The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 16, “Acts of God,” which aired Sunday, April 10 on AMC.
The Walking Dead is nearing its endgame after concluding Season 11B. With only eight more episodes left of the series, the Season 11B finale “Acts of God” works to set a clear idea of the journeys characters will embark on to reach the end of the road. There are plenty of clues in the episode that hint at what to expect from the third and final part of the season.
The first part primarily dealt with the conflict against the Reapers, a new and slightly irrelevant group to the series, and pushes the Commonwealth storyline to the side. Season 11B flipped the switch, having the Commonwealth at the forefront while introducing yet another antagonistic group as the subplot. There’s a clear pattern The Walking Dead is following with the Commonwealth, minor groups and dashing time jumps. So what does that mean for Season 11C?
“Acts of God” throws a new villain out into the trenches. Lance Hornsby, who embarrassingly speaks on Pamela Milton’s behalf, has been clawing at power for as long as he’s been in contact with Alexandria and Hilltop. What once was an insecure, maybe even misunderstood, man just trying to impress his superior has now gone rogue. When he comes across the lone Leah, he tasks her with assassinating Maggie. Lance’s stubborn tendency to underestimate Maggie and Daryl ends with his plan failing after Leah is killed and he loses the majority of his men to traps set by Maggie at Hilltop.
However, Lance still has a powerful hand to play. Although Maggie and Daryl temporarily halted his ambitions, the situation opens up an opportunity for Lance to officially seize Alexandria and Hilltop as the Commonwealth’s. It’s reminiscent of the days when House Bolton declared Winterfell their own in Game of Thrones, but hopefully that means Maggie and Daryl will participate in their own Battle of the Bastards to take back their rightful communities. Out near the sea, Lance has infiltrated Oceanside and flips a coin to seemingly decide if they’ll be subject to slaughter. Oceanside really needs to cut ties with every community if all they want is to live a peaceful life on the beach.
Back at the Commonwealth, Connie writes an exposé about Pamela’s lies and the lives that were lost to her son Sebastian’s heist. Now that the truth is out in public, the Resistance can easily declare themselves an enemy to the Commonwealth’s government, which has been encouraging a system of class inequality for years. Pamela is now an open target, but what about Connie and the rest of the conspirators involved? It’s unclear if Pamela knows who the whistleblower is, but her anger towards Max at the end of the episode indicates she has some idea on who slipped secretive details. Maybe Mercer can finally step out of his shell as a soldier now that Max is the Commonwealth’s public enemy number one.
Season 11C has a lot of potential because of these triumphant moments. Oceanside seems to be doomed at this point, unless Maggie and Daryl can make it there in time to prevent a massacre, and the Commonwealth’s structure is cracking under the seams now that its leader has been outed as a liar. Even if Pamela has lost her people’s trust, it seems the Commonwealth will still have the upper hand in the final episodes. The smaller communities are no match for the stormtroopers of the Commonwealth army, and Lance’s true colors are revealing him to be something of a sadistic commander. The survivors are scattered, and the enemy is growing, so The Walking Dead has an inviting last showdown to tune in for. The final episodes have already been filmed, so all viewers have to do is wait for Season 11C to arrive.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC later in 2022.
