Season 7 of AMC's The Walking Dead, which will consist of sixteen episodes, is scheduled to air on October 23rd, 2016, at 9/8c after being renewed on October 30th, 2015.
This season adapts material from Issues #100+ of the Comic Series.
Plot
"The Day Will Come When You Won't Be"
Heavy breathing and stifled sobs can be heard in as Rick stares at the ground in shock.
"What? Was the joke that bad?" Negan taunts. "I'm gonna kill you," Rick says. "Not today, not tomorrow. But I'm gonna kill you." Negan points out that Simon is his right hand man and asks if Rick has one and refers to "anyone of these fine people still breathing". He asks what weapon Rick had; Simon hands Rick's axe to Negan and Negan drags Rick inside the RV.
Negan slams the axe into a table and sits in the driver’s seat, his back to Rick. He dares Rick to kill him with the axe. Rick grabs it and charges forward, but Negan turns around at the last second with an assault rifle pointed at Rick. Negan orders him to drop the axe. He says to Rick "I want you to think about what could have happened. I want you to think about what happened and I want you to think about what can still happen". He starts the RV and proceeds to drive off.
Negan drives through heavy fog and smoke; right through a herd of walkers, blood and guts splattering the windshield. He asks Rick if that reminds him of anyone he knows.
Rick thinks about Rosita and Glenn.
Negan stops the RV; it’s swarmed with walkers. "You are mine. The people back there? They are mine. This? This is mine,” he says, pointing to Rick’s axe. He throws it outside and orders Rick to retrieve it. Rick doesn’t move. “Get my axe,” Negan demands, pointing Lucille at Rick’s face. Rick gets up. Negan pushes him out the door.
Rick thinks about Sasha.
As Rick fights the walkers amongst the fog, he thinks about Eugene, Aaron, Abraham, Maggie and Daryl. He climbs to the top of the RV and sees they’re at the smoldering wall of logs that the Saviors previously used to block their path.
Rick sees the Library Survivor, now turned walker, hanging by his neck on the overpass — the captive the Saviors killed while Rick and his group watched.
Rick thinks about Michonne and Carl and breaks down, remembering what happened.
Flashback to the previous night: Rick’s group kneels as Negan deliberates over who to kill. “And you.. are..,” he says as he stops in front of Abraham. "It." Abraham flashes a final peace sign to a devastated Sasha, before Negan strikes Lucille down on his head. “Suck... my... nuts,” a now groggy Abraham says defiantly as blood drips down his face.
Everyone in the group cries as Negan continuously beats Abraham’s head to a bloody pulp. When he’s finally finished, Negan orders a crying Rosita to look at his "dirty girl" - meaning Lucille - which is now covered in Abraham's blood and brains. Enraged, Daryl leaps up and punches Negan in the face before he’s subdued by two Saviors. Dwight points Daryl's crossbow at his head and asks Negan if he can do it, but Negan has other plans. Dwight drags Daryl back in line.
As punishment for Daryl’s transgression, Negan states that he needs Rick's group to know him. Negan says "So... back to it". He turns and slams Lucille down on Glenn's head twice. Maggie stares at her husband in horror and shock, the blows having forced one of Glenn's eyes from its socket. Negan begins to taunt Glenn as he tries to speak. "Maggie, I'll find you," he says to his devastated wife before being bludgeoned to death. "Lucille is thirsty. She's a vampire bat!" Negan quips after he has killed Glenn and walks back towards the group.
Back in the present: Rick lies on top of the RV, axe next to him, haunted by Glenn and Abraham’s deaths. From inside the RV, Negan shoots at Rick through the roof and again orders him to get the axe. Rick picks up the axe and jumps off the roof, grabbing onto the hanging walker, but dropping the axe in the process. Walkers grab at Rick’s feet. Negan opens a window and shoots most of the walkers clawing for Rick, but then the hanging walker’s body detaches from its head, dropping Rick into the herd. After saving Rick, Negan once again orders Rick to get the axe.
Rick finds the axe and makes his way back to the RV while visioning the remaining group remembers being struck by Lucille. “Atta boy,” Negan says, then starts the RV.
Negan drives the RV back to the clearing where Rick’s group awaits. He cleans the bloody axe and tells Rick that he is no longer in charge. “You can still lead a nice productive life producing for me,” he says. He hands Rick the axe, "I think you're gonna need it. I just got a feeling."
