Season 7, Episode 16
- Alexandria crosses the rubicon when a confrontation with the Saviors arrives.
On his knees before an enraged Daryl, Dwight tells Rick that he has decided to join the effort to kill Negan. Dwight says that Negan is coming the next day with a few dozen troops to punish them, and offers to slow the Saviors down to buy them some time. Though Tara wants Dwight dead for his murder of Denise, Daryl stands down and Rick agrees. Daryl insists that he will still kill Dwight after the fight with Negan is over, but Rick bitterly muses that if he's lying, it's already over.
Meanwhile, Negan visits Sasha in her cell and says she's going to help him punish the group, and that he will kill three people, but Sasha is able to bargain him down to one. Sasha agrees to cooperate, deciding to ride in a coffin on the way to Alexandria, ostensibly to get some sleep. Sasha tells Eugene he can still come back from his choice before the Saviors depart. While listening to an iPod lent to her by Eugene, Sasha takes his poison pills and begins to have flashbacks to her time with Maggie, as well as her last day with Abraham before the night he was murdered. We learn that Sasha had a dream that Abraham would die, and begged him to sit out the fateful mission to Hilltop, insisting that Maggie needed to worry about herself, only to end up deeply regretting her outburst.
Preparations for battle begin. Jesus returns to Hilltop to inform Maggie of what's going on, and with Gregory absent, informs her that she must make the decision whether to lead Hilltop to aid Alexandria. King Ezekiel and Carol lead a regiment of Kingdom troops, and they encounter the lone Morgan, who is convinced by Ezekiel to join them in their journey to Alexandria to officially join the rebellion. With Oceanside too far away on such short notice, the Scavengers are brought to Alexandria as back-up. The Saviors are stymied by the roadblock Dwight promised, though Negan and Simon are unaware of Dwight's treachery. Eugene convinces Negan to let him try to talk Rick down.
The Saviors arrive at Alexandria, and Eugene asks Rick to surrender. Distraught over Eugene's betrayal, Rick and Rosita regretfully prepare to use their explosives to kill the Saviors, only for the charges to not go off. To Rick's horror, the Scavengers suddenly turn their guns on the Alexandrians, revealing they made a more profitable deal with the Saviors. Negan is delighted, and orders the Alexandrians to surrender and for Daryl to be returned to him as a prisoner so he can kill one Alexandrian, or everyone will die if they don't cooperate. Rick demands to see Sasha alive, and Negan opens the coffin... only to be attacked by a now undead Sasha, having died en-route. Carl takes advantage of the surprise to fire the first shots of the battle, giving Alexandria the chance to rebel against their captors. Rick attempts to make another deal with Jadis, but is shot in the side and quickly captured by the Scavenger leader.
The battle goes poorly for the outnumbered Alexandrians. The reanimated Sasha is unable to kill Negan, Rosita is injured, and Michonne is brutally beaten by a Scavenger from their intended sniper post. The wounded Rick is forced to kneel before Negan once again with Carl, much to the dismay of a solemn Dwight. Negan sneers that he will kill Carl and then destroy Rick's hands with Lucille. Rick accepts this, but reiterates his threat from the night Negan killed Glenn and Abraham - that he will kill Negan and all of his followers no matter what. Negan is unamused, and prepares to kill Carl with Lucille... but suddenly, Shiva roars onto the scene and kills and eats a Savior.
The Kingdom regiment arrives, with King Ezekiel leading the charge. Negan flees in terror from the tiger that narrowly missed him, and Maggie arrives leading Jesus, Enid, and others from Hilltop. The combined firepower of Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom is enough to kill or chase away the Saviors and Scavengers, Negan being forced to flee with Dwight and Simon. Rick and Carl find Michonne, who was only narrowly able to kill her assailant.
The various groups pick up the pieces from the battle. Dwight has the Savior outposts put on high alert, warned of imminent attack. Eugene lies that Sasha must have run out of air on the way to Alexandria, and Negan tells his Saviors that they are going to war. Sasha is found by Maggie, put down, and buried at Alexandria. Rick thanks Maggie for leading Hilltop to help them, but Maggie insists the decision was made by Glenn - all the way back when he first rescued Rick in Atlanta. Glenn's act of kindness started Rick's group as we know it, leading all the way up to the family and community the group enjoys now, even moreso now that they are united with other groups of survivors. Maggie says she was just following Glenn's lead.
- Abhorrent Admirer: Negan is attracted to Sasha. Even worse, Jadis outright asks Michonne if she can have sex with Rick, who is appropriately very awkward and unamused.
- And Then John Was a Zombie: Sasha reanimates after dying from Eugene's suicide pills.
