‘The Walking Dead’: The Hilltop Attacked and All Hell Breaks Loose

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from the Season 8, Episode 13 of The Walking Dead, entitled “Do Not Send Us Astray.” Proceed with caution.

Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead left Negan in a very precarious situation. His skirmish with Rick left him incapacitated, and Jadis took him prisoner. Tonight’s episode, titled “Do Not Send Us Astray,” didn’t address Negan’s fate, instead focusing on the trouble that was heading for the Hilltop.

The Saviors – being led by Dwight and Simon – were coming.

Let the Battle Begin

Things began with a bang as the Saviors rolled up on the Hilltop’s doorstep, armed with weapons tainted with walker blood. Fans couldn’t wait to see the battle unfold.

Maggie calls out to Negan via walkie-talkie, not realizing Simon is leading the Saviors in his absence. She lets him know that she won’t hesitate to kill her 38 Savior captives if they attack. This bluff doesn’t faze Simon. Just like before, he’s determined to wipe them all out

With diplomacy failing, Hilltop makes the first move. Daryl rides out on his motorcycle and unloads rounds into the Savior group’s flank. The Savior try to knock down the front gate, but a bus pulls up blocking their entry. Bullets then start flying.

Each side takes large amount of casualties. While under siege from the Hilltop gunmen, the Saviors fire arrows from the other side of the wall. Tara is nicked in the shoulder by an arrow. Maggie then made a judgment call and signals everyone to fall back into the mansion and knock out all the lights.

Then there is dead silence. The Saviors investigate the sudden ceasefire. Simon splits them into teams to look around the camp. Bad move. Truck lights are turned on and the Hilltop begins their counterattack on Simon’s group. Rick appears and provides backup. The Saviors cut their losses at that point and flee from the battle.

A Bloody Aftermath

Maggie, Rick, and the others begin to put the pieces back together after the battle. However, their victory doesn’t last long. The wounded Hilltop people begin to turn into walkers and sweep through the entire camp. The community is asleep and defenseless, and many members are killed.

While the walker attack is underway, Henry decides to confront the Savior prisoners for answers. He opens the gate and demands to know who killed his brother. Obviously, this doesn’t end well. The walkers spill outside, and in the confusion, the prisoners flee.

Biological Warfare

Rick and Daryl regroup with the others to figure out what caused this. Daryl then realizes most of the people who initially turned were injured in the battle. They connect the dots and figure out that the Saviors coated their weapons with walker blood before the fight.

This new tactic is a new one for the Walking Dead. Eugene alluded before that it could work in theory, but now it seems to be confirmed. This could also spell bad news for Tara, who took an arrow to the shoulder. Could she be done for?

When the sun raised, the Hilltop once again begin to bury their dead. They also discover that Henry is missing from the camp after last night. Did the saviors take him hostage? Did he manage to survive? Siddiq also steps up majorly in this episode; will his medical expertise prevent the Hilltop from taking more losses?

After many skirmishes, this episode moved the all-out war forward. Not only has the tainted weapon plot bring a dangerous new tactic to the long-running battle, but the show has returned to its roots: the undead threat. With three episodes left, it looks like Season 8 is moving towards an exciting end.