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"Worth" is the fifteenth episode of the eighth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the one-hundred and fourteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on April 8, 2018. It was written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick & Corey Reed and directed by Michael Slovis.

Plot[]

With the threat of the Saviors still looming, Aaron continues searching for allies; Daryl and Rosita take action and confront an old friend.

Synopsis[]

Rick rereads Carl's letter to him, in which he reminisces about happier times and urges Rick to make peace with Negan and find a way to coexist.

Michonne lies in bed deep in thought. She revisits Carl's letter to Negan.

Gregory meets with Simon at the Sanctuary and apologizes for giving him lousy intel on Hilltop. Simon shoves Gregory to the ground, but spares his life.

Cyndie and her crew find Aaron lying on the ground in the woods near Oceanside. Cyndie decides that it's not her problem if Aaron wants to starve, and they leave him to die.

At the bullet factory, Eugene orders his workers to pick up the pace so that they can meet their quota for Simon. He finds a flaw in one of Gabriel's bullets and suspends Gabriel after he admits it was deliberate.

Eugene steps out to test some rounds. One of the guards is shot in the head by an arrow, while Rosita slices the throat of another. She and Daryl take Eugene as hostage.

While Dwight is in the Sanctuary yard smoking, Negan whistles. Surprised to see him alive, Dwight helps Negan with moving something. Negan expresses disappointment at being left to die. Dwight explains that Simon believed him dead. Dwight affirms his loyalty to Negan.

Negan meets Simon and his other lieutenants. Simon asks Negan to forgive his insubordination against Hilltop. Negan reminds Simon of the time they took the Sanctuary as well as Simon's actions against Oceanside. Negan orders Simon to his knees, but spares his life. Negan outlines a plan to surround Hilltop and slaughter anyone who tries to leave. He pulls Dwight aside and commends him for doing whatever it takes to stay alive.

Daryl and Rosita march Eugene down a road. Eugene tries to defend his alliance with Negan, but Rosita blames everyone's deaths on him for helping the Saviors escape the besieged Sanctuary. Eugene argues that Rick is the real cause of the war. Rosita snarls that they are going to lock Eugene up. They will keep him alive because of his knowledge and will force him to work for them. She brands him weak and a coward.

In his apartment, Dwight marks up a map for Rick and writes a message describing Negan's attack plan. Simon stops by and urges Dwight to help him overthrow Negan. Dwight agrees to meet Simon in the courtyard to plan the coup.

Daryl, Rosita and Eugene encounter a herd of walkers. While Daryl kills walkers, Eugene makes himself vomit on Rosita and runs off before she is able to recover.

Daryl and Rosita follow Eugene's tracks through a pile of ash. When they run off, Eugene emerges from the ash and runs the opposite direction.

Aaron wakes up in the woods and fights off walkers. Starving and weak, he falls unconscious again. When he comes to, he's surrounded by Cyndie and her crew. He urges them to fight the Saviors so that they can live in freedom.

Dwight meets Simon and a group of Saviors in the courtyard to plan Negan's downfall. Simon offers him the opportunity to kill Negan first hand. Dwight whistles. Negan whistles in response and emerges from his hiding place. All of the conspirators except Simon and Dwight fall dead, executed by Negan's hidden men. Negan angrily reprimands him for the massacre of the Scavengers. Despite this and his backstabbing, Negan offers him a chance of leadership of the Saviors by fighting to the death.

In the Sanctuary, all the Saviors circle Negan and Simon. Simon throws the first few punches. A furious battle emerges. Negan gets the upper hand, beating Simon to the floor. Negan stands over Simon, strangling him to death, all the while berating that he must kill everyone at the Hilltop because of Simon. During the battle, Dwight pulls Gregory aside, hands him the map, and orders him to deliver it to Rick. Gregory runs off.

Gregory returns to Hilltop with the plans, where Maggie throws him in prison. She gives Dwight's map to Rick.

Negan walks Dwight back to his room and appoints him his new right-hand man. Dwight opens the door only to find Laura waiting inside. Negan explains that he picked Laura up on his way back to the Sanctuary and learned everything about Dwight's treachery. He deduces that Dwight was responsible for many of Rick's attacks on the Saviors and explains that the map Dwight conveyed to Rick will lead Rick right into the Saviors' line of fire, smugly saying the plan was fake. Negan says he won't kill Dwight but will find some use for him.

Eugene returns to the bullet factory in a furious mood. Regina informs him that Negan is back and needs bullets by morning in order to spring a trap on Rick's group. Eugene orders everyone to finish in time so they can destroy them.

