AMC’s The Walking Dead season eight episode 12 ended with Jadis knocking out Negan as he’s seated in the front seat of her car. With their leader gone, Simon rallied the Saviors to continue on, reminding them who they are and what their mission should be: wipe out everyone associated with Rick and his group.
Season eight episode 13 begins with Morgan (Lennie James) having a vision of the dead Savior Gavin yelling at him. He’s brought back to reality in time to pass along the warning to the Hilltop that the Saviors are approaching. Horns sound throughout the surrounding area as a signal to get ready for the attack.
Inside the compound, Henry wants to help but Carol (Melissa McBride) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) want him to remain inside.
The hospital’s ready for patients and Saddiq (Avi Nash) is quizzed about his medical skills. He admits he hasn’t got that much experience operating in these circumstances – he hasn’t operated while holding people down without anesthesia – but he’s ready to take on whatever comes his way.
Night falls and those inside the Hilltop’s walls are ready. As the Saviors pull up outside, Maggie (Lauren Cohan) quietly says, “Here we go.”
Simon (Steven Ogg) and the Saviors approach, ready for battle. The Hilltop has set up obstacles in the road and the Saviors stop to clear the path. Maggie radios the group and Simon informs her he’s speaking on behalf of Negan. Simon warns “the bill has come due” and now’s the time to pay. She reminds him she has 38 of his people and she will kill them if he doesn’t turn around. Simon responds by telling her she can go ahead and kill them. They are damaged goods.
Gregory (Xander Berkeley) tells Maggie he knew her plan wouldn’t work, but she still believes it will.
As Simon tells his people they need to get rid of all the Hilltoppers, Dwight (Austin Amelio) questions whether he’s worried about Negan. Negan wouldn’t want these people killed; he wanted them warned.
As they talk, Daryl (Norman Reedus) rides up and opens fire. They open the gate and let him in, and a Savior’s car follows. War begins as Maggie yells, “Now!” Shots are exchanged and the Saviors shoot infected arrows and use infected knives. (It should be noted that the Saviors are far more accurate with arrows than the Hilltoppers are with bullets.)
Carol rushes to Tobin after he’s injured while other Saviors pour into the compound to take on more Hilltoppers. Simon sneaks through the buildings. Tara is injured as the Hilltoppers are called back into the building by Maggie.
The Hilltoppers begin shooting again, hitting the headlights of cars which they’re aiming at to make it dark. (How is it possible they can hit a headlight but not a Savior?)
Simon leads more Saviors into the complex, but now they can’t see anything because it’s pitch-black. Despite the inability to see, Simon wants the place surrounded. He thinks the Hilltoppers have run away, but he wants his group to investigate the main building anyway.
He whistles as he approaches the building, even though he just told everyone else to be as quiet as possible. Just then lights come on and the Hilltoppers begin shooting once more. More headlights come on and it turns out the Saviors are now surrounded by a group led by Rick. Rick (Andrew Lincoln) almost attacks the doctor in all the chaos but stops at the last second.
Morgan has the same vision of Gavin while fighting.
Some Saviors make it back to their trucks and escape. (The Hilltop people can’t hit the broad side of a barn and seem to like wasting bullets.)
Rick confesses to Maggie he tried to kill Negan earlier but didn’t. She thanks him, unaware of how dumb his attack was and how useless it turned out to be.
The next day the Hilltoppers work on repairing their walls and preparing for more attacks. Daryl and Tara (Alanna Masterson) have a talk and he thinks she should rest since she was injured. She claims it’s not a bad wound and then they have a debate over Dwight. Daryl thinks Dwight tried to kill her, but Tara believes he’s still working with them and tried to help.
Rick takes down the wood from the windows while Michonne (Danai Gurira) offers him a turnip. He’s in a horrible mood as he explains he’s removing the boards, so the kids can get fresh air. Michonne wants to look at his cut but Rick refuses to let her. He needs to get the boards down. She gets busy helping him and he admits he had to try to take out Negan, but not the full circumstances of his attack which failed miserably.
