This episode used several All Out War plot points from Issues #122-124 of the comics while creating new storylines that were completely unique to the show. Here’s how The Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 11 compared to the source material.
Carson’s Mission
This week we saw Dr. Carson and Father Gabriel embark on an adventure together after escaping The Sanctuary. Even though these scenes varied from the comics, it’s still worth comparing.
Show: Dr. Carson and a nearly blind Father Gabriel get lost trying to find their way to The Hilltop after escaping The Sanctuary. They discover a shack with a radio, medicine, keys, and a map that seem to solve all their problems – until the walkers show up. Carson gets ensnared in a bear trap but Father Gabriel miraculously kills the walkers and saves him. They hop in the new truck and prepare to head to Hilltop when The Saviors show up, kill Carson, and re-capture Father Gabriel.
Comics: Unlike the show, Father Gabriel is very low-key during All Out War and is never blind or captured by The Saviors. Dr. Carson, however, is more alike to his show counterpart. In Issues 123 and 124 of the comics, Carson breaks Eugene out of his cell in The Sanctuary after Negan and his Saviors leave to attack the Hilltop. They recruit a few more defectors and together they head for Alexandria. It’s pitch black when they arrive, and when they turn on their headlights they realize they’re surrounded by walkers. A Savior, Donnie, opens fire on them but Eugene rigs a hammer on the steering wheel horn to cause a distraction. Eugene sneaks up behind Donnie and pushes him off the building, killing him. Now mostly safe, they head to Hilltop.
So in both scenarios Carson breaks someone out of The Sanctuary with the intention of escaping to Hilltop. The plan works in the comics but not in the show.
Return To The Hilltop
Following Negan’s devastating attack on Alexandria Rick and his allies re-locate to The Hilltop to re-group.
Show: After battling swamp walkers and dealing with Dwight re-joining The Saviors Daryl, Tara, and the rest make it back to The Hilltop. It’s a much more emotional reunion than the comics considering they had to break the news of Carl’s death to Maggie and the others.
Comics: In Issue #122 Rick, Andrea, and Carl return to Hilltop to regroup with the Alexandria and Kingdom soldiers. Since Carl’s still alive, there’s no need for an emotional reunion. Instead, Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel get right to planning their next attack.
Eugene’s Ammo
As we mentioned above, comic Eugene escaped The Sanctuary before Negan forced him to manufacture ammunition for him. But in the show, Eugene seems happy to make ammo for the Saviors – and he’s given an entire outpost to do it!
Walker Gut-Covered Weapons
At the end of the episode we saw Negan instruct The Saviors to cover their weapons with walker guts so that when they attack Rick’s people they’ll become infected and turn. This also happened in Issue #122 – and aside from Negan’s colorful vocabulary in the comics you can see his speech is nearly identical in the show. The context matches up, too – in both instances Negan prepares The Saviors to attack The Hilltop in the most maniacal way yet.
What Didn’t Happen In The Comics
Daryl and Tara don’t exist in the comics so any storylines involving them are unique to the show (including Tara and Dwight’s chase). Also exclusive to the show is Maggie’s cage of Saviors at The Hilltop.
Those are all the comparisons for this week! Check back with us next week for more comic comparisons.
