An extended sneak peek look at The Walking Dead 913, ‘Chokepoint,’ reveals a new enemy group responsible for the ominous red symbol first spotted when King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Carol (Melissa McBride) journeyed towards the Kingdom after their side mission to claim a projector bulb.
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“We are the Highwaymen. The roads surrounding the Kingdom belong to us. All visitors attempting to travel to your fair will be turned back unless you pay our toll,” Ezekiel says, reading from a message bearing the red symbol.
“It’s a list of goods for a ransom. And a map with instructions for payment.”
Ezekiel hands the ransom to Carol. Jerry (Cooper Andrews) takes the blame.
“They must have been watching and heard me talking about the fair,” he admits. “I’m sorry, boss. I screwed up.”
“No, Jerry. The trade fair is hardly a secret, and we need it,” Ezekiel says. “Because we are low on food and supplies. We couldn’t pay these pirates if we wanted to.”
Carol asks Dianne (Kerry Cahill) if she has any suspicions about the pirates’ true identities.
“There was a rumor going around Hilltop that some renegade Saviors had taken up around here — Jed’s group, I heard. We didn’t see them out there, but it could be his people,” she reports, referring to the problematic Savior (Rhys Coiro) Carol burned alive when he robbed her of her wedding ring in front of son Henry (Matt Lintz).
“No,” Carol says, “it wasn’t them.”
“Saviors don’t write letters,” Ezekiel says. “If Jed’s group was out there, something must have happened to them for these ‘Highwaymen’ to move in on their territory.”
“Um, your majesties,” Jerry says, “the peeps we invited are counting on us to keep the roads safe. We have to do something.”
Ezekiel hands it off to Carol.
“Jerry’s right. This fair could be our last chance,” she says of their falling-apart kingdom.
It’s done.
“Gather every fighter we can spare,” Ezekiel decrees.
This mysterious group does not have an exact counterpart in the comic books, which introduced the fair as a major turning point for the survivors.
Rick Grimes, son Carl and Abraham Ford of the comic books once encountered a pack of robbers dubbed The Marauders back in The Walking Dead #57, who posed a threat when claiming ownership of roads.
This small pack of villains was quickly dispatched in their introductory issue and were partially adapted for the show as the Claimers, led by Joe (Jeff Kober) in Season Four.
One of the Highwaymen may have been revealed in the Season 9B trailer released in November, which showed a cowboy-looking stranger (Fargo‘s Angus Sampson) staring down Jerry at the fair.
Alexandria has since agreed to participate in the fair despite the reservations held by Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Aaron (Ross Marquand), who are navigating the new threat posed by walker skin-wearing enemies the Whisperers, led by Alpha (Samantha Morton) and vicious number two Beta (Ryan Hurst).
The Walking Dead 913, ‘Chokepoint,’ premieres Sunday, March 10 at 9/8c on AMC.
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