Embrace the contradiction.
Carol lies on a cart being pulled by a horse that belongs to one of the two men that she and Morgan encountered in the season finale. Morgan puts his mark on a tree. He tells one of the men he is marking their way back. Zombies surround them. Carol falls of the cart. Some of the zombies eat one of the horses. Morgan and the two men fight off the zombies. Carol struggles to see. She gets up and staggers away. She comes to a house and sees an old woman. Then she realizes the old woman is a zombie. Several people on horses with lances come and kill the zombies coming towards Carol. Instead of zombies she sees living humans being killed. One of the new horseman says he has been looking for them. Morgan puts his mark on the mail box of the house and puts the flag up. They all head towards a city.
Carol lies on a bed. Her wounds bandaged. Morgan sits on a nearby chair keeping watch. His rabbit's foot is hanging from the lamp next to Carol's bed. Carol wakes up and asks how long she has been asleep. Around two days. She wants to know where they are. Morgan pushes her along the community in a wheelchair. He gave up their weapons to ensure they would help Carol. Ha plans on them returning to Alexandria in another week. The community is called Kingdom. Since they were helping Carol he has been helping the community. She wants to know what he told the community about them. He told them he was looking for Carol and found her. He is taking her to see their leader, King Ezekiel. According to Morgan, "He does his own thang." He pushes Carol into a theater. Ezekiel sits on a throne on the stage with a pet tiger next to him.
Ezekiel refers to Carol as a fair maiden. He speaks as a medieval king. Morgan plays along. Carol just stares. The backdrop on the stage is of a castle. The tiger, Shiva, growls at her. Ezekiel's steward, Jerry, tells the tiger to chill. Ezekiel asks her opinion of the kingdom. She smiles and says, "I think you're amazing. It's amazing." She thinks the tiger is amazing. "I don't know what the hell is going on in the most wonderful way." she says chirpily. Ezekiel says they can stay as long as they like as long as they contribute. "Drink from the well, replenish the well." He offers them fruit they grow in the Kingdom. Carol says no thanks. Ezekiel tells her to take a pomegranate. Sweet fruit surrounded by bitter. "That's something of a contradiction." Carol would prefer chocolate to pomegranate. She says she needs more rest. She refers to him as "Your Majesty" with a smile plastered across her face. As soon as they are out she tells Morgan, "This place is a damn circus. All of it. These people . . . It's make believe. It's play time. And you're just . . . (she laughs) I can't do this. I can't be here." He says he won't let her leave."You'll what? Tie me up like that wolf? Is that it? It isn't up to you. It wasn't before in the basement, or at the library, and it isn't now. I don't give a shit if you think you've found the secret to life." she responds. He says. "I don't and I haven't and I don't know what I started. But I won't let you die out there. That's what I won't do." "It doesn't matter what you do." she says and he wheels her away.
We see two trucks leave the kingdom. Morgan goes out with some of the knights from the Kingdom. They are going hunting. They choral some pigs in a room with a walker that has been tied up. Morgan wants to know why they use a walker. One of the men (Richard) replies, "Because I want their bellies full of rot." Zombies approach the group. Ben (a young man from the group) is told to kill a zombie using the machete like he was taught. Ben struggles to kill the zombie and he is helped by Jerry and then Ezekiel kills the zombie. Richard tells Morgan the people back in Kingdom don't need to know about this. About the pigs eating the zombies and everything else. As they head to the cars a zombie attacks Ben and Morgan fights it off with his staff. Ezekiel calls out to the approaching zombies, "May we one day cease you from this curse. Till then know that we live on in your place. . . full, festive, faithful and free." Richard adds, "Only halfway free." As they leave the cars go in separate directions. When Morgan asks where the others are going Ezekiel replies, "Somewhere else."
When they return to Kingdom Ezekiel asks how Morgan acquired his skills with the staff. Morgan tells him a cheese maker taught him. Ezekiel says, "There is a saying, the pessimist looks down and hits his head, the optimist looks up and loses his footing. The realist looks forward and adjusts his path accordingly." Ezekiel asks Morgan to train Ben. Morgan is uncertain. His staff could not save Carol that is why he shot the man. Ezekiel wants to know if the staff saved Morgan. Yes, it did. Ezekiel needs Ben to live. Morgan agrees to train him. We hear a choir singing. Carol sits on her bed staring at the wall that has words "Drink from the well, replenish the well. K.E." written on it. You can tell she is planning her next move. Through the window we can see Morgan teaching Ben to use the staff. We see the choir practicing somewhere in Kingdom. Morgan tells Ben he is doing it too fast. Carol wheels herself around Kingdom. She steels a knife and something else. Ben appears to be learning very quickly. Carol chats about breakfast cobbler with some man folding clothes. She says they were eating possum where she was living. She tears up when she hears they have cobbler at every meal. When the man goes to get her a tissue she steals some clothes. Ezekiel watches Ben and Morgan practice. Ben notices a book in Morgan's bag. He asks to borrow it. He has read every book in Kingdom. Morgan hands him the book. Ezekiel summons both of them. Jerry tells Morgan to bring his gun. They are taken to where they kill the pigs. It is a secret from the people of Kingdom. Secrets are a burden, not a reward. They are the cost. Two cars pull up. Several armed men approach them. Ezekiel says he will fulfill his obligation on time every time. One of the men, Gavin, counts the pigs and comments that the pigs look bigger than last time. Richard replies that the pigs were well fed. A woman from Kingdom begins to explain that the men are from another group but Morgan stops her. He knows who the men are.
