The Walking Dead Season 10, Episode 20 recap: Splinter

Fans may have forgotten how the Season 10 Finale of The Walking Dead ended but Eugene’s narration is there to catch us all up. In The Walking Dead Episode 20 “Splinter” Ezekiel, Eugene, Yumiko, and The Princess are taken by surprise when they are surrounded by armed guards.

The Princess watches Yumiko struggle and attempts to snatch the gun from the closest guard. When her strategy fails she watches Yumiko get hurt before she’s taken into an empty train car with hardly any light.

During her stay, The Princess vocally counts in Spanish and lists several United States capitals in alphabetical order while walking before noticing a crack in a wall. Attempting to widen the crack she can hear Yumiko in the train car next to her and the two try to hold on through conversations.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 20 – The Princess’s Past

The Princess struggled with the guilt that if she had successfully grabbed the gun then Yumiko wouldn’t have gotten hurt. She felt helpless and needed to do something.

However, Yumiko warns her not to so instead The Princess shares a story about how she got a splinter as a kid. Her splinter got infected, she got it treated and begged her mother to take her back to school.

However, the wound was not completely healed and it got infected again. In response, her stepfather wouldn’t let her eat with her hands, and to add to her suffering hit her.

She was terrified of having to eat alone in the garage and instead of protecting her, her mother responded, “Then don’t eat.” After sharing her story she overhears Yumiko being taken away and is left alone again.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 20 – The Plot Twist

From there The Princess manages to escape her train car through a covered hole in the wall.  She finds Eugene in the train car next to her.

He advises her not to help them escape because he believes they are not in any real danger. Reluctant she returns to her train car where she is taken by the guards.

She’s stripped, searched, and then questioned. However, The Princess doesn’t provide much information caring solely about Yumiko’s welfare.

When she’s sent back to her train car, Ezekiel arrives from the ceiling to rescue her. The two argue whether to stay or go when The Princess lets it slip that she’s been hurt before in reference to a jaw injury.

Ezekiel reassures her that no one will harm her again. When a guard arrives to bring The Princess food, Ezekiel attacks him.

Cuffed and defenseless, Ezekiel and The Princess question the guard who does not provide much information. The little information he did provide was not enough and Ezekiel attacks him.

The Princess tries to make him stop when everything comes to a head that she was the one attacking him. There was no crack in the wall which meant she was never talking to Yumiko.

There was not a way out of the train car which meant she was never talking to Eugene. Ezekiel was never there trying to help her escape.

Confused and distraught The Princess uses the opportunity to escape when her gun gets caught crawling underneath a chain-link gate. Ezekiel and two walkers dressed as a conductor and train yard worker show up, tempting her to leave.

While The Princess may not have been around good people in her past, she believes she found good people now.

The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 20 – Cliffhanger

Returning to the train car she releases the guard and apologizes for what happened. She begins to give him the answers to the questions she refused to answer before.

She answers them truthfully hoping that this would somehow improve her and her friend’s situation. After hearing her speak, the guard now all geared up opens the train car door to reveal what looks like Ezekiel, Eugene, and Yumiko with black bags over their heads.

The last shot is a black bag going over The Princess’s head.

Final Thoughts – The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 20  went in a direction fans weren’t expecting

I couldn’t write final thoughts without first addressing how the episode reminded me of the short-lived Terminus arc in Season 5. Nice touch.

While the episode didn’t answer a lot of questions fans had about who the armed guards were and what going to happen next The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 20 did give us a deeper look into who The Princess is.

The Princess had mentioned to the guard about the several diagnoses she seemed to have which could be blamed on her past trauma with her own family. Her inability to differentiate reality from imagination was very well written and portrayed.

It not only provided audiences with a plot twist but addressed something that could happen to someone in real life. The Walking Dead is fantastic at writing their characters, especially when audiences catch on to the reason for their actions which is often due to what happened in their past.

The Princess is a fairly new addition to The Walking Dead family and it was obvious that behind her smiles and positive attitude there was a deeper sadness. It would have been nice to have gotten a little more information about the captors, even though some fans already have their theories.

Regardless it was one psychological thriller of an episode that not only shook up the show’s routine but it also gave us some fantastic performances from the cast.

What did you think of The Walking Dead Episode 20? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

The Walking Dead Episode 21 will air on March 28, 2021.