The Walking Dead Recap With Spoilers: Conquer

The penultimate episode of The Walking Dead‘s fifth season left off with tensions at an all time high. The Alexandria Safe-Zone community is practically facing a civil war as Rick tries to take over and enforce his beliefs and survival methods.

The Walking Dead‘s season finale, titled “Conquer,” runs an extended 90 minutes. Full recap below. (Updated live as the episode airs)

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In the woods a car is crashed into a tree. Morgan wakes up in the back seat. He smirks at a rabbits foot hanging from the rear view mirror. Outside, he cooks over a small fire. A man approaches with a gun drawn. Morgan is not intimidated. The man has a W on his forehead. Morgan asks what it’s for, and the man tells a story about bounties on Wolves heads and says they’re back now. He asks Morgan his thoughts and Morgan says, “everything gets a return.”

The man with the W says he likes this because he doesn’t get to meet people very often. He explains that they find camps and run through them. They have traps. They don’t chat in front of fires with strangers. Morgan sips his tea and the man orders him to put it down, adding that he’ll take everything Morgan has. Then says, he’ll take Morgan and he won’t exactly be alive. Morgan tells him that he can take everything but he can’t and won’t go with him.

The man tells Morgan to be still as another pops out of the woods. Morgan uses a long stick to defend himself and swiftly fend himself from the men with clear discipline. He asks the men to please just go, as if he was showing mercy. They don’t and he knocks them out. He picks up the man’s gun and tries to shoot an incoming walker, but it has no bullets. Morgan piles the men into the back seat of the car then honks the horn before yanking the rabbits foot down from the review mirror.

Daryl rides his motorcycle down a wooded street, followed by Aaron in a car. The two stop and venture into the woods.

Rick wakes up with bandages on his face. He groans and holds his head, giving a laugh. Michonne asks what’s so funny. She’s been there all night. Rick says, “it’s like the train car.” Michonne tells him Rosita patched him up, Carl came by, and Deanna wanted him secluded to calm things down. She tells him they moved Pete. Rick says he couldn’t tell her about the gun.

Carol, Glenn, and Abraham walk in. Michonne asks where he took the gun and Carol helps Rick lie by saying he just took from the armory and tells him it was stupid. Glenn says Deanna is planning to have a meeting tonight and Maggie is with Deanna learning more now. Carol advises Rick to say that he only took a gun to protect Jessie because she was being abused and no one was doing anything about it. Abraham asks what’s next if they want to kick Rick out and Rick says they’ll take hostages and threaten to kill them if they don’t hand over the armory. This wasn’t what Rick planned but they are stuck there.

Maggie asks Deanna about the meeting on Deanna’s front porch. Maggie says that if the meeting is to kick Rick out, it won’t work. Deanna already let Rick in but they’re working on people’s accounts that may be fragments of stories. Reg says that it is simply a forum. Maggie defends Rick, mentioning what the group has been through. Deanna reiterates that Rick is dangerous, speaking about him taking the gun, ultimately saying she’s going to do what she has to do.

Reg follows a storming off Maggie and tries to calm her down. He says that he wants to remind everyone about civilization.

Outside the walls, Sasha puts down her gun and pulls a wagon with a walker on it. She stops next to a pit of dead walkers. She slips inside then lays down on top of the bodies.

Elsewhere, Aaron and Daryl search for people who came through where they are. Aaron suggests they set up the mic and wait. Daryl asks if they’ve sent people away before. Aaron says they have, two men and a woman. Davidson, their leader, was sent away. He brought them in but had to see them out. Aaron, Aiden, and Nicholas drove them out and gave them a day’s worth of supplies and left them with no guns. Aaron doesn’t want to make that kind of mistake again.

Carol wakes Rick up. She says it’s good what happened and hands Rick a gun. Rick asks why Carol didn’t want to tell everyone they had more guns. Carol reminds him Michonne knocked him out and she was just being careful. Rick doesn’t want to lie. Carol says he can’t not lie and not take Alexandria. 

Daryl and Aaron observe a man walking through the woods very covered up the follow him.

Rick walks outside and sees Tobin and two other man. He says hi to Tobin as he passes through the group. Passing Deanna’s house, the two exchange an unfriendly stare.

Nicholas creepily stalks Glenn. Maggie goes and talks to Glenn, telling him the meeting is what they thought. She’s going to try and solve it by talking to people. Glenn tells Maggie he loves her. Maggie is confident things will work out. Glenn sees Nicholas climbing the wall and follows.

