We will all be free.
Music plays. Sasha is listening to music through headphones. She closes her eyes and tears fall down her face. She pulls the earplugs out and the screen goes to black. Sasha is listening to music again. She says wake up. Someone calls her to wake up. She wakes up on a sofa. Abraham is there. They kiss. She asks if the others are back. He tells her Maggie is having problems with the baby and Rick is taking her to Hilltop and he's going with them. She tells him not to go. Her cell door opens. Negan is there with a tray with a cover on it. He tells her she is going to get things back on track. She is hot, smart, and does not suffer fools. He doesn't want to see her die. "You don't have to but someone does. Maybe a couple others, tops but not you and not most people. We are gonna help solve some shit." He removes the cover and a plate with a pancake with a smiley face sits on it. She asks what he needs from her. We see her sitting next to Maggie outside.
Dwight tells Rick he wants Negan dead. Rick asks why he doesn't just kill Negan. Dwight says they are all Negan. Tara tells him that the woman he killed had a name and was a doctor. He says he wasn't aiming for her. Daryl grabs him and pushes him to the wall holding his knife to Dwight's eye. Tara tells Daryl to kill him. Dwight says he is sorry. "What I did, I was doing it for someone else. She's gone away. So now I'm here. So are you because of her. There's another choice. Negan trusts me. If we work together we can stop him. You knew me then and you know me now. You know I'm not lying. " Tara tells Daryl to kill him. Daryl puts his knife down but still grabs him by the throat. Rosita says the Saviors have Sasha. Dwight says Negan is probably coming tomorrow with twenty Saviors. He can slow them down. Take down Negan and he can radio back to Sanctuary and tell them everything is okay and he will lead them back. They can gather up the workers and add them to their numbers then take out outpost after outpost. Rick says, "Keep talking." They let Dwight go. Daryl says he will kill Dwight when everything is done. He doesn't care if Dwight is sorry.
Sasha listening to music again. Abraham tells her he has to go. She says she had a dream where he died. She stares down at the smiley face pancake. Negan tells her, "That's the plan. Not a peep. They will stand down if they haven't already. And then Lucille here, she gets her three, and we move forward with a new understanding. " She begins to cry. She says she can do it but no one has to die. He says she is wrong. "Punishment is how we built everything we have." She repeats, "No one has to die." He says, "One, just one. I was going to pull three out of the pool but just one and just for you." She says, "Okay. Just one person has to die." Maggie and Sasha sit together.
Maggie tells the plan to Enid and Jesus. Gregory is gone saying who knows what to the Saviors. Maggie is thinking of leading Hilltop to fight. Jesus says she has to decide now. He's glad she is the one deciding. Judith babbles on the floor. Maggie bends down to pick her up but Enid intercedes. Maggie fiddles with Glen/Hershel's pocket watch. The knights walk down the streets with their weapons up. They find more shopping carts in the road. Morgan comes out of nowhere and tells them they are the same carts Richard had used. Carol asks if he was going to ambush the Saviors on his own and he says yes. She tells him going alone on this doesn't work. He says it works for him. She asks if he has killed any of the Saviors. Because if he has they may think the Kingdom is responsible and they lose their advantage. He's only killed walkers. Ezekiel asks him, "Do you seek to extinguish everything of who you were?" Morgan replies, "I don't seek it but I'm stuck." Ezekiel tells him, "You want the Saviors dead?" Morgan replies, "Yes, I do!" Ezekiel continues, "Cease this folly. Accompany my regiment. The Saviors are a dragon with many heads, their numbers legion. We must seek allies in this endeavor. That's Benjamin's armor. Do you wear it to serve you or do you wear it in his honor.? Morgan, you are not stuck. Fight with us. Join us on this journey to create an alliance. Fight with us, and we shall defeat them so that no one will suffer under their capricious malevolence ever again." Morgan nods his head. Ezekiel announces, "And we start once more for the fallen, for the kingdom, for the glory of victory."
The RV drives into Alexandria. Several people on bicycles follow it along with several garbage trucks. The Scavengers have arrived. "We take we don't bother. Our way." Jadis turns to Michonne and asks if Rick is hers. Michonne says they are together. Jadis replies, "I lay with him after. You care?" Michonne gives a stare that says she very much cares and tells Jadis they should get back to work. Rick agrees and backs away. Daryl sets up explosives in the back of a truck along with Aaron and Rosita. The Saviors are stopped on the road removing trees blocking the road. Simon asks Negan, "Do you think this was them?" Negan replies, "Crossed my mind. We got a plan B." Eugene asks Negan for permission to "slow their jets and cool their roll." Tara and others block the road to Alexandria with cars. Michonne asks one of the Scavengers if she has ever shot a rifle before. The woman replies yes. Michonne tells her she can stay there and Michonne will go to the other roof. The woman offers to go to the other building. She turns around and says to Michonne, "We win."
