It’s almost time to head back into Manhattan. Or what was left of it.
With Season 3 of The Walking Dead: Dead City on the way, there was a good chance you had forgotten a few of the betrayals, shifting alliances, and walker-fueled explosions that went down during Season 2. Between Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) uneasy partnership, the battle over Manhattan’s methane operation, and Hershel’s (Logan Kim) teenage angst, a lot happened before the credits rolled.
Before the next chapter began, here was everything you needed to remember from Season 2. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City.
Where did we last leave Maggie?
Maggie, Hershel, and Ginny (Mahina Napoleon) were living on Long Island in a community called the Bricks as part of the New Babylon Federation. The federation had made it its mission to reclaim the island of Manhattan in a campaign led by Marshal “Perlie” Armstrong (Gaius Charles). But it was not so much a volunteer mission as it was a mandatory draft. And anyone who defied it was hanged.
Perlie wanted Maggie to join his cause, and she agreed, but only if New Babylon ended its inhumane draft. Since that was a pretty big ask, they threw her into a ring with a couple of dozen walkers to prove her worth. She won, and thus she took the place of 20 draftees.
Once inside the city, Maggie found herself caught between New Babylon’s increasingly ruthless leadership and Manhattan’s gangs, which were ruled by the Croat (Željko Ivanek), a sadistic former ally of Negan who is secretly controlled by the Dama (Lisa Emery), a former theater critic turned vicious. Along the way, she survived walker-filled arenas, methane-powered walker bombs, a Central Park commune that could literally call hordes of the undead, being nearly hanged, and a hostage situation.
Oh, and a walker bear.
Her biggest struggle, however, was much more personal. Hershel grew increasingly resentful of her alliance with Negan, and he fell under the Dama’s influence, even becoming her man on the inside and spying for her. This forced Maggie to choose between saving her son and trusting the man who murdered Glenn (Steven Yeun).
In the finale, after watching Negan brutally kill gang leader Bruegel (Kim Coates) in a way that mirrored Glenn’s death, Maggie was triggered and gave in to her hate.
Robert Clark / AMC
Where did we last leave Negan?
Meanwhile, Negan was rotting away in a New York prison. He was recruited by the Croat, who was really working for the Dama. She wanted Negan to unite the gangs of Manhattan. To make sure he cooperated, she captured his wife and their son, forcing his hand.
The Dama then called a council of Manhattan’s two main gangs, with Negan serving as moderator, now armed with a new and improved electrified Lucille. Interestingly enough, the Croat had discovered a way to use decomposing walkers to produce methane gas that could be converted into electricity. That methane-powered operation was the real reason New Babylon wanted Manhattan.
The Dama also had an unknown spy embedded within New Babylon, so she knew they were on their way. (Psst: It was Hershel.)
Never content being someone else’s pawn, Negan quietly manipulated the growing tension between the Dama and the Croat, eventually turning them against each other. The two fought, and during the struggle, a fire broke out. The Croat ultimately let the Dama burn to death during an argument, leaving him aimless, struggling with guilt, and eventually going AWOL after briefly teaming up with Maggie. Their fallout allowed Negan to take control of the Burazi. He sent his wife and child away, knowing they would never be safe if they stayed with him.
What happened in The Walking Dead: Dead City Season 2 finale?
Bruegel and Negan broke bread in an attempt to make peace with their warring factions over a large meal, but neither trusted the other. And for good reason. What Bruegel didn’t know was that Negan had hidden a horde of walkers beneath the buffet tables. Once everyone was inside, the doors were locked, and the building was set ablaze. The Silk Stockings gang fought back with a hidden cache of weapons, and Bruegel and Perlie fled to the basement.
There, Negan decided to play his favorite game: “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” He forced Bruegel to inhale methane before setting him on fire, then finished him off with Lucille in a grim echo of how he killed Glenn all those years ago. Maggie arrived just in time to witness it. Watching Negan brutally beat Bruegel instantly transported her back to Glenn’s murder, and she stabbed Negan in the back.
But Negan wasn’t crying because he was dying. A few feet away, locked inside a cage, was walker Ginny. Despite everything he did to save her, she didn’t make it and was a walker.
Maggie ultimately decided not to kill Negan. Hershel was furious, so Maggie left her angsty teenage son behind and headed out with Negan and Perlie. After Negan saved his life, Perlie began to see him differently and chose humanity over blind obedience to the law, letting him walk free.
The season ended with New Babylon swarming the methane facility and taking control of Manhattan’s most valuable resource.
Also, there was a walker bear this season.
The Walking Dead: Dead City, Season 3 Premiere, Sunday, July 26, 9/8c AMC