AMC has released a lengthy new synopsis for their final batch of season 7 episodes of The Walking Dead, along with three new promotional stills (seen above) for the first outing back.
The midseason finale ended on a relatively positive note, as Rick and his crew resigned themselves to the fact that it was time to come together and take a stand against the bloodthirsty Negan and his army of Saviors, but this detailed breakdown suggests the gang still has a long road ahead of them – one that will almost certainly be strewn with the corpses of some more well-loved characters.
As fans of Robert Kirkman’s comic series will know, the story arc that finally sees Rick and Negan face-off is called “All-Out War,” and it looks like that’s exactly what we can expect to see when the show returns next month:
The first half of Season 7 saw Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the group broken by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), forced to fall under his will and brutally convinced to live under his rules. The second half of the season will focus on preparing for war and gathering the supplies and numbers to take Negan down once and for all.
Rick’s group will find out yet again that the world isn’t what they thought it was. It’s much bigger than anything they’ve seen so far. While they have a singular purpose – to defeat Negan – it won’t come easy. More importantly, victory will require more than Alexandria. They need the numbers of the Kingdom and the Hilltop, but, similar to how Rick felt, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and Gregory (Xander Berkeley) do not want bloodshed. To convince them otherwise will take more than speeches. The lengths Rick and the group will have to go to in order to find weapons, food and new fighters is nothing short of remarkable.
We’ll meet new survivors in incredible places. We’ll see Rick and the group tested in ways we’ve never seen before. We’ll see treachery from people we trust. Rick is confident as he will see his group and many others band together with the common goal of taking down Negan. But no amount of planning will prepare the group for all-out war with Negan and his army.
As for the images, they’re not especially revealing, but they do give us a look at some of our main protagonists formulating a plan of action.
The Walking Dead returns on February 12th on AMC. Tell us, will you be tuning in, or did that unrelentingly disturbing season 7 premiere put you off the show for good?