not to help her and chose to despite not being that type of person before. He wanted to be the kind of person who leapt in her cage and helped. Now he’s ready to be a hero. He asks if Carol has always been this strong and brave or if she decided to be. She decided to, and life decided some things for her. “It does. It will,” he replies.
Ezekiel Stops Smiling
Back in the present, though, many of Ezekiel’s subjects have been blown to pieces by the ambush at the Saviors’ outpost. A bunch of his subjects threw themselves on top of him during the attack, so he survived. Horrified, he crawls out of the pile of bodies to find his people dead. All those people who said goodbye to their families and followed him to war are gone, so he screams in pain.
Of course, that’s not his only problem. His dead followers are quickly turning into Walkers. He has to get out of there fast. Ezekiel hurt his leg, but he eventually drags himself away and starts shooting his former followers, but he has no ammo. Luckily, there’s another survivor who shows up and helps Ezekiel despite his protests to leave him.
They come across a herd of Walkers, though. Then a Savior comes out of nowhere and kills Ezekiel’s follower and takes Ezekiel hostage and takes his knife. He tells Ezekiel he’s taking him to the Sanctuary, even though Ezekiel says it’s impossible. Ezekiel also has trouble walking and keeps falling down. He refuses to get back up at one point because he doesn’t want to let the guy use him to hurt his people, but the guy says Ezekiel’s a fraud and a “meaningless con man in costume” and forces him to keep walking.
They overhear shooting inside the compound, and Ezekiel knows someone from his side is in there fighting. He tries to fight back against the guy, but the Savior quickly gets Ezekiel on the ground and taunts him. Then they keep walking.
Negan wanted Ezekiel, “the widow,” and Rick alive, but the Savior realizes he can’t keep going with Ezekiel, so he decides to just kill Ezekiel instead. But just then, Jerry shows up and kills him! Yes, Jerry! Then Jerry makes quick work of some of the approaching Walkers. When Ezekiel says he doesn’t need to call him ‘Your Majesty’ anymore, Jerry says, “Dude, yes, I do.” They try and fail to get past a fence, and a ton of Walkers start coming towards them. Jerry wants to protect Ezekiel, but he demands that they fight together. As they face the herd, Jerry thanks him “for being such a cool dude.”
Quiz: Which TV Vigilante Are You?>>>
Carol’s Attack
Meanwhile, the Saviors are inside working. Little do they know, Carol’s made it inside. She hides in the ceiling and quickly kills a whole group of Saviors and takes their weapons. Another bunch of Saviors shows up, but they let her get away.
The Saviors are trying to drive their weapons to the Sanctuary, so Carol follows them to their cars. Eventually, she and the Saviors start shooting at each other. Carol’s quickly surrounded, so she pretends to give her people up if they let her live. Then she takes one of the Saviors hostage and demands that they lower their guns. The other Saviors just shoot their fellow Savior, though, and shoot at her.
Carol Saves the Day
A bunch of Walkers show up and attack the Saviors and Carol. Carol gets a hold of a gun and starts shooting. Once the Walkers are taken care of, she tells the Saviors they need to end this and that they can’t leave with all the guns they have. She’s about to attack them when she notices Ezekiel and Jerry struggling by the gate. Now, just like when she and Ezekiel talked about having to make decisions earlier, Carol has a choice to make. What kind of person will she choose to be?
Of course, Carol chooses to save Ezekiel and Jerry and let the Saviors get away with the guns. Ezekiel says they need to get word to Rick before the Saviors get the guns to the Sanctuary, but Carol realizes they won’t get them to the Sanctuary.
Rick and Daryl Get the Weapons
Daryl and Rick had found out that the weapons were at this outpost and not the one they originally thought. So while the Saviors are driving, Daryl and Rick happen to see and follow them. They all start shooting at each other. Daryl falls off his bike but catches up. And Rick’s car gets shot at, but he eventually gets into the Saviors’ car and crashes it. Of course, he survives. They finally get the guns they’ve been searching forever for. They then go to see if the Saviors survived.
Shiva’s Sacrifice
Ezekiel, Jerry and Carol fight their way through a bunch of Walkers, but they’re running out of ammo. Ezekiel really struggles and tells the others to leave him, but they won’t.
Finally, Ezekiel loses it and says he’s not their king or their majesty, but they’re survivors. He’s just “some guy.” He tells them to go and it looks like they might, but then Shiva shows up and starts fighting the Walkers while they all get away. In an emotional and horrifying moment, the three of them watch as the Walkers swarm Shiva. And she doesn’t make it. Ezekiel’s absolutely devastated.
Eventually, the three of them make it back to the Kingdom. The community members crowd around and Ezekiel has to tell them, including that boy Henry, that the others didn’t make it. But he just walks away instead. It’s such a drastic difference from the confident, smiling king who led a whole group of subjects off to war.
Do you think Ezekiel can recover from this? Will his people still want to follow him? 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
