The New Babylon Federation was introduced in season 1 of The Walking Dead: Dead City. Little information regarding the community was revealed in that season, but the group will be heavily featured in season 2. In the most recent episode, New Babylon is unprepared to come against the unhinged villain known as the Croat.
The article contains spoilers for episode 202, "Another Shitty Lesson," of The Walking Dead: Dead City.
New Babylon is run by Governor Byrd (Jasmine Walker), Colonel Perlie Armstrong (Gaius Charles), Major Lucia Narvaez (Dascha Polanco), and General Houseman (Anthony Molinari). In episode 1, the group visits the Bricks, the home of Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), to recruit people for a mission to Manhattan. They describe the island as a lawless place, and New Babylon is preparing to retake the city by drafting recruits for what they call an exploratory mission, as is their right by the treaty.
The second episode opens with New Babylon's army arriving at the docks where they will be ferried to Hudson River Park, a location that can't be viewed from Manhattan where the gangs are stationed. The mission has been referred to as exploratory but Maggie knows that the Croat (Željko Ivanek), the brutal and sadistic leader of the Burazi, is watching for their arrival.
While Armstrong pursued Negan in season 1, he was captured by the Burazi and questioned by the Croat. He made the mistake of revealing that he is part of New Babylon. Maggie believes the Croat began his plan to retaliate against the community as soon as Armstrong escaped.
In Manhattan, the Croat, Negan, and the Dama (Lisa Emery), a powerful leader of the island, set a plan in motion to attack the boat bringing the New Babylon army. Somehow the Croat convinced Hershel (Logan Kim), Maggie's son, to alert him of their arrival with a signal fire.
The Croat is, as Negan put it, "an exceptionally insane son of a bitch," who is also a brillant scientist. Before the outbreak, he specialized in alternative energy sources. This knowledge gives him the know-how to create many useful items, including a field of explosive buoys placed in the bay that New Babylon uses to cross to the island. These explosions damage the boat, but the Croat isn't finished.
He has also devised a way to use walkers as bombs by filling them with the precious methane, taping their mouths, eyes, nose, and ears shut so it doesn't escape, and they are then loaded into the cannons and fired onto the boat. This destroys the boat and the majority of the first wave of New Babylon's army.
The Croat can't be underestimated in the battle for Manhattan. He has already aligned with Dre's (Karina Bonnefil) gang from the island and is hopeful that Bruegel (Kim Coates) and Christos (Jake Weary) will also join their side. This would be a powerful army of lawless gang members for New Babylon to come against.
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