Sasha listening to music again. Sasha says, "You know what's gonna happen. How this is gonna end." Abraham repeats these words to her. He tells her, "We kick shit and eat snakes." She tells him to sit this one out. He asks how he dies. She tells them they were at the beach (before the apocalypse) and he was pulled under. And then she started to drown. He tells her he hates the beach. She tells him they can use them in Alexandria let someone else go. "Let Maggie take care of Maggie." Sasha walks down the halls of Sanctuary with Eugene.He asks if she changed her mind about taking that "allergy" medication. She says yes. He tells her she will get used to Sanctuary. She says she won't. "Everyone has a way out. . . if people die today it's 'cause of the choices they made." Her reply, "Yeah, it is." Maggie and Sasha sit on the trunk of a tree. Sasha asks, "Why are we here?" Maggie replies, "For this."
One of the Scavengers sounds the alarm. Rick orders everyone into position. A truck pulls up. Eugene calls through a megaphone as he stands on top the truck. He says, "Hello. . . Options are zero to none. Compliance and fealty are your only escape. Bottom line, you may thrive or you may die. . . The jig is up and in full effect. Will you comply, Rick?" Rick says, "Where's Negan?" Eugene responds, "I'm Negan." Rosita holds the trigger for the explosives in her hand. She looks up at Rick. Rick sighs and nods to her. She pushes the button but nothing happens. She looks up at Rick surprised. Jadis pulls her gun on Rick and her people aim their weapons at the Alexandrians. One of them opens the gates to Alexandria. Negan comes out of the truck with Dwight. They open the back of the truck with the explosives. Michonne looks through her scope at Rick. She turns around and the Scavenger says, "We win."
Negan orders them to drop their guns. Rick tells Jadis they had a deal. She says, "Tamiel came for the boat things. Followed ones who took. Made a better deal." Negan says, "You push me and you push me. You tried to blow me up. But Eugene? He's on of yours. You people are animals." Negan orders Dwight and Simon to the truck. They pull out a coffin and prop it up. Negan says, "So you don't like Eugene anymore but you gotta like Sasha. Got her packaged right here for your convenience alive and well. . . I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Yep, I know about those too. . . I want a person of your own choosing for Lucille. Daryl, I gotta get me my Daryl back. And the pool table and all the pool cues and I want it now or Sasha dies and then all of you, probably. Just because I brought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it. You know what? You suck ass, Rick. I don't wanna have to kill her but that is what I'm gonna do." Rick says he wants to see her. We see Sasha again listening to music. She says, "It felt real." She repeats that to Abraham. He kisses her. They stand up and hug. He says he knows she'll offer to go so he can stay. She'll want to make up for saying Maggie should take care of Maggie. She says yeah. He tells her, "We lay our big meaties across the chopping block ahead of someone else's. It's always for someone else. Both of us know if we're gonna kick there sure as hell better be a point to it. So maybe we feel there was a point to all of this. Alpha to Omega. Whether it's on the battlefield or the beach, or somewhere out there today. Maggie, she's carrying the future." She says, "You're right. I knew how this was gonna end." They gear up. "Putting your ass on the line for someone else, tearing it to shreds for them. You said it before. Oh my that is living." She calls him an idiot and smiles. They walk out the door.
Eugene and Sasha walk out the door of Sanctuary. She asks if it will take two hours to get there. He says yes and hands her an ipod. "I truly wished I measured up." She says, "You still can, Eugene. I'm not giving up. Not on you." Negan tells her she doesn't have to be in the coffin for the trip. She says she's fine she just needs a bottle of water. He tells her "I know how tough this is. I appreciate it." Sasha picks a song on the ipod. She looks at the pill. She smiles and swallows the pill. Negan knocks on the coffin, opens it and a zombie Sasha attacks him. Carl uses the surprises to begin shooting. Rosita and the other Alexandrians follow suit. Michonne fights with the woman. Daryl shoots at the Saviors. Jadis still points her gun at Rick and says no as he reaches for his gun. A Savior pulls Sasha off of Negan and she bites him. Negan tells Simon to go with plan B. Jadis tells Rick down now. He says they can make another deal. She shoots him in the leg and pushes him off the wall.
