‘The Walking Dead’ 911 Clip: Dead Character Returns

The opening minutes of The Walking Dead 911, ‘Bounty,’ features Jesus (Tom Payne) in a flashback set sometime during the six-year time skip that followed the supposed death of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

Jerry (Cooper Andrews) swears King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Carol (Melissa McBride) to secrecy, announcing he and Nabila (Nadine Marissa) are “bunned up.” Nabila is about eight weeks pregnant.

Ezekiel embraces his noble advisor with a warm hug. “The future begins,” Ezekiel says, beaming.

Jesus and Tara (Alanna Masterson) arrive from Hilltop. As the Kingdomers gift them medicine and other supplies, Jesus reports leader Maggie (Lauren Cohan) wanted to come but remained behind to manage a sickness affecting the Hilltop.

“We were surprised to see you,” Carol tells Tara, who declares she won’t be returning home to Alexandria under leader Michonne (Danai Gurira).

“I kind of took off with more supplies than the council was willing to spare,” she says. “I get why they think Alexandria couldn’t do more, but we’re family.”

Tara hands over one last prize claimed from Alexandria, which she says Michonne was letting “collect dust.”

“Maggie’s not exactly the biggest fan of Michonne right now,” Jesus admits.

“I thank you. I haven’t given up on the idea this embodies,” Ezekiel says.

“I still believe that this will bind us into something more. Because we are family. And when the time comes, we will reunite. The leaders will sign it together and our communities will begin anew again, as one. Until that day, I am honored to be the keeper of the path forward.”

Ezekiel unfurls the Multi-Community Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the once passion project headed by Michonne in an effort to wholly unite the communities of Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom, and Oceanside under an agreed upon set of laws.

The king examines the signature line. Next to unsigned markings for Alexandria, Kingdom, and Oceanside is a noticeably blank spot where Hilltop should be.

That night, Ezekiel has amended the document, Hilltop now in its rightful place.

In November’s mid-season finale, Michonne in the present admitted to Carol there’s “a whole lot of broken world” between the splintered communities.

“We’ve got to take care of our own now,” Michonne told a disappointed Carol. “It’s just the way it is.”

The relationship between Alexandria and Hilltop is particularly tense, each still navigating fallout from a strife between Michonne and Maggie. Earlier this season, Michonne was surprised to learn from Siddiq (Avi Nash) Maggie and son Hershel relocated to a new community, leaving Jesus in charge as interim leader.

Showrunner Angela Kang previously acknowledged the back half of Season Nine will address this complicated history through the use of flashbacks, some of which will be used to reveal the explanation behind the matching ‘X’ scars linking Michonne and Daryl.

“We’ll definitely be telling the story of what happened there, and what’s kind of exciting about a six-year jump is that there is the opportunity to go back and tell some of those stories. So we’ll see some of what has happened,” Kang said.

“But it’s a deep, emotional story for Michonne, and for Daryl too. So I’m excited for people to experience that. It’s something that certainly has had an effect on Michonne in a deep and particular way. So that’s something that we wanna tell people what that’s about at some point.”

Kang next hopes to involve Maggie in Season Ten, confirmed to be Gurira’s final season with the show.

The Walking Dead 911, ‘Bounty,’ premieres Sunday, February 24 at 9/8c on AMC. Fans can get early looks at upcoming episodes via AMC Premiere.