Walking Dead’s Angela Kang teases delayed finale storylines

Angela Kang shared some insight about The Walking Dead season finale

When Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang recently appeared on Friday Night in with the Morgans she teased some of the storylines that will play out in the delayed finale.

During her appearance on the show, Kang was asked by host Jeffrey Dean Morgan what she could share about the upcoming finale, and she managed to drop a few hints by naming some of the characters who were going to have a significant part to play in the finale.

The New Power Four

First of all Kang first mentioned the new power four of Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess that was created in West Virginia on the path to meeting up with Eugene’s radio girlfriend.

Even before the group met up with Princess on the road, they were an interesting and new grouping. Kang had taken 3 characters who were nearly always seen in a pair and separated them from their usual foil – Eugene from Rosita, Ezekiel from Jerry, and Yumiko from Magna. Doing so was automatically going to create an unusual new dynamic, but then add the fireball of energy and intrigue that is Princess and you’ve created an explosive cocktail of personalities. Just how will that mix of leadership, brains, charisma and unpredictability combine?

Also, how will this newly formed foursome cope when they come face to face with an external force in the form of Eugene’s girlfriend and her people? Will their fragile group break with divided loyalties and different end goals?

Each of these players has been cut free from Hilltop in a different way – Eugene has laid to rest his feelings for Rosita, Yumiko and Magna have split, and Ezekiel’s entire future uncertain due to his cancer. Do any of this group have any reason to go back? Or will what they discover in the new land drive them back all the faster to help their friends?

Father Gabriel

Kang mentioned that Gabriel had some interesting things happening in the finale, which we can see from the trailer.

Many fans believe a Sword of Damocles is hanging over Gabriel’s head for this episode. We have to come expect at least one major death on “our side” is any battle, and it seems like the target may be settling on Gabriel.

He’s had an interesting season, seeming to neglect his relationship with Rosita over his own internal battles, and murdering the Whisperer in the cell. From the trailer for the finale, it looks like he will be playing the unenviable role of babysitter during the battle – a role which historically hasn’t ended well (see Beth, Tyreese, and even poor Earl this season) and it’s not looking great for Gabriel either.

We see in the trailer that he and the children remain in the hospital while Daryl and the others go out to deal with the herd, but in doing so have to let the herd inside. It’s possible the trailer is misleading and we’ll see our Father rise to the challenge and live to deliver another sermon. However, his “fist” talk to Gracie and RJ does have noble death speech written all over it. Let us flip some coins heavenwards for the safekeeping of our spiritual leader!

Beta and the Whisperers

As Kang mentions, the biggest story all season has been the fight against the Whisperers, and now in the finale it’s a battle against Beta and the herd he’s gatherer.

One big question in the finale is, of course, who will be the one to take Beta down (if we are assuming Beta does get taken down and doesn’t do a Governor and retreat to reappear later down the road).

Norman Reedus compared the finale to Game of Thrones – likely in terms of scale of battle, but it’s possible Beta represents the Night King in Game of Thrones, and it’s his death that everyone is vying for.

Daryl (equivalent to Jon Snow) seems the most likely candidate to do the deed, particularly as throughout season 10 Alpha and Beta have been paralleled with Carol and Daryl. With Carol removing her nemesis Alpha (albeit via the proxy of Negan), it stands to reason Daryl will be the one to end his counterpoint in Beta.

However, as satisfying as the leader to leader showdown would be, there’s little emotional repercussions with Daryl facing off with Beta. The writers could instead use Beta’s demise to propel another story forward.

In Game of Thrones, it was a small knife which dealt the killer blow to the Night King, and perhaps The Walking Dead is going to emulate that in Beta’s death. In the trailer we see Carol slip a knife up her sleeve, with Lydia watching on.

Is it possible Carol will get the kill with Beta that she missed out on with Alpha? Will her need for revenge be quenched if she delivers the killer blow to Alpha’s second in command?

Or perhaps Lydia will be The Walking Dead’s own Arya and take down the giant with that same knife? It would be a catharsis for Lydia’s suffering with the Whisperers, perhaps take Beta by surprise and would show her true and total loyalty to her new family.

There’s also a chance that Negan might be the one to dispose of Beta. Although he already did his part by killing Alpha, was that enough to secure his place on Team Family? Another major kill would seal the deal, particularly if it was done to save an immediate threat to the life of Daryl, Carol or Lydia.

In fact, it’s clear that while the new power four is off in West Virginia, the “power four” at home is where much of the emotional interest in the episode lies. There is much emotional entanglement in the relationships between Carol, Daryl, Negan and Lydia.

Carol

As Kang says, Carol is on a quest for redemption for the hurt she feels she has caused Lydia and Daryl. Whether or not the audience feels that Carol needs redemption, she does herself, and we’ve seen much of Carol’s story this season through her eyes – via her hallucinations and dreams.

She feels Lydia should hate her for killing her mother, and for the way her need for revenge may have blinded her to Lydia’s own pain and needs.

She also fears Daryl will never forgive her for the cave explosion, which left Connie with a fate unknown (presumably this is another question which will be answered in the finale, though Kang didn’t mention it), as well as the fact she released Negan and didn’t tell him.

How Carol tries for redemption in these cases is the question up for grabs.

Although Kelly forgave Carol for what happened with Connie, it’s unlikely that will settle her mind, and given Kelly reiterated that Carol shouldn’t let go of the part of her that does what only she can do, it’s possible Carol will go rogue alone and put an end to the Whisperer threat once and for all, to protect her family.

It’s also possible after her battle with her inner demons in “Look at the Flowers” that she’ll go down a different path and talk through her feelings with Lydia and Daryl, reaching a new understanding and moving on from the past.

Either way, undoubtedly Carol will be doing her best to right those wrongs in the finale, which could see her risking her life even further than she has done all season.

Daryl

There’s no doubt Daryl’s part in the finale will be epic in battle as the defacto leader of the Alexandria fist of fighters, and simply because he is Daryl Dixon after all.  But he also has deeper stories going on with his strained relationship with Carol, paternal responsibility for both Lydia and the Grimes kids, and his conflicting relationship with Negan.

Could Daryl see himself in a conflict of loyalties, or distracted by emotions of a kind he normally tries to push away?

Negan

In many cases with the finale, all roads lead back to Negan. Now he’s killed Alpha and held up his word to return to Alexandria, has he proven himself enough to be accepted into the fold?

Can he be totally trusted? Will he use the chaos to his own ends, or will he show his loyalty even further?

We have already seen how much he is trying to bond with Lydia, and in episode 15 she may have let him in and buried her resentment at him murdering her mother. Children are always Negan’s weakness, but will they be his strength in finding a new role with his new family?

Maggie 

There is one big question mark hanging over Negan’s place with Team Family and it’s the final name mentioned by Kang in her finale talk – the return of Maggie Rhee.

It seems likely Maggie’s return will be timed to perfection to help her former family defeat the Whisperers. There have been hints that she will turn up “in the nick of time”, and presumably not alone.

From the trailer it looks likely she’ll cross paths with Virgil at Oceanside, and so perhaps together they will create a group to aid in the defeat of the Whisperers – given the plan was to lead the herd to Oceanside in the beginning.

Maggie’s  triumphant reappearance will be cheered by all, both on screen and off, but how will Maggie react to the fact that her husband’s murderer Negan is now cozying up with her closest friends? It is certainly a stepping stone that could propel the story forwards with interest into season 11.