- Arc Symbol: The Greene family pocket watch, a symbol of the group's hope for the future even with a war on their hands.
- Back for the Finale: Abraham appears in flashbacks, after having been killed in the season premiere.
- Badass Boast: Ezekiel roars one out as the Kingdom and Hilltop come to the rescue:Ezekiel: END THESE SAVIORS AND THEIR ACCOMPLICES!! ALEXANDRIA WILL NOT FALL — NOT ON THIS DAY!!
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. Michonne takes a vicious beating at the hands of one of the Scavengers during a fight, with her face bloody and swollen at the end.
- Behind the Black: Despite the Saviors and scavengers occupying Alexandria's open space after the first gun fight, no one notices Shiva until she leaps in from the right side of the screen, or the rest of the Kingdoms regiment until they're within firing range of their weapons. Possibly somewhat justified in Shiva's case, as big cats often use stealth to help hunt prey, and could conceivably have stalked her way there, but as to how the rest of the Kingdom's group got in without anyone noticing - and with horses at that, is anyone's guess. Presumably we can argue that the gunshots elsewhere in Alexandria helped cover the Kingdomers' arrival.
- Big Badass Battle Sequence: Two. The first occurs when the reanimated Sasha gives the group the chance to strike back against the Scavengers. The second, which is played straighter, occurs when Ezekiel and Maggie arrive with their groups to chase the Saviors and Scavengers out of Alexandria.
- Big Damn Heroes: The regiments from the Kingdom and Hilltop arrive just in time to save Carl's life and give the Alexandrians the distraction needed to overthrow their captors and fight off Negan. More directly, Shiva dives into frame to maul a Savior to death right as Negan's about to kill Carl.
- Bittersweet Ending: Sasha is dead, Negan and Simon escape the battle and rally their still very large and dangerous army for war, Eugene has been essentially removed from the group for the foreseeable future, and the Scavengers have turned on the group. However, the rebellion against the Saviors has officially begun, as Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom are all now official allies and are prepared for the coming war — and now have a man on the inside, Dwight.
- Book Ends:
- Both the first and last episodes of Season 7, as well as the Season 6 finale, have the word "day" in the title.
- Negan wears the same outfit in the premiere and finale.
- Rick threatens Negan after the death(s) of someone in his group, only this time he is much more effective at getting his point across.
- Negan threatens to harm Carl when he realizes Rick still won't submit.
- Negan's victims in the premiere, Glenn and Abraham, appear in some medium — Abraham physically returns in Sasha's flashbacks of the day he died, while Glenn is honored in Maggie's speech at the end.
- There is also a Lucille lineup, although for this episode's case, it is reduced to only Rick and Carl, in contrast to the eleven present in the Season 6 finale and Season 7 premiere.
- Bullying a Dragon: Jadis tries to talk smack with Negan when he decides to give her a little short of what he had promised. She seems to recognize this trope, as she backs down and accepts his reduced offer.
- Call-Back:
- Negan has a smaller line-up with Rick and Carl as in the season premiere, only this time it goes south for him.
- Morgan, Ezekiel, and Carol all gained their resolve to fight the Saviors in "Bury Me Here".
- We learned that Alexandria had faked Maggie's death to Negan in order to preserve their alliance with Hilltop back in "Service".
- Negan mentions how he made spaghetti for Carl and enjoyed some lemonade back in "Hearts Still Beating".
- It appears that the Scavengers took Gabriel's promise that the Saviors would have whatever they wanted in "New Best Friends" in a Gone Horribly Right fashion, as they made a deal with Negan to join him.
- Eugene joined the Saviors, and Sherry fled the Sanctuary back in "Hostiles and Calamities".
- Jesus previously was pleased at Maggie's potential to become leader of Hilltop in "Go-Getters", and his wish finally comes to fruition in this episode.
- Daryl finds one of Dwight's carved figurines. This trait of Dwight was established since his first appearance, in "Always Accountable".
- Jadis's constant insistence upon haggling gets turned around on her with Negan and she learns that he's not nearly as good-natured about it as Rick was.
- The Cavalry: The Kingdom's forces act as this for Alexandria after Jadis' betrayal, some of their fighters enacting the trope literally. Maggie and Hilltop then form a second wave.
- Roy, the Savior who bossed Enid around at the Hilltop, is killed by the zombified Sasha.
- Continuity Nod:
- Maggie recalls the day Glenn met Rick and saved his life in the first two episodes of the series, long ago. She also remembers where she's been throughout the series — Hershel's farm, the prison, Alexandria, etc.