Negan pushes Rick out of the RV and drags him back to the rest of his group. He explains to Rick that the purpose of their drive was to change the way Rick sees him. “But you’re still looking at me the same damn way,” he says. Negan orders his men to put their guns to everyone’s heads, and tells Carl to lie on the ground. He draws a line on Carl’s arm and presents Rick with an ultimatum: Rick must cut off Carl’s arm, or everyone will die, including everyone in Alexandria.
Rick begs Negan to take him instead. Impatient, Negan starts counting down from three.
Two. Rick continues pleading.
One. "Just do it," Carl whispers.
Anguished, Rick brings up the axe, but Negan stops him at the very last second. “You answer to me, you provide for me, you belong to me, right?” he asks. “I provide for you,” Rick agrees, with a broken expression. Satisfied, Negan takes back the axe.
Negan tells Dwight to put Daryl in a van. He explains to Rick that if he ever tries anything else, he will force Rick to mutilate Daryl. “Welcome to a brand new beginning,” exclaims Negan. He leaves a truck with Rick’s group so they can transport the goods they are to produce for him. He says he will return for their first offering in one week.
Rick’s group reels with shock and grief as the Saviors leave. Finally, Maggie struggles to her feet. Rick tells her they need to get her to the doctor, but she insists that Rick head back to Alexandria and prepare to fight the Saviors.
Rick says they will all die if they go after Negan, and insists on bringing her to The Hilltop for medical attention. Sasha volunteers to go with Maggie. “I’m taking him with me,” Maggie says in reference to Glenn’s body. She crouches next to Glenn, sobbing.
Sasha gently tells Rosita that she’s going to take Abraham. Rosita nods and the two women hold hands on top of Abraham's body.
The group gathers around Maggie, begging her to let them help her. "He's our family too," Rick says of Glenn. Maggie relents and lets them move the body.
Sasha, Rosita and Eugene pick up Abraham’s body while Carl, Rick, Michonne and Aaron carry Glenn.
Rick envisions an idyllic scene. In it, his group peacefully eats dinner together. Glenn holds his son. Abraham sits next to him.
Back in harsh reality, Rick prepares to head back to Alexandria. He picks up his axe as a walker approaches, but he ignores it and gets in the RV. Rick glances in the side view mirror as he drives away. In it, he sees the walker dropping to the ground and eating the remains of Abraham. The episode ends with the camera focusing on a broken Rick's eyes.
"The Well"
Carol regains consciousness in the bed of a horse drawn wagon. Her wounds are fresh; it’s been a couple hours since she was shot by Roman. The men on horseback, who previously offered to get Carol medical assistance, lead the way. Morgan walks alongside the wagon. Carol falls back asleep.
She awakens, disoriented; she sees Morgan fighting walkers with help from the men on horseback. She confuses walkers for humans in her hallucinatory state. Weak and distraught, she sneaks away. She comes across a cemetery and approaches the caretaker’s abandoned cottage. An Older Woman beckons her through the window… then Carol suddenly realizes the Old Woman is a decrepit walker and she’s surrounded by walkers. Several people ride in on horseback, just in time to kill the walkers. Morgan and Carol join their group. Morgan raises the flag on the mailbox.
Carol wakes up in a bed. Morgan tells her she’s been asleep for two days.
Outside, Morgan pushes Carol in a wheelchair and tells her they’re in a community called The Kingdom. Carol takes in her surroundings: kids play in the streets, residents water gardens.
Morgan predicts she’ll need a week to recuperate from her injuries, at which point they can return to Alexandria. He tells her The Kingdom is run by a man who calls himself King Ezekiel, but hedges on any more specifics.
Morgan wheels Carol into a theater auditorium. Ezekiel sits on a throne with his tiger, Shiva, chained at his side. Ezekiel dramatically introduces himself to Carol and welcomes her to The Kingdom. Carol, in the meek persona she used with the Alexandrians, pretends to be in awe of The Kingdom. Ezekiel offers her fruit, suggesting she at least take the pomegranate; Carol politely declines and thanks Ezekiel.
Privately, Carol tells Morgan The Kingdom is a circus and vows to leave. Morgan refuses to let her venture out on her own.
