The Walking Dead mid-season premiere: 5 takeaways from Honor

Lennie James as Morgan Jones – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 9 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

2. Morgan continues to break down

A lot of complaints have risen about Morgan and his trip from being a pacifist to being a sociopath and a cold-blooded killer. That continued here. Morgan was one of the men who had Negan’s base covered as a sniper but almost died when Negan’s men made a break for it and knew precisely where Morgan was based.

Morgan then hooked up with Carol and headed to the Kingdom to save Ezekiel. The great part was that Carol used to be in the same place Morgan is now — killing anyone and everyone without a care. It was also interesting to know that, at that time, it was Morgan who was trying to convince Carol that killing was not the answer. Their reversal of roles is masterful.

The expression on Carol’s face as Morgan brutally killed people was perfect and showed how low Morgan has fallen over the years, and maybe that Carol sees a little of what troubled her in him. With Morgan heading to Fear the Walking Dead, his story will be interesting to watch the rest of this season.

The scene where Morgan ripped out the Savior’s intestines has to go down as one of the most brutal kills in Walking Dead history.

The final scene had Ezekiel and Carol talk Morgan down from killing an unarmed man, only to have the young child Henry kill the man from behind when Morgan finally relented. The look on Morgan’s face as he watched a young child brutally kill someone showed that he realizes what he is becoming. Will he finally find a redemptive arc before leaving The Walking Dead?

Khary Payton as Ezekiel – The Walking Dead _ Season 8, Episode 9 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

3. Can Ezekiel be saved?

Ezekiel has been a shell of himself since he lost Shiva and all his troops. He feels that he failed his team and was no longer worth calling himself a leader. This episode saw Ezekiel mostly a prisoner to Negan’s men and having a few conversations with a Savior about right and wrong and being able to walk back if you feel things are wrong (that is the same Savior that Henry killed at the end).

By the end, Ezekiel and Carol work together to take down the Saviors who have conquered the kingdom. Then, he stood up and tried to talk down Morgan from killing the Savior. When Henry murdered the Savior, it was Ezekiel who stood up and comforted the child, acting like a leader for the first time since he lost all his men.

It will be interesting to see if this will help Ezekiel become the leader that is needed to help win this All-Out War with Negan.