Gunfire ensues. Michonne is having her head slammed against the floor. Jadis leads Rick down the streets of Alexandria. Alexandrians lie dead along the way. Carl is kneeling on the ground surrounded by Saviors. Negan grabs Lucille. Michonne grabs a piece of broken pottery and stabs the woman in the head. Jadis orders Rick to kneel next to Carl. Negan says, "You couldn't stick with us. You had to go with these filthy garbage people." Jadis says the deal was for twelve people. Negan counters with ten. She agrees to ten. Negan says, "Rick this is just going to make you sad, broken, you're gonna wish you were dead. I like having fun. I do. But maybe you think the guy that did what he did to your friends wasn't me. Like that was some sort of a put on. Like I'm not the guy with the bat I'm just the guy that makes your kid spaghetti. . . Maybe this is all on me. I gotta make it right. I guess I gotta start all over again. . . If I had a kid I'd want him to be just like your kid." Carl says, "You're not gonna win." Negan replies, "It is over." Michonne and the woman still fight. Michonne say, "We live. We;re the ones. Us!" Rick looks around at Alexandria. A woman screams. Rick thinks it is Michonne falling to her death. Negan says "You just lost somebody right now. Well, Rick. You chose this. This isn't a warning. This punishment. I'm going to kill Carl now. I'm going to try to do it in one because I like him. And Lucille is going to take your hands." Rick replies, "I told you already I'm gonna kill you. All of you. Maybe not today maybe not tomorrow. But nothing is gonna change that. You're already dead." Negan smiles. "Damn, wow, Rick. Okay." He stands up takes Carl's hat off and Shiva leaps on a Savior. The knights come in shooting. Ezekiel shouts, "Alexandria will not fall, not on this day!" Rick picks up a gun. Maggie shows up with the Hilltoppers. Rick begins to shoot along with Daryl and the others. Morgan shoots until he runs out of bullets. Negan realizes Maggie is alive. Shiva kills another Savior. Even Father Gabriel shoots. Rick nods at Morgan as Morgan kills a Savior with his stick. Jadis nods at one of the Scavengers and he shoots off a flare. The Scavengers set off smoke bombs and run out of Alexandria. Ezekiel announces, "Now, we finish this!" Negan is gone from his hiding place. He gives the finger as he drives off in his truck. As the Knights try to pursue they are stopped by the Scavengers. Aaron and the Knights try to open the gate but the Scavengers locked it from the outside. Daryl climbs up on a truck and looks out to the entrance. No one is there. Rick finds the dead body of the Scavenger that was with Michonne. That was the woman we heard screaming. He finds Michonne all bloody. She says, "We, we're . . ." He says, "I know. We are. We will." He hugs her.
Simon says the preparations are in place. Negan says that's good. Negan turns to Eugene and asks him how Sasha ended up dead. Eugene replies she ran out of air. Negan stares at him and says, "Maybe." Negan looks out at Sanctuary and we see a large group of armed Saviors. He announces, "We are going to war!" Rick asks Maggie if he thinks Sasha killed herself. Maggie knows she did. She gave them a chance. Maggie and Jesus walk through the woods and run into zombie Sasha. Jesus kills her. Maggie cries. We hear Maggie say, "You were in trouble. You were trapped. Glenn didn't know you but he helped you. He put himself in danger for you. And that started it all. From Atlanta, to my daddy's farm, to the prison, to here. To this moment now. Not as strangers as family. Because Glenn chose to be there for you, that day a long time ago. That was the decision that changed everything. It started with both of you, and it just grew to all of us to sacrifice for each other, to suffer, to stand, to grieve, to give, to love, to live, to fight for each other. Glenn made the decision, Rick. I was just following his lead." Morgan sits on a stoop and is joined by Carol. Daryl shuts the gate of Alexandria. He finds the wooden soldier he had whittled that Dwight stole. Written on it are the words, "Didn't know." Ezekiel, Rick, and Maggie stand on a pedestal. Maggie and Sasha sit on the tree branch looking at the sunrise. They smile at each other. We see Maggie addressing everyone. She holds the pocket watch in her hand.
Final Thoughts
- The song Sasha is listening to is called "We will all be free."
- I found this episode to be kind of anticlimactic. I felt that this whole season was a big build up to this battle but when it came it felt flat. Also, nothing happened with either Rosita or Morgan. They both had big story lines and they were barely in the finale. Morgan is killing again and no one seems to care. Rosita was ready to give her life to kill Negan and she never even got close to him.
- I was not surprised when Sasha came out of the coffin as a zombie. I figured once Eugene gave her the pill instead of a weapon that she was going to find make herself the weapon.
- I was barely surprised by the Scavenger's double-cross. They never seemed really trustworthy. I think if Rick hadn't been so desperate he would have taken his time to watch them and see what kind of people they are before making a deal with them.
- I did like the speech Maggie gives at the end of the episode. It was a nice call back to Glenn and the pilot. This group came together because Glenn chose to help Rick.
