‘The Walking Dead’ Recap With Spoilers: The Calm Before

In the woods, random survivors in the woods put down some walkers with knives. They wish each other a happy anniversary afterward, before discovering the Hilltop community. Later, these characters design wooden chips with “H” marks carved into them which can be used for money. It’s now their anniversary again.

Today, this group heads out to the Fair at the Kingdom. Some others stay behind and guard the community. A moment later, the scene cuts to Alpha having killed these people and cutting the skin off of their faces.

The Walking Dead‘s opening credits play.

At the Kingdom, Ezekiel gives a speech to the communities. He references Rick Grimes and his desire to build all of these and having to destroy the bridge which binded them to get them here. He credits Rick Grimes, Carl, and Paul Rovia for their efforts in getting here. “We’ve always been bound to each other,” Ezekiel says. “We’ve fought our way back to each other. We’ve grown. The crossing over the river may be gone but we’ve built a bridge nonetheless.”

Jerry announces: “Let the first annual intercommunication reunion fair begin!”

Ezekiel has changed the name to The Fair of New Beginning.

Continued

During the Fair, Carol is heading out with a small group to look for Henry. She tells Ezekiel to stay put and continue with the Fair. As if on queue, Daryl arrives at the Kingdom with Connie, Michonne, Judith, Henry, and Lydia. 

Carol and Henry have an emotional reunion. She quickly jumps over to Daryl to welcome him with a hug. Michonne and Ezekiel share a “hello” as well. He is surprised to see her. Carol is delighted to see Judith. 

“I’ve been drawing pictures of you since I was little,” Judith says. “You’re Carol and you’re the King.”

Michonne tells them to gather up all the leaders because they have a lot to talk about.

Continued

In the theater, Michonne is happy to see everyone and insists everyone is better off together. Alexandria is willing to “grant asylum” to Lydia according to Gabriel. She is grateful. Tara is concerned about Hilltop’s safety. 

Michonne cites Rick not trusting her when she showed up at the prison. People didn’t trust Tara when she was with the Governor. An Oceansider says she was going to kill Tara on their shore. Michonne is vouching for Lydia. The four communities have to work together to fight against the Whisperers. 

Ezekiel pulls out the Charter to get everyone to officially sign it and agree.

 

Continued

Henry and Lydia wander around the Fair. Eugene is dunked in a tank. Early sells his blacksmith materials. It’s overwhelming for Lydia. They see Daryl prepping to ride out to Hilltop. 

“Our son is taking a girl on a date to the movies tonight,” Ezekiel tells Carol. She thinks it sounds impossible. 

Elsewhere, Enid and Luke talk Alden into performing on stage. Enid and Alden are now officially a couple. Connie is thrilled to see Luke so excited but Kelly isn’t having a good time at the Fair. She is upset that Connie left without saying goodbye. Connie apologizes.

Continued

Siddiq informs Michonne of Ezekiel’s speech about Rick. They come across Jerry playing with all the kids. 

Elsewhere, one of the Hilltop teenagers, Addy, apologizes to Henry for ratting him out when he ran off with Lydia. The others sit down with Lydia. They grill her on whether she’s going to cause problems.

Tara, Diane, Cal and others prep to leave in search of the Whisperers. They don’t all want to leave at once as to avoid tipping anyone off to an issue. Yumiko, Michonne, Carol, Magna, and others are going too. Connie writes a note to Daryl: “Be safe.” He asks her to feed Dog while he’s gone. Before he leaves, Ezekiel invites Daryl to live at the Kingdom. 

Continued

In the woods, the Highway Men and AJ put down a small herd of walkers before Daryl’s group finds them. The Highway Men show them that they found the Hilltop folks who were killed by the Whisperers. The group devises a plan and the Highway Men want extra movies for their effort.

Magna and Yumiko kiss each other goodbye as the group splits.

Night falls and Daryl and Michonne’s group is surrounded by a herd. Michonne is the first to start slicing. Yumiko follows her lead. Then Carol and Daryl. They eliminate the herd but then Whisperers emerge from the woods. They are surrounded and have to surrender. Beta orders the group to drop their weapons and they comply. 

“You just had to give me the girl,” Beta tells Daryl. “No one else had to die. Now, that deal is done.”

Continued

Going back to when Ezekiel said goodbye to Carol, the episode is now at the Fair again. Ezekiel and Henry watch the group ride off. As Jerry and Nabila enjoy the Fair, they have no idea Alpha is right behind them wearing the woman from the beginning of the episode’s clothes.

Elsewhere, Eugene shows off his efforts on the radio to Rosita. His goal is to allow the communities to communicate with one another. Eugene and Rosita’s relationship is clearly strained. She is grateful for his efforts in regards to her baby and ready to help with the radio. 

