Walking Dead: What does this death mean for the Commonwealth?

This week’s Walking Dead episode, titled “What’s Been Lost,” was ripe with great scenes and a justifiable and satisfying death. This episode marks the halfway point for season 11, part 3, which means only four episodes remain in the series.

This article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 20, “What’s Been Lost.”

Carol (Norman Reedus) and Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) were actively searching for their missing family members. The majority of our survivors had been forcibly escorted out of the Commonwealth, and they needed someone to aid them in their search.

Unsure if Mercer (Michael James Shaw) would turn them in, they opted for their only other choice, Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton). He had been placed in jail after his rogue attacks and community takeovers without Governor Milton’s (Laila Robins) knowledge. And Carol had worked for Hornsby, so she knew he would know where their friends had been taken.

The Walking Dead – Death of Lance Hornsby

Hornsby has done terrible things to our survivors. He forcibly took over the communities of Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside. He may have had everyone killed at Oceanside; we still don’t know their fate. He’s lied and manipulated to his advantage.

The fact that he believes he was able to sway Carol to his side is laughable to those who know Carol. As she told him, she only listened because he wouldn’t shut up. She knew what she would do when she got all the information she needed from him.

He did his best sales pitch to make Daryl and Carol believe he was a changed man. But they weren’t buying it. Once Hornsby revealed the fact that the Commonwealth has a working train and how to get to their family members, they didn’t need him any longer. They were willing to give him a head start and let him run. But he ruined that when he pulled a gun on them. Carol swiftly ended his life with an arrow to the neck.

What does Lance Hornsby’s death mean for the Commonwealth?

The expansion he talks about in this episode most likely has something to do with the CRM (Civic Republic Military). It has long been thought that he is working with them, and that is where the majority of missing Commonwealth residents have ended up. This is exactly how Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) was able to survive this world, and she traded Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) as her ticket into this organization.

The CRM is the only known group large enough to give the Commonwealth resources they don’t already have. If Hornsby was their go-to person, what will happen to any deals made with them? Is this another scheme Milton is unaware of? It is unlikely that she doesn’t know about something this big, especially if they are using the Commonwealth trains.

The CRM will most likely make an appearance in at least one of the final episodes as this group will be featured in the Rick and Michonne spinoff, if not the others as well.

With only four episodes remaining, the clock is ticking on our story, and only time will tell what’s to come. The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 30.

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