| “ | We’ve always been bound to each other. We always will be. We fought our way back to each other. We have grown. The crossing over the river may be gone. But we rebuilt a bridge, nonetheless. Today is proof that we can unite, not against a common enemy, but for a common good. So, eat, drink, trade, and be merry... 'cause we got a lot of lost time to make up for. (...) Let The Fair of New Beginning begin!
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The Fair of New Beginning is a major event that occurred during the second half of the ninth season of AMC's The Walking Dead.
History[]
Planning the Fair[]
During the six years following the presumed death of Rick Grimes, the former communities of the Militia splinter apart from each other and become isolated with Alexandria being driven by fear after their children were stolen by Jocelyn's Group. As time goes on, the Kingdom begins to gradually fall apart from old age, putting the residents in an increasingly dire situation. In an attempt to help rectify this, Henry travels to the Hilltop to apprentice as a blacksmith under Earl Sutton. King Ezekiel decides to have a trade fair in an attempt to bring the communities back together and to get help with attempting to save his home. Ezekiel and his people put months of work into creating the fair.
However, Ezekiel's plans hit many roadblocks from the splintered communities, particularly Alexandria. Although some of the Alexandria Council is more amenable to the idea, Michonne, as the head of security with the power to veto decisions, is unwilling to hear it, preferring that Alexandria remains isolated. All that Michonne is willing to do is to allow the Kingdom's residents a home in Alexandria should the community fall as Alexandria did with many of the former Saviors following the fall of the Sanctuary.
Things begin to change with the arrival of Magna's Group and the threat of the Whisperers. This new danger to the communities and the loss of Paul "Jesus" Rovia sparks a new spirit of cooperation, aided by Henry falling in love with Lydia, the daughter of the Whisperer leader Alpha. Both the Hilltop and Oceanside agree to send a delegation and Michonne reluctantly concedes to one being sent from Alexandria as well. After a confrontation with Judith about her actions and fear from the events with her former friend, Michonne reverses her stance entirely and joins the fair personally with Judith.
During this time, the Kingdom comes into conflict with a group called the Highwaymen that attempts to extort them. However, recognizing the Highwaymen as reasonable people, the Kingdom instead negotiates a deal with them to provide security for the area in exchange for their own rights at the fair as an equal member of the communities. As their first act in this new role, the Highwaymen are sent to provide an escort for the Hilltop's delegation, arriving just in time to help them take down an attacking herd.
The Fair[]
Ezekiel kicks off the fair with a speech commemorating the sacrifice of Rick Grimes and the fulfillment, at last, of what Rick and Carl had envisioned and that Jesus had always believed in. The initial excitement is at first soured by the continued absence of Connie and Henry, prompting Magna's Group and Carol to prepare to go and search for them. However, they finally show up with the late-arriving Michonne, Judith and Daryl.
After Tara joins the group and is displeased by the addition of Lydia, Michonne has the leaders of the communities gathered together in the Kingdom's theater. Michonne apologizes for her actions in isolating Alexandria, recognizing that Alexandria's future is with the other communities. Gabriel announces that he took an informal vote with the members of the Alexandria Council present at the fair and they have all agreed to grant asylum to Lydia in Alexandria and he asks everyone else to join them in doing the same. Tara worries that Alpha will retaliate against the Hilltop, but Michonne and Rachel bring up their history of trusting and helping people in situations where logic dictates against it and Tara concedes. However, she tells the others that, while she left some of her best fighters at the Hilltop, there aren't enough if Daryl is right about the numbers that the Whisperers have. The three other communities agree to send fighters to the Hilltop to help protect it just in case.
With this only being a short-term solution, Gabriel and Michonne point out that the four communities must present a united front and Michonne proposes a mutual protection pact: an attack against just one of the communities is an attack against all of them. The leaders of the four communities unanimously agree to the idea and, to seal it, Ezekiel retrieves the unsigned charter that Michonne had created following her trip to the Smithsonian Museum. Ezekiel, Carol, Rachel, Tara and Gabriel sign it, officially merging the Kingdom, the Hilltop, Oceanside and Alexandria into the Coalition.
With the formalities out of the way, the fair proves to be a resounding success with the attendees having a great time and bonding together once again and even watching a movie. However, unbeknownst to the attendees, a hidden danger lurks in the form of Alpha who manages to infiltrate the fair, observing everyone and interacting with an unaware Ezekiel at one point. After Lydia rejects her, Alpha kidnaps Tara, Henry, Rodney, Adeline, Enid, Tammy Rose Sutton, Frankie, and Siddiq and takes them to an abandoned barn to be executed. The arrival of Ozzy, Alek and D.J. gives them the opportunity to fight back, however, all but Siddiq are ultimately executed and their decapitated heads used to mark the Whisperer Border. Alpha reveals a massive horde of tens of thousands of zombies to Daryl and threatens to unleash it upon the Coalition if they cross her borders.
As a result of Alpha's actions, the fair ends on a somber note with Siddiq sharing the story of the heroic last stand of the prisoners to the attendees. Siddiq urges everyone to remember those that they've lost as heroes and to not let what happened drive them apart as Alpha had wanted.
Aftermath[]
Despite Alpha's intentions, her massacre of the fair attendees fails to drive the communities apart and the Coalition remains a united force against the Whisperers. However, Ezekiel's hopes of the fair being a way to save the Kingdom ultimately prove fruitless. Months after the fair, the Kingdom's old age and advancing decay leave it damaged beyond repair and the Kingdom has to be abandoned forever.
Results[]
- Official formation of the Coalition and reunion of the communities
- Kidnapping and massacre of several attendees by Alpha
- Failure to save The Kingdom from eventual destruction
Appearances[]
TV Series[]
Season 9[]
Trivia[]
- The original name for the fair was The First Annual Inter-Community Reunification Fair which was apparently meant to be made out of the anagram F.A.I.R. However, the name was changed as it was too long, although Jerry forgot about this.