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‘The Walking Dead’: 10 Predictions For The Mid-Season Finale

Nick Steinberg (@Nick_Steinberg)

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After weeks of slow, plodding episodes that largely felt like filler, The Walking Dead finally delivered a good episode that managed to move the plot forward in some compelling ways. Although “Sing Me a Song” commits the same sins of previous episodes by focusing too heavily on one storyline — in this case, Negan’s twisted “bromance”(?) with Carl — it at least makes an effort to rope in different characters and storylines, which is a welcome change after multiple episodes that refused to focus on more than one setting at a time.

With next week’s episode, titled “Hearts Still Beating,” being the final episode before The Walking Dead takes its annual mid-season hiatus, we’re sure to be in for an emotional and violent sendoff and there’s a good chance we could see another major character die before the credits roll. While it’s difficult to know where things are headed, even with The Walking Dead comics available to be used as reference, here are some predictions for what will happen in the last episode of Season 7’s first half.

Warning: SPOILERS from The Walking Dead comics are discussed in this article.

10. Dwight Will Let Daryl Escape

It’s been frustrating to watch a largely silent Daryl be Negan’s prisoner for half a season, but it looks like he’ll finally be making his big escape in the mid season finale. I’m assuming that Sherry is the one who passed the note and tools under Daryl’s door and while we’ll probably see Daryl interact with her one more time before he leaves, you just know that Dwight is going to catch Daryl trying to make a break for it. However, rather that just throw him back in his cell, I think Dwight is going to let Daryl go.

This would represent Dwight’s first true act of defiance against Negan and start him on the path that eventually leads to his defection, but there are also more personal reasons that explain why Dwight would do this. I think that, deep down, Dwight feels bad that he stole Daryl’s motorcycle and left him for dead back in Season 6, especially after Daryl showed him and Sherry mercy. By letting him go now, Dwight will essentially be returning the favor and squaring things up with Daryl in the process, which could come in handy later if the two end up on the same side of the coming war.

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/extras/the-walking-dead-season-7-episodic-photos#/61 Source: AMC

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9. Daryl And Michonne Will Meet Up

Near the end of “Sing For Me,” Michonne is able to take a Savior woman hostage and commands her to take her to Negan (and gets to bash her head against the car’s steering wheel a few times for good measure). While this show is making an odd habit of having characters go on one-man suicide missions to try and kill Negan, I have a feeling that Michonne is probably not even going to make it to the Sanctuary because she’s going to find Daryl on the road first.

It just makes geographical sense to have these two characters come together, especially since it would expedite Daryl’s return to Alexandria to have him meet up with a character who currently has access to a car. As for redheaded Sanctuary chick? I doubt Daryl or Michonne will kill her, but Michonne will probably give her another good hit before leaving her on the side of the road.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/the-walking-dead-postmortem-danai-gurira-interview/ Source: TVGuide

8. Jesus Returns To Hilltop

There’s not really much to say here because I feel like anything having to do with the Hilltop will be kept to a minimum in the finale (if it’s in it at all, as there is nothing Hilltop related in the episode’s teaser). That being said, I feel like there has to be at least one scene with Maggie and Sasha and if so, it will almost surely involve Jesus returning from his recon mission to report his findings.

Jesus will have known that Negan and Carl were heading back to Alexandria, which will be troubling news for Maggie and Sasha to hear. Both women want Hilltop to become more proactive and have stronger leadership, so perhaps this will be the push they need to kick Gregory out and set Maggie up as Hilltop leader. I don’t think we’ll actually see Maggie assume power in this episode, as this feels like a storyline that should be left for the back half of the season, but the groundwork at least will be laid.

http://www.gq.com/story/walking-dead-season-6-episode-10 Source: GQ

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7. The Kingdom Will Ask Morgan To Summon Rick

After far too many weeks away, it looks like we’ll finally be checking in with the Kingdom again in the mid-season finale and judging by the teaser, it looks like Morgan is going to be given an important task to carry out. It’s anyone’s guess what that task may be, but I think there’s a good chance it could involve Morgan heading back to Alexandria to find Rick and bring him back to the Kingdom to discuss forming an alliance with Ezekiel.

In the comics, this is carried out by Jesus, but considering he’s most likely heading back to Hilltop in the next episode, it makes sense to give Morgan this role, especially since he’s closer with Rick. At any rate, we better actually get to see Ezekiel and his tiger next week or I’m done with this show. Okay, not really, but with the rate at which this show is hemorrhaging viewers, it needs to give its fans something to be excited about.

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6. Father Gabriel Will Get Another Moment To Shine

This is more of a hope than a prediction, but after Father Gabriel spoke for Walking Dead fans everywhere in calling Spencer a “dumb sh-t,” I am definitely ready to see the good priest steal another scene. Father Gabriel is one of those characters that you forget about but tolerate when he does show up, and it would be cool if the show managed to find a way to start actually doing something with him, as his story arc pretty much came to a dead stop about a season-and-a-half ago.