- Sasha has flashbacks to the last day of Abraham's life in "Last Day On Earth" and her watching the sunrise with Maggie in Season 5's "Them". During one of her flashbacks, Abraham tells her that he likes the way she calls bullshit, which is what he told her was a reason he became attracted to her during Season 6's "Always Accountable".
- Tara is eager to kill Dwight for his murder of Denise in Season 6's "Twice As Far".
- Negan, Dwight, and Simon fleeing Alexandria in a truck after losing their fight and their soldiers with Alexandria bears similarities to when The Governor, Martinez, and Shumpert fled for parts unknown back in the Season 3 finale, "Welcome to the Tombs". Only this time, Negan hasn't lost the bulk of his army, let alone killed them himself.
- Defiant to the End: Rick is not taking Negan's bullshit when kneeling before him this time, throwing his threats from the season premiere back at him, even faced with the prospect of Carl being killed and losing his hands. Additionally, Sasha refuses to join the Saviors and takes Eugene's suicide pills, and when she reanimates, attacks Negan and kills another Savior in death.
- Didn't See That Coming: Negan is caught off guard TWICE:
- He tries to use Sasha as a bargaining chip to make Rick surrender, but when he opens the coffin she's in she has already reanimated into a walker and attacks him, because she secretly took Eugene's suicide pill while inside.
- Once he has Rick and Carl at his mercy, he is caught off guard when Shiva, a giant tiger, launches onto the scene and starts eating his men. Shortly afterwards, soldiers from The Hilltop and The Kingdom arrive and Negan sees that Maggie is still alive.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: It is revealed that Sasha had a dream that Abraham had drowned at the beach literally hours before he died at Negan's hands. While it futureshadows his impending death, it also futureshadows the group's involvement at Oceanside.
- Driven to Suicide: Sasha takes Eugene's suicide pills, dies on the way to Alexandria, and attacks Negan and kills a Savior upon reanimation. Jesus later helps Maggie put her down.
- Dynamic Entry: The arrival of The Cavalry is signaled by Shiva leaping into frame with a roar and eating a Savior's face.
- Eternally Pearly-White Teeth: Aside from a few quick shots of blood in her mouth during her fight, Michonne's teeth are spotless despite the rest of her face being a bloody mess.
- Evil All Along: The Scavengers turn out to have been working for the Saviors and defuse Rick's initial stand-off with Negan, and later wound Rick, Rosita, and Michonne.
- Face Death with Dignity: Sasha is chilling with her iPod before her Heroic Suicide. Thankfully averted by Carl, who calmly waits to be Lucilled by Negan until the Kingdom (specifically Shiva) makes a Dynamic Entry.
- Face–Heel Turn: The Scavengers are outed as outright antagonists in this episode. Rick, Rosita, and the others also appear to no longer consider Eugene one of theirs after his declaration that he's Negan.
- Flipping the Bird: Negan gives the gesture to the Alexandrian-Hilltop-Kingdom alliance during his escape.
- For Want Of A Nail: Maggie's speech at the end of the episode states that Glenn's decision to risk his life and save Rick when they first met in Atlanta was what changed everything. Glenn didn't know Rick and could have left him to die, but he saved him and not only did Rick never forget that act, he let it influence his future choices. Maggie also says Glenn made the choice to help Rick for her, and it was that choice that brought everyone together where they are now.
- Gory Discretion Shot: The scene cuts before Maggie stabs the zombified Sasha.
- Heroic BSoD: Morgan was in the middle of one when Ezekiel and Carol convinced him to join with them in the attack against the Saviors.
- Heroic Suicide: Sasha kills herself so she could turn into a walker and foil the Saviors' Evil Plan.
- He's Back!: After enduring a season of psychological torture from Negan, breaking Rick down further each time, it is seeing the apparent death of Michonne and seeing King Ezekiel and the rest of the Kingdom in action FINALLY gives Rick the resolve he needs to see there were others to fight against the Saviors.
- Innocuously Important Episode: Not this episode, but Season 5's "Them" — often decried as a forgettable mourning episode, Sasha's flashbacks to the end of that episode confirm that it was a major stepping stone in Sasha's life and desire to live again after all she had lost, and the way she goes out in the end.
- Internal Reveal: Negan and the Saviors learn of Maggie's survival, and the alliance that had formed between Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom.
- Kill the Ones You Love: Maggie is ultimately the one who puts down Sasha for good.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Judging by Dwight's message to Daryl at the end, it seems he was unaware of the Scavengers working for Negan.
- The Mole: The Scavengers leaked Rick's rebellion to Negan. Dwight also becomes this for the group inside the Saviors.
- Mythology Gag:
- Once again, the possibility is entertained of Rick losing his hand(s) like his comic book counterpart.
