#but like. asking alden who he's seen that day. watching the interaction. like. what is stopping them

[bookwyrminspiration]

sorry Shannon but I’m like 100% convinced it IS that easy and you’re just making it sound like it isn’t and the Black Swan has some secret trick we can't know to cover what would otherwise be a plot hole, beating us to pointing it out as if that solves it. like literally what could possibly be stopping them here (a few things, but things they could overcome). like i'm positive it's that easy and if they'd actually tried it would've absolutely worked

[twdmusicboxmystery]

11x03: The Talking Dead

Okay, so I’m really late with this post. I didn’t get a chance to watch TTD until yesterday. There really wasn’t any TD smoking guns in it, so this will be short, but I thought it was worth pointing out a few things that they emphasized.

When Chris was first introducing the episode, I noticed that he said there was a “shocking twist” of Carol slaughtering the horse for meat. I thought that was an odd choice of words. Why was that shocking? Carol flat out said she wanted to bring the horses back to use them as meat. Maybe people just didn’t think they’d actually show it in the episode, but it’s not like we haven’t seen animals be torn apart by walkers before.

I thought maybe it was just another way to emphasize the death of the horse. And as you know, I think symbolically horses = Beth.

Then later, they did a pre-taped interview with Ross Marquand, and he said he thought it was interesting that they were so willing to “sacrifice” the horse to keep the rest of the community was alive. He thought it was sweet. (Not the horse’s death but how they take care of their people.)

But it made me think of Father Gabriel’s words in 5x16 about how they “sacrificed one of their own.” We don’t know exactly what he’s referring to there, but we’ve always thought he is referencing something to do with Beth and the missing 17 days from S5.

So, this is all just to say that the horse being sacrificed for the good of the living is yet another way that horse = Beth. And they emphasized this in TTD, as though they wanted us to remember it.

There was a lot of emphasis on Buttons the horse, even aside from what I’ve already said. They mentioned him a bunch of times, which is kind of weird for a horse that only lived for one episode 6 seasons ago. So again, it felt like they really wanted us to take notice.

In talking about the mushrooms Rosita found, Chris asked the guests who they would want to see take the mushrooms. Both Ryan and Callan came up with Eugene. That was suspicious to me. What are the chances they both come up with the exact same character, especially as neither of their characters ever had much interaction with Eugene? It felt like a hint of some kind. Like maybe to suggest Eugene and hallucinations? And we already know that his “Stephanie” is a decoy, so….

They kept emphasizing that they hope Alden can make it out of the situation he’s in. The thing is, based on what we saw in this episode, we really have no reason to think he won’t. Yes, I know the cuts looked bad, and he could still get an infection or something, but when Maggie left him, he was looking pretty okay. So, I don’t know if this is meant to be a hint at his death or, because they keep saying things about him making it out or being okay, a hint that he’ll be just fine.

Callan also said that people thought the shot of Agatha getting bitten in the trailer was him, so everyone assumed he was dying in this episode. That’s definitely true. I had a ton of people ask me, just for confirmation, if he was dying. And it was clear that they pretty much thought he was, but were just checking. Over and over I had to assure them that he doesn’t die. At least, not yet. Hopefully not at all. (I like Alden; he needs to sing more. ;D)

They asked if Alden has ever found peace after losing Enid. Callan essential said Alden has probably tried, but no. There’s just too much turmoil in the world.

That felt like a heavy parallel to Daryl losing Beth.

In the quiz, one of the questions they asked was about Duncan’s, “We were lucky” line. So, an emphasis on the Luck Theory, and a line that Beth directly said to Edwards at Grady. 🍀👀

The sneak peek was that same scene we saw in the trailer where Dog is hurt and whimpered. I find it interesting that they chose that one. Sure, it’s because people want to know if Dog is leaving the show or not. But symbolically, in terms of Dog’s current arc and template, I’m pretty sure that represents Beth getting shot at Grady. I know that’s totally not what most of the fandom are taking from it, but me being ME, I just can’t help but side-eye.

And THEN, right after that, Chris says, “You know, I feel like Dog will be okay.”

LOL. Seriously? If Chris is as in-the-dark as he claims to be, how on earth would he know that? Don’t every try to convince me that Chris isn’t in on what’s going to happen, lol.

In the end, the asked Callan to tease something about Alden, but he didn’t say much.

Remember that Alden is a heavy Beth parallel just now. I don’t expect it to happen in the next episode or even 2 or 3, but eventually, once this arc plays out, Maggie will probably return to the church and find him gone/missing. So I really do think Alden will be okay.

It’s very possible that they might do something like they did with Morales where they bring him back only briefly before killing him. (Let’s hope not, but this is The Walking Dead after all.) But I think we’ll see him alive at least one more time. I’d be very surprised if we didn’t. We’ll probably have to wait at least several weeks (let’s hope not several seasons) before we find out, though.

That’s about it for TTD. Like I said, nothing too groundbreaking. Anyone notice anything I missed?