TWD 5x16 "Conquer" (Season 5 Finale) episode discussion... **SPOILERS WITHIN*

[DayoftheZ]

No one is responsible for the actions of others. It's really that simple. Should Morgan have killed the two "wolves"? Probably, yes. Is he responsible for anything they may do afterwards? Nope; THEY would be responsible for their actions. That said...I wonder when Morgan took lessons from Donatello? Excellent end to an excellent series five. One thing I noticed was that the car door Daryl was sat next to was unlocked. The first zombie in Night of The Living Dead would have had that door in a jiffy!!! Another top episode for Rick and Glenn and as has been covered Morgan was awesome, but I hope next series they don't overdo the Rick vs Morgan way of thinking too much. We need a united front now the Wolves have been introduced. Kudos to Carl for staying inside the house!!!

[Moon Knight]

The man in the red hood was an obvious nod to Little Red Riding Hood. You know, them being "Wolves" and all.

[AcesandEights]

And I stick by my position too. If we HPOTD'ers ever end up in the zombie apocalypse together, I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Wyld! Sorry, MZ, but I don't think you'd ever see it coming. One second you'd be puling a Romero collectible (attached to a 6 wt fishing line) out of a junk pile and the next you'd be surrounded by a horde of zombies with W's on their foreheads. The W's, in this case, are short for "Wyld just killed your ass."

[MinionZombie]

Spinning off from DayoftheZ's comment about the scene in the car - if you found yourself in that situation, how would you try and stay alive? @Minion: For the record, the trait most commonly used as a descriptive of me by those who are close friends and family are words like Loyal, Devoted, Protective (sometime Over-Protective). The way I grew up taught me life is Us Vs Them, and taking too long to decide who's "Us" and who's "Them" gets people hurt, the wrong people. Made that mistake twice, not going for the hat trick. And that's in the real civilized world. So my biases are out in the open. I was speaking in jest in the context of the discussion here on HPOTD, hence the screed of jovial emoticons that followed. It wasn't meant as some stain against your real-life character. One thing I noticed was that the car door Daryl was sat next to was unlocked. The first zombie in Night of The Living Dead would have had that door in a jiffy!!! Kudos to Carl for staying inside the house!!! 1) That drove me crazy! Even though they were pressed up against the car (making it pretty hard for them to pull the door open), I'd still have that lock down nice and safe anyway! 2) He's sitting there doing the babysitting and missing all the action. Sorry, MZ, but I don't think you'd ever see it coming. One second you'd be puling a Romero collectible (attached to a 6 wt fishing line) out of a junk pile and the next you'd be surrounded by a horde of zombies with W's on their foreheads. The W's, in this case, are short for "Wyld just killed your ass." Good thing I'm not really one for collectibles, then. Man, living in the apocalypse would be such hard work and there'd be no telly either (boring!!!) ... I'd find the nearest cliff and fling myself off it ... but then again if everyone was infected then I'd resurrect as a mangled zombie at the base of said cliff ... so I guess I'd have to just damn well go all Mad Max anyway, like it or lump it ... put together a snazzy outfit, look through the thesaurus for a ludicrous new name, declare myself King of some random domain like a bakery or, no, let's think big - a local supermarket - and spend my days eating stale cereal straight out of the box.

[UndeadHippo]

back to form this week. the opening shot was a car wreck. we've missed those! Father Gabriel: he shuts people out, they die. He leaves the door open, people die. guy can't catch a break. Are we assuming the two wolves we've seen are the only members of the pack? it seems like an awful lot of setup (and resultant carnage) for just those two guys, thankfully Morgan has taken several levels in badass. good to have him back. and, I hate to disagree with Ricks "zombie kill of the week", but for me it was Daryl and his triple chain decapitation.   The producers have obviously been teasing Glenn's ultimate fate for a few weeks, and I honestly thought they were going to go that way this episode. Then they buried him under walkers, and i thought they might do the Andrea bait-and-switch and give someone else his story. now, i'm beginning to think were going to follow the comics VERY closely with the whole Alexandria safe zone story

[Moon Knight]

I am very surprised yet very pleased on how Alexandria is being portrayed on the show. All the added tension and adventure outside the gates make this version far superior. My only complaint is Andrea being replaced by Sasha. Can they kill her already? If they keep this storytelling quality up then next season, oh my next season will be incredible.

