8 Questions We Want Answered When The Walking Dead Returns

The grisly yet engrossing season 7 premiere of The Walking Dead suggested lots of intriguing things to come. Sadly, the first half of the show's seventh outing has been decidedly lacklustre. Thankfully, though, the midseason finale - titled "Hearts Still Beating" - promised that the story and character arcs would pick up when the series returns for episode nine in February. To recap, the episode saw Rick finally get sick of being pushed around by Negan - who killed Spencer and Olivia this week - and vow to take him down. Daryl also escaped from the Sanctuary and united with the Alexandrians and Maggie when they all arrived at Hilltop. Seeing the characters all together again was hugely welcome and we can't wait to watch them take the fight to Negan. But what exactly's going to happen next, and where will our beloved group go from here? Read on for 8 burning questions that The Walking Dead's midseason finale left us with that it needs to answer once it returns. 8) What's Up With The Spiked Zombie? The Walking Dead has slipped into a bit of lull with its use of zombies for a while now, but the midseason premiere raised our hopes that the show has found a new way to make them scary and fresh again. The promo for the rest of the season featured lots of exciting details to pick up on but the most intriguing - and horrifying - was the final shot of Rick being faced with a walker. But not just any walker. A walker wearing a spiked helmet and with sharp metal poles poking out of its body. Like some undead terrifying pincushion. So, what's the deal with this unique fella? Obviously, the zombie didn't end up this way naturally - unless the person died due to being very clumsy while surrounded by metal poles. Given that, someone must have weaponized the creature in an effort to make it more of a threat. Either to protect their home or to send out and attack their enemies. Is this another tactic of Negan and the Saviours? Possibly. It's a totally idea original to the show though so we really have no idea on this one. 7) How Broken Is Daryl? After eight episodes of being captured by the Saviours, Daryl finally escaped their clutches in the midseason finale - to the joy of Walking Dead fans everywhere. Viewers have been desperately waiting for the beloved character to get back to his old self again.. and out of that hideous sweater. Unfortunately, it's not all hunky dory for the guy as his imprisonment seems to have left him with some massive mental scarring. On his way out of the Sanctuary, Daryl encounters Fat Joey, one of the Saviours. Even though he was willing to let him go without any trouble, Daryl lashes out with a pipe he'd found and bludgeons Joey to death. It's an unwarranted and sickeningly brutal attack on a basically innocent man. Not like the old Daryl at all. Clearly, he's not in a good place, to say the least. But what further affect will his time with the Saviours have on his psyche in future? Now that Daryl's been reunited with his friends, will they help him heal from his ordeal, or has he gone too far over the edge? 6) Where's Dwight Got To? Speaking of Daryl's escape, it all seemed to go too easy for him. Where was Dwight, for example? Perhaps he's already started deserting Negan, as per the comics. In the source material, Dwight turns from being Negan's right-hand man to joining the Alexandrians. His allegiance switches due to Negan scolding him in the face with an iron and sleeping with his wife Sherry. The show has already changed things around though by already giving Dwight his facial injury and losing Sherry to Negan. Recently, he witnessed another Saviour, Mark, also getting punished in the same way. Has this finally caused him to rebel? Is that why he was absent from the Sanctuary in the finale? Or was he too busy watching Rick and Aaron and the rest of Alexandria (more on that later)? We're also wondering when Daryl will get his crossbow and motorcycle back from Dwight. Now that he's free again, we hope he gets his stuff back from the thief sometime in the season's second half. 5) Is Maggie Hilltop's New Leader? Back in episode five, Maggie put her farm girl skills to good use by driving an old tractor into a horde of zombies. Thanks to her actions, and Sasha and Jesus' help, Hilltop was saved. Naturally, she's won a lot of support around the colony since then. In the finale, they even sent her some delicious apple pie. Sasha also jokes that Maggie should "run for president" - and it looks like things are heading that way. In "Hearts Still Beating," the extent of Maggie's popularity is shown to irritate Gregory, who warns her not to let it go to her head - a not so friendly reminder that he's still in charge. Regardless, she shows signs of command when she gets the gates open for Rick and the others when they arrive. Maggie is certainly a more deserving leader than creepy Gregory. Perhaps significantly, he was also nowhere to be seen in the promo for the upcoming episodes. We wouldn't be surprised if he was quickly disposed of in the midseason premiere and Maggie assumes the role of the head of Hilltop. 