The Walking Dead: Magna Confronts Carol in Midseason Premiere Sneak Peek

Magna (Nadia Hilker) confronts Carol (Melissa McBride) in a clip from The Walking Dead‘s midseason premiere, “Squeeze,” picking up where the midseason finale ended: with Carol, Magna, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), and sisters Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Kelly (Angel Theory) trapped in a cave teeming with walkers. The heroes were ensnared by Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton), who goaded Carol into giving chase while the group was out in search of the walker horde capable of wiping out the allied communities. Anxious to escape and return to girlfriend Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), Magna sinks her teeth into an already guilty Carol:

“What the hell were you thinking, huh?” Magna growls. “Running off like that by yourself.” Carol will later be comforted by best friend Daryl, admitting she “never meant for any of this to happen.” He tells her they don’t fight for revenge, they fight for their future — but Carol’s reckless actions could have other unintended consequences when the group attempts to make a pulse-pounding escape.

On a live episode of Talking Dead that aired after the midseason finale, a poll revealed 90 percent of Walking Dead fans who voted condemned Carol’s actions for taking off after Alpha and causing the others to fall victim to Alpha’s trap in “The World Before.” In the months since the cliffhanger ending, fans have debated whether Carol can be blamed for her actions.

When the villainess comes to look upon her victory in the earliest minutes of “Squeeze,” Alpha’s appearance forces a ferocious scream from Carol, who later admits to Daryl she wants Alpha to suffer for the murder of son Henry (Matt Lintz). The vendetta will next lead Carol “down some different paths,” according to showrunner Angela Kang.

“It’s really hard to move on from somebody having taken your son’s head off,” Kang previously told The Hollywood Reporter, referencing Alpha’s gruesome murder of Henry and nine other victims. “And so we’ve been really excited about playing kind of a revenge narrative for Carol, because I think a lot of the heart of the series this season lies with Carol. She lost so much and there’s still so much more that they could all lose. We’re playing a lot in her perspective as this grieving mother, who just wants to settle the score between her and Alpha, and the lengths that she’ll go to to do that. Revenge is a dark emotion, and it leads her down some different paths.”

For more on the midseason premiere, read ComicBook.com‘s review of the first two episodes of Season 10B ahead of TWD‘s return Sunday, Feb. 23 on AMC. For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.