The Walking Dead season nine second half: preview with spoilers

At the beginning of the trailer, we see Michonne (Danai Gurira), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand), and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) arrive back with an unknown individual with a blacked out hood over her face. If you have read the comics you probably know it’s going to be Lydia (Cassady McClincy).

This is even more likely as Daryl looks like he has a conversation with her in the built jail cells in Hilltop further into the trailer. There is also a body on the back of a horse being led in by Aaron, this is most likely to be Jesus (Tom Payne) after his death at the graveyard back in the first half of season nine.

For those who haven’t read the comics, Lydia is the daughter of the whisperer’s leader, Alpha (Samantha Morton).

In the trailer, there is a walker ‘standing’ alone in the woods. This could be Alpha, as she looks very similar to the whisperer in the teaser trailer, who is standing in front of armed whisperers with her second in command Beta (Ryan Hurst). Beta is the second word in the phonetic alphabet, which is why we know this information already.

This clip follows up to Luke (Dan Fogler) and Alden (Callan McAuliffe) standing surrounded by what we think are walkers, but are more than likely whisperers. We believe this follow up happens from the lonely walker because escaping through the woods is more than likely the only place to go when they’re surrounded. This marks Alpha’s first ever appearance into the show, outside the trailers.

This we believe will be used as a bargaining chip for Alpha to get Lydia out of the Hilltop, as she walks up to the Hilltop in the comics requesting her daughter back. Knowing this information, and knowing that Alpha is bald in the comics, makes it clearer that the bald individual we see walk up to the Hilltop gates in the trailer, is more than likely her.

There is speculation that the gentleman walking a horse through a crowded area is a whisperer in disguise, dressing in normal clothes to fit in. This does happen in the comics as the whisperers infiltrate the fair that was held, and has been mentioned to be up and coming through the season by a few of the main characters.

From the looks of the trailer, the said fair will be held at the Kingdom, with the banners, tables and canopies – which will more than likely be areas for trade, being set out across the area in the shot.

Carol (Melissa McBride) is seen in the middle of the trailer after a discussion with King Ezekiel (Khary Payton) drawing back her bow and arrow, whether or not this is aimed at a walker, whisperer or just general training, remains to be seen.

Hopefully, the feud between Michonne and the local communities gets brought into the light as Saddiq (Avi Nash) asks Michonne:

“What does it mean for Alexandria to survive if The Kingdom falls?”

To Michonne’s brutal reply:

“It means Alexandria survives.”

It is unclear what brought on this feud or why it even happened but hopefully, it will be resolved or made clear by the halfway point of this season.

We once again see a confrontation between two big characters in The Walking Dead world since Rick and Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in season eight. Daryl and Beta go head to head in what looks like a bedsheet-making building prior to the apocalypse. However, will this end up with one of them dying? Probably not.

Finally, we see the escaped convict Negan make his way home after walking out of an unlocked cell door back in Alexandria. He makes it back to The Sanctuary with his beloved Lucille –  which apparently, was left on the field where Rick cut Negans throat in season 8’s finale. He must have had a good walk to get her back, in addition to getting himself some new clothes.

By the look of it, The Sanctuary seemed to be deserted over the six-year time jump since Rick’s departure but considering the camera angle is aimed upwards away from ground level, we could be wrong.

The question is though when they realise that Negan has escaped his unlocked cell, will the Sanctuary be the first place they look? We will have to wait and see when it aires February, 11 in the U.K.