The people from Kingdom load the pigs unto the Saviors' trucks. One of the Saviors taunts Richard. Richard and the Savior begin to fight. They point their weapons at each other. Ezekiel orders Richard to stop. The Savior punches Richard repeatedly. Ezekiel tells Gavin to order his man to stop. Gavin tells his man to stop. As they prepare to leave Gavin reminds him that next week is produce week and if they don't deliver Richard will be the first to go (we know what that means). Ezekiel asks Morgan if he encountered the Saviors before. He asks if the man Morgan killed was a Savior. Morgan wants to know if the reason he was brought out here was so he would kill a Savior if he needed to. Ezekiel says it was the opposite. Morgan and Ben eat dinner together. Ben tells a little boy to finish eating his vegetables. Ben has been helping to raise him. Ben's dad was one of the best fighters in the Kingdom. His dad died when they were trying to clear a building. Too many zombies not enough men. Eight men died that day. Ezekiel is more careful now. Ezekiel has kept their deal with the Saviors a secret so his people won't try to fight them and lose. Ben asks about the inscription in the book. Is it Morgan's handwriting? No, it is not. "It's not about what I think. People can try and set you in the right direction, but they can't show you the way. You gotta find that for yourself. I thought I had. But I am just fumbling through. Sometimes we change our minds." Morgan gets up and goes to talk to Carol. He brings a tray of food into her room but the room is empty. He sits on her bed.
Carol steals fruit from the garden at night. Ezekiel says, "By all means fair maiden have one." He and Jerry stand by a fire pit. The garden was for everyone. He's glad she saw it before leaving. She apologizes. He tells Jerry to leave them. Ezekiel thinks her sweet and innocent act is clever. She gets people to trust her then she takes what she wants. He knows her guns belonged to the Saviors. She asks what he knows about the Saviors. More than he would like. He says that she put up a fight and won. She laughs. Kingdom is a joke. "Out there, out there is real. . .You are selling these people a fairy tale." she tells him. "Maybe they need the fairy tale. The contradiction is the point." he retorts. He sits next to her. "People want someone to follow. It's human nature. They want someone to make 'em feel safe. And people who feel safe are less dangerous, more productive." They see a man with a pet tiger as a hero. "They needed someone to follow. So I acted the part. I faked it till I made it." He was a zoo keeper. Shiva fell into a concrete mote and was injured. He tied his shirt around her leg and saved her life. After that she never threatened him. She can free herself from her chain but she won't. When it all started he found himself at the zoo. Shiva was trapped, hungry and alone like him. She was the last thing on Earth that he loved. She protected him and got him to Kingdom. He used to act in community theater. He played Arthur and Macbeth. His name really is Ezekiel. "Cards on the table. Nothing up my sleeve." Please keep his secret, for the people of Kingdom and for him. Carol doesn't care. She just wants to go. He asks where. She responds, "Away." He says, "I'm sorry. For whatever bad you've been through. There's so much of it out there now you know? Too much. Out there it feels like it's all bad. Especially when you are alone. The thing is though, it's not all bad. It can't be. It isn't. Life isn't. Where there's life there's hope, heroism, grace, love. Where there's life there's life. I hope that's not what you're walking away from." "So what if I am?" she asks. "I found a way to deal with the bad by going overboard with the good, embraced the contradiction. Maybe you could go and not go. But I think I can help, if you let me." Why do you care?" "'Cause it makes me feel good." He'll have someone he trusts meet her at the gate so she can go and not go.
Carol and Morgan ride horses past a cemetery. He asks her if she is sure that this is what she wants. When they approach the house with the mail box he marked he stops and gets off his horse. Carol gets off her horse and puts her backpack on. He says she is his favorite person that he knocked out. "Take care of yourself." he says. "I will." she says. "Promise?" he asks. "Always watching always ready. Remember?" she asks him. "I do." He gets back on his horse and takes the reigns from her horse. She walks up to the gate of the house and unlocks it. Morgan puts down the flag on the mailbox. Carol walks up to the house. The zombie bangs on the window. She gets her knife ready and we hear her kill the zombie. We see her bury the zombie in the graveyard. As she is making a fire someone knocks on her door. We hear a tiger growl. Ezekiel is out there with Shiva. He has a pomegranate in his hand and says, "You really gotta try one of these." Carol half smiles.
Final thoughts
- I love the relationship between Morgan and Carol. They have the best dialogue when they are together. They have deep respect for each other and deeply care for each other even though they disagree.
- Symbolism of the pomegranate. Embrace the contradiction
- Late night booty call with a tiger? How could a girl say no?
- Is Jerry the goofy Milton of Kingdom?
- The last of the comics that I read is where we see Ezekiel with Shiva. I have no idea if Kingdom is like Alexandria or Woodbury. I am going to be optimistic and think it is exactly what it seems. A good place with good people. I am going to embrace the contradiction. Time will tell if I am right or not.
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