‘The Walking Dead’: Did Michonne Slaughter Oceanside?

Could the absence of Oceanside be tied to the strife that splintered the communities led by Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan)?

Suspiciously, the all-female community has gone unseen, and mostly unmentioned, since the six-year time jump that followed Rick Grimes’ (Andrew Lincoln) presumed death.

Leader Cyndie (Sydney Park) and a band of Oceansiders executed Savior Arat (Elizabeth Ludlow) when rebelling against Rick’s “every life counts now” mandate, galvanized by Maggie’s unilateral decision to execute Gregory (Xander Berkeley) following his double attempts on her life.

Maggie and Daryl (Norman Reedus) turned a blind eye to the execution after discovering a small band of Oceansiders were responsible for picking off and murdering problematic Saviors — including Justin (Zach McGowan) — despite this being in clear violation of the abstract rule of law ushered in by Rick and Michonne, who hoped to unite the people of Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom, Oceanside, and the Sanctuary.

Sometime after Rick’s “death,” Michonne abandoned the charter once intended to bound the communities under a defined set of rules. She then turned Alexandria isolationist after what has been hinted to be a particularly traumatic encounter with outsiders, leaving Michonne and Daryl physically and mentally scarred.

A season 9B trailer released in November, above, showed Michonne — who has since changed her hairstyle post-time skip — with her pre-time skip look and in a setting that appears to be the outreach recovery center where the Oceansiders lived before the Saviors, under orders from Simon (Steven Ogg), slaughtered the group’s male members.

It was there Cyndie and a handful of vengeful Oceansiders executed Arat, and it’s there where Michonne appears to be stood as she swings her blood-stained katana while looking distressed:

What brings Michonne to the outreach recovery center remains unclear. But if Michonne was forced to engage in some kind of atrocity against some members of Oceanside, it could have resulted in still-unresolved tensions between Alexandria and Hilltop.

It could also explain why Tara (Alanna Masterson) — who was the first to discover Oceanside and form a bond with Cyndie in ‘Swear’ — defied the Alexandria council to entrust Kingdom leader Ezekiel (Khary Payton) with the charter, which she says Michonne was letting “collect dust.” Tara then declared she would not be returning to Alexandria, instead becoming a permanent resident of Hilltop.

In the present, Michonne previously admitted it was a “risk” to visit Maggie’s Hilltop, telling Siddiq (Avi Nash), “I don’t know what she’ll do if she sees me.”

Siddiq then reported Maggie and her son left Hilltop to foster a new community with Georgie (Jayne Atkinson), but Hilltop — then in the care of interim leader Jesus (Tom Payne) — still had a cold reaction to Michonne when she and Siddiq arrived there after escorting Magna (Nadia Hilker) and her group.

While visiting with a wounded Rosita (Christian Serratos) in Hilltop’s care, Michonne admitted to Siddiq, “I knew people would still be angry, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

“No,” Siddiq replied, “but it’s not too late to go mend some of those fences.”

“No, it’s not. But I won’t,” Michonne said. “Not the way they want me to. I didn’t make the choices I made because I thought they’d be easy. At least they’re alive so they can hate me for it.”

Michonne also admitted to Carol (Melissa McBride) there’s “a whole lot of broken world” between the communities. “We’ve got to take care of our own now. It’s just the way it is,” Michonne told a disappointed Carol.

Though it appears something significant happens with Michonne at the outreach recovery center once home to the future Oceansiders, the group may not be tied to the Alexandria-Hilltop drama: the fallout between Michonne and Maggie predates the abandonment of the charter as the unsigned document was due to be signed by leaders representing Alexandria, the Kingdom, and Oceanside — leaving a spot intended for Hilltop noticeably blank until Ezekiel amended the document.

Answers to these questions are expected to arrive in 914, ‘Scars,’ airing March 17. The Walking Dead next airs 912, ‘Guardians,’ Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.

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