[MinionZombie]

Agreed. I've been very pleased by this season - even the 'weakest' episode (the one with Beth in the hospital) had plenty happening in it, unlike the one weak episode in season 4 ("Still"), which didn't have much going on for itself ... so what I'm trying to say is, is that season 5 was thumbs up throughout. I also think that, over the piece, they made better musical choices this season than last ... and generally it's been great work all-round from all involved.

[MoonSylver]

Man, living in the apocalypse would be such hard work and there'd be no telly either (boring!!!) ... I'd find the nearest cliff and fling myself off it ... but then again if everyone was infected then I'd resurrect as a mangled zombie at the base of said cliff ... so I guess I'd have to just damn well go all Mad Max anyway, like it or lump it ... put together a snazzy outfit, look through the thesaurus for a ludicrous new name, declare myself King of some random domain like a bakery or, no, let's think big - a local supermarket - and spend my days eating stale cereal straight out of the box. You a Lord Humungous type...? ...or you favor The Duke? (He was A-number-1 after all...)

[shootemindehead]

More "Lord Hummus" I think.

[Moon Knight]

"There has been too much violence. Too much pain. But I have an honorable compromise. Just walk away. Give me your pump, the oil, the gasoline, and the whole compound, and I'll spare your lives. Just walk away and we'll give you a safe passageway in the wastelands. Just walk away and there will be an end to the horror."

[Neil]

Little confused about the Wolves? So are they suppose to be a huge group, or are they just the two guys we saw? And why are they bothering to nick peoples stuff when they seem to have a whole food depot to hand?

[MinionZombie]

Little confused about the Wolves? So are they suppose to be a huge group, or are they just the two guys we saw? And why are they bothering to nick peoples stuff when they seem to have a whole food depot to hand? I'd imagine there's more of them - "Wolves Not Far" - so those two guys aren't it, they're just members of a larger group I'd say. We don't know what's in the depot, we never got that far, and I don't think it's their base of operations either - it seems more like a way to lure people in for nefarious reasons, hence the elaborate trap.

[Neil]

I'd imagine there's more of them - "Wolves Not Far" - so those two guys aren't it, they're just members of a larger group I'd say. We don't know what's in the depot, we never got that far, and I don't think it's their base of operations either - it seems more like a way to lure people in for nefarious reasons, hence the elaborate trap. ...and we have no idea why they are collecting/killing people either. ie: All the limbs/torsoes! Grrrr... Damn this show!

[Moon Knight]

I'm assuming they only showed 2 guys because they didn't cast anyone else and felt they didn't need to for this season. The opening scene reminded me of a Tarantino flick. The wide shot of the villain walking up to Morgan with gun drawn before calmly taking a seat and having a conversation. Not to mention MZ's theory that they already had killed Morgan in the prior episode so I was scared as shit haha. Great scene. That was an obvious swerve to make everyone even more nervous about that scene. The writers knocked it out the park this season.

[UndeadHippo]

couple of extra points: The Wolves held Morgan up with an empty gun and attempted the Velociraptor gambit (one obvious threat holds your attention while the real killer sneaks around behind you). These "wolves" may be more like Hyenas, actually quite weak and reduced to scavenging to stay alive... they obviously have sharp wits as the trailer trap (and the reset) are genius. Symbolism: MoonKnight already pointed out the red riding hood parallel, but what about Sasha laying down in the grave with the walkers, down among the dead men? Sasha feels dead inside after losing Tyreese and Bob which leeds her to seek the guidance of a higher power in the form of Gabriel. Unfortunately, Gabriel has his own issues. He approaches the walker, arms outstretched, expecting to die. but when confronted with the reality of his own mortality, he fights. we all know just how messy most characters get from killing walkers, and yet Gabriels' white shirt remains clean. does this symbolize his conscience or soul also remaining clean? His coming to terms with the fact that walkers are not the people they once were, and that violence is sometimes necessary to survive? He was obviously shaken by the encounter, but may have had an awakening of sorts, exactly the type the Alexandrians need. it's a tad ironic that Gabriels' own moment of zombie-apocalypse-clarity may have lead directly to the scene at the meeting....