The penultimate episode of the eighth season of The Walking Dead did exactly what it needed to do ahead of next week’s season finale: It laid what seems like an impossible trap for Rick and The Hilltop. After feeding Dwight fake plans, knowing he would betray Negan and hand them over to Rick, the Saviors will know exactly where Rick and Co. will be, allowing them to ambush The Hilltoppers and end The All Out War, and not even Carl’s compassionate plea from the afterlife can stop Negan.
But, this is The Walking Dead, so we know that Rick will survive (probably). We’ve seen him in a flash forward, after all, pleading with himself to let his mercy prevail over his wrath. How will Rick survive the Negan’s perfectly laid trap and put Negan back on the defensive?
There are a few things that Negan doesn’t account for:
1. Does Rick trust Dwight? — I thoroughly examined the map that Dwight drew and handed over to Gregory to give to Rick. I wanted to ensure that it matches up with Negan’s original map, and as far as I can tell, it does. That means we can probably rule out any suggestion that Dwight was one step ahead of Negan and knew he was being played and sent Rick the wrong plans to save The Hilltop.
However, just because Dwight is working for The Hilltoppers doesn’t mean that they trust him. We already know that Daryl doesn’t trust Dwight and Rick is not a guy who trusts that many people. Carl’s letter may have softened Rick, but Rick doesn’t have much of a relationship with Dwight, so he’ll likely lean on Daryl for advice, and it seems unlikely that Daryl will risk the lives of the entire community based on the map of someone who strongly distrusts. Tara, on the other hand, might, and that could put her life in jeopardy.
2. The Oceansiders — Going on a hunger strike in the midst of the zombie apocalypse doesn’t seem like the wisest idea, but it appears to have worked for Aaron, who may have convinced the Oceansiders to join the fight against the Saviors. They might provide some last-minute heroics like the Kingdommers did in last season’s finale, or they might all end up dead, like the Kingdommers did this season.
3. Jadis — Jadis, as always, remains a wild card. I believe her role in the All Our War has wrapped up, but she is expected to make an appearance in some capacity in the season finale. She might come to Rick’s rescue, but after the way that Rick abandoned her before, that seems increasingly unlikely. If Jadis appears in next week’s episode, it will probably be in a coda, flying away in that helicopter.
4. Eugene — This was a Eugene-heavy episode, and though it appears that he’s gone all in for The Saviors, appearances can be deceiving.
At the end of the episode, when Eugene said that it was time he finally did something with his “pathetic useless life,” he may have been referring to making enough bullets for The Saviors to kill all of his former friends, including the woman who had just humiliated him, Rosita. Personally, however, I believe that Eugene is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of Rosita by doing something with his “pathetic useless life” on her behalf, because then not only can he be the hero of Alexandria, Rosita will have to eat crow.
After all, Eugene did re-enroll Father Gabriel in the effort, only hours after learning that Gabriel was creating bullets that would backfire in the Saviors’ guns. If Eugene can manufacture hundreds of bullets that all “slam fire,” he can win the war for The Hilltop and potentially win back the favor of Rosita, although he may die as a martyr in the process.
My money is on Eugene being the difference maker. We’ll find out in next week’s season finale.
