Terminus

"Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive, survive."

- Terminus' broadcast.

"You're the butcher or you're the cattle."

- Terminus' motto.

Terminus is a location in Season 4 and Season 5 of AMC's The Walking Dead.

Pre-Prison Attack
While on a supply run, Daryl, Michonne, Bob, and Tyreese hear scrambled broadcast mentioning Terminus. It is soon interrupted by Daryl dodging a walker in the middle of the road, which eventually leads to them fighting off a large herd of walkers.

Post-Prison
"Sanctuary for all. Community for all. Those who arrive survive."

- The phrase written on the sign that Tyreese, Carol, Lizzie, and Mika encounter while on the tracks.

Michonne, Rick, Carl, Maggie, Bob, Sasha, Glenn and The Claimers discovered a similar sign attached to a railway freight carriage and a map.

The maps show railway lines that lead to Terminus. Each railroad route intermittently has signs along it leading the way to Terminus. It appears to be close to Macon, GA. (See Gallery)

Terminus appears physically for the first time in the episode "Us", as Abraham, Bob, Eugene, Glenn, Tara, Rosita, Maggie and Sasha finally reach it, where they are greeted by Mary, one of the residents who offers them a bite to eat and welcomes them to Terminus.

It appears to be an abandoned railroad yard termination complex for maintenance of trains.

The leaders of Terminus appear to be Mary and Gareth. They indicate the sanctuary has been in existing since the beginning of the apocalypse. Members of this community are called "Terminants".

Terminus is hinted to be the home of a cannibalistic cult. It is seen in the episode that Mary is always cooking an unknown meat product at all her appearances. As the group is running from gunfire, human remains could be spotted in a courtyard for a brief period, muffled cries for help can be heard from nearby railway containers, which raises even more questions, and finally the desire to keep humans captive may mean that they are keeping them as a food supply for basic survival. It is also referenced in the beginning of the episode "A" when Rick teaches Carl how to catch a rabbit by directing it into a trap to get food, his lesson is similar to the whole chase sequences when the group is being directed by gunfire to possibly trap them and obtain a proper food source.

During the gunfire chase, Rick, Daryl, Carl and Michonne run into a memorial room full of candles, with names ages and possibly where they were from written on the floor with personal effects.

Once they reach an open courtyard, the group is surrounded, and Gareth instructs each of them individually to walk over to a train car and enter. Inside they meet Glenn, Maggie, Sasha, Bob, Tara, Eugene, Abraham, and Rosita already inside. Rick then states that they are "screwing with the wrong people".

Season 5
It is shown in a flashback, that after putting the signs up leading to Terminus, a group of bandits came and attacked Terminus, imprisoning some in the train carts - raping some of the women - and killing others, leading Terminus to become a distraught place, where they do not trust any who arrive.

It is later confirmed that Terminus is a cannibalistic cult, where they kill then carve up any new arrives to Terminus. The compound is attacked by Carol in an attempt to free her friends. She explodes a large tank of flammable gas and allows a large herd of walkers to enter. The walkers overrun Terminus and many of the residents are killed. The group escapes, leaving Terminus behind in flames.

Occupation of Terminus
"The signs...they were real. It was a sanctuary. People came and took this place. And they raped. And they killed. And they laughed! Over weeks... but we got out. And we fought and we got it back and we heard the message! You're the butcher... or you're the cattle."

- Mary regarding the Terminus' occupation.

The Occupation of Terminus was a period that occurred long before Rick and his group came to Terminus. It is revealed that after putting up signs directing people to Terminus in hopes of creating a sanctuary a group of bandits saw the signs, came and took over the building. They herded the people into train cars and kept them their as prisoners. What followed next was a period of habitual rape, torture and murder. However after weeks of occupation the people of Terminus managed to escape and overpower their captors, retaking the facility. They managed to capture the bandit leader and imprisoned him permanently in a train car as revenge, leading him to go insane and mutter "We're the same" over and over (referencing how the Terminants and the bandits are now the same kind of monster). The occupation convinced the Terminants that there was no good left in the world and by trying to be good they were making themselves easy targets. The Terminants adopted a new ideology built on the idea of taking advantage of trusting people so that they themselves can survive. This is evident in their motto: "You're the butcher or you're the cattle."

After their victory over the bandits and the end of the occupation the Terminants built a shrine to those who had been killed during the occupation in a building. It was lit with candles and had the victims' names and lifespans written on the floor along with personal effects. On the wall is written: "Never Again. Never Trust. We First." This shows how Terminus devolved from a sanctuary to a place that thinks of itself first.

Residents

 * Gareth (Leader)
 * Mary (Deceased)
 * Alex (Deceased)
 * Albert
 * Martin (Deceased)
 * Broadcasting Woman
 * Terminus Resident 1
 * Terminus Resident 2
 * Terminus Resident 3
 * Terminus Resident 4
 * Terminus Resident 5
 * Poncho Girl
 * Terminus Butcher (Deceased)
 * Terminus Butcher 2 (Deceased)
 * Cynthia
 * Kaley
 * Chuck
 * At least 17 unnamed residents.

Newcomers

 * Glenn Rhee
 * Maggie Greene
 * Sasha
 * Bob Stookey
 * Tara Chambler
 * Abraham Ford
 * Eugene Porter
 * Rosita Espinosa
 * Rick Grimes
 * Daryl Dixon
 * Carl Grimes
 * Michonne
 * Sam
 * Crazed Man
 * At least 5 unnamed captives

Deaths

 * Alex
 * Terminus Butcher
 * Terminus Butcher 2
 * Poncho Girl
 * Sam
 * Martin
 * Crazed Man
 * Mary
 * Numerous Terminus residents
 * Numerous unseen captives.

Trivia

 * "Terminus", translates to "the end of the line", is the original name of Atlanta. In the 1830's it was the name of a settlement at the end of the Western and Atlantic Railroad line.
 * "Terminus" is the Roman God who protected boundary markings. "Terminus" is also Latin for "Border."
 * The Terminus scenes are not far from where the series pilot was filmed in Atlanta. The skyline and topography around the building have been digitally altered to remove recognizable landmarks and the city skyline behind it in some angles.
 * The frequency from which Terminus' radio message was broadcasted in "Isolation" is 97.1 FM, in reality this station belongs to the station WSRV, based in Gainesville, Georgia.
 * There is a deleted scene from "A" in which Rick and Michonne see zombies attached to chains and remains on the floor.
 * Rick, Daryl, Carl, and Michonne enter Terminus through the "map room".
 * The church with the candles is where the community honors fallen Terminants, with the names and belongings of members of their community who have died. The following is painted on the walls: "first always" "never again" "never trust" "we first always". The writing on the wall show that the Terminants were betrayed by someone they trusted before.