The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 17 recap: Home Sweet Home

The Walking Dead is back, continuing Season 10, with Episode 17, “Home Sweet Home.” As we last saw at the end of Season 10, Maggie has returned, and she’s brought some new friends.

But where has she been all this time, and what does her return mean for her friends and Negan?

The episode begins with some narration by Lydia, providing a quick recap of the events in Season 10. This heartfelt opening transitions to Maggie and Judith conversing before Maggie sees Negan for the first time in years.

The tension is quite clear as she stares at him in complete shock. Ignoring his casual greeting and admission that he didn’t escape, Maggie moves onward, leaving Negan with possibly another roadblock in his path towards a new beginning.

Maggie’s disgust for Negan’s presence outside of a cell intensifies when Carol admits that she let him out to help them end The Whisperers. She explained how he killed Alpha and led them to victory but at the cost of homes like The Hilltop.

With The Hilltop gone, Maggie knows she and her people will have to move to Alexandria, where Negan will be, even though his status of friend or foe remains debatable for Daryl and Carol.

Daryl and Kelly join Maggie and her friends, the masked man Elijah and Cole, as they head back towards the rest of her group, which includes her son Hershel. On the way back, Daryl and Kelly talk about continuing their search for Connie.

The group clears out several walkers and stays overnight within empty storage containers.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 – Maggie’s Struggle with the Past

That evening Maggie explains to Daryl what she had been up to since she left Alexandria. She and Hershel had stayed with Georgie and the twins trying to help other groups and communities.

One day they left and didn’t return. Maggie had to flee her home, and together she and Hershel stayed at home near the water until they met the group she was currently with.

She confesses to Daryl that the reason she left Alexandria was because of Negan. She didn’t know if she could handle being around him and struggle with having Hershel near him.

She’s distraught that she had to tell him how his father died and that the man responsible is still alive.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 – New Villians

The next day Kelly wanders from her post to look for Connie at an abandoned truck. However, there are no signs of her, and Maggie reveals that Elijah’s sister is also missing.

At the smoke sign, Maggie discovers her home has been burnt to the ground, and her people are missing, including Hershel. Immediately Cole believes it to be The Reapers, but Maggie isn’t convinced just yet.

When a set of tracks split, Maggie and Daryl go in one direction while Kelly, Elijah, and Cole take the other route. When Cole believes there to be a nearby danger, Kelly notices Elijah hesitate, and for the first time, he takes off his mask, revealing his face.

She reassures him they’ll be fine. However, this is not the case for Daryl and Maggie, who find three survivors only to watch them die by someone shooting at a distance.

The killer is revealed to be either an ex-military man or a man who stole the military gear proving to be almost more than Daryl and Maggie can handle. Once he’s shot by Kelly using Daryl’s crossbow, the group surrounds him and wants to know who he is and who he’s with.

He refuses to provide any information except one sentence, “Pope marked you.” He kills himself by pulling the pin from a grenade.

While his warning doesn’t provide much help, one sign of relief is Hershel is safe and sound hiding in a tree.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 – The future of Alexandria

The group decides to take the long route back to Alexandria just in case there are more threats, and upon arriving, several people are cleaning up the mess left behind by The Whisperers.

It’s obvious that it will take time, but Alexandria will return to its former glory. As Maggie enters with her son hand in hand, Negan watches them, expecting a similar reaction to the one earlier.

But Maggie ignores him, hopefully meaning that she can work on forgetting the past to move towards a brighter future with her son.

Final Thoughts – The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 picks viewers up right where we left off

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 17 was a nice way to bring viewers back while also setting up what’s to possibly come. While everyone knows Maggie and Negan’s reunion is going to be a struggle, it was nice to see that she is finding a way to put her and her son’s needs first, knowing Alexandria will always be her home.

It was equally pleasing to see how dedicated Daryl and Kelly are in trying to find Connie. Definitely remaining hopeful she is reunited with them soon!

The fact that there is another villain/villainous group to worry about so quickly was a little jarring. But overall, the episode did a fantastic job of reintroducing Maggie, introducing new characters, and establishing that Alexandria is still standing as it has become a beacon of safety for our heroes for several years.

What did you think of The Walking Dead Episode 17? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Walking Dead Episode 18 will air on March 7, 2021.