The Walking Dead season 7 finale complete recap

The Walking Dead wraps up its seventh season with an explosive season finale. Here’s your complete recap of “The First Day of the Rest of Your Life.”

Music plays in the background. Sasha listens to a song and you can tell the music is really affecting her after how long it has been since she’s heard any music. The song tells her to “hold on” and she rips the earbud from her ear.

(Cue the opening credits)

She smiles and listens to another song. “Hey Darlin, wake up,” she hears. She’s having a flashback and she wakes up to see Abraham on the couch next to her. She sits up and kisses him, happy to see him. He’s feeling “all kinds of glad” to see her. She wants to know if “they’re” back but they aren’t. He tells her that something is wrong with Maggie and the baby. Now we know how that all started. “Don’t go,” she pleads.

Negan walks into the cell and welcomes her to the first day of the rest of her life. He offers her a silver platter. He admires how tough she is and he doesn’t want anyone to die, especially not her. Someone will need to die, but not her. He wants to solve problems. “Tuck in. Big day,” he says, revealing pancakes with a smile.

Rick tells Dwight to look at him. He wants to know why Dwight wants to help them, and Dwight says he wants Negan dead. But he can’t kill Negan alone. They’re all Negan. Tara tells Dwight that the woman he killed had a name. She was a doctor. He says he wasn’t aiming for her, an Daryl rushes him with a knife aimed at his face. Dwight explains that everything he did was for someone else, but she (Shelley) got away. Now he has no reason to stay. Dwight says they can work together. He tells Daryl that he knows the truth, and he’s not lying. Though Tara calls for Daryl to kill Dwight, he doesn’t. Rosita mentions that Sasha has been captured, and Jesus says that Dwight may be their only hope. Dwight says Negan is going to come the next day, probably with three trucks. He can stop the trucks and radio ahead to say things are okay, and then they can hide in the vans and go back inside the Sanctuary and take them out. With the support of the workers, they can win the battle.

Daryl and Rick watch Dwight leave. Daryl doesn’t trust him, but he’s willing to follow the plan. If he’s lying, he’ll kill him slowly. Even if he isn’t lying, he’ll still kill him afterwards. Tara watches them talk, and Daryl gives her a look as he walks away. Clearly he isn’t going to let Dwight get away with killing Denise.

(Commercials. With extended episodes come extended commercials)

Sasha listens to another song. “Someday we’ll all be free,” it goes. She’s back with Abraham and she tells him she had a dream that he died.

Negan finishes telling her the plan. She’ll come out of Alexandria, they’ll stand down, and Lucille will kill three people. And then they move on. She says no one has to die, but he says punishment is the way things work. It’s how they build society. She insists that no one has to die. He wants one person, then. Instead of three, one, and just for her. She agrees to that, and he laughs. She has him wrapped around her little finger, and it’s not a man-woman thing. He’d feel that way even if she was a guy.

We see Sasha sitting with Maggie again, but she isn’t really there. Maggie talks to Enid and Jesus about Gregory being gone, and maybe he’s the one telling Negan what’s going on. There’s a baby on the floor. It’s Judith. Judith is at the Hilltop. Enid offers to take her, and she hands Maggie the Glenn’s watch.

Carol leads a troop from the Kingdom. They find Morgan dressed in battle gear. He was going to ambush them on his own, but Carol says that it’s not a good idea because if he kills them then they might blame the Kingdom. Ezekiel asks if he’s trying to extinguish who he was, but Morgan says he’s stuck. Ezekiel asks if he wants the Saviors dead, and he does, so Ezekiel tells him to join their army. He notes that Morgan wears Benjamin’s armor, and he asks if Morgan wears it to honor him. He wants Morgan to join them to create a new alliance so no one suffers under their rule again. Morgan shakes his head, and then he nods. Ezekiel grabs Shiva’s chain, Jerry holds up the Kingdom’s flag, Carol takes her place at Ezekiel’s side, and onward they march. Morgan falls into place with them.

(More commericals) (Ooh, trailer for Alien: Covenant. A few of them. Clearly the AMC commercials are prime advertising real estate tonight.)

The sun shines upon the church. The RV drives into Alexandria, followed by bicyclists and trash trucks. The Scavengers pour out of the trash trucks like clowns in a clown car. Jadis comments that this is a good place to fight for. Rick says they fight for each other. She speaks in a riddle when she responds, then she hits on Rick in front of Michonne, who says they need to get back to work. Awkward….

The work begins to rig explosives in the trucks. Daryl and Aaron help Rosita with the devices. They work quietly but efficiently together.

Dwight has rejoined the Saviors and he watches along with Negan as the Saviors clear the road of trees that are blocking the way. Simon is there and he tells Negan it could have been “them” but it’s hard to say for sure. Eugene asks Negan for an opportunity to see if he can help change their minds in Alexandria before anything happens to them.

Back in Alexandria, Michonne helps one of the Scavengers to figure out her post. She offers to take the other post, and before she leaves she tells Michonne “we win.”

(More commercials. Lots of trailers for upcoming shows and movies.)

More music for Sasha. She doesn’t look very good. She’s talking to Abraham in her mind. Is she reliving a moment? Abraham says they’re going to walk out the door together and “kick shit and eat snakes.” He wants to know how he died in her dream. It was at the beach and he got pulled under the water. “I hate the beach,” he says, because sand is like sandblasting your nutsack. He wants to go help Maggie, but she begs him to stay behind.

Eugene asks if she changed her mind about her allergy medicine, and when she says she did, he says she’ll adjust “sinus wise.” He says if people die it’s for choices they made.