Later, Henry wanders around the fair looking for someone while Tara is nearby pitching joint fighting lessons between Alexandria and Oceanside. Tara makes a dig at Maggie about her community needing a leader who will show up for them. 

Behind the Fair’s stage, Alden and Luke debate how to start their show. Lydia and Henry sit together in a quiet area. Lydia is not herself.

Alpha explores the fair. She sees a drawing of Ezekiel and Carol. Tammy and Earl walk behind her, naming the baby they found from the Whisperers. Alpha overhears it. Henry assures Lydia that the other teenagers were just being jerks and he really does like Lydia. She likes him back. They kiss. A pipe burst interrupts them.

Continued

Elsewhere, Alpha continues to explore the Fair. She sees Rosita and Eugene. She sees Gabriel. She is introduced to King Ezekiel. “I’m Deborah, from Alexandria,” she tells him. “Can you believe Michonne came?” Ezekiel goes along in the conversation, apologizing for having never met her. He points her in the direction of the clothing booths upon her request. “I have a feeling it’s gonna be a hard winter,” she says. 

Ezekiel takes her on his arm and escorts her toward “just the thing.”

In the theater, Lydia waits for Henry. Jerry sits in the front row. Judith is excited. A cartoon starts to play. Jerry is sad that Ezekiel is missing the movie. Lydia is enjoying the film until Alpha sits down beside her in the Deborah disguise. 

Continued

In the woods, back in the present time, Alpha confronts Michonne, Daryl, and the others. “You ain’t gettin’ her back,” Daryl says. Alpha claims this isn’t about her daughter. She questions them and insists her daughter is not a concern anymore. She pulls out a shotgun and points it at Daryl and orders him to come with her. 

The dawn is coming and Daryl is escorted out of the woods. Atop rocks over a small mountain, he is shown a massive herd of walkers. Thousands of walkers are in front of him.

“My people are among them, steering them. The only reason you and your friends are alive is because I let you live.”

“You haven’t got a single thing to offer me. I’ve seen how you live. I’ve walked your streets. It’s a joke. Your communities are a shrine to a long dead world. My people, the Whisperers, we live as nature intended.”

She insists her people follow her because she is the Alpha and she asserts herself. That is what she has done now. “Your friends back at the camp are fine,” Alpha tells him. “Tell them, the next time they cross into my land, my horde will cross into theirs.” She has marked the border to the north and he will see it as he leaves. 

Daryl asks if she killed Lydia before he leaves.

Continued

In the night before, Alpha confronts Lydia at the Kingdom. She tells her mother that she believes in these people and she wants to stay with them. Alpha insists she was only doing the hard things mothers have to do to protect their young. Lydia insists she wants her mother to go. Alpha insists Lydia never was part “one of us” and leaves her behind. 

Alpha tells Daryl that she hopes he can protect her.

Daryl walks through a field back to Carol. 

Elsehwere, Beta reunites with Alpha, who is emotional and wants to be alone. A Whisperer sees her shed a tear. She calls them over and immediately kills them where they stand. 

Continued

In the woods, Michonne and the group find Siddiq. She rushes to him, he is bloodied and tied to a tree. He points them up a hill where they see a set of pikes marking the north side of the territory. 

Michonne, Yumiko, Daryl, and Carol realize that the pikes are topped with the heads of their friends and family. The Highway Men are all on the pikes. 

At the Fair, Eugene asks for Frankie. Earl searches for Tammy. The teens search for Addy and Rodney. Alden looks for Enid while performing. Gabriel is looking for Tara. Lydia and Ezekiel are looking for Henry.

All of the missing people have had their head places on pikes: Frankie, Tammy, Addy, Rodney, Enid, Tara, Ozzy, Alec, DJ, and Henry have all be killed by the Whisperers. 

Continued

Later, Siddiq speaks to everyone at the Kingdom. “I was supposed to die with them,” he says. “I was ready to. Then Alpha whispered in my ear: ‘Tell them.’ Something hit me and everything went black. When I woke up, I was alone. What happened was evil. It was evil and I think she left me alive to tell you that story, to scare you and to drive us all apart again, but I want to tell you a different story. See, before the end, Ozzy, Alec, and DJ found us. They gave us an opening and everyone fought back. They fought like hell and what they did was more than brave because they defended each other and they sacrificed for each other. Some of them, they didn’t even know each other but they still fought like they did, like they were family until the very end. And, in the end, their time was cut short. Ours keeps going, so we have to keep going for them and for all of us. We need to honor them. We need to honor them and we need to remember these friends, our family, died as heroes. That’s the story that I wanna tell you. That’s the story that I want us all to remember.”

The scene cuts to a description of Siddiq’s story. The group i fighting together until Alpha walks in without her mask on.

Continued

Later, on a cloudy day, Daryl walks out to the pikes with Lydia. 

She removes her necklace and places it on the pike where Henry’s head was found. It had a Hilltop H token on it.