Morgan, Ezekiel and a small team leave The Kingdom in two trucks. They hunt pigs in a nearby city, corralling them into a building where a tied up walker awaits. The pigs devour the walker. Ezekiel turns to one of his men, Richard, and tells him it’s a job well done. Richard states, “it’s just what we needed.” Morgan asks why they bait the pigs with walkers. Richard says that he wants their bellies “full of rot.”
Walkers approach Ezekiel’s group. Richard instructs Benjamin, a teenage boy, to kill a nearby walker with a machete. Benjamin struggles with the walker; Ezekiel unsheathes his sword and stabs it in the head. Richard asks Morgan to keep the pig hunt a secret from The Kingdommers.
Back at The Kingdom, Ezekiel praises Morgan’s skill with the fighting stick and asks him to train Benjamin. Morgan agrees.
Carol sits in bed and stares at her wheelchair. Music filters in from a nearby choir practice.
Morgan trains Benjamin in a gazebo.
Carol wheels herself around The Kingdom and quietly steals a knife from a crafting table. She distracts a man who’s folding laundry and steals some clothes from the table.
Morgan and Benjamin take a break from training. Benjamin asks Morgan to loan him his book, The Art of Peace, and Morgan agrees. Ezekiel approaches and asks them to join him. Richard tells Morgan to bring his gun.
Morgan, Ezekiel and a small team wait in a parking lot with a shipment of slaughtered pigs. A group of Saviors arrives. Gavin, the leader, counts the pigs and is pleased to find that they’re bigger than the last shipment. Richard remarks that they fed the pigs well. When Dianne, a Kingdommer, starts explaining to Morgan who the Saviors are, he interjects, “I know who they are.”
As they load up the trucks, a Savior - Jared - picks a fight with Richard. Ezekiel orders his people to lower their weapons and Gavin tells Jared to stop punching Richard. Gavin reminds Ezekiel that the following week is a produce week. He warns Ezekiel that Richard will be the first to die if they deliver less than requested.
Back at The Kingdom, Morgan eats in the cafeteria with Benjamin and Henry, Benjamin’s younger brother. Benjamin tells Morgan that Ezekiel was close friends with his father, a strong fighter who died while clearing walkers from a building. He explains that Ezekiel is keeping the deal with The Saviors a secret because he’s worried that residents would want to fight, despite being outmatched. He asks if Morgan is against killing, having read the pacifist inscription in The Art of Peace. “Sometimes we change our minds,” Morgan says.
Morgan brings food to Carol’s room and finds it empty.
That night, Ezekiel catches Carol picking fruit from the garden as she prepares to leave The Kingdom. She adopts her demure persona and Ezekiel tells her not to bullshit a bullshitter.“You’re a joke,” she tells him. He confesses that he’s putting on an act and that Shiva, contrary to heroic stories that residents have told about him, is a tiger that he nursed back to health when he was a zookeeper. He explains that people wanted to ascribe him a leadership role because it’s human nature for them to feel safer when they have someone to follow. “I just want to go,” Carol says. Ezekiel encourages her to embrace life and suggests a plan that would allow her to simultaneously “go and not go.”
The next day, Morgan sees Carol to the cemetery. At the caretaker’s cottage, Morgan lowers the flag on the mailbox and rides back to town.
Carol enters the cottage and kills the Old Woman Walker. She buries her outside, by the graves.
Carol stokes a fire in her new home. There’s a knock at the door; it’s Ezekiel and Shiva. He offers her a pomegranate. She smiles.
"The Cell"
At the Savior compound, Dwight watches TV, plays air hockey with Laura and carves wooden figurines. In the marketplace, he cuts to the front of the bread line and grabs an entire loaf. He watches Saviors beat up a red-haired man who gets into an argument with a worker. After the man is beaten to death, Dwight raids the man’s living quarters, taking a jar of mustard and another one of pickles, as his pregnant wife and son watch.
Dwight grabs tomatoes from a vegetable garden and eggs from a chicken coop. Dwight, Gordon, and the workers kneel as Negan passes by.
Dwight fixes himself an egg and salad sandwich, using the ransacked ingredients, and eats it outside, looking somewhat satisfied. He watches two workers wrangle a walker and chain it to the compound’s walker-encrusted outer fence.
Dwight slathers dog food onto bread and takes the sandwich to Daryl, who is naked in a dark cell. Daryl eats it. Dwight shuts the door. There’s the distinct sound of the door being locked.