One of the Scavengers signals the others. Rick looks down from the perch as Eugene rolls up on top of the van telling them that everything has been planned out. He says that he’s there to hope he can change their minds. He wants them to live. “The jig is up and in full effect,” he says, asking whether or not Rick will comply. Rick wants to know where Negan is. “I’m Negan,” Eugene says. They all look shocked as they realize the weight of his words. Rick nods at Rosita, and she pushes a button. But there is no explosion. The Scavengers put their guns on the Alexandrians and the gate opens. Negan walks up and puts his arm around Eugene. The truck with the explosives is there, unarmed.

Negan and Eugene walk up and Rick asks if Rick has heard the story about Rick who gets everyone killed. Jadis says they made a better deal. Negan says Rick tried to blow everyone up, including Eugene, who did a good thing. He calls for Dwight and Simon to reveal a coffin on the truck. They stand it up and Negan stands beside it. Negan says they don’t like Eugene anymore, but they must like Sasha. She’s in the coffin, safe and sound, and he brought her there to make a deal. Negan wants all of their guns, and he wants one of the people to die. Rick gets to choose. Negan wants Daryl back. He wants the pool table, too, and all the cues and chalk. Just because he brought Sasha in a coffin doesn’t mean she has to die. Negan doesn’t want to kill her. Rick wants to know if he can see Sasha. Negan has to get her up to speed because she can’t hear inside.

Sasha tells Abraham that “it felt real” but it just started. Abraham kisses her tenderly. He holds her and says they need to go. He likes how she calls bullshit on stuff. He knows she’s going to say she’ll go instead because she would never say Maggie has to take care of herself. He tells her they have to put themselves aside because Maggie is carrying the future. “You’re right,” she says. They walk to the door and leave.

Next week see Eugene and Sasha leaving the Sanctuary. He hands her the iPod and says he got it for her and he does think of others. Sasha says she isn’t giving up. Negan is impressed when she says that she’ll make the trip in the coffin. She just needs water. He agrees, and he tells her that he knows how tough it is to do what she’s going, and she appreciates it. “Damn, you’re something else,” he says as he closes the lid.

She picks another song and looks at the pill again, smiling sadly. The music plays as she pops the pill and drinks it down.

When Negan opens the coffin, Walker Sasha pops out and tackles him. Carl starts shooting at the Scavengers, and the fight breaks out. Rosita is shot. The Savior who pulls Sasha off of Negan is promptly killed by her. Negan grabs Simon and growls in rage. Rick gives Jadis a look and she says “no.” He wants to make another deal, but she tells him “down.” When he doesn’t do anything, she shoots him in the leg and pushes him from the scaffolding. “I said down,” she says.

(More commercials, of course)

Daryl kills the Scavengers nearest him, and Michonne struggles against the Scavenger near her. Jadis parades Rick through the street until we see Simon with the Saviors circling Carl. Dwight is there. Negan greets Rick. Jadis sits Rick down next to Carl. Negan can’t believe he made a deal with the “filthy garbage people” and he tells Jadis he’ll give her ten people. Negan tells Rick that this is just going to make Rick sad. He reminds Rick that he’s the same guy who killed his friends and made his kids spaghetti. He tells Rick that if he had a kid, he’d want him to be just like Carl. Carl tells Negan they won’t win. Michonne continues to fight.

There’s a scream down the street, and Negan sees that Rick must have lost someone important to him. “That is timing!” he exclaims. He tells Rick that Rick chose this despite Negan’s warnings. He tells Rick he’s going to kill Carl. He is going to do it in one swing because he likes Carl, and then Lucille is going to take Rick’s hands. Rick says he can have his hands, but he’s still going to kill Negan. “You’re all already dead,” he says. Negan flinches. Then he laughs.

Just as Negan takes a swing, Shiva tackles them. Ezekiel and the Kingdom ride in and attack, and so does Maggie and the Hilltoppers. Gabriel fires his gun and Morgan kills the man trying to kill Rick. Negan sees Maggie and realizes how big this is. He blames Simon.

The Scavengers fire a flare and retreat. The groups come together and Ezekiel vows to finish this. The Saviors ride out, and Negan flips them off as they drive past. The Scavengers try to escape but they have locked the gate. Daryl gets up and sees that they have all driven away.

Rick and Carl hurry to where Michonne was supposed to be. The Scavenger is dead, but Michonne is still alive. She’s badly injured, but she’s alive. Rick and Carl are relieved. Rick tells her they’re ok, and he hugs her.

(More commercials. Thank goodness, because I needed a break after all of that.)

Negan, Dwight, Simon and Eugene walk into the Sanctuary and Dwight says everyone is ready. Negan wants to know how Sasha died. Eugene says he sealed up the box, and he thinks she ran out of air. “Maybe,” he says. Negan looks at his people gathered outside. “We are going to war!” he yells.

Rick wonders if Sasha killed herself, and Maggie says she did. The group is there scouting to see if anyone has been left behind. Jesus and Maggie find Sasha and Maggie cries as Maggie kills her. Carol watches as Aaron hands food to Jerry and the others. Carol and Morgan sit together on the steps. She nods at him. Maggie talks about how they are all a family. Daryl finds a chess piece with “Didn’t know!” written on it. Rick sits with Michonne while Tara sits with Rosita. Maggie says it started back then with Glenn and Rick, and it grew.

Maggie and Sasha watch the sun rise.

Ezekiel, Maggie, and Rick stand before the new communities. They’re a family now. Maggie holds Glenn’s watch and she says Glenn made the decision and she’s just following his lead.

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The Walking Dead returns in the fall on AMC.

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