The Walking Dead threw fans for a curve ball at the end of the previous episode. Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) plan was thwarted. As a result, the Alexandrians have lost their homes, courtesy of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). The Kingdom has been occupied by the Saviors and Ezekiel (Khary Peyton) is being held captive. And Carl (Chandler Riggs) was bitten by a walker and now he’s dying. How will Rick and the others “Honor” Carl before he dies? Are you ready? There so much to tell.
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As before, the episode jumps around on the present day, into the future, and a possible dream of what the future looks like.
Sometime in the future
“My mercy prevails over my wrath” – Rick says to himself. He is sitting by a tree with stained glass hanging from the tree. The light reflects on his face.
Earlier that day
Carl helps Siddiq (Avi Nash) fight off a group of walkers. One of the walkers pushes Carl to the ground and another crawls up to bite Carl on his side. Carl kills both walkers. Siddiq checks on him and Carl says he’s okay. They head to Alexandria. Carl goes home and cleans up. He checks in with Tobin (Jason Douglas) who tells him that Michonne (Danai Gurira) and the others left. Carl sits down to write letters to everyone. He plays with Judith. Then he goes to the sewers with Siddiq. He sets up a cot and they talk. He plants a tree with Judith and sees Michonne return. Carl waves at her as she drives by. He takes off his hat and feels the sun on his face for the last time.
At the Sanctuary, Morgan (Lennie James) looks through his sniper scope at the Sanctuary. He sees that the windows are busted out. A group of Saviors appear and start shooting the walkers in the yard. They are clearing a path. Morgan tells the other snipers what he is seeing. A group of Saviors exit the Sanctuary and start shooting at the snipers. Morgan tells everyone to run. He gets out and the Saviors chase him. Morgan gets away and runs through the woods to the road. He sees Gavin (Jayson Warner Smith) and his men drive by. They are headed for the Kingdom.
The Next Day
Rick and Michonne are digging Carl’s grave. Michonne has to stop to cry as Rick continues digging.

Dreamscape
Rick and Judith take a walk around Alexandria. They stop to talk to Jerry (Cooper Andrews). Judith is very happy to see him. Siddiq is there too. Jerry says he stopped by Alexandria to get some dessert and ended up helping Siddiq in the quarry. He couldn’t say no.
They stroll to some trees and Eugene (Josh McDermitt) has set up a device that bakes apples. He asks Judith to be his sous chef and hands her an apple.
Present – The Kingdom
Carol (Melissa McBride) tells the Kingdom survivors to go to the cottage. Nabila (Nadine Marissa) says the Saviors don’t stand a chance against Carol. Henry (Macsen Linz) says he wants to fight with Carol, but Carol orders him to go to the cottage.
Gavin taunts Ezekiel. He says Negan is going to kill him and there’s nothing Gavin can do to stop him. Ezekiel says he’s prepared for whatever comes next. Gavin is angry because they had a good arrangement until Rick came along and messed everything up. Ezekiel says he made the decision and it’s one that he knew he could live with. Now it’s Gavin turn to do the same. Gavin yells at his people to hurry. He asks Ezekiel if this will end bad. Ezekiel says it will end the way Gavin set it up from the beginning.
Morgan arrives at the Kingdom and sees Henry run by. He meets up with Carol and says they can take out all of the Saviors. Carol wants to avoid them. Morgan reveals that Henry is there too. They have to face the Saviors to save both Ezekiel and Henry.

They walk through the Kingdom, killing Saviors as they go along. Morgan says they have to kill the Saviors or they will reveal them. Morgan hears men putting guns into a truck. Carol tells him to leave it alone. Morgan can’t. He sneaks up on the men and starts killing them. One of the Saviors gets away and loads a gun. Carol kills that guy and stops him from shooting the gun.
Gavin radios his guys, asking where they are. There’s no response. He calls a different guy. No response. Ezekiel tells Gavin that it’s not too late. He can turn things around before it gets bad. They hear gunshots. Gavin moves everyone inside the auditorium as Morgan and Carol emerge from behind a trailer.
Alexandria
The Alexandrians are sitting in the sewers while the Saviors bomb the community. Rick and Michonne sit with Carl. Carl gives Michonne his letters to give to everybody and tells her that everything will be alright. Rick blames the Saviors for Carl’s bite. Carl tells him it wasn’t the Saviors. He tells Rick how and when he got bit.
Siddiq gives Rick drugs to help Carl with his pain. He says the drugs helped his parents before they died. Rick asks Siddiq if he’s a doctor. Siddiq reveals that he was a resident. Rick asks if that’s why Carl brought Siddiq back to Alexandria. Carl says Siddiq wouldn’t have made it alone. He needed them.