- Jadis asking Michonne if she can have sex with Rick is similar to a scene in the comics where Carol asked Lori if she could have a threesome with her and Rick.
- Not Helping Your Case: Dwight tries to convince Rick's group he wants to work with them and help them kill Negan and the Saviors, but they are all understandably hesitant to trust him and many of them just want to kill him and be done with it. When Tara reminds him of how he killed her girlfriend Denise, Dwight simply says he wasn't aiming for her, while glancing at Daryl, his intended victim. This just pisses Daryl off and he slams Dwight against the wall while holding him at knifepoint.
- Oh, Crap!: Negan was completely unprepared for the arrival of Shiva, and is also surprised to learn of Maggie's survival. Not to mention when he opens the coffin and an undead Sasha pounces on him: "HOLY GODDAMN!!"
- Once More, with Clarity: The flashbacks of this episode put Sasha's arc in this season in better clarity. The reason Sasha is so dedicated to protecting Maggie is because the day they were captured by Negan, she insisted that Maggie worry about herself in an attempt to keep Abraham from going into danger. Upon Abraham's death, she devoted herself to helping and protecting Maggie for the vast majority of the remainder of her life, regretting her words in this episode's flashbacks.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Tara, who's one of the gentlest heroes in the lineup, is the most demanding of Daryl to kill Dwight in revenge for Denise's murder.
- Outside-Context Problem: Invoked to glorious effect when Shiva comes out of nowhere and mauls a Savior, seconds before Negan is about to bash Carl's head in. Understandably, none of the Saviors were expecting to have to fight a tiger; between Shiva's sudden appearance, Sasha's turning, and Maggie's being alive, Negan is reduced to frantic ranting as he's forced to make a run for it.
- Pet the Dog: Negan gets a somewhat tender scene where Sasha asks to be transported in the coffin, thanking Sasha for her cooperation. Even the music of the scene remains soft and gentle.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: The day Abraham died, Sasha had a dream that he drowned and tried to keep him from joining the mission to Hilltop, afraid of her nightmare coming true.
- Rooftop Confrontation: Michonne's fight occurs on a high roof.
- Rousing Speech: At the end of the episode, Negan announces to his men that they're going to war against their rebelling vassal states. Meanwhile, Rick, Ezekiel, and Maggie address their collected constituents at Alexandria about what happens next.
- Sarcasm Failure: This is the first episode where Negan isn't in control of the situation — Shiva's arrival (and to a lesser extent, Sasha turning and attacking him) throws him off so much that all he can do is rant incredulously about the fact there is a tiger in the fight as he makes his escape.
- Season Finale: The seventh one.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Jadis and the Scavengers.
- Sword Cane: Ezekiel uses his on a Savior who gets too close.
- Thanatos Gambit: Sasha performs a Heroic Suicide so she could turn into a walker in hopes of (and successfully) foil the Saviors' Evil Plan.
- This Means War!: Rick's group begins their rebellion against the Saviors. During the fight soldiers from The Hilltop and The Kingdom arrive to support Rick against The Saviors and eventually force them to retreat. Once they arrive back at The Sanctuary, Negan announces to his men "we are going to war!"
- Tragic Keepsake: Morgan wears Benjamin's body armor, which is too small for him.
- True Companions: Maggie's final speech at the end of the episode establishes that everyone in Alexandria, The Hilltop, and The Kingdom have become this. They all started out somewhere else, complete strangers to each other, but have grown into one huge family who would willingly sacrifice themselves to give everyone else a chance to survive. As Maggie stated, it all started with Rick and Glenn, but their group kept growing from Atlanta, to Hershel's farm, to the prison and finally to where they are now.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: When the Hilltop and Kingdom forces show up to turn the tide, the Saviors and Scavengers quickly set up a smokescreen and flee.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: We don't see what became of Gregory after he left Hilltop for a mission with Kal. Maggie and Jesus suspect that he's gone to rat them out to the Saviors, but we never learn for sure and if he has, the end of the episode makes it moot. Likewise, we still don't know what happened with Heath.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- In a flashback, Sasha, trying to keep Abraham from putting himself in harm's way, said that "Maggie needs to take care of Maggie". Abraham calls her out on it and correctly guesses that she already regrets it.
- Negan gives this to Rick when he was actually going to detonate the bombs in the area with Eugene in the vicinity, even though they no longer consider Eugene in their group anymore.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Sasha's last words to Eugene are to inform him that it's not too late to step up and atone for what he did.
- You Are in Command Now: With Gregory missing and being a poor excuse for a leader anyway, Maggie officially steps up as the leader of Hilltop Colony in this episode.