A freshly turned Simon is chained to the fence at the Sanctuary. Michonne contacts Negan by walkie and reads the letter that Carl wrote him. In his letter, Carl urges Negan to stop fighting and find a peaceful way forward with Rick. Negan refuses, saying that forgiveness is out of the question and vows to kill them all and crushes the walkie with his foot.

Other Cast[]

​Co-Stars[]

Uncredited[]


Deaths[]

Trivia[]

  • Last appearance of Gary.
  • Last appearance of Simon. (Alive)
  • Last appearance of José. (Alive)
  • Last appearance of Gina.
  • Last appearance of Brooke.
  • Last appearance of John.
  • The title of the episode, "Worth", comes from Carl's letter when Rick is rereading it: "We don't have to forget what happened, but you can make it so that it won't happen again, that nobody has to live this way, that every life is worth something."
  • Chandler Riggs is re-added to the opening credits in this episode due to his voice-only role.
  • Eugene Porter identifies Gabriel Stokes' infection from the walker guts as likely being influenza or cryptococcosis and is likely airborne. According to Eugene, if the infection was bloodborne, Gabriel would already be dead.
  • Laura is revealed to be the one Negan found on the side of the road in "Still Gotta Mean Something".
  • This episode marks Lauren Cohan's 75th appearance on the TV Series.
  • This episode confirms that Simon killed all of the men and boys from Oceanside.
  • This episode is 75 minutes long, according to AMC's schedule.
    • It is the twelfth extended episode this season and the thirtieth overall.
  • The map that Dwight is writing up for the Militia confirms that the Saviors have at least 110 soldiers still alive.
    • Negan plus ten others at the X, and 9 other groups of eleven at the circles.
    • As of "Worth", there is no indication of how many workers and prisoners reside with the Saviors, or how many Saviors typically stay behind to guard the Sanctuary.
    • The 110+ soldier number may not be accurate because Negan admitted that the plan is fake to Dwight.
  • This episode keeps the season's theme of having callbacks to previous episodes:
    • Simon's death and duel with Negan is also reminiscent of the fight between Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh, and Shane's death.
      • In both instances, a right-hand man (Shane and Simon) plotted to kill their best friend to take over as the leader.
      • The leader (Negan and Rick Grimes) would end up killing their former ally in an emotional charge.
      • In both cases they reanimated; however Shane was almost immediately put down whereas Simon was not until after the war and Negan's defeat.
      • Also, coincidentally, both Simon and Shane were killed in the penultimate episode of a season.
    • Simon being strangled to death by Negan is a call back to when the Governor killed Pete Dolgen in "Dead Weight".
      • Both Simon and Pete took charge of their respective groups after the leaders were dead or presumed dead.
      • Both had a rift developed with the main antagonists with Simon's rash decisions for Negan and Pete's bad leadership for the Governor.
      • Both were ultimately strangled to death by the leaders or main antagonists of their respective season, as well as being restrained by chains and being left to turn. Chained to the bottom of the river for Pete, and chained to the fence for Simon.
    • This is also a call back to when the Governor fought and killed his former right-hand man, Merle Dixon in "This Sorrowful Life".
      • Both had a rift developed with the main antagonists with Simon's rash decisions for Negan and Merle being branded a traitor and trying to kill the Governor.
      • Both of the main antagonists strangled their opponents.
      • Also, coincidentally, both Simon and Merle were killed in the penultimate episode of a season.
      • They also both were left to reanimate; however, Merle was later put down whereas Simon was not.
    • Negan asking Simon to kneel is reminiscent of when Simon asked Gregory to kneel in "Go Getters".
      • It was also reminiscent of the scene with Simon and Rick Grimes in "Last Day on Earth", when Simon forced Rick to his knees, just like how Negan forced Simon to his knees in this episode. Negan even said the same thing Simon said to Rick, "I'm gonna need you on your knees."
    • Gregory and Simon are seen drinking a bottle of tequila during their meeting, just as they agreed to in "The Other Side".
    • Simon's death was also similar to Richard's death. Aside from both characters were strangled to death, they both died by people, who they were in good terms with, in Richard's case, Morgan Jones and in Simon's case, Negan and the main reason they lost their lives, was because of them, human lives were lost, in Richard's case, Benjamin and in Simon's case, the Scavengers.
  • Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Steven Ogg filmed the big fight scene between Negan and Simon themselves rather than using stunt performers. This is despite neither of them having any formal fight training.[1]
  • Despite his death in this episode, Simon will later appear in archival footage in Season 11. In addition, Simon appears in a flashback in "Everybody Wins a Prize" of The Walking Dead: Dead City.

Episode Highlights[]

TBA

References[]

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