Daryl lies in the dark cell as music blasts in his ears. Dwight opens the door and gives him another sandwich. Daryl eats it. Dwight leaves; the sound of the door being locked is heard once again. The scene is repeated, only this time, Dwight gives Daryl clothes.
Dwight leads Daryl out of his cell and takes him to Dr. Carson’s office, where Dr. Carson has just finished examining Sherry. Sherry recognizes Daryl but Dwight forbids her from talking to him. She tells Dwight that her pregnancy test is negative. As she walks out, she advises Daryl to do whatever he’s told.
Dr. Carson examines Daryl’s injured shoulder and assures him that Negan will take care of him.
As Dwight leads Daryl back down the hall, Negan appears and pulls Dwight aside for a talk. A Savior, Fat Joey, guards Daryl at gunpoint. Directly in front of Daryl is an open door; beyond it, he sees an efficiency apartment. Dwight drags him away.
Dwight takes Daryl outside and shows him the compound’s fence-line. They watch as two workers secure a new walker outside -- it’s the red-headed man from the marketplace. Dwight says Daryl will be forced to work in the yard if he doesn’t make the right choices.
Back in his cell, Daryl tells Dwight that he will never kneel for Negan. “I said that, too.” Dwight replies. He shuts the door. The sound of the lock is heard and the music resumes.
Daryl desperately probes the cell walls and kicks the door.
Negan tells Dwight that it’s working slow, but it’s working: “Some people are harder to break than others.” He commends Dwight and offers to let him sleep with one of his wives. Dwight politely declines, angering Negan. But then a voice comes over his walkie, notifying him of a runaway worker. Negan tells Dwight to send someone else to take care of the grunt work, but he assures Negan he enjoys doing it.
Dwight leaves the compound on his motorcycle.
Back in Daryl’s cell, the music plays on - the same song on repeat. Joey brings him a sandwich. He shuts the door, and this time, the sound of the lock isn’t heard. Daryl waits… then sneaks out and creeps down the hallway.
Meanwhile, Dwight walks his motorcycle through a herd of maimed walkers crawling on a highway. A walker falls from the overpass above. Dwight dives out of the way, struggles with a walker and shoots it.
Daryl moves quietly down a corridor. Sherry stops him and urges him to go back to his cell or risk getting captured and suffering worse consequences. He ignores her and makes his way outside. He makes a beeline for some parked motorcycles but is stopped by a group of Saviors who anticipated his escape. Negan appears. “Are we pissing our pants yet?” he asks, tauntingly.
Negan asks the Saviors surrounding Daryl who they are. They all respond, “Negan.” He tells Daryl that he failed his chance to prove he’s ready for the next step. Negan presents three options: Death, working for points, or working for Negan and living like a king. Daryl doesn’t reply. Negan swings Lucille at Daryl, stopping just short of hitting him, but Daryl doesn’t flinch which Negan admired. Negan leaves as the Saviors beat Daryl.
Back on the road, Dwight spots Gordon, the runaway worker, and tackles him to the ground.
Sherry stops by Daryl’s cell and apologizes for stealing his motorcycle and crossbow in the woods.
Dwight leads Gordon back toward the Savior compound. Gordon begs Dwight to shoot him and wonders why everyone lets Negan, one man, frighten them into submission. He finally agrees to return to the compound after Dwight threatens to hurt his loved ones. As Gordon starts walking, Dwight shoots him dead.
Once Dwight is back at the compound, he finds Sherry in a stairwell and they smoke cigarettes together. “Is he good to you?” Dwight asks. “Yeah,” she says. “We did the right thing,” he tells her, “it’s a hell of a lot better than being dead.”
Dwight opens Daryl’s cell door and gives him food. He doesn’t eat it this time. Dwight tapes a gruesome Polaroid photo on Daryl’s wall and leaves. Daryl throws the photo on the floor then picks it up, he looks at it and cries, seeing Glenn’s dead body. Dwight hears him sobbing from the hallway and slightly smiles and walks away.
Dwight wakes Daryl and leads him to an efficiency apartment where Negan awaits. Negan explains to Daryl how Dwight became one of his top men. Dwight, Sherry and her sister Tina used to work for points. When Tina fell behind on points, on account of her costly medication, he asked her to marry him. Dwight, Sherry and Tina stole the medicine and ran away.
They returned after Tina’s death. Dwight asked for forgiveness and begged Negan not to kill Sherry. Sherry offered to marry Negan if he spared Dwight’s life. He agreed — after burning Dwight’s face with an iron. Dwight has been on board ever since.
