After a six month wait, The Walking Dead finally wrapped up its tenth season last night with episode 10×16 “A Certain Doom.” The finale was held up due to the pandemic, which left fans with a lot of time to ponder how it could conclude the Whisperer War and tee up what’s to come next, and while in some ways it subverted our expectations, its big cliffhanger was something we had guessed was coming.
The outing ended with Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko and Princess finally reaching their destination of Charleston, West Virginia, where they were scheduled to rendezvous with Eugene’s lady friend Stephanie, from a currently unknown community. Due to the hold-ups across their journey, though, the gang feared they were too late. As it turned out, however, there was someone there to meet them… but it was not who they were expecting.
The group were suddenly faced with spotlights turning on and a small army of soldiers in white Stormtrooper-like armor pouring out of the shadows. With guns pointed at them, Eugene and co. were ordered to drop their weapons and raise their hands. With no other choice but to comply, we left the group as they were helplessly surrounded by the soldiers. Soldiers that comic book readers will know are the army of the Commonwealth.
The Commonwealth is an enormous network of interconnected communities and by far the biggest settlement in the TWD universe, with their civilization enjoying such luxuries as cafes, a high court and even a sports arena. In the comics, it’s situated in Ohio, but this has been switched to West Virginia for the TV show. That leaves the door open for other changes to be made as well, but the soldiers are very faithfully recreated from the page.
So, expect the Commonwealth to have a major presence on The Walking Dead across the six extra episodes coming in early 2021, and then the jumbo-sized eleventh and final season.
