The Suicide King

The Suicide King is the ninth episode of Season 3 of The Walking Dead and the first episode of the second half of the season. It aired on February 10, 2013 at 9/8c on AMC.

Plot
In the arena, The Governor declares that Merle and Daryl will fight to the death. Andrea begs the Governor to stop, but he insists it's out of his hands and up to the crowd. Merle kicks Daryl down, some of the Woodbury guards bring in walkers, and Merle tells Daryl to follow his lead, Merle states he will get him and Daryl out.

Rick and Maggie fire into the crowd, Rick throws a gas-grenade, flooding the whole arena with smoke. The group rescue Merle and Daryl, killing Haley in the process. Merle kicks down a fence and guides the group away from Woodbury. A walker finds its way to the breach in the fence and enters the town, with more walkers later following.

Later, Rick and the group rendezvous with Glenn and Michonne at the car where they last parked it. Glenn raises his gun at the sight of Merle and Michonne brings out her katana. Merle laughs off the threat and informs Michonne that Andrea is sleeping with The Governor. The group is shocked to learn Andrea is alive and well in Woodbury.

Back at the prison, Hershel dresses Allen's wound as Tyreese makes plans to bury Donna outside. Hershel warns Tyreese that others in his group may be less accepting of newcomers. "I wouldn't get too comfortable here," he says. Carl then locks the door.

Meanwhile, Rick, Glenn and Maggie refuse to let Merle accompany them back to the prison. "Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once," Daryl says. Realizing they're at an impasse, Daryl parts ways with the group and disappears into the forest with Merle.

Rick tells Michonne they'll tend to her injuries at the prison, but after that, she's gone.

Tyreese and his group carry Donna's body outside for a burial. Ben and Allen suggest ambushing Carl and Carol, who are standing guard nearby, but Tyreese and Sasha shoot down the idea. "These are good people," Tyreese says. Beth and Axel bring out shovels, and Tyreese and Sasha quickly grab the shovels, so Allen and Ben do not get them.

On their way back to the prison, Rick and the others push a truck from the middle of the road. A walker jumps out at Glenn and Glenn proceeds to smash in the skull of the walker with his boot, Glenn then turns his rage on Rick for not killing The Governor: "Do you know what he did to her?" he shouts, referring to Maggie. Maggie calms the situation down by saying they can deal with this back at the prison.

Back in Woodbury, Andrea tells Milton that nine men were injured in the attack, she informs Milton that Dr. Stevens is tending to their injuries, Andrea then asks about The Governor. Milton reports that The Governor is tending to a project and won't open his apartment door.

Nearby, Martinez and other Woodbury guards threaten residents who are trying to leave town. As Andrea tries to calm everyone down, a walker mauls a man down the street. "Help him! Somebody, please!" a woman pleads. The Governor emerges from his apartment, walks over to the infected Woodbury resident, and shoots the man dead. The Governor then walks back inside as nothing had happened.

Carol and Carl are discussing how quiet it is, and how they would love to hear some noises like a jumbo jet. Carol and Carl then open and close the gates as Rick and the others have returned to the prison. Carol is crestfallen when she learns that Daryl left with Merle. Carl then asks about Oscar, but Rick just says "No".

In the Governor's apartment, Andrea urges him to reassure the residents. "I'm through holding their hands," the Governor says as he loads guns. "We're at war." Andrea asks what Daryl was doing in Woodbury, and the Governor confesses he was holding Glenn and Maggie. "Why didn't you tell me they were here?" Andrea asks. "You're just a visitor here," the Governor replies.

At the prison, Rick walks through the common room but ignores Tyreese's group. "When he"s ready, let me do the talking," Tyreese tells Allen, Sasha and Ben. In the cell block, Beth hands Judith to Rick. The baby's sobs rattle him.

Meanwhile, Andrea and Milton try to pacify panicked residents that have gathered outside The Governor's home. Andrea rallies the crowd with promises of perseverance and rebuilding: "Years from now, when they write about this plague in the history books, they will write about Woodbury," she says. The crowd murmurs in agreement as The Governor watches from his window.

Back at the prison, Hershel dresses Glenn's wounds and observes tension between Glenn and Maggie. He urges both Glenn and Maggie to share their feelings. "Don't disappear on me," he later tells Maggie and then they hug.

That night, Hershel tells Rick that Michonne won't be well enough to travel for another couple of days, at least a week. The group agrees that The Governor will retaliate against them, and Carol predicts they'll be outnumbered and outgunned. "We could use some reinforcements," Hershel says, referring to Tyreese and his group.

Rick finally meets with Tyreese, who insists his group can help defend the prison. Rick refuses at first — "I can't be responsible," he claims — but is on the verge of reconsidering when he hallucinates a vision of Lori on the catwalk in a white wedding dress, her face covered in the shadows.

"What do you want from me?" Rick screams, waving his gun. "I can't help you! Get out!" Unsure who Rick is screaming at, Tyreese's group starts to back away and Glenn orders them outside, rushing them before Rick hurts someone. Everyone stares at Rick as he frantically paces the common room.

Co-Stars

 * Tyler Chase as Ben.
 * Travis Love as Shupert.
 * Daniel Thomas May as Allen.
 * E. Roger Mitchell as Paul.

Reception
The Atlantic Magazine wrote, "What a hot steaming mess of mind-numbing numbitude this episode was! No, check that, it wasn't boring -- it was offensive." Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly wrote,
 * "The show still runs into problems when the characters talk too much...every...new character is basically a walking Meatbag waiting to be chomped or sliced...
 * "...the story of The Walking Dead is the story of very different leaders offering their own perspective on how humanity should function, while the story behind the show is the story of very different creative personalities offering their own perspective on how The Walking Dead should function. These final eight episodes have now become, perhaps inadvertently, Mazzara's final statement on The Walking Dead. So it has to make you anxious that, with time running down on the clock, the show took a moment to reintroduce not one, but two of the worst running plotlines in the show's history...Carol, mourning for the absent Daryl, said: "Sophia used to wake the neighbors."...Carol also mentioned Ed, her abusive dead husband, and how -- if he walked through the door -- she might still run to him. It was, on one hand, a nice reminder that all of these people used to have a different life. It was also, however, a reminder that these people's lives used to be much less interesting...It's times like this that Walking Dead reminds you of Battlestar Galactica, and it doesn't benefit from the comparison: While the characters on BSG decided to keep moving forward, the characters on Walking Dead appear stuck in their tracks, reliving the same traumas over and over. Will Andrea fall for next season's villain, too?..."
 * "...Lori was not a good character. The show killed her off: That was wise. The show has now brought her back in ghost form twice: That is not wise."

Trivia

 * The Governor mentions to Andrea that Rick and his group killed seven of their people: Tim, Crowley, Gargulio, Haley, Bob Adams, Eisenberg‎, and Richard Foster. This contradicts with the actual number of dead, as more were killed during the attack, six unnamed defenders in total, in addition to Warren.
 * The Governor also wrongfully blames the deaths of Tim, Crowley and Gargulio on Rick's group, when in fact the three men were killed by Michonne (who was unaffiliated with Rick at the time) and Merle, with the Governor himself being partially responsible for the deaths having been the one who sent them out after Michonne.