AMC/Gene Page(NEW YORK) — (SPOILERS AHEAD) Sunday night’s The Walking Dead starts with Morgan haunted by a vision of Gavin, the Savior who was killed by Morgan’s young protege Henry. “You know what it is,” the ghost insists.
Morgan gets a signal, a car horn. Others from the Hilltop scattered around the roads answer with their own horns. “It’s on,” Jerry declares.
At Hilltop, preparations are on for battle; young Henry wants a gun to fight. Ezekiel refuses. Savior trucks approach.
“Here we go,” Maggie says.
Spike strips halt the Saviors’ vehicles. Simon gets out of his truck, and that’s when over the walkie, Maggie calls out looking for Negan. Since Negan is currently a prisoner of Jadis, and presumed dead by Simon and company, Simon answers “The Widow.”
Maggie declares she’ll execute the 38 Saviors she has prisoner unless the rest outside the gates back off. Simon says they’re damaged goods, and is unmoved.
Just then, Daryl appears on his motorcycle, gun blazing. Saviors fall, then chase him into the just-opened gate. It’s a trap: a school bus blocks the opening, and Carol and company open fire, cutting Saviors down.
Simon has a surprise of his own, ordering archers to fire on the good guys, striking down more than a few.
Simon sneaks in, looking to take out a Tara with his hatchet. Dwight has his back — Simon still doesn’t know he’s a turncoat for the good guys. Daryl sees it happening, spots Dwight aiming and shouts to Tara. Before he can defend her, a Savior pops up in his face, forcing him to fire.
Tara spins at the warning to see Simon about to strike her down. Dwight fires his crossbow and wings her, apparently saving her from Simon’s potentially deadly shot.
Daryl fires, scaring Simon away, again confused by Dwight’s allegiance.
Maggie gives a signal and all the lights are turned off or shot out, and the good guys retreat into the darkness.
Confused, Simon and his guys regroup, spread out and gear up for some “proper slaughtering” at the mansion. Just then, floodlights flare and snipers begin showering the baddies with bullets, sending them fleeing into another trap: Rick and the gang turn on vehicle lights and open fire on those trying to escape. Despite it all, some get away.
As Hilltop mops up, Maggie is haunted by the cost of the battle. We see Tara’s injury at Dwight’s crossbow wasn’t too severe; still, Daryl’s convinced it was luck, and not mercy. She believes Dwight’s turned to good for good.
Back in the mansion, Rick tries to explain to Michonne why he “had to try” to kill Negan. Outside, Maggie has Jerry bury their dead.
In the infirmary, a gut-stabbed Tobin bonds with his ex, Carol. “I was pretending,” she said of her relationship, before admitting she started feeling for him before she left him.
In the middle of the night, Tobin passes away and turns into a walker. He bites another patient, and later another Hilltopper. The new walkers set upon a mansion full of sleeping Hilltoppers.
Meanwhile, young Henry has gotten a hold of a rifle and made the mistake of approaching the prisoner pen and talking to Gregory. Henry wants to know which Savior killed his brother to execute him. One of the Saviors, Al, who has been sympathetic to Maggie, tries to talk him out of it.
Meanwhile, the survivors inside go about fighting all the new walkers.
Outside, Henry unlocks the pen, gun drawn. Just then, walkers emerge and Jared, the long-haired guy who did kill Henry’s brother, overpowers the kid and takes his rifle, starting a jailbreak.
In the mansion, Rick and the others fight off walkers and try to figure out who turned. Carol comes face to face with walker Tobin and kills him.
Rick puts two and two together, remembering Negan’s plan to stab people with infected blades.
The Savior prisoners who didn’t flee try to close the gates. Al explains to Maggie they remained even though they could have stayed.
By next light, Hilltoppers are looking for young Henry, while Morgan again is haunted by Gavin. The ghost keeps telling him: “YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS.”
Maggie looks over even more Hilltoppers’ graves. “Cost.” she says.
The Walking Dead returns Sunday night, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
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