Who Are "The Damned" In 'The Walking Dead'?

The Walking Dead airs its second episode of season 8 tonight, "The Damned," and the synopsis teases an action-packed battle royal:

The plan involving Alexandrians, Kingdommers and Hilltoppers unfolds. As Rick continues to fight, he encounters a familiar face.

It's the latter part that has us intrigued: a familiar face will be returning to Rick's world, and there are only a few candidates who make sense. Could this "familiar face" be who the title refers to as "the damned?" Maybe the returning character is someone who was doomed — or believed to be doomed?

The episode will also continue straight from where 8x01, "Mercy," left off, seeing Rick and co. continuing their attacks on Negan's forces, making the Saviors another candidate worthy of carrying the title of "the damned." Rick very nearly killed Negan in 8x01, and he's aiming to wipe out as many of the uncompromising Saviors as possible — if they don't break free of Negan's rule and surrender peacefully, they're marked for death.

A sneak peek look at episode 8x02 (above) sees Jesus, Morgan, Tara and Diane ready to attack the same Savior satellite outpost Rick and co. attacked in 6x12 in the middle of the night — a move that didn't sit right with every member of the group (or the audience). It was a preemptive strike on the Saviors who, at the time, Rick and crew knew little about: they knew they were a sizable group that was terrorizing the farming Hilltop colony, and they knew they were lead by an enigmatic leader known only as "Negan." Rick and Team Family struck a deal with the Hilltop's then-leader, Gregory: if they helped take out these extortionists, a near-starving Alexandria would receive half of Hilltop's supplies.

The deal was made, a plan was put into motion, and the events of that night would lead to Alexandria being put on Negan's radar — and would in many ways directly lead to Rick and his close-knit group of survivors being cornered in the woods by the Saviors, where Negan would ultimately make his introduction and savagely murder Abraham and Glenn via death by baseball bat.

Could returning to this bloody scene of their clandestine mission damn Morgan, Jesus and Tara? We did predict that Morgan would meet his end this season...

The Walking Dead 8x02, "The Damned," airs tonight at 9/8c on AMC.