Spencer opens the gate for Father Gabriel, who claims he doesn’t need a gun for protection, but the word of God.

Rick walks into his house and Carl excitedly greets him. Rick tells Carl he’s staying from the meeting. Carl tells his dad that the Alexandrians would die without them. Rick tells Carl he might have to threaten or even kill one of them. Carl says he just has to tell them so they can hear him but Rick doesn’t know that they can.

Aaron and Daryl some walkers from a distance. Aaron doubts they’ll find whoever they were following, the man in the red poncho. Aaron says they’re fifty miles away from home and it’s time to go. Daryl wants to keep searching for good people. They make noise to attract the walkers so they can eliminate them before opening the gate and walking into the warehouse looking location they were observing.

The trucks outside, Del Arno Foods, indicate there will be food. Daryl and Aaron explore. Aaron is excited to find an Alaskan license plate. Aaron doubts they’ll find the man they were searching for but is excited to find trailers full of cans. Daryl opens it, but a mechanism triggers that opens up the trailer doors, unleashing an enormous amount of walkers with W’s on their heads. 

Daryl and Aaron regroup under a truck. Daryl uses a chain and Aaron uses a machete to get away from the trucks. The two get in a car and Aaron uses the door to kill a walker trying to get inside. Some other walks hang limblessly chained inside the trailers.

Daryl and Aaron are trapped inside the car. Aaron questions if the glass will hold. Daryl thinks so. He wants to block the windows so the walkers can’t see them. Aaron finds a note in the glove box that says, “Bad people coming, don’t stay.”

Pete sits in his dark living room as Carol knocks on the door. He opens it and Carol tells him he needs to check on Tara. He tells her to get out and she draws a knife. She tells him, pressing the knife to his chin, that she could kill him and everyone would believe he tried to hurt her. “Come at me,” she says. Pete backs down. Carol tells Pete he has a chance. She degrades him and suggests he does what’s right and maybe he won’t have to die, then leaves. Pete drops the dish and says, “This isn’t my house!”

Glenn searches for Nicholas but finds a walker body. A gunshot sounds Glenn falls down the hill. Nicholas emerges and chases Glenn’s fallen body but Glenn is gone.

Rick approaches Jessie to check on her. She says people shouldn’t see them talking right now. Rick says he isn’t sorry for what he did, no matter what. Jessie tells Rick he was right. Pete is watching from another house.

Walkers continue to swarm Aaron and Daryl. Daryl laughs. He came out because he felt closed up back at Alexandria. He feels more himself now than he did in the houses. Aaron says he saw Daryl before the storm hit. He went off on his own and found the barn that protected to them. Daryl volunteers to be a decoy for the walkers as he lights a cigarette. Aaron says they have to go together. Daryl agrees. They grab they’re weapons and ready up. Just as they’re about to leave, Morgan starts killing the surrounding walkers. The three escape and lock the walkers inside the gate. Aaron thanks Morgan. They introduces themselves to each other.

Daryl asks Morgan why he helped. Morgan says all life is precious. Aaron invites Morgan to the community but Morgan says he is already on his way somewhere but got lost. He hands Daryl the map that reads “The new world is gonna need Rick Grimes.”

Father Gabriel whistles as he walks through the woods. He finds a walker in the street eating a corpse. He raises his arms and says, “I’m ready.” The walker approaches him. Gabriel notices the noose around it’s neck then uses it to decapitate the walker before smashing its head with a rock. He then walks over the walker’s meal and uses the same stone to put it down, as well. He breaks down in the street.

Abraham enters the infirmary. Eugene and Tara are sleeping, Rosita tells Abraham so. Rosita drops a metal tray and the noise wakes Eugene. Eugene tells Abraham that Tara saved his life. He tells Abraham the Abraham got them there and he merely lied. He thanks Abraham and apologizes. Abraham and apologizes and Eugene says he doesn’t have to.

Spencer opens the gate for Father Gabriel, who is back in time for the meeting. Spencer would like to talk to Gabriel about Aiden later. Gabriel closes the gate, but let’s it stay cracked open, carelesslly.

Nicholas runs through the jungle searching for Glenn but finds a walker. He shoots it down and Glenn jumps him against a tree. The two start fighting. Glenn has a bullet wound in his shoulder which Nicholas uses. A walker approaches from behind and falls onto Glenn followed by several more.

