‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Trailer: 14 Things You Might’ve Missed (PHOTOS)
Maggie had her baby!
Unless we’re seeing little Gracie — who was left at The Hilltop last season — Maggie Rhee has finally had her child. She glows as she passes the baby off to another member of her group, and though it seems “The Widow” won’t be getting a break from all the chaos this season, at least she’s found some happiness.
It’ll be interesting to see whether her child takes the same name as his comics counterpart: Hershel, after her father. And what’ll happen to her baby when actress Lauren Cohan leaves for the season?
Rick has his own Lucille
It’s not a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire, but it comes close. Though Rick’s a blur in the photo above, his new weapon isn’t. It appears to be a rounded plank of wood with some wicked-looking spikes on the end — perfect for whacking walkers on the go.
Wagons are the way to go
In the trailer, we see characters riding horses and in wagons, rather than using cars. The roads are rougher, the buildings are a little more broken down, and even the walkers look nastier and more decomposed. Thankfully, the Grimes gang knows where to find some untapped resources: a museum.
It seems they run into some trouble getting their new wagon down the stairs, as later on in the trailer, they’re shown battling walkers in the building. Let’s hope this turns out better than the department store run in the Season 4 premiere!
What does this sign mean?
If you shook your head at this sign, you’re not the only one. Several of the names make sense, like Alexandria and Sanctuary, but others, like “Toledo” and “HQ” are unfamiliar. Are these the names of new groups who have joined over the time jump? Does HQ stand for “Hilltop,” and “Toledo” stand for “The Kingdom?” Only time will tell, but some of the communities definitely might have rebranded since we saw them last.
Finding love in a hopeful place
You might have to zoom in and squint, but eventually, you’ll see it — the king and the queen seem to be in a relationship, or they’re just incredibly cuddly. With Carol choosing to go back to The Kingdom after All Out War, an eventual pairing between her and Ezekiel makes sense, even if it’ll be a bummer not to see their romance bloom during the time jump.
And, of course, there are still fans who want Carol and Daryl together. More on that later…
A hint of things to come?
This seemingly random shot of a windmill teases a pretty prominent future storyline for The Walking Dead: The Commonwealth. A thriving community with thousands of people, The Commonwealth has abundant resources and a leader who looks quite a bit like the random woman who stumbled upon the Hilltop last season.
If the show followed the comics to the letter, it wouldn’t get to The Commonwealth for quite some time. But this season seems to be shaking things up, and getting to this new community during the Whisperers arc would be intriguing.
Henry’s still causing trouble
It appears he hasn’t learned his lesson since letting the Saviors out of the pen in Season 8. Henry is stirring up trouble again this season, using Morgan’s wooden stick technique to start a fight with another member of the community — probably a former Savior. A few moments later, we see Daryl grappling with the same guy. Maybe this dude is just bad news?
Henry might not be dealing well with Morgan’s absence; he saw the former pacifist as a kind of father figure, and definitely looked up to him and Ezekiel. Here’s hoping the king can talk some sense into him!
Rick’s hurt, and it doesn’t look good
Either Rick swapped boots with a random walker, or those are his shoes. And if they’re his shoes, it seems he’s not doing too well. The boot-wearer is stumbling pretty badly, and blood seems to be pouring out of them. Uh-oh.
With Lincoln’s departure now confirmed, one can’t help wondering if this is a quick glimpse at Alexandria’s leader’s demise. Would AMC really spoil such a pivotal scene in the trailer? Maybe not, but either way, it looks serious.
Flashback? Flash-forward? Flash-sideways?
Rick is too clean for this to be in the present timeline. That white shirt is too blindingly white and clean. This scene, then, takes place in some kind of alternate reality, one that includes Rick, Judith, and either Michonne or Lori.
With Shane confirmed to return for a flashback scene this season, Lori might come back, too. But given that this scene looks like it features Judith, not a younger Carl, Michonne might make more sense.
What are you up to, Carol?
That’s a whole lot of armed men and one Carol. Granted, she’s proven she can handle just about anyone in combat. If we’ve learned anything over eight seasons, it’s that Carol isn’t in danger: Carol is the danger. Carol is the one who knocks. But what does this gang of goons have against her?
Whatever happened, she must have really angered them, because the guy in the middle can be seen holding a knife to her throat later on in the trailer — likely from the same episode where Carol’s creeping around by herself at night. Just look at the flowers, random guy.
Platonic soulmates
After being kept apart for the majority of the past two seasons, Carol and Daryl are back together again! Whether or not they end up in any kind of romantic relationship (there are plenty of fans who want their story to go that route, even though it seems Carol will be with Ezekiel), they definitely share a deep bond and understanding of each other that no one else does.
This looks to be a pretty emotional scene between the final two survivors who made it out of the original Atlanta group. Carol puts her head on his shoulder and leans into him, and though they might have been separated for a time, their relationship never missed a beat.
Something bad happened at camp
And Rick’s not running from it, because of course he isn’t. Many of the survivors seen in the forest group with the tents can be seen sprinting behind Rick: Jerry, Eugene, and Daryl among them. What happened?
If it was walkers, Daryl and Jerry probably wouldn’t be running. Something else must have happened, and although the details are murky, one thing is for sure: it’s not good.
Magna
Fans of the comics were elated to see Nadia Hilker’s Magna appear in the trailer’s final moments. In the series’ source material, Magna is a leader of a small group of survivors from Washington D.C. who don’t trust Rick at first, but eventually become essential members of Alexandria’s community. The rest of her group is also introduced in the trailer.
“Where are they?”
Probably the most chilling moment of the trailer arrives at the very end, when Eugene and Rosita slide down a mud bank, cover themselves in mud, and, terrified, wait for a herd to pass through. As they lay on the ground, a “walker” can be heard saying, “Where are they?”
This is likely the show’s first footage of the Whisperers, a group that survives by wearing walker skin. They’re the next “big bad” that the protagonists will have to face, and they sound absolutely horrifying.
New locations, new enemies, new relationships, new weapons… and the same old nasty walkers.
There are a lot of new things in the trailer for Season 9 of The Walking Dead, and one viewing definitely isn’t enough to catch them all.
Click through our gallery above for some of the things you might not have noticed in the Comic-Con 2018 trailer!
