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The Governor Finally Loses It

The Governor Finally Loses It

The Walking Dead has delivered some amazing moments this season. We’ve seen the rise and fall of Woodbury and the Governor, Rick’s descent into madness and his subsequent recovery, and Andrea’s painfully slow realization of what the Governor truly is: a mad man.

We have lost beloved characters and been introduced to new ones, proving that nobody is safe in the world of Robert Kirkman’s creation. Lori, T-Dog, Axel, Oscar, Merle, and many others all met their untimely ends this season.

AMC’s hit series has been a rollercoaster ride, with all of the plotlines converging into one inevitable outcome: the final showdown between the Prison and Woodbury. And in the season 3 finale, “Welcome to the Tombs,” it finally goes down in spectacular fashion. Additionally, we are treated to the highest death toll of any Walking Dead episode to date, including two major characters. Here’s the breakdown of what happened this week.

Woodbury Attacks!

Fueled by the Governor’s lies, the Woodbury Army loads up an impressive arsenal and heads to the prison to send Team Grimes into oblivion. Rolling in guns blazing, they blow up guard towers with a grenade launcher, cut down the yard walkers with a .50 Caliber machine gun, and basically lay waste to everything in sight. It was all too easy though; they met no resistance from Rick and his crew. The prison was empty, or so it would seem.

After some exploration, the Woodburians enter the tombs of the prison and trigger the trap set by Team Grimes. After a well-timed explosion, walkers are unleashed on the Governor’s confused flock, forcing them to flee the internal structure of the prison. To add insult to injury, upon emerging into the courtyard, they are met with a hail of automatic gunfire from Maggie and Glenn. If they had white flags I am sure they would have waived them, but instead they ran for the trucks and sped away in total and utter defeat.

Carl Is a Stone-Cold Killer

After the Woodbury Army gets their collective butt handed to them at the prison, a lone straggler wanders through the woods to escape the fighting. He stumbles upon Carl, who is protecting the weaker members of their tribe, and is quick to surrender. Carl has different plans, however, and kills the kid in cold blood.

Carl is quickly becoming more like Shane or the Governor in this respect, killing any outsider because they may pose a threat. I’m not saying I disagree with Carl’s actions, but Rick and Herschel sure seem like they do.

The Governor Reveals His True Colors

The Governor has had enough of playing mister nice guy to the Woodburians and finally snaps. After the disaster at the prison, he attempts to rally his troops only to be informed they will not return and fight.

This is apparently the last straw, because he loses the last of his marbles and proceeds to shoot every mutinous citizen of Woodbury, which is just about everyone. In fact, the only survivors of the Woodbury Army (known to the Governor) are Martinez and Shupert, Phillip’s loyal henchmen. Karen also survives by hiding under a dead body and later tells Rick and crew of the massacre.

The Governor Finally Loses It

Andrea Bites the Dust

During the opening sequence, Milton receives the beating of a lifetime from the Governor for his involvement in Andrea’s escape and the burning of the walkers at the walker pit. To atone for his sins, and to prove to Phillip that he is still loyal, the Governor attempts to force Milton to kill Andrea.

Milton, however, has other plans. He turns to take out the Governor instead, but is overwhelmed by Phillip and viscerally gutted by his former friend. Left to die in the room with Andrea, Phillip informs him that he will kill Andrea “one way or another.” Since he couldn’t kill Andrea in cold blood, he is now left to die, turn, and kill Andrea as a biter.

This begins an episode-long struggle for Andrea, as Milton hangs on to life as long as possible to give her a chance to escape. And escape she does, but only with enough time to take Milton out as he bites down on her neck.

Andrea’s story ends when Rick, Daryl, and Michonne arrive at Woodbury with Karen and find her in the torture room. The tearful reunion is short-lived, and Andrea kills herself before she can turn with Michonne at her side.

This Walking Dead season finale was everything it should have been. Multiple major character deaths and the end of the Woodbury/Prison conflict. The writers did a great job of closing a major plotline without tying their hands moving forward. The main antagonist is still in play, doing who-knows-what with his goons.

I think it is safe to say we have not seen the last of the Governor. And with the Woodburians now at the prison, he only has one target to terrorize. Now we just have to wait until October to see what happens next.

By
Joshua Bruce
Contributing Writer
Date: April 1, 2013
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