Season 6 of The Walking Dead left everyone in limbo. Who was Negan, and who did he kill. This season people anticipated for Rick to seek vengeance. Season 7 started with seeing the brutal deaths of both Abraham and Glenn and then seeing Rich bow down to Negan frustrating Walking Dead fans. As Rick continued to bow down to Negan, fans becoming increasingly frustrated, causing a loss of viewership during the first half the season.
Then in the season 7 mid-season Finale, Hearts Still Beating Rick decided that bowing down to Negan was no longer an option and went to seek help from the Hilltop. Also, Dale escaped as Negan’s slave and gave Rick his old law enforcement pistol, symbolic of things to come. This left us waiting for the second half of season 7 and the coming war with Negan’s Saviors.
Rick’s Alexandria community are battle-hardened and tested. Person-for-person they are much more lethal than the saviors. They are heavily out-manned and outgunned. This has caused Rick to ask other communities under Negan’s thumb for help in a war against him. People from the Hilltop asked the Alexandrians for training but the combination of the two communities are still heavily out-manned and outgunned to face the Saviors.
Rick then goes to the Kingdom to ask King Ezekiel for help. Even though King Ezekiel has the manpower to face the Saviors as well as skilled combatants, he cowardly declines Rick’s request for help but says that he will host Daryl as a guest in their community where he will be safe.
Later, Rick and his Alexandrians meet a group who surround them with guns. The Walking Dead refers to this group as ‘The Survivors’. It remains to be seen who they are but we might have seen them in an earlier episode. The previous episode was titled, ‘Swear’. The Oceanside community was introduced in this episode. A group of women with the ferocity of Amazonians. However, when Rick and his crew are surrounded, there were men with the women. So, is this a separate group?
Being subservient to a brutal dictator such as Negan is no longer an option for Rick and his crew. However, Negan is very crafty and it will take a lot to defeat Negan and his henchman? Can Rick do it while minimizing casualties, this has yet to be seen. However, as we have learned, Rick and his community are survivors. We are witnessing the slow burn to a war that will forever change the landscape of The Walking Dead.