AMC
Tonight is the finale of The Walking Dead Season 9 called “The Storm.” Considering how brutally last week’s episode ended, tonight’s is likely going to be intense too. This post is going to be a live report of who dies during tonight’s episode, along with a recap. Yes, this article will have major spoilers for tonight’s episode, updated live as the episode airs. The names of those who died will be in bold.
The deaths that happen in tonight’s episode will be updated live as they happen. Simply refresh this article to learn about who dies in chronological order as it happens, along with an episode recap. Last week was intense as far an unexpected deaths go. We lost two members of Hilltop who were just introduced, three Highwaymen, Nadia, Rodney, Frankie, Tammie Rose Sutton (and she had just adopted a baby!), Henry, Enid, and Tara. The last three were particularly heartbreaking and shocking. Carol already lost her daughter Sophia after Daryl tried to find her. Now she’s lost her adopted son Henry, after Daryl did his best to save Henry when he first left to chase after Lydia. There’s no telling how Carol is going to handle the loss this time.
Read on to learn more about who died tonight as it happens, along with a short recap of the episode. I’ll put the people who died in bold in the story below.
The episode began with Ezekiel talking on the radio about how things finally broke and fell apart. He said the cold set in and fires raged and rot spread. “It’s knowing when to keep fighting and knowing when it’s over, if only for now.”
As he speaks, we see Daryl bringing food to Lydia. Ezekiel’s talking about needing shelter from the storms that are coming. “We’ll never forget the magic we felt in this place.”
Carol looks at a picture Henry drew, sadly, and a pin of Shiva, Ezekiel’s tiger. Ezekiel looks at the charter and rolls it up, taking it with him. They’re leaving the Kingdom. Michonne appears to be leaving too, so it’s unclear what happened to Alexandria and Hilltop. Many fans on Reddit mentioned that it was unclear why this would force them all to leave the Kingdom. The pipes burst and fire destroyed infrastructure, making it tougher to stay warm in the winter, but it still feels odd that they’re leaving.
After the commercial break, Michonne is saying the Council can’t come up with any security resolutions and Maggie hasn’t answered letters sent to her. The community is all on the road with their horses and gear, walking.
Daryl tells Carol that Lydia’s a good kid, but Carol can only see Henry when she looks at her. Daryl asks what she sees when she looks at him. “I see you.”
Now we’re back at Alexandria, and Rosita tells Gabriel that both radios are dead. Eugene says the solar panels aren’t working right and they’ll need to divide into houses with fireplaces. Gabriel tells them they can’t leave Negan.
And now Ezekiel is telling Daryl that he and Carol want a fresh start on Hilltop and it would be easier “if it was just us.” WHAT? I guess he’s inferring more about Lydia, whom Daryl’s watching over, than Daryl himself.
Out in the wintry woods, Lydia finds a zombie half frozen in the lake. She gets way too close to it and watches it closely. She’s considering suicide via zombie bite. Carol sees her and she stops.
The storm is getting closer, so they stop at what used to be the Sanctuary to ride out the storm. As of 18 minutes into the show, no one has died yet.
Negan’s in the cabin with Judith, Rosita, Eugene, and Siddiq. Judith mentions that Daryl’s dog is missing. :( And the fireplace explodes because the chimney’s not clean (basically.) So now they have to go to Aaron’s home where there’s a working fireplace.
Carol tells Daryl that Ezekiel only blames Daryl because he can’t blame her. She says she’s having a tough time hanging on. :( Daryl offers to take Lydia away, even though he doesn’t want to go. But he will do what Carol wants.
The Sanctuary won’t keep them warm enough, so they need to get to a waystation by crossing through Alpha’s land. That doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because it’s ventilated enough for them to keep fires going, but maybe they just really need food and that’s why they’re going forward.
At 37 minutes in, no one has died yet.
But then on their way to Aaron’s, Judith hears Dog barking and runs into the blizzard after him.
Meanwhile, Ezekiel’s group is crossing the lake and Lydia’s disappeared. Carol goes to find her and walkers emerge from the snow where Daryl and Ezekiel are. It looks like White Walkers. ;) It’s time to fight.
At 42 minutes in, no one has died yet.
Everyone’s fighting off walkers while crossing the lake. (And back at Alexandria, Negan has gone off in search of Judith in the blizzard.)
The Whisperers are NOT here and attacking.
Carol tracks down Lydia. Lydia said she can’t cross the river because it won’t make their problems go away, and a lot of people are dead because of her. Lydia believes her death is the only way to fix anything, and Carol can kill her.
Daryl is almost bitten by a zombie but spears it with an icicle first.
Lydia begs Carol to kill her. Carol refuses and takes Lydia back to the group.
Negan’s looking for Judith in the blizzard and gets hit in the leg by debris, but he keeps going. He hears Dog barking and finds both of them. I love Negan and Judith scenes. They’re great on screen together, and she brings out Negan’s caring side.
At 55 minutes in, no one has died yet.
Now it’s morning and it looks like the blizzard is over. Ezekiel’s group has found the waystation which is a lot like Hilltop. It IS Hilltop! (Weren’t they going to a waystation?) Jerry says they’ll call it “Kingtop.” Daryl tells Lydia they’re heading out to Alexandria in the morning.
Carol tells Ezekiel that she’s going too, and Ezekiel tells her that he’ll never stop loving her. Carol takes off her ring and says she’ll never regret the fairtyale. I AM SO confused. So far the only thing to die is Carol and Ezekiel’s relationship.
Now we’ve jumped ahead in time a bit and Michonne, Carol, Daryl, and some of the others are at Alexandria, where Michonne is united with Judith. There’s a sweet scene of everyone throwing snowballs.
Michonne visits Negan and thanks him for saving Judith. (By the way, where has RJ been this whole time?)
And now we go back to the Whisperers, who weathered the storm just fine. Alpha plans not to make the same mistakes again, she tells Beta. And he whips her arm, because that will make her stronger.
Back at Hilltop, Ezekiel is on the radio again, promising that they will make it through this and come back. Judith is talking to Ezekiel on the radio, so it looks like this was all for her, which is sweet.
But then they end their conversation and we hear someone else on the radio. “Hello? Hello? Calling out live on the open air. Is anybody out there?”
In the end, no one died tonight, except for Ezekiel and Carol’s relationship. :(
My favorite part of the episode is how Rick’s decision to save Negan and let him live ultimately paid off with Negan saving his daughter’s life. :)
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