Comic book recap: The Walking Dead issue 173 ‘Final Fight’

Find out everything that happened in issue 173 of The Walking Dead titled ‘Final Fight’ which was released on November 1, 2017 by Image Comics and Skybound.

Issue 173 of The Walking Dead titled ‘Final Fight’ opens with Beta standing over Jesus as Aaron sleeps. Jesus becomes aware of his presence and rolls away from a swipe of his massive knife. Next, Jesus raises both feet and connects a powerful blow on the huge foe.

As Beta recovers from the hit, Jesus grabs his gun. Charging Jesus, Beta knocks the gun out of his hand and continues his attack. The noise finally wakes Aaron, who is shocked to see the fight unfolding in front of him.

Aaron raises his pistol and tells Jesus to get down. Jesus instead continues to fight Beta and takes a slash on his right arm that has his bloodied. Finally, Aaron realizes that walkers are surrounding them as the skirmish goes on.

Meanwhile, Jesus does a flip to get separation from Beta, grabbing his gun off the ground and raising it once again. Firing, he misses Beta’s body and puts a hole in his jacket. Aaron is doing his best to eliminate the walkers, but they just keep coming.

Jesus turns away from Beta to shoot some walkers. Beta takes the opportunity the charge him once again, knocking him to the ground and holding a knife to his throat. He says he can’t let them return to the community and tell where they are located.

Just then, a gunshot goes through Beta’s body from the side. Aaron says he’s got Jesus covered, and the favor is returned with Jesus taking out the remaining walkers before sharing an embrace and making sure Beta is dead.

They take the walker mask off Beta and immediately recognize the face. A basketball player who had been in a movie and several television commercials had taken on a role in The Whisperers, and just as his name was about to be said, Beta sprung up and said he has no name before collapsing again.

Scenery shifts to The Hilltop, where Maggie is holding the map Dante gave her. Dante is behind her, asking her if she’s gone outside to see the rebuild. Maggie is distracted by the thought of Negan living out there after everything he’s done, particularly to Glenn. Dante says he will leave Maggie alone, but she asks him to stay in the tent with her.

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Lydia and Carl are also at The Hilltop. They are taking a break from working on the rebuild but want to get back to helping everyone. Sophia walks by with a load of shingles and drops it. Carl rushes to help, teasing that she is biting off more than she can chew. Sophia says she has already done this load several times. Lydia gives her a dirty look from behind the scenes.

On the road to Ohio, the trek has gotten difficult. They are climbing over rough terrain and Eugene points them in the right direction. Magna says she’s not sure how much more she can do. He says that they are only one day away from their meetup point. Princess says she might be the only one having fun!

At the camp of The Whisperers, people are struggling to adapt to the lifestyle. A boy named Josh refuses to wear the walker skin mask, but his father Mike continues to try to talk him into it. This doesn’t please the group, and they say the two can’t travel with them if they don’t live the lifestyle.

A shot rings out and the confrontational member of The Whisperers drops to the ground. Jesus appears, kicking other members of Beta’s group. Mike, Josh, and the other survivor are the only ones standing from the camp.

Mike says the big guy with two knives left a bit ago and should be back soon. Jesus says they already took care of him. Aaron and Jesus introduce themselves and offer to bring them to their community. Immediately, the two younger survivors ask if they are required to wear dead people’s faces, and are relieved to find out that it isn’t a requirement.

Back in Alexandria, Rick is once again at Andrea’s grave. Laura tries to get Dwight to understand that he’s in pain and struggling. Dwight says they all are, but Laura is tired of Dwight’s mindset and tells him off while walking away.

The group from Ohio has arrived at the trainyard. This is the meeting point with the group from the radio, and they attempt to look around before settling in for the night. Eugene says this doesn’t make sense because they should be there already.

Princess stops everyone, spotting something and drawing it to the attention of the group. Just then, bright lights shine on the group and they are told to drop their weapons then raise their hands as the comic comes to a close.

Next: Cover analysis for The Walking Dead 174 'A Solitary Life'

What did you think of The Walking Dead issue 173 titled ‘Final Fight’? With a big death and some character introductions, this could be a very important issue in the story of the zombie apocalypse and one which fans should hold dear for a long time!