4) What Will The Saviours Do With Eugene? The latest gut-wrenching moment of gore from The Walking Dead came this week when Negan punished Spencer for his betrayal. In a bid to see if he had any guts, he ripped them out of his stomach for all to see. In anger, Rosita retaliates against Negan's brutality and uses up the bullet Eugene made her in an attempt to take him out. In a miraculous miss (that doesn't really make a lick of sense, but whatever), Negan's trusty bat Lucille blocks the shot. After ordering Olivia's death in a bid to find out who created the bullet, Negan finds out the truth and takes Eugene prisoner, bringing him back to the Sanctuary with him. What exactly does he have planned for the mullet-headed bulletmaker, though? Will Negan put Eugene to work for them, or has he been taken just to ensure the Alexandrians don't get any more ammo? One thing's for sure: he's going to have a rough time of it until/if he's rescued by his friends. 3) Will Carol Join The Fight Against Negan? While everything's been going down in Alexandria, Carol and Morgan have been hanging out with Ezekiel in The Kingdom, sidelined from the action to the extent that we've hardly seen them this whole half-season. Things will surely change on that front, though, as we know that Rick and the others are planning on heading there. This begs the question: will Carol and potentially Morgan join them in their battle against Negan? It's not as clear cut a question as it sounds. Carol and Morgan were recently asked by Richard to help out against Negan, but Carol outright refused, as she wants to be left alone. It seems she's content to stay out of conflict and enjoy some well-earned rest in The Kingdom. She might change her mind, however, when she finds out what the Saviours have done to Glenn and Abraham. Knowing that Negan took the lives of two of her friends - and how he treated Daryl as well - will surely make her want to play a part in taking them down. 2) Will The Kingdom And Oceanside Join In, Too? Seeing as the events of the first half of the season were split over various locations, we would expect the separate groups of characters to be united in the next half. And what better cause to bring them together than to take down Negan? If Maggie does become Hilltop's leader, they'll presumably have that group behind them. But what about The Kingdom and Oceanside? Seeing as Rick and co. are heading to The Kingdom, we would at least expect Ezekiel to be brought into the main narrative and join the fight. Which will come as something as a relief to fans of the character, seeing as he's only appeared in one measly episode so far. Likewise, if Tara lets them know about Oceanside, they might gain allies there as well. Granted, she did promise not to reveal the community to her friends, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The gun-toting women of Oceanside would definitely be good to have in the fight, and they obviously have a bone to pick with Negan too. Looks like Negan will have quite an army to face come the end of the season... 1) Who's The Spy In The Boots? The most obvious question we want answered when The Walking Dead returns is just who is the mystery figure who's been spying on our heroes? First they appeared when spying on Rick and Aaron and then were later seen observing the rest of the community at the episode's end. Fans have gone into overdrive to deduce who the figure could be. Some think it might be a Whisperer - one of the crazed group of survivors from the comics, who weren't expected to show up until next season at least. Others think it might be Cindy from Oceanside who is secretly scouting out Alexandria. The most out-there idea is that it might be a surprise return for the Governor - despite his death back in season 4. Our personal theory is that it's Dwight. After all, he was nowhere to be seen during Daryl's escape. What we don't know is whether he's scouting them out because he's thinking of joining them or because he has it in for them. The character is suggested to be an enemy, but there's a chance (albeit a small one) that they could turn out to be an ally. All we know is that The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman has confirmed their identity will be revealed soon and that the character will be "a big part" of the season's second half.