Seed

"Seed" is the first episode of Season 3 of The Walking Dead. It premiered on October 14, 2012 at 9/8c on AMC.

Synopsis
The group has been on the run moving from house to house through rural Georgia for the last eight months. Carl has now become more proficient with firearms. Daryl seems to have officially replaced Shane Walsh as Rick's right hand man and Lori's pregnancy is advancing.

Moving as a cohesive unit, Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, and Carl breach a house, eliminate the walkers inside, and search the place to make sure it's safe for the group to camp out there. After the search is over, the others enter the house. Everyone starts to settle until T-Dog looks out the window and notices a group of walkers approaching. Everyone runs to the cars and they drive off.

The cars stop on a highway to discuss where they are headed. They open a map and discuss how they have been moving in circles for months, trying to escape the herd that passed on the Greene Family Farm. T-Dog and a few others head to gather some water, while Daryl and Rick go hunting. While hunting, they walk down a railroad, and observe a prison full of walkers. They've found shelter.

Rick starts to cut the fence so the group can get within the prison exterior. Glenn and Daryl then tie back the fence so no walkers can enter behind them. They start to run, stopping at the prison gates. Rick says someone has to get past the prison yard full of walkers to close the gate on the other side, Glenn offers, but Rick says he will do it. Rick tells Glenn, T-Dog, Beth, and Maggie to distract and kill the walkers through the fence. He tells Carol, Daryl, Hershel, and Carl to shoot walkers from the guard towers. Rick straps a rifle to his back and is handed some chains, Lori mans the fence. Rick heads towards the gate. He kills a few walkers on his way there and then secures the gates. He then enters a tower and with help from the rest of the group, shoots the remaining walkers in the yard to secure it.

Having taken the yard, the group sit down for a fireside meal and, at Hershel's request, Beth and Maggie sing an old Irish drinking song. Carol flirts with Daryl while he keeps watch at the main gate. Daryl starts to give Carol a massage, as she stated her shoulder hurt from the assault rifle's recoil, then they head back to the fire. After patrolling the fence, Rick makes plans to take the prison entirely, convincing the group that it'd be safer on the inside. He tells them how there will be food, weapons, and medicine in the prison, and that, "these [walkers] assholes don't stand a chance".

The next day, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, and Maggie take the interior while the rest serve as a distraction. Everything seems to be going well until they run into walkers wearing riot gear. However, they're taken out and the group advances into the prison. They enter Cell Block C, take out the few remaining walkers lurking inside, and find it to be secure. As everyone starts to set up in different cells, Carl starts to show an interest in Beth, then goes off to find his own cell.

Meanwhile, Michonne and Andrea aren't faring well. They've taken refuge in a deer cooler. Andrea is sick with influenza and Michonne makes Andrea take some aspirin she recovered from a store. Andrea presses Michonne to abandon her, but she refuses. They conclude they must move on as a group of walkers are advancing and Andrea will die if they stay, so they head off out towards the woods.

Lori confides in Hershel that she fears the baby might be stillborn, and that it might be born a walker. She fears that Rick and Carl hate her, and that she sometimes wishes she had died on the farm. Hershel assures that it isn't true and that the baby will love Lori. Nonetheless she makes Hershel promise that if the baby is a stillborn or if she and the baby both die in childbirth not to hesitate, and put them both down. The group finds a plethora of weapons and suit up to further explore the prison. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Hershel move deeper into the interior while Carl stays behind to guard the women. All seems quiet at first, but suddenly they run into several groups of walkers. In the darkness and confusion, Glenn and Maggie get separated from the group. When it's finally safe to venture back out, Hershel tries to find the two but is bitten on his calf by a walker that only appeared to be dead. The group then reunites and assists Hershel in getting out of the corridor. They take refuge in the cafeteria, where Rick, in an attempt to save Hershel, amputates his leg, causing him to go into shock and pass out from the ensuing blood loss. Then, five figures appear in the adjacent room. Daryl prepares to fire, but realizes they are not walkers but are actually more survivors living in the prison. He shines his flashlight in one of the prisoner's faces, who exclaims, "Holy shit!"

Co-Stars

 * Nick Gomez as Tomas.
 * Vincent Ward as Oscar.
 * Theodus Crane as Big Tiny.
 * Markice Moore as Andrew.

Uncredited

 * Pj McDonnell as Walker.
 * Moses J. Moseley as Pet Walker #1.
 * Theshay West as Pet Walker #2.
 * Michael Koske as Walker.
 * Mike Mundy as Walker.
 * William Hart as Walker.
 * Juan Bautista as Prison Walker.
 * Christian Higgins as Walker.
 * Dan Riker as Walker.

Deaths

 * None

Trivia

 * First Appearance of Axel.
 * First Appearance of Oscar.
 * First Appearance of Tomas.
 * First Appearance of Andrew.
 * First Appearance of Big Tiny.
 * Numerous changes occur within the main cast.
 * Jon Bernthal, who portrayed Shane Walsh, and Jeffrey DeMunn, who portrayed Dale Horvath, are no longer listed as main cast members, having been written off the series in Season 2.
 * Lauren Cohan, who portrays Maggie Greene, and Danai Gurira, who portrays Michonne, are both added to the main cast. Cohan was promoted to a TV Series regular after being a guest star in the second season, while this is Danai Gurira's first season on the series.
 * Like Allen in the Comic Series, the leg of Hershel Greene was amputated after being bitten while stepping over a walker.
 * In the Comic Series, the original intention was for Hershel to lose his leg instead of Allen.
 * The name of the episode, "Seed," may refer to when Hershel suggests that they plant seeds to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and soy beans within the prison yards. It may also refer to the idea that they have begun planting their own 'seed' within the prison, which will eventually provide a new life for them, or it may even be referring to Lori's unborn baby.
 * This is the first instance where both Carol Peletier and Beth Greene are seen killing walkers.
 * This is the first season premiere that isn't 90 minutes long.
 * This episode and "Say the Word" are the only episodes in Season 3, so far, to not contain a human death.