The eighth season of The Walking Dead is upon us and it’s just as action-packed as everyone involved in the show promised it would be. From the opening scene to the final credits, each episode exists in a hail of bullets. That’s led to some confusion over exactly who is shooting at what. If there can be one complaint about all this epic gunslinging, it’s that the show doesn’t stop too often to explain what’s going on. So we figured you might appreciate a recap of exactly what Rick’s battle plan has been through the first two episodes of the All Out War season.
The season premiere featured Rick and his allies declaring war by attacking the Sanctuary, which is the main headquarters of the Saviors and Negan’s home. But rather than face off with Rick guns blazing, Negan decided to keep all his people safe inside. That’s when Rick drove the old RV packed with explosives through the gates, drawing a herd of walkers and trapping Negan and his troops with no way to provide support for his many outposts in the area.
That takes us to episode two where Rick’s alliance has split up into several smaller units, each tasked with taking out a different Savior compound. All the intelligence regarding base and scout locations is coming via Dwight, one of Negan’s generals. He decided to play the role of a double agent after having his wife taken and face melted off by Negan.
Rick, Daryl, and Aaron’s squad attack what they believe is a weapons depot, with Aaron’s group pinning down Saviors in a courtyard while Rick and Daryl infiltrate the building to find caches of guns. Jesus, Tara, and Morgan are hitting another compound, which happens to be the same satellite facility Rick’s gang attacked in season 6 episode 12. The goal of both groups seems to be killing as many Saviors as possible in these bases before the Sanctuary realizes they’re under attack and manages to send reinforcements.
That’s a big part of why Tara and Morgan are so upset with Jesus when he decides to change the plan, capturing the Saviors at the satellite facility instead of gunning them all down. In the past, it’s been mentioned that these compounds outside of Sanctuary are where Negan sends the worst of the Saviors, and we get a confirmation of sorts when Morgan encounters the dirtbag Savior who killed his friend Benjamin in season 7.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel and Carol are leading a band of Kingdom soldiers towards a third compound, but things start to go sideways when one of the Savior scouts manages to escape. They end up chasing him down and feeding him to Shiva, but he’s already managed to alert the compound of their inevitable arrival via radio. Regardless, an overly confident Ezekiel decides to press on instead of abandoning the mission, which we’re sure is going to turn things into a big bloodbath.
But that’s all in the future. You’re now caught up on the state of affairs going into episode three of The Walking Dead as war continues to spread and things are only getting more complicated, and deadlier.
