The Strolling Lifeless: Lifeless Metropolis thrives on rigidity, existential dread, and the creeping realization that selections—regardless of how well-intended—can spiral into devastation. The Hen At all times Is aware of delivers all that and extra, weaving treachery, guilt, brutality, and redemption right into a grimly elegant tapestry.
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| “The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Logan Kim as Hershel. Picture: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
On the episode’s coronary heart is Herschel’s (Logan Kim) torment over the fallout of his betrayal. His confession to Maggie (Lauren Cohan) is laced with remorse as he admits that he signaled the Croat however didn’t anticipate the bloodshed that adopted. It’s a uncommon second of honesty, one which digs into the psychological horror of unintended penalties. His sorrow is palpable—not only for the act itself, however for his failure to grasp the stakes till it was far too late. His apology is real, but hole within the face of the useless who can not hear it.
Maggie, hardened by her personal vendetta, affords absolution—or no less than an try at it. She tells Herschel to let it go, however her phrases are tainted by hypocrisy. She has clung to her grudge towards Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) with an iron grip, her personal soul consumed by an unrelenting thirst for vengeance.
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“The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD |
The irony isn’t misplaced on Herschel or the viewers. Maggie’s credibility, asking Herschel to simply let what occurred go, is nonexistent. Right here, the episode masterfully juxtaposes private vendettas towards the broader horrors of battle and betrayal, displaying how anger corrodes and the way redemption, if it comes, is never clear—a lesson Ginny (Mahina Anne Marie Napoleon) learns on this episode.
Because the story shifts to town, its ‘shock and awe’ intensifies. The Dama (Lisa Emery) dispatches Negan to influence gang chief holdout Christos (Jake Weary) to hitch her trigger towards New Babylon. Negan’s dialogue begins promisingly. He and Christos discover surprising frequent floor of their shared aim—defending their households. It’s a fleeting glimpse of hope, a second the place unity appears attainable amid chaos.
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“The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD |
Hope is violently ripped away when The Croat (Željko Ivanek) struts in. Firmly within the grip of his invulnerability advanced that twists each slight into an unforgivable problem, The Croat arrives not simply to sabotage Negan’s progress however to obliterate any notion of the Burazi’s weak spot. His weak spot. His response to Christos’ substation assault is not simply retaliation—it’s theatrical brutality, a grotesque show meant to reassert his dominance.
Negan—and the viewers—are blindsided by the revelation that the Croat had ensured the fuel canister remained on the whole time, silently flooding the room and sealing Christos’ destiny earlier than anybody had an opportunity to battle again. The second of realization is sickening. Resistance was by no means an choice—simply demise, delivered with chilling precision. Then comes the true horror: the Burazi descend upon Christos and his males, their bludgeoning a violent exclamation level on the Croat’s calculated cruelty.
The Croat chuckles as he assures Negan that he spared the ladies and kids, as if that concession dims the sheer ruthlessness of the bloodbath. When Negan asks whether or not the Dama sanctioned the assault, the Croat’s silence speaks volumes. The load of The Dama’s unstated approval—or harmful ignorance about The Croat’s actions—settles over Negan like a suffocating fog.
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| “The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Dascha Polanco as Narvaez. Picture: Robert Clark/AMC © 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
In the meantime, Narvaez (Dascha Polanco) raises the stakes on the Forager’s compound, arresting Roksana (Pooya Mohseni) and Armstrong (Gaius Charles) for crimes towards the Federation. She forces Maggie into an unattainable scenario, demanding that she go to town alone and ship Negan and The Croat to her, utilizing Herschel as leverage.
Bending is just not Maggie’s manner. She fights her manner again into the compound, solely to be betrayed by Herschel—whether or not out of cowardice or impulse—when his eye actions unintentionally reveal her place. Even nonetheless, she seizes management, urgent a knife to Narvaez’s throat, just for the facility dynamic to shift once more when Ginny trains her gun on Herschel, unmoved by Maggie’s determined pleas as a result of the little lady is large mad that Maggie didn’t inform her she was going to see Negan when she was within the metropolis. Argh!
The episode doesn’t shrink back from the recklessness of youth, portraying Herschel and Ginny as impulsive, simply swayed, and ceaselessly unreliable. The writers emphasize a brutal fact: their selections lack the anchor of maturity as a result of their brains are merely not developed sufficient to understand the total penalties of their actions.
For instance, Ginny’s actions enable Narvaez to implement her one resolution for defiance—execution. Roksana is led to the gallows. Her individuals mourn so loudly that their cries stir the undead. Chaos erupts as walkers swarm by the fences, forcing a frenzied shift within the battle for survival.
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| “The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Mahina Anne Marie Napoleon as Ginny. Picture: Robert Clark/AMC© 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
Ginny, injured within the melee, lastly snaps out of her treacherous malaise, saving Maggie from Narvaez’s noose. Then, in scrumptious irony, the freshly reanimated Roksana tears aside Narvaez’s throat—her violent finish a poetic consequence of her personal ruthless rule. Hurray!
And simply when the stress settles, a knock on the door—a shock customer for Maggie and Armstrong as Bruegel (Kim Coates) arrives, casually asserting, “Seems to be like I’m late to the celebration.” I don’t find out about different viewers, however I used to be left with a sinking feeling that Maggie’s troubles are removed from over. Rattling! Are you able to give our lady someday?
In the meantime, within the metropolis, Negan performs puppet grasp, sowing doubt between The Dama and The Croat. By killing the Dama’s beloved pet rat, he crops the seeds of suspicion concerning the Croat’s motives. Then, by reminding the Croat of how shabbily The Dama treats them each, Negan feeds the Croat’s concern of weak spot, setting off an epic confrontation.
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| “The Hen At all times Is aware of” — THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Pictured: Lisa Emery as The Dama. Picture: Robert Clark/AMC© 2025 AMC Networks Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
The Dama and the Croat alternate insults earlier than the Dama sinks her enamel into the Croat’s hand. Too unhealthy, so unhappy—The Dama finally ends up swallowed by flames, shrieking “Mile! Mile! Assist me!” just like the depraved witch melting in The Wizard of Oz. So, awe, the shock.
The episode closes on a macabre observe as Negan scrapes smashed rat guts from the underside of his shoe—a grim reminder that The Dama’s finish is barely the start. One Dama down—The Croat and Bruegel to go. Then, lastly, he can go away this cursed metropolis behind him.
Whereas The Hen At all times Is aware of is high-stakes storytelling with betrayals, executions, and unforeseeable twists that unfold with ruthless effectivity, it’s a kind of heavy-lifting episodes. The episode sheds actors from the decision sheet, not gratuitously, however as a mandatory evolution within the story’s pitiless world. The plotting intrigue—from the Burazi’s ‘fuel and smash’ slaughter of Christos’ gang to Roksana’s hanging—feels acquainted and becoming throughout the TWDU. In any case, not one of the casualties have been well-known (Roksana, Christos) or notably likable (The Dama)—so bye-bye. Subsequent!”
One lingering query stays—why does this assessment omit the dialog between Armstrong and Roksana? Provided that the episode’s title is predicated on this alternate, it appeared positioned as a second of significance. And but, its absence from dialogue solely reinforces its lack of actual impression. My appreciation for the episode wouldn’t have modified had it been reduce solely. Actually, it ought to have been—as a result of it provides little to the primary plots.
Now that the New Babylon forces have been decimated, what’s Bruegel’s gambit with Maggie and Armstrong? Let me know within the feedback.