Negan tells Daryl he can be one of his top men and he can live in this apartment. “All you’ve got to do, is answer one, simple question: Who are you?” Negan asks Daryl. “Who are you?” he asks again. After a long silence, Daryl responds with his own name.
Back in Daryl’s cell, Dwight yells at him for jeopardizing his own life. “I get why you did it, why you took it,” says Daryl. “You were thinking about someone else. That’s why I can’t.”
Outside, Dwight chucks his beer bottle and watches two workers secure a new walker to the fence-line: it’s Gordon. He claws at the fence.
"Service"
Michonne and Rick lie in bed, back to back. Michonne turns and gazes at Rick, whom she believes is sleeping, before quietly slipping out of bed. She gets dressed and retrieves a hidden sniper rifle from the living room fireplace. Rick quietly watches as she leaves the house with her katana and rifle.
Michonne sits on top of a rusty truck in the middle of a field. She scans her surroundings; the rifle rests on her lap.
Back at the house in Alexandria, Rick picks up Judith from her crib.
Rosita and Spencer drive up to the gate, preparing to leave for a supply run. Spencer asks Eugene if he would like to help. Eugene states he is repairing a portable audio system for The Saviors. Just then, Negan arrives with a large group of Saviors; Daryl is among them, looking injured and pale. Negan demands to be let in, Spencer opens the gate for them. Rick meets Negan at the gate and notes that he came earlier than planned. Negan strides into Alexandria and thrusts Lucille into Rick’s hands, saying, “Hold this”.
Rick tries to check in with Daryl, whose face is swollen and bruised, but Negan forbids Rick or any of the Alexandrians from speaking to him otherwise they will face consequences. Rick tells Negan that they already set aside half of their supplies, but Negan says he’ll be the one to decide which supplies to take. Arat, one of Negan’s lieutenants, orders the Saviors to start searching the houses. Dwight confiscates the guns of Rosita and Spencer, and, after taunting them by taking Rosita's hat and pouring her water out, saying "Don't take too long", he orders them to bring back Daryl’s motorcycle. Rosita and Spencer leave Alexandria.
In the field, Michonne sits patiently on the rusty truck, waiting. When a walker comes into view, she aims her rifle at it and shoots, missing numerous times. She kills the walker out of frustration with her katana.
Back in Alexandria, Saviors haul furniture out of residents’ homes. Negan inquires about Maggie’s whereabouts. Gabriel suddenly appears, asking if Negan wants to pay his respects. “She didn’t make it?” Negan asks. Rick says nothing but nods hesitantly. Gabriel leads Negan to the graveyard where Glenn, Abraham and, supposedly, Maggie are now buried. Negan rues Maggie’s death, saying he’d planned on asking her to join him as his wife at his compound. Rick quietly seethes with anger and tightens his grip on Lucille, but swiftly relaxes. Moments after they hear a gunshot.
In the infirmary, Carl holds David, a Savior, at gunpoint. He orders David to return some of the medicine he took. Rick begs Carl to lower his gun. Negan jokes about Carl's fearlessness, and Carl finally complies after Negan threatens to harm more people. As a precaution, Negan declares that he’s confiscating all the guns in Alexandria.
Olivia takes a group of Saviors to the armory. Negan tells Rick he’ll leave their food untouched to ensure that they remain strong enough to collect for him. Negan commands Rick to thank him, but Rick refuses. Negan says that Rick is the one who forced Negan's hand and that is why he should thank him. Negan asks if anyone keeps guns outside of the armory. Rick assures him that all their guns are kept in storage.
Out in the woods, Rosita and Spencer find Daryl’s motorcycle where they had previously hidden it. Spencer begins to question Rick's leadership, unaware that Rosita is heading into the woods as Spencer loads the motorcycle into their van.
Arat informs Negan that two guns are missing from the armory. A dissapointed Negan threatens to kill Olivia if Rick doesn’t find the missing guns. Rick calls a meeting with the residents of Alexandria in an attempt to locate the missing guns. Ignoring the question about the missing guns, Eric asks Rick how he plans to get them out of their situation with Negan. Rick emphasizes that there’s no way out; Negan is in charge. He asks if anyone has the guns. Eugene notes that some people are absent from the meeting.