There are so few characters left on The Walking Dead worth truly giving a damn about and it would be nice to Father Gabriel become more than background character who occasionally does something worthwhile to remind the audience of his existence. After dropping the mic on Spencer, I feel like that time is now.

http://heroicuniverse.com/why-father-gabriel-is-right-about-ricks-group/ Source: HeroicUniverse.com

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5. Negan Will Kill Someone Else

According to the official synopsis for ‘Hearts Still Beating,’ “things quickly spiral out of control” during Negan’s surprise visit to Alexandria. I’m just going to go ahead and assume that this means that Negan is going to use Lucille again to ruin someone’s day, as The Walking Dead’s premieres and finales pretty much have to involve a dramatic and violent death at this point.

The most obvious candidate is Spencer (more details on that in a bit) but I think that pretty much every other character not named Carl or Rick has a decent to good chance of meeting their maker. If I had to wager a guess, I’d say that Rosita and Judith are the front-runners behind Spencer; Rosita because she may try (and fail) to shoot Negan with that bullet she worked so hard to make, and Judith because The Walking Dead still hasn’t crossed the “we kill babies” line yet and it’s probably about time they got that nasty business over with (although, I would prefer if they didn’t feel this need, as the real world is bad enough right now; I don’t need to see a toddler get murdered, even if it’s on a fictional TV show).

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/extras/the-walking-dead-season-7-episodic-photos#/64 Source: AMC

4. Negan Will Take Judith

It’s looking like whatever the big, standout event in The Walking Dead’s mid-season finale is, it’s going to involve Judith in some way. Negan discovered Rick’s young daughter during his second tour of Alexandria (seriously, how many times does he need to be shown around the place?) and the latest episode ends with him cradling Judith on his knees while debating whether he should take Carl’s advice and just kill him and Rick and be done with it.

While I think there’s a strong possibility that The Walking Dead will “go there” and kill off a toddler (more on that theory in a bit), there is a good chance that Negan’s big act of villainy will involve him kidnapping Judith and taking her back to the Saviors home base. This would certainly explain the tearful shot of Rick we see in the episode’s teaser and give Rick a push towards not taking Negan’s crap anymore that wouldn’t involve the tragic and unnecessary death of his daughter.

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3. Rick Will Start Preparing For War

As already mentioned, whatever happens at Alexandria next leaves Rick shattered (pretty much this season’s running theme, to be honest), but rather than push Rick further into a subservient role with the Saviors, I think that this is going to be the last straw that finally convinces Rick to prepare for war with Negan.

Think about it: Rick is convinced that if he toes the line and fulfills his end of the bargain by providing for the Saviors, Negan won’t kill anyone else; what do you think his reaction is going to be when he comes back to Alexandria with a whole bunch of stuff to hand over to his new master (assuming Rick and Aaron are able to get any supplies from that dead guy’s house, of course), only to find Negan holding his daughter and son hostage. Sure, Carl killing two of Negan’s men brought us to this point, but from Rick’s perspective, he’s only going to see a man who rescinds on his promises at the slightest whim and thus, a threat who needs to be stopped.

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/extras/the-walking-dead-season-7-episodic-photos#/36 Source: AMC

2. Spencer Will Do Something Stupid

When Father Gabriel hits you with a sick burn, you know you’re a douche of the highest order. Spencer is easily one of the biggest wastes of space in the show’s cast right now — which is really saying something when I routinely have to look up the names of half these people because they’re so forgettable — and the fact that he’s on an anti-Rick tear means he’s a) going to do something really stupid and b) probably going to be killed off very soon. While it’s possible that the show will deviate from the comics on this one, I think they’re going to adhere to Spencer’s comics arc pretty closely here because it’s so damn good.

In the comics, Spencer strolls up to Negan and starts telling him that Rick shouldn’t be in charge of Alexandria and in return, Negan slashes Spencer’s gut open because of his “gutless” display of insubordination. This absolutely needs to happen on the show, even though it will only help reinforce the idea that Negan is now the show’s leading man, which just feels wrong when he’s supposed to be the villain we all hate.

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/talk/2015/10/the-walking-dead-qa-austin-nichols-spencer-monroe Source: AMC

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1. Alternate Judith Prediction: Rosita Kills Judith

While both of my predictions for what will happen to Judith could be way off the mark, I think there’s a better chance of this one playing out, if only because it’s an example of the kind of bleak storytelling The Walking Dead adores. Think about it: in one corner, we have Rosita and her single bullet that has Negan’s name written all over it and in the other, we have Negan going around Alexandria carrying a toddler in his arms. You know that bullet is going to be used before the mid-season finale concludes, but there’s no way that Rosita is actually going to succeed in killing Negan at this point.

Sure, there’s the possibility that she wounds him, thus pissing him off to the point where he kills her or someone else, but it seems more likely that her bullet won’t find Negan, but instead hit the young girl in his arms. This would open up all kinds of guild-laden storytelling opportunities for the back half of Season 7 and actually make Rosita a more fleshed-out character rather than a piece of eye candy. It’s important to remember that in the comics, Judith is long-dead at this point, so she always has a target on her back. This could be the moment when the bullet finally finds said target.

http://www.amc.com/shows/the-walking-dead/extras/the-walking-dead-season-7-episodic-photos#/38 Source: AMC