The Walking Dead Season 7 will open up the universe to new communities outside of Alexandria. So far we’ve see Negan’s Sanctuary and Gregory’s Hilltop, but there will be at least one new community introduced in the upcoming season. Here’s why it’s extremely important for The Walking Dead series to open the world beyond what we’ve seen thus far, according to the comics.
[SPOILER WARNING: We can’t really talk about the comic book communities without revealing plot points. We’ll keep them as mild as possible, but keep in mind the show takes creative liberties and doesn’t always follow the source material.]
The Kingdom
We’ve already seen Ezekiel in The Walking Dead Season 7 promotional trailers. Ezekiel is the black man with grey dreads sitting beside a tiger. Yes, the show will introduce a tiger. Her name is Shiva and is extremely loyal to Ezekiel.
The show seems to be preparing for the All-Out War storyline. If that’s the case, what we’ll see is Rick pull a Carol and act like he’s on Team Negan. He’ll put up a front and give Negan everything he asks for when he visits Alexandria. Meanwhile, Rick is doing everything he can to hide his bloodlust and secretly plot Negan’s demise.
Here’s where The Kingdom comes into play. With the help of Jesus, Rick will eventually persuade Ezekiel to prepare his people for war. Ezekiel will reveal he already has an man on the inside learning Negan’s every move. We won’t spoil who that person is, but it’ll be a big moment in the show. The Kingdom becomes Alexandria’s biggest ally in the All-Out War against Negan, which will possibly lead to the bloodiest battle in the show’s history.
Hilltop
Now, if the show sacks up and finally kills off Glenn, the Hilltop will become a major player in All-Out War. By now, we know Gregory is a worthless leader who is too weak to stand up to Negan. This is where Maggie comes into play.
In The Walking Dead Season 6, Deanna takes Maggie under her wing and teaches her how to lead a community. Maggie learns the importance of negotiating out of dangerous situation. In fact, Maggie is the one who ends up striking a deal with Gregory to take down Negan before Rick really knew who he was up against.
Anyway, Maggie eventually rises up to lead when Gregory cannot. Maggie convinces the other members of The Hilltop they cannot let Negan run their lives, that they’re capable to surviving if they work with other communities. Maggie gives Rick even more people to fight in his army when the time comes.
Sanctuary (Negan’s home base)
Even though Sanctuary appears to be the largest community in The Walking Dead TV universe, it is not the strongest. Negan rules by fear, which doesn’t inspire loyalty. It doesn’t take long for some of Negan’s Saviors to break off and join the traitor who’s sneaking information to Ezekiel and Jesus.
However, how this traitor is convinced to betray Negan might be different in the show. There are rumors circulating Daryl is being held prisoner in Negan’s home base. Why Daryl is chosen is unclear, but he might have something to do with the character sneaking information to other communities. Daryl isn’t a part of the comics, but has already interacted with said character.
Daryl might be poisoning the waters in Negan’s Sanctuary to help get people on Rick’s side when the time comes.
Alexandria
Remember, Rick’s group is still new to Alexandria. Rick barely managed to earn the respect and trust of the members of Alexandria in The Walking Dead Season 6. Now, Rick seriously f***ed up when it came to handling the Negan threat, so fans can expect the community to be tense around him. This is where Deanna’s son Spencer comes into play.
In the comics, Douglas (Deanna in the show) also has a son named Spencer who hates Rick. Spencer sees Rick as the worst thing to happen to Alexandria (technically, he’s not wrong) and plots to overthrow Rick. Spencer is extremely vocal about his disgust for Rick. Spencer makes the vital mistake of pulling aside Negan to plot Rick’s death.
Spencer is a rat. Negan doesn’t like rats. Spencer is used as an example to show what he does to rats.
Spencer ends up helping Rick’s anti-Negan campaign. Let’s hope the TV version of Spencer isn’t as stupid as comic book Spencer.
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Do not expect the show to get to the All-Out War storyline before the end of Season 7. It’s more likely we’ll see the show focus on Rick getting his groove back after Negan beats his friend(s) to a bloody pile of mush. AMC has a lot of material to work with before we see human vs. human vs. zombie fights.
What comic book moments would you like to see in The Walking Dead Season 7? Let us know in the comments below. The Walking Dead Season 7 premieres Oct. 23 on AMC.
