The Walking Dead, season 9 review: Will Rick Grimes die? – and four other questions from episode 4, 'The Obliged'

Major spoilers for episode four follow

The new beginning that Rick has been dreaming about for quite some time in The Walking Dead is teased in the show’s latest episode – albeit in a rather different manner than its lead character could ever have imagined.

The death of Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) last season proved that The Walking Dead remains a series capable of shocking viewers like it did in its early days. Let’s not forget, the AMC series was known as one of the most cold-blooded shows on television – even more so than Game of Thrones – in the way it was willing to kill off multiple main characters in the space of just one episode.

While the show’s current cast list has been its longest-running yet, tonight’s episode sparks the beginning of the end for the character whose journey we’ve followed since the first ever scene. When Andrew Lincoln confirmed he was to leave after just five episodes of season nine, many had hoped his last hurrah would see him ride off into the sunset, retiring his leadership duties to his long-time ally, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus).

How wrong we were. Considering Lincoln’s last episode is next week and this week’s, titled “The Obliged”, ends with our hero impaled on a spike amid two huge hordes of walkers, it seems the show’s about to lose its main character in a traumatising way.

These are the five biggest questions we had after The Walking Dead season 9 episode 3.

Is Maggie going to kill Negan?

The episode’s events are kicked into gear by Maggie’s decision to leave the Hilltop for Alexandria with the intention of killing Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) once and for all. News quickly gets through to Rick who orders the gatekeepers to refuse her entry – he’s staunch in his belief that Negan’s death would render the villain a martyr, meaning that every character who perished during his reign died for nothing.

Daryl, of course, disagrees. Riding Rick away from Alexandra, the two have a heated head-to-head over their conflicting ideals. “You’re a** wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for Glenn,” he tells Rick. “You wouldn’t have found Lori, you wouldn’t have found Carl and you sure as f*** wouldn’t have found any of us.”

Will Michonne give Lucille back to Negan?

Michonne (Danai Gurira) has been helping Rick create his new world order but this doesn’t mean she’s not willing to leave her old life behind. The episode’s opening sees her leaving the walls of Alexandria to dispatch of some walkers, continually drawn back to her katana (explaining the mysterious blood on her arm in last week’s episode). One such excursion sees her happen across Lucille, Negan’s bat that killed Abraham and Glenn. Later, he asks Michonne where Lucille is. “Still out there,” she tells Negan who proceeds to headbutt a wall in devastation.” However, later on – while reading Judith a bedtime story – she sees a picture of a baseball bat and… seems to consider reuniting the villain with his weapon.

Where the hell is Jadis?

Having (only just) spared the life of Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), the artist formerly known as Jadis absconds to an unknown location, presumably involving the individual she spoke to on the walkie talkie in last week’s episode. She leaves a note behind: “If you wanna go fast, go alone. If you wanna go far, go together I need to go fast.” After regaining consciousness, Gabriel reads the note in tears. What the hell it means is unknown, but we predict that he’ll soon lead a search party to find her, a decision that’ll lead the group directly into the path of new antagonists, the Whisperers, led by Alpha (Samantha Morton) and Beta (Ryan Hurst).

Is Oceanside in trouble?

The Saviours have worked out that it’s the people of Oceanside who are responsible for killing their people, and are baying for their blood. Led by Jed (Rhys Coiro), they attempt to ambush the Kingdom’s new co-leader, Carol (Melissa McBride), a showdown which ends with gunfire – the fallout of which remains to be seen. Either way, it seems these Saviours are dead set on avenging the death of their people, something that’s put the Oceanside community – not to mention, all other communities – in mortal danger.

Will Rick die?

At this stage, it’s hard to see him escaping the morbid situation he finds himself in. Electing to distract the horde of walkers who are heading directly for the new camp he’s formed, Rick guides them away on horseback – and right into the path of another giant horde. The horse, unnerved by their presence, throws Rick off his saddle and slap bang onto a spike. As the camera pans up, we see the hungry walkers fast descending, seconds away from devouring the show’s main character. Could this be the end of Rick Grimes? After nine seasons and 102 episodes, it certainly seems that way.

The Walking Dead continues in the US on AMC every Sunday with the simulcast airing in the UK at 2am. The episode is also available to watch on NOW TV ahead of its repeat on FOX at 9pm the following evening