The Walking Dead: More New Photos From the Midseason Premiere

Merle and Rick spring into action while Andrea continues to be conflicted among her new friends in Woodbury, in a trio of new production stills from this weekend's midseason premiere of The Walking Dead. In the top photo, provided by Entertainment Weekly, Rick appears to have either returned to Woodbury to get Daryl, or never to have left after he and Michonne appeared to run off into the woods with Glenn and Maggie. That seems the more likely option, as we've already seen trailers that feature an apparently-still-bleeding Glenn waiting for Rick in the trees.

The magazine also provided fans with a look at Merle Dixon outside of the gladiatorial arena--meaning that unless this episode is just chock full of flashback and/or misleading production photos, both of the Dixon brothers will make it out of there. We have an idea as to how that might work. That's quite a gory walkers, there, though; is this outside of Woodbury, or did Rick perhaps unleash a small herd into the city limits to help cover his escape? The third still tells us the least, although it does confirm that the man Andrea was restraining in the previous set of stills is a Woodbury native, as it appears to be Andrea looking on while the town cheers during the Dixons' big fight. So, what's that guy doing pointing a gun into a car at another point in the episode? And will Andrea be able to stop whatever conflict is about to arise from that action? The Walking Dead airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on AMC.