Michonne asks Rick if he is ready. Rick says Carol, Daryl, and himself, worked out the gun stealing plan together and tells Michonne the truth. He says they lied because they didn’t know how she would react. Michonne asks if he thought she would try to stop him. Rick recalls her hitting hi over the head but she says that was for him, not them. He was afraid she would talk him out of it. Michonne says they don’t need them, they can find a way without them, and if they don’t Michonne is still with Rick. She tells Rick something will happen, but asks him not to be the cause.

Rick draws a machete out of it’s casing. He holsters his gun and prepares himself while reflecting on words from Bob and words that he said. “This is a nightmare and nightmares end,” Bob says in Rick’s memory. Rick notices the open gate and runs out to it. There is blood on the lock. He quickly locks the gate and runs off.

Rick runs along the wall. Gabriel enters the church, where Sasha is sitting. She says she came there because she doesn’t know what to do. She asks if Gabriel can help her but he says, “No,” boldly.

Night falls. The community gathers around a fire. Maggie asks to wait for Glenn and Rick but Deanna starts. They’re going to talk about Rick Grimes stealing a pistol, pointing it at people, and what he said. She was hoping he would be there. Michonne says he is coming, as does Carol.

Outside the walls, Nicholas scurries through the dark woods.

Back inside, Rick runs down the street. He goes for his gun but doesn’t have it, then draws his knife. In the church, Sasha says she thinks she wants to die. Gabriel asks why wouldn’t she want to. Gabriel criticizes her for her actions. Gabriel says that Bob was mutilated because Sasha’s sins and she starts to attack him, yelling “Stop it!”

A walker finds Rick.

Michone explains Rick’s motives. He wants his family and everyone to live. “Who he is, is who you’re gonna be if you’re lucky.”

Rick fights off and kills walkers with a knife.

Sasha fights Gabriel for control of her gun.

Nicholas continues scurrying. Glenn catches up and hits him over the head with a rock.

Carol explains to the community that Rick rescued her. She says people like “us” need people like Rick. She talks acknowledges that what happened was scary but he may right.

A walker gets on top of Rick. He uses his hands to dig into the walker’s throat. 

Glenn beats Nicholas in the woods.

Abraham makes his case for Rick. He tells the Alexandrians how uneducated they are about the outside world and how much more Rick knows. 

Rick kills the walker with his bare hands.

The wolves approach the gates with the man in the red apron. They tell him to be still as he looks at the walkers wondering around inside the fence. The man on the left, the one who approached Morgan, calmly slits his throat and tells him, “welcome home.”

Maggie makes her case for Rick. Her father, Hershel, respected Rick Grimes. Rick has a good heart. He made all of the survivors family and Deanna won’t stop that. Deanna wants to share something: Father Gabriel came to see her and said the new arrivals can’t be trusted and would put themselves before the community. Less than a day later, Rick exhibited what Father Gabriel said. She hoped Gabriel would be there. Jessie says without Gabriel there, what he said is irrelevant.

Glenn continues beating Nicholas. “Noah died because of you,” he says. He presses a gun to Nicholas’s head.

Sasha points her gun at Gabriel.

The Wolves use music and lights to draw the walkers back into the trailers.

Tobin talks to Deanna, saying he wants to keep his family safe. Rick enters, bloodied, carrying a walker. He drops it in the middle of the meeting, surprising everyone.

Nicholas pleads for his life. Glenn yells at him to shut up, debating whether or not to shoot him, and doesn’t. 

Gabriel implores Sasha to shoot him. Maggie walks in and takes the gun from her. Gabriel says, “You should let her,” adding, “They all died because of me.” He’s referring to his flock at the original church. Maggie takes his hand and helps him up.

Rick tells the group the gate was open. Deanna sends Spencer to the gate after he tells her that he asks Gabriel to close it. Carl and Judith look at a music box while Rick describes the dangers of the world today to the group. Glenn and Nicholas help each other back to the community. Tara wakes up next to Rosita. The Wolves look at pictures of the community. Rick admits, he was thinking, “how many of you do I have to kill to save your lives?” He says he won’t have to because they will change. He’s not sorry for what he said last night, he should’ve said it sooner. The people have to be ready, right now.

Pete approaches with Michonne’s sword. Reg tries to stop him and Pete slits his throat. Abraham takes Pete down as Reg bleeds out in Deanna’s arms. Deanna tells Rick to kill Pete. Without an ounce of hesitation, Rick shoots Pete in the head.

“Rick?” Morgan says. Rick looks up and sees Morgan.

POST CREDITS

Michonne starts to put her katana above the mantle, but instead holsters it and puts it on her back.

Back at the warehouse, the man in the red apron is now a walker, stumbling past a car with spray paint reading, “Wolves Not Far.”