The Season 11 return of AMC’s The Walking Dead has finally dropped, and viewers got to find out what happened directly after the strike by Leah’s (Lynn Collins) group against Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) group.
In addition to this, the storm at Alexandria continues.
So, let’s take a look at who survives the Season 11B premiere — and who doesn’t.
The storm rages at Alexandria
The last viewers saw of Alexandria was a fierce storm causing absolute havoc. Walkers had broken through as well, making the situation much worse.
When The Walking Dead returns, Judith (Cailey Fleming) and Gracie (Annabelle Holloway) had gotten themselves stuck in the basement as the others fought walkers.
In Episode 9 (No Other Way), the adults realize that the children have been separated, but there’s not much they can do as there are walkers everywhere.
Meanwhile, Judith and Gracie are doing the best that they can but are quickly getting overwhelmed. Gracie then uses her faithful danger whistle, which alerts Aaron (Ross Marquand) of their predicament.
Aaron gets stuck
Quickly, Aaron jumps in through the basement window and manages to get the girls out of there. The only problem is that he is now stuck with many new walkers that are itching for a snack.
Luckily, Judith and Gracie alert Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and she arrives with some rope and rescues Aaron.
The Reapers attack
While this is going down in Alexandria, things are getting dicey with Maggie’s group. Episode 8 of The Walking Dead saw Leah unleash the fearsome hwacha, a medieval Korean weapon that shoots fireworks.
This attack continues, and Maggie almost doesn’t make it as she seeks shelter. However, she finally makes it to — relative — safety. Here, she finds an injured Elijah (Okea Eme-Akwari), along with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and they continue plotting what to do next.
They all get separated, and Maggie almost gets caught by Carver (Alex Meraz) until Negan and Elijah jump in and retaliate. Even with three against him, Carver gives as good as he gets until Negan turns up with a bell and some sand and finally gets the upper hand.
Does Maggie thank Negan for saving her life?
No, she does not.
Just as Carver is about to be killed, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) turns up and declares that Carver is their way out as they can use him as a bargaining chip against Leah.
Elijah is completely p**sed about this because the Reapers killed his sister, but they have little choice, and Daryl contacts Leah via walkie-talkie.
Father Gabriel has a religious moment
Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) has reached the “takes no bulls**t” stage of the zombie apocalypse.
So, when he comes across the Reaper’s religious guy, he’s not really interested in talking fanatical takes on God and religion with him.
However, this guy manages to get under Gabriel’s skin.
Whoops, just kidding, Gabriel knifes the guy, and there’s now one less Reaper spouting their religious dogma.
Daryl’s escape plan plays out
Daryl contacts Leah, and his group meets up with her to negotiate, using Carver as their bargaining chip.
Elijah is having none of this but doesn’t have much of a say in the matter because he is injured and dead weight if they don’t enact this plan.
Leah manages to get Carver back, and things take a turn for the worse as she also has a sniper trained on them.
Except that very sniper shoots Carver in the leg instead.
Nope, that’s not a Reaper, that’s Gabriel, and the group instantly looks smug. However, Leah still tries to keep the upper hand, but a deal is struck, and it looks like Daryl’s group can leave.
Except, we all know what the Reapers are capable of — Maggie in particular.
And she, too, has entered the “gives no f**ks stage of the apocalypse. Single-handedly, she takes out the two guys flanking Leah and also injures her.
Daryl is p**sed, but it’s all done now. All he can do is track his ex.
When he finds her, he has a quick word and leaves her be rather than kill her.
For those wondering if Leah lives or dies, according to an interview that Lynn Collins did with Digital Spy, fans can still expect to see this character pop up further down the track in The Walking Dead.
They then collect up all of the food and head off for Alexandria.
Negan decides to go bye-bye
Negan has been walking on eggshells since Maggie returned to The Walking Dead. Now is no exception.
Even with saving her life, he is still not entirely convinced she won’t off him — especially not since she just killed those Reapers rather than follow Daryl’s plan.
So, while Maggie returns to check on Alden (Callan McAuliffe) and discovers he has died and turned, Negan shows up and lets her know that he is taking off on his own rather than hanging around here any longer.
Things are looking up at Alexandria
Maggie’s group then returns to Alexandria, and many reunions are made.
In particular, can we all just take a moment to appreciate just how excited Daryl was to see Connie (Lauren Ridloff), whom he thought was dead?
The group catches up learns of what happened with the Reapers, Alden’s terrible fate, and what went down at Alexandria during the storm.
The Commonwealth turns up
Just when it seems like Alexandria can catch a break, the Commonwealth turns up, and Alexandria is automatically on high alert.
Luckily, Eugene (Josh McDermitt) comes out quickly and convinces everyone to hear out what Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) has to say.
So, for those who had “Eugene squeals” on their Walking Dead bingo card, now is the time to cross it off.
Lance gives a pep talk on how awesome the Commonwealth is, and, suddenly, it is six months down the track.
Maggie is presiding over Hilltop, but the Commonwealth has returned.
“Open up,” says one of the Commonwealth stormtroopers.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Maggie responds.
The guard then removes his mask and — low and behold — it’s Daryl!
“Yeah, yeah, it does,” he replies.
It seems a mark in the sand has just been set between these two characters.
However, viewers will have to wait until the next episode to find out more.
The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.