Rosita hunts down the undead Saviors present during Denise's death and kills them. She takes a gun from Neil's corpse but it has no bullets. Spencer tracks her down and chastises her. Rosita tells him that she’s looking for guns on the assumption that Negan will confiscate all the guns in Alexandria.
While Rick, Gabriel and Aaron search Spencer’s house for the missing guns, Rick commends Gabriel on his ruse regarding Maggie with Negan earlier at the graveyard: “It was quick thinking. Thank you”. Gabriel is optimistic that they will prevail in the end, despite Rick's insistence that there is no way out. Rick then finds the missing guns stashed in the floor air vent of Spencer’s house, along with stolen food and liquor.
Outside, David taunts Enid in the street, stroking her face and making a scene. Rick brings the missing guns to Negan. Rosita and Spencer return as Negan gathers his group at the gate. Rick sees Michonne lurking in a dilapidated house nearby, watching them. Rick asks Negan if he can give him "a second." Negan pointedly refuses and Rick rephrases; "Please can you just give me a second." Negan permits Rick to speak with Michonne.
Rick tells Michonne that he knows about her secret rifle and that he knew that she was using it for target practice sessions. He urges her to hand over the rifle, arguing that more people will die if the Saviors find an Alexandrian with a gun.
Rick gives Negan Michonne’s rifle, making up a cover story for her saying she was out hunting. Rick then goes on to ask if Daryl can stay in Alexandria, since they’ve followed the rules and gave Negan half of their supplies. Negan asks Daryl if he wants to stay. Daryl remains obediently silent.
Dwight takes the motorcycle from Spencer and rides up to Daryl and says "You can have it back, just say the word". Daryl remains silent and Dwight smirks and drives off.
Negan refuses to leave Alexandria until Rick thanks him. “Thank you,” Rick concedes. A walker approaches and Negan turns to kill it. Rick once again tightens his grip on Lucille as he contemplates killing Negan, but decides against it. Negan retrieves Lucille on his way out, saying that he can't forget her. The Saviors leave with half of the Alexandrians’ belongings, and Daryl, in tow.
Rick closes the gate and privately chews out Spencer for hoarding supplies - saying that he is small, weak and that he has gotten lucky. Spencer says they should’ve made a deal with Negan when they had the chance; he then blames Rick for Glenn and Abraham’s deaths. Rick threatens to break Spencer's jaw and knock his teeth out if he says anything like that to Rick again.
Rosita confronts Spencer about the hidden guns and asks why he didn’t mention them. “You saw what I did to get one,” she says. Spencer explains that he hid the guns for a while because he didn’t trust Rick and he was worried about Rick being in charge. He muses that Rosita was correct; they don't have to live like they are. When he leaves, Rosita reaches into the wheel well of her car, retrieving the gun she took from Neil in the woods.
Rick spreads blankets on the bedroom floor at home, mentioning that the Saviors took most of their mattresses. Michonne assures Rick that she doesn’t have any more secret guns. She reminds him that they’ve survived as long as they have because they always fight back, but Rick says there are too many Saviors -- “it’s about the numbers.” Michonne mentions the Hilltop, but Rick says that even with the Hilltop, they're still outnumbered. Brooding, he reveals his past with Shane and his thoughts on Judith not being his daughter, explaining that he's learned to accept that in order to keep her alive. He tells Michonne that she has to learn to accept their situation with Negan - they all do - or it won’t work. “This is how we live now,” he says. Michonne says she’ll try to accept it.
Michonne returns to the rusty truck in the grassy field. She sees a wisp of smoke in the distance and goes to investigate. She finds all the mattresses from Alexandria dumped and smoldering on the side of the road, and rages with anger.
In Alexandria, Rosita picks up an empty shell casing from the floor and pays Eugene a visit. “Make me a bullet,” she says.
"Go Getters"
Maggie’s eyes flutter open. She looks weak, but healthier than before. She’s in Dr. Carson’s medical trailer at The Hilltop. He informs her that she suffered from Abruptio Placentae, a separation of the placenta from the uterus, but that the baby is fine. Dr. Carson advises her to rest and remain at The Hilltop for the duration of her pregnancy.
Maggie asks Sasha where Glenn and Abraham are buried. Maggie kneels by Glenn’s grave. Sasha gives her Glenn’s pocket watch; Maggie places it on Glenn’s grave as a marker. Sasha offers to stay at The Hilltop with Maggie. Jesus approaches, and places flowers on the graves.
