What happened to Princess in ‘The Walking Dead’?

The final batch of The Walking Dead episodes kicked off early last week with part three of season eleven now underway. It got off to a somewhat slow start with not all that much happening in the way of plot development. One fan favorite character has been notably absent for a few episodes, that being Juanita ‘Princess’ Sanchez, played by Paola Lázaro, last seen two episodes ago in ‘Trust’. 

Fans who are a little rusty following the hiatus between parts two and three of season eleven may be wondering whether or not Princess is still around. The key beats of the season eleven part three premiere included the citizens of The Commonwealth getting up in arms about the death of April as a result of Sebastian Milton’s vile actions, Daryl and company being pinned down by Hornsby, and Negan’s arrival at The Commonwealth to aid the gang’s escape.

So what’s Princess up to?

Princess fans need not fear for her life, at least just yet. When we last caught up with the quirky gal she was seen having a conversation with Mercer about the guilt he is carrying about deep-sixing two of his men and covering it up. 

As an honorable man who likes to play by the book, this has been eating Mercer up – and Princess is there to offer words of comfort, as she knows a thing or two about compartmentalizing heavy things that have happened throughout her life.

While Princess and Mercer’s relationship is definitely interesting enough to warrant more screen time, it isn’t unusual for characters on The Walking Dead to get sidelined for an episode or two, sometimes more. In case you’re new to this series, eleven seasons in, plot points tend to unfold slowly, and when they do, a large chunk of screen time is dedicated to digging deep into them.

Put simply, it seems the showrunners deemed the ramping tension between Hilltop and Alexandria versus The Commonwealth to be a more pertinent plot point to dig into than whatever Princess has been up to off in the background. She wasn’t the only character absent in the season eleven part three premiere, with Eugene also being notably offscreen while Jerry rounds up Judith and the other kids to stow them away safely while the adults work out a way to slip out of the Commonwealth.

Episode 17, ‘Lockdown’, wrapped up with Carol reuniting the Miltons, presumably as a bargaining chip to get everyone out of the Commonwealth safely, while Daryl, Maggie, Aaron and Gabriel managed to get the drop on Hornsby. With seven episodes to go, things are starting to heat up for one last big battle – and we’re sure Princess will be getting involved in one way or another.