It appears we know what incites the war betweenThe Whisperersand everyone else.
Its not necessarily that Hilltop kidnapped the daughter of their leader and slaughtered some of their people.
Even someone as merciless as Alpha is willing to make some concessions to get her back.
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Its what happens after.
Alpha and her Whisperers remain planted outside the wall of Hilltop, threatening conflict if Lydia isnt returned.
Afterlast weeks revealof the abuse this woman inflicted on her daughter over the years, its not that simple.
And yet, Alpha has Alden and Luke.
She hasnt killed them, even though she says she wanted to.
Instead, she parades them out front as a fair trade.
More than fair, as Alpha reasons.
Hilltop gets two of theirs for the price of one Whisperer.
For Daryl, the world is just s sometimes and you live with it.
What if you cant live with it?
If they succeed in rescuing Lydia, this feels like a good enough reason for conflict with the Whisperers.
With Jesus dead and the colonies still disparate, Hilltop finds itself scrambling.
Tara may be the leader, but she doesnt feel like the leader yet.
Compare this to the Whisperers, a group that has ultimate cohesion, and Hilltop seems ill-prepared in comparison.
Bounty balances the severity of this main story with the lightness and comedy of Ezekiels mission.
When the world ends, art, specifically film, is a necessity for Ezekiel.
It brings back a sense of wonder and imagination.
Its a moment contrasted by the Whisperers and what they consider to be necessities in this world.
Art certainly isnt one of them.
He spots the babe held in the sling of one of the Whisperers.
As a group of walkers start accumulating nearby, they are drawn to the wails of the child.
Alpha calls this natural selection.
To live with the dead means to live in silence.
This propels Connie, who was still hiding among the corn, to reveal herself.
As Connie weaves through the stalks, the sequence plays out from her perspective.
Corn leaves brush past as the camera hurries through the soundless field.
Walkers stumble along Connies path and she does her best to fend them off one-handed.
Its the kind of sequence that will hopefully permeate throughout the rest of the season.
Daryl and Tara are forced to give Lydia back, but Lydia agrees to it.
Shes still convinced that maybe her mom really does care about her.
Maybe shes changed and wants to apologize for the way she treated her.
Maybe shes doing it to protect Henry, as evidenced by the kiss she gives him before leaving.
Once daughter is reunited with mother, however, those hopes are dashed.