Gregory arrives and demands to know why Maggie’s people didn’t wipe out all The Saviors, and whether they know about his deal with Rick. He tells Maggie and Sasha to burn Glenn and Abraham’s bodies and orders them to leave The Hilltop by morning. Gregory tells Jesus that if they leave, he has plausible deniability, and The Saviors won’t think they colluded to take down their outpost.
Back in Alexandria, Rick tries convincing Carl to join him and Aaron on a supply run for The Saviors, but Carl refuses to bow down. Rick tells Michonne they’re heading north for the supply run, handing her a walkie in case she changes her mind. They kiss and go their separate ways.
Something outside the window catches Carl’s eye. Carl finds Enid scaling the perimeter wall. She tells him she’s going to see Maggie at The Hilltop. Carl tells her she shouldn’t go, but that he won’t stop her.
Sasha makes her bed in Jesus’s trailer, where she and Maggie are staying the night. She asks Jesus to change Gregory’s mind and offers to earn Maggie’s keep by scavenging for The Hilltop. Jesus gives her Abraham’s brake light necklace.
Maggie asks Jesus why Hilltop residents burn their dead -- “What do you have to remember them by?” Jesus simply says, “Us.”
Enid rides a bike down an empty road, where she encounters a walker. Out of nowhere, a car rams into the walker and crashes into a nearby post. Enid finds Carl behind the steering wheel.
Maggie and Sasha wake up in the middle of the night and see fires blazing outside. Music blares from a parked car. The Hilltop gates are wide open and four of the guards have been tied up and are dangling from the platform. The trailer’s door and windows are locked, Sasha and Maggie climb out through the sunroof. They see walkers flooding in through the front gate, drawn by the music.
Jesus helps Sasha kill walkers. Sasha tries to stop the music but finds the car sealed off with metal grates. She sees a metal hand with an extended middle finger attached to the back of the car — a memento from the Saviors, who are behind the attack.
Maggie shouts orders to Kal and Eduardo, organizing their defenses and rescuing the guards. She drives a large tractor into the courtyard, mowing down walkers. She plows the tractor onto the car, destroying it and putting a stop to the music.
The next day, Enid and Carl walk down a road. Carl tells her he watched as Negan killed Glenn and Abraham because he needed that memory. He knew it would motivate him to kill Negan.
Gregory thanks Maggie and Sasha for saving The Hilltop but still refuses to let them stay. He slyly offers to work something out with Sasha one-on-one. “Go to hell,” Maggie says. They’re interrupted by the sound vehicles arriving in the courtyard. Gregory tells Jesus to hide Sasha and Maggie in the closet.
Simon leads a group of twenty Saviors into The Hilltop.
Carl finds roller skates in a backpack on the side of the road. He and Enid hold hands and smile as they skate down the road.
The Saviors stride into Barrington House. In the study, Simon tells Gregory they unleashed the walkers on The Hilltop to remind its residents that walkers are still a threat and the Saviors provide a great service by killing them. He informs Gregory that The Saviors at the outpost were killed. Gregory pretends this is news to him. Simon says he’ll be Gregory’s new liaison and asks if there’s anything Gregory wants to tell him. “Actually, there is,” says Gregory.
He leads Simon to the foyer closet and opens it with the intention of handing over Maggie and Sasha. Instead, he finds boxes of scotch. Simon says Negan will be pleased and orders a nearby Savior to put the liquor in Negan's truck. On his way out, Simon orders Gregory to kneel, which he does with little resistance. The Saviors leave.
Carl and Enid reach The Hilltop and see Saviors loading up their trucks. Enid realizes that Carl left Alexandria not to accompany her, but to track down Negan and kill him. She asks Carl not to go, but he sticks to his mission. They kiss.
Jesus releases Maggie and Sasha from Gregory’s bedroom closet. Gregory yells at Jesus for hiding them there instead of the foyer closet. Jesus stands up to Gregory and forces him to let Maggie and Sasha stay. Jesus threatens to reveal Gregory’s deal with Alexandria, stripping him of his plausible deniability. Suddenly, Maggie punches Gregory in the face, reaches into his pocket and takes Glenn’s watch, which Gregory stole from the grave.