The bombing continues and dirt falls on Carl. Michonne tells Dwight (Austin Amelio) to tell the Saviors to stop. Rosita (Christian Serratos) tells her about Hilltop is safe and they should take Carl there. Dwight says they have to stay in the sewer until the Saviors leave. They will stop soon because they will run out of ammo. If they try to leave Alexandria now, the Saviors will kill them.
Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Tara (Alanna Masterson) agree with Rosita. They need to go now. Dwight tells them to wait until the Saviors are gone. Rosita says okay. Dwight asks if going to Hilltop is the best plan. He starts to say something about all of them, together in one place… Daryl interrupts him and says all of them together, in one place will be the Saviors’ worst nightmare. The bombing stops. Daryl tells Rick that he’s going to make sure the Saviors are gone. A group of Alexandrians go with him.
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Michonne tells Rick that the Saviors have left. They can move Carl to the Hilltop. Rick says Carl won’t make it. He is going to stay there in the sewer with Carl. Michonne says she will stay too. He asks her to take Judith to Hilltop instead. Daryl steps up and says he will take Judith and keep her safe.
Carl says his goodbye to Judith. He gives her the sheriff’s hat and tells her to be strong for their dad and Michonne. Sometimes kids have to show their parents the way. He says their mom said that Carl would beat this world. He didn’t, but Judith will. Judith starts crying, so Daryl takes her and says goodbye to Carl.
Siddiq thanks Carl for saving him. He says he can’t repay him. He will show people that what Carl did, what he stands for, it matters. Siddiq says he will honor Carl. Siddiq leaves Carl with Michonne and Rick.
Michonne asks Carl if he’s okay. He tells her not to be sad. He doesn’t want her to remember this part. She has to be strong for Rick, Judith and herself. Carl tells Michonne that she’s his best friend. Michonne says he’s hers too. Rick tells Michonne that they need to move Carl.

Rick and Michonne carry Carl to the chapel and lay him on the ground. Carl thanks Rick for keeping him going this long. He talks about the kid he killed at the prison. The kid had a gun, but he was surrendering to Carl. Carl shot him anyway. He said it was too easy. Rick saw it and he knew how easy Carl could get lost. He laid down his gun to show Carl there is a better way. He accepted the people from Woodbury and stopped fighting. Carl says that was the right thing to do. And it can be that way again. Rick says he can’t go back to who he was before. Carl says he can’t kill everyone. There has to be something for after.
The Kingdom
Gavin takes Ezekiel to the auditorium and positions his men at the entrances. Ezekiel says things don’t have to be this way. Gavin says it’s too late. Ezekiel says he made compromises to save the lives of his people. He realized that he wasn’t saving his people. He was saving Gavin’s and the Saviors’. Ezekiel says he won’t save them anymore.
They hear a bang and Gavin tells them to come out or Ezekiel is dead. Carol and Morgan jump out on the stage and start shooting. Gavin is shot in the leg and drops his gun in front of Ezekiel. Ezekiel picks up the gun and helps Morgan and Carol take out the Saviors.
One of the Saviors knocks down Morgan and they fight. The guy has an open wound. Morgan reaches inside the wound and pulls the man’s guts out. Gavin sees this and runs away. Morgan jumps off the stage to go after Gavin. Ezekiel tries to stop him, but Morgan is relentless.
Gavin tries to hide, but Morgan finds him. Gavin pleads for his life. He says he ran a good crew and kept his word to Ezekiel. He says Morgan can go back to the Hilltop. Morgan just stares at him. Gavin says they can’t beat Negan. No matter what they do, everything will be the same in the morning. Morgan says no. He makes Gavin stand up.

Ezekiel and Carol catch up. They try to talk Morgan out of killing Gavin. Carol says Morgan doesn’t want to kill Gavin. Morgan says he has to. He picks up his bow staff to kill Gavin. Someone from behind stabs Gavin in the neck. Gavin falls to the ground and Henry is standing behind him. Morgan starts crying when he see Henry. Carol scolds Henry for not going to the cottage. Ezekiel tells Henry that everything will be resolved.
Farewell Carl Grimes
Carl talks about his dream of Alexandria after the war. He says Rick is older and he has a beard. The community is bigger. There are more people living there, working together so everyone can live. Carl this is how they should live.
Rick tells Carl that everything he did was for him. From the very start, he wanted to make a better life for Carl and then Judith. He promises to make Carl’s dream come true. Rick apologizes for not protecting Carl in the end. He says it’s a father’s job to protect his children. Carl says his only job was to love him.
Carl reaches for his gun. Michonne says that someone should do it for him. Carl says he has to do it himself. Rick and Michonne go outside. They hear a gunshot and Carl falls to the ground.

Back to the dreamscape, Judith walks through a garden and says hello to a man. He stands up an says hello to Judith. It’s Negan.
In the near future, Rick sits by the tree with the stained glass. His hand is covered in blood.
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Thoughts
No matter how prepared I am for a character’s death, it’s always hard. This one hurt! More than Glenn! I guess because I’ve read the comics and know that Carl lives in there. But there’s just something about watching Chandler Riggs grow up on screen. And now we won’t see him again with this group on this show. So Sad!
I guess the only thing, going forward, that concerns me is the blood on Rick’s hands at the end. Who’s blood is that? Is it Rick’s? He looks bad…almost sick. That would be a major blow to the fans if Rick were to die this season as well.
I have no words or thoughts…just emotions…RIP Carl Grimes.
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