One of the most fascinating developments in this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, “The Lost and the Plunderers,” is what has happened with Jadis. She’s officially a wildcard, a woman with no allegiances and what looks like a major bone to pick with both sides of the All Out War. She is no longer a free agent, nor is she a gun for hire. Now, she’s potentially the most dangerous threat to both Negan and Rick.
How did it happen?
After allying with Rick, she double-crossed Alexandria and sided with Negan, culminating in the massive shoot-out at the end of the seventh season. However, she rejoined Rick’s alliance in the seventh season midseason finale in an effort to overthrow the Saviors. That effort failed, which elicited a call from Simon, who — on orders from Negan — sought to get them back in line by killing off one of the Garbage People.
Simon, frustrated with the All Out War and exhausted with efforts to keep the various alliances in line, quickly turned on Jadis when she didn’t offer up the requisite amount of remorse. Instead of killing one Garbage Person as directed by Negan, Simon went rogue. He took out the entire community, save for Jadis.
Rick, however, was in a position to save Jadis. However, he refused to take Carl’s advice and end the violence, deciding instead to leave Jadis to fend for herself among the crowd of zombies and heaps of garbage. Ultimately, she was forced to lead her entire zombified community into trash grinders, leaving her not only alone but pissed off at The Saviors for killing her people and at Rick for refusing to rescue her from the task of having to liquify her friends.
So, what’s her play? At this point, Jadis is probably only interested in revenge, and while she might not pose much of a threat by herself, she may have one weapon that could provide her with the ability to inflict a considerable amount of damage: A helicopter.
“What’s up with the helipad?” Simon asks at one point during the episode. While Jadis didn’t offer an answer, it’s easy to put two and two together in this case. We saw a helicopter flying toward the trash heap way back in episode five of this season, and while we couldn’t place its significance at the time, it seems obvious now that Jadis has access to that helicopter.
What might Jadis do with that helicopter? The first thing that comes to mind is kill a lot of red shirts on both sides of the war. Indeed, Jadis and her helicopter may be able to single-handedly shorten the length of the war by reducing the number of Saviors and Alexandrians on the battlefield. Expect her to arrive in that helicopter at the least opportune time, namely the next time that the Saviors and the Alexandrians are engaged in battle.
At this point, Jadis is probably lying in wait, seeking out the best opportunity to put that helicopter to good use. She’s a character with no friends left but plenty of motivation. That makes her one hell of a dangerous threat to both sides going ahead. In fact, it’s not too hard to imagine Negan and Rick joining forces to remove Jadis as a threat.