Jesus tells Maggie and Sasha that initially, he couldn’t imagine anyone but Gregory running The Hilltop. “I can now,” he says cryptically. Maggie leaves. Sasha asks Jesus to find out where Negan lives, but to keep it a secret from Maggie. Jesus agrees to follow the truck that’s heading back to The Saviors’ compound.
Maggie finds Enid sitting at Glenn’s grave and they hug. Enid cooks dinner for Maggie in Jesus’s trailer. Sasha joins them. Maggie gives the pocket watch to Enid, saying they don’t need objects to remember their dead. “We have us,” she says. They sit around the table, take each other’s hands and pray.
The Saviors leave The Hilltop. Jesus sneaks into the truck that’s bound for their compound. He hears a voice say, “Hey,” and looks towards the back of the truck to see Carl peeking out from behind some boxes.
"Swear"
(To Be Added)
"Sing Me a Song"
(To Be Added)
"Hearts Still Beating"
(To Be Added)
Episodes
| Title | Writer(s) | Air Dates | U.S. Viewers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" | October 23, 2016 (US)
October 24, 2016 (UK) |
17.03 million | |
| 2. | "The Well" | Matt Negrete | October 30, 2016 (US)
October 31, 2016 (UK) |
12.46 million |
| 3 | "The Cell" | Angela Kang | November 6, 2016 (US)
November 7, 2016 (UK) |
11.72 million |
| 4. | "Service" | Corey Reed | November 13, 2016 (US)
November 14, 2016 (UK) |
11.40 million |
| 5. | "Go Getters" | Channing Powell | November 20, 2016 (US)
November 21, 2016 (UK) |
10.99 million |
| 6. | "Swear" | TBA | November 27, 2016 (US)
November 28, 2016 (UK) |
TBA |
| 7. | "Sing Me a Song" | TBA | December 4, 2016 (US)
December 5, 2016 (UK) |
TBA |
| 8. | "Hearts Still Beating" | TBA | December 11, 2016 (US)
December 12, 2016 (UK) |
TBA |
| 9. | TBA | TBA | February 2017 | TBA |
| 10. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 11. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 12. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 13. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 14. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 15. | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA |
| 16. | TBA | TBA | April 2017 | TBA |
Cast
Deaths
- Abraham Ford (Confirmed Fate)
- Glenn Rhee
- Older Woman
- Red Haired Man (Alive)
- Gordon (Alive)
- Neil (Zombified)
- 4 unnamed Saviors (Zombified)
- 1 horse from The Kingdom
- 8 pigs from The Kingdom
- 1 deer from Alexandria Safe-Zone
- Benjamin's father (Confirmed Fate)
- 7 unnamed Kingdom survivors (Confirmed Fate)
Videos
Official Trailers
Promotional Material
Posters
Promotional image for Season 7, Episode 1, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be".
Trivia
- This season has the highest number of main cast members in the opening credits, exceeding the usual ten regulars, with 11 in "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be" and 12 from "The Well" onwards.
- Below are the changes made to the main cast in Season 7.
- Although they have been regulars since season 5, Alanna Masterson (Tara), Josh McDermitt (Eugene) and Christian Serratos (Rosita) were added to the opening credits after being listed under "also starring" in previous seasons.
- They were listed under "also starring" in "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", before being added in the opening credits in "The Well".
- Seth Gilliam (Fr. Gabriel), Ross Marquand (Aaron) and Austin Nichols (Spencer) are still listed under "Also Starring" despite being regulars in previous seasons.
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan), Austin Amelio (Dwight), Tom Payne (Jesus), and Xander Berkeley (Gregory) have all been upgraded from recurring or guest starring to season regulars.[1]
- Jeffrey Dean Morgan was added to the opening credits, while Austin Amelio, Xander Berkeley and Tom Payne are listed under "also starring".
- Khary Payton was cast as Ezekiel and will be a series regular for Season 7,[2] although he is listed under "also starring".
- Despite his series regular status, Payton is not credited for episodes he does not appear in.
- Following the deaths of Abraham and Glenn in "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", Michael Cudlitz and Steven Yeun are removed from the opening sequence in succeeding episodes.
- Although they have been regulars since season 5, Alanna Masterson (Tara), Josh McDermitt (Eugene) and Christian Serratos (Rosita) were added to the opening credits after being listed under "also starring" in previous seasons.
- This will be the first season to have several scenes and consecutive episodes with an uncensored version in the home release due to censorship of Negan's swearing on television.