The Walking Dead 906: Alexandria’s unwelcoming welcome mat

There was a time when looking for people who needed help was a big part of The Walking Dead, but it looks like things have changed six years later.

Remember the three questions game on The Walking Dead? When Rick and the group came upon new people they asked three questions and the responses determined whether or not the new people were allowed to stay. Years later there are council meetings and veiled references to things that happened in the past. There are three new questions. Alexandria might be thriving in this new era, but it doesn’t look like strangers are welcome anymore.

In fairness, it must be said that Michonne changed her mind about Magna and her group thanks to Judith’s resolve to allow them to stay. Kind of. They’re not being cast out so much as transferred. From the sound of it they’re heading off to the Hilltop, where there might be a place for them.

If not for Michonne’s change of heart, though, they would have been cast out and the idea of not helping strangers doesn’t really fit into the Rick Grimes school of thought.

Not helping strangers also goes against Carl’s mission to help people. Carl died trying to help Siddiq, a total stranger who is now a very valuable member of the community. Judith seems to have grown up wanting to help people even though Michonne is adamantly against it (at least at first) so the change in philosophy must be something that came about recently.

Of the new questions, the focus is on who you were and who you are now. This implies that they want to know where you came from and if you’ve changed your ways. But given that so few new people have passed through the council we have to wonder how many people have answered these questions, how many have been turned away and why they developed these questions to begin with.

Something happened to Alexandria that has made them wary of strangers. The council meeting is packed because they haven’t seen new people in a while. Luke learns from Siddiq that this isn’t how things have always been in Alexandria and Siddiq wishes it was different. There’s a look between Michonne, Aaron, Gabriel and Siddiq during the council meeting that speaks volumes about whatever happened, but at this point we have no idea what it is.

Were they betrayed by people they were trying to help? Did they offer a home for the residents of the Sanctuary after it fell apart and end up getting burned? Does Oceanside play into any of this?

Ultimately Magna and her group are going to get a chance for a new life elsewhere, which proves that even the rules made with the best intentions in mind need to be broken every now and then. In this case, breaking the rules is a good thing.

Something bad happened to make Alexandria so wary of strangers and it’s impacting the community’s ability to further Rick and Carl’s vision. Hopefully we’ll learn more as The Walking Dead continues because this is one of the biggest mysteries coming out of the time jump.