What will Maggie find when she returns to The Walking Dead?

Fans of The Walking Dead are anticipating the return of Maggie Rhee and baby Hershel. After the attack on Hilltop, what will be left for her to find?

In October 2019 at New York City Comic-Con, AMC announced that Lauren Cohan would be returning to The Walking Dead to reprise her role as Maggie Rhee.  The last time fans saw Maggie was in season 9, “What Comes After,” which was also Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) final episode. Rick will make his next appearance in The Walking Dead movies, but we won’t have to wait much longer to see the return of Maggie.

The initial announcement stated that she would return in season 11 but, showrunner Angela Kang told Entertainment Weekly we may get to see her sooner.

"“We may see her at some other point this season,” Kang notes slyly, “but I don’t want to say too much about anything.”"

Kang was referring to possibly seeing Maggie’s return in season 10. There are only 4 episodes left so it is exciting to know we just may see her in one of the final episodes of season 10.

During the mid-season premiere of season 9, we experienced a 6-year time jump, and Maggie chose to live with Georgie and her group, who we met in Season 8 . During that time, Jesus was corresponding with her via letters to keep her abreast of things at the Hilltop. Recently, in season 10, Carol told Daryl they hadn’t received correspondence from Maggie in a while.

Looking back, the brutal death of Glenn at the hands of Negan was a tremendous blow to Maggie. She had always wanted Negan to pay for what he did to Glenn and Abraham. So much so that it clouded her mind and didn’t allow her to think clearly. When Rick slashed Negan’s throat but ordered that he be saved, Maggie finally lost her composure and broke down. She even went to his cell at Alexandria, intent on killing him.

In season 9, Maggie took over the running of Hilltop after Gregory held an election, which he lost. She took over this responsibility and did what she thought was best for the community. Gregory was never going to go down without a fight and planned a sneak attack on Maggie’s life with the help of Earl. This ends with Earl in jail and Gregory being hanged in front of the community on Maggie’s orders.

Fast forward to Season 10 “Walk With Us,” the Hilltop has been attacked and destroyed by Alpha and her Whisperers. We see the Hilltop mansion ablaze and the smoldering shell in the aftermath of the attack.

With Maggie set to return very soon, what will she come home to?

We know she was writing letters and keeping informed, but we also know the messages have stopped, so it is unclear what she does and does not know.

Jesus and Tara are both dead. They were close friends of Maggie’s and are both dead at the hands of Alpha and/or the Whisperers. This will be a severe blow to Maggie. The three of them worked closely at Hilltop.

Michonne will be gone. We don’t yet know how Michonne will exit, but by the time Maggie returns in season 11, she will be gone. We know something went down between these two but putting that aside, they have been together and have been through a lot over the years. The absence of Michonne will have an effect on Maggie.

The Hilltop is gone. They can try to rebuild something, but it will never be back to what it was. This loss may be a bit easier to handle knowing that Alpha is dead but, Maggie worked hard to make the Hilltop safe for it’s in habitats, and it will be a blow none the less.

Then there is the fact that Negan is not only still alive but also the one who killed Alpha while trying to redeem himself for his past actions. Will this help Maggie’s feelings towards him? Or will she still be out for blood for the death of Glenn?

Life is going to be very different when Maggie returns. Will they try to rebuild a life at Hilltop? Or will they join the other communities? What are your thoughts on Maggie’s return? Let us know in the comments below.