The dead are buried and Maggie lets Alden (Callan McAuliffe) free to bury his people. He thanks her but says they’re not his people anymore.
Dianne (Kerry Cahill) tells Maggie she’s a good leader and saved them last night. She carried out her plan and saved the community. Maggie thinks she sacrificed her people, but she needs to keep the prisoners alive since Negan’s still in play. She wants her husband’s grave to be the last thing he sees.
Those who were injured by the Saviors are recuperating. Carol and an injured Tobin have a heart-to-heart, and it’s obvious he really cares about her. Carol’s not optimistic about the future.
Saddiq asks to treat Rick’s wound so it won’t get infected. Rick allows him but is still in angry/pouting mode. He doesn’t want to discuss Carl and leaves Saddiq before he can check out the wounds.
Night falls and everyone settles down in the hallways and bedrooms of the main house. Those who were injured seem to be feeling better.
Nope, they’re not better at all. In fact, they’re beginning to turn. Tobin takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He dies at 2:13am and at 3:26am one of his fellow patients gets up to find the doctor. Tobin attacks him before he can leave the hospital. Tobin then kills the nurse as she comes to check on the patients.
Others who were infected turn and head into the building where everyone is asleep. One falls down the stairs, growling, and yet no one wakes up. (This is a frustrating episode to recap. How could someone fall down a long flight of stairs into an area where people are sleeping – people who should be sleeping lightly as they’re on alert because of a potential attack – and no one hears anything?)
The prisoners are sleeping in their pen when Henry wakes Gregory, telling him to be quiet. He asks which one killed his brother, but Gregory claims he doesn’t know his fellow prisoners. Gregory tries to get Henry to turn over his gun, apologizing for his dead brother. Henry believes killing the man who killed his brother will make him feel better. Alden wakes up and assures Henry that killing the murderer of his brother won’t make him feel any better. As they talk, screaming is heard from the main building.
All hell has broken loose as the newly turned walkers attack their former friends. More walkers are created as the Hilltoppers flee the building. One prisoner says this is all music to his ears and Henry asks if he’s the one who killed his brother. Henry, acting ridiculously stupid, unlocks the gate and enters with the gun pointed. He demands the person who did it step forward. He begins to count to 10 but before he gets there one of the prisoners turns into a walker and begins attacking. Henry’s disarmed and the prisoners escape. (I hate this episode.)
Maggie, Daryl, Rick, and others begin dispatching the undead inside the building. The Hilltoppers can’t figure out what happened and then realize these newly turned walkers are their own people.
Tobin’s about to kill someone else when Carol arrives. She pauses before killing Tobin as it dawns on her he wasn’t bit. After killing Tobin, Maggie, Rick, Carol, and Daryl figure out Negan had a plan. One of the still alive but injured Hilltoppers who’s in a nearby bed says this is the fever and anyone injured in the attack will turn.
Tara hasn’t turned – yet – and is with Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Enid (Katelyn Nacon) when Daryl and Rick enter the room. Daryl tells her the Saviors did something to the weapons and that everyone who got cut or shot got sick and turned. Daryl and Tara have another talk about Dwight, and Daryl feels guilty for not killing him before this attack.
Outside the building, Saddiq is attacked but Alden saves him. Maggie and the group realize some of the prisoners are trying to close the gate and help them out. A lot of the prisoners ran away, but the ones who stayed are helping the Hilltoppers.
Carol and Ezekiel go looking for Henry, but he’s gone. Enid informs Carol that Henry broke into the pen before the Saviors escaped.
Morgan has another vision of Gavin the dead Savior saying, “You know what it is!” over and over again.
Maggie and the group bury the newly dead, which turns out to be way fewer Hilltoppers than it looked like during the attack.
More on The Walking Dead:
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 1
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 2
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 3
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 4
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 5
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 6
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 7
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 8
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 9
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 10
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 11
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 12
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 14
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 15
– Recap of The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 16
