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'The Walking Dead' Season 9, Episode 15 "The Calm Before": [SPOILERS] Victims of "Red Trade Fair"

So now that the penultimate episode of long-running AMC series The Walking Dead's ninth season "The Calm Before" has wrapped… wow!

It's been there since the very beginning of this season: against the backdrop of the ever-escalating war between the communities and Alpha's (Samatha Morton) Whisperers we've had the approaching Trade Fair. Hosted by Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Carol (Melissa McBride), and the Kingdom, the Trade Fair was meant to be a last-ditch effort to bring the communities together and working as one – and that means ratifying the constitution Michonne (Danai Gurira) was working on before Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) "death."

And although "Scars" was an intense episode filled with some shocking, heartbreaking backstory of what went down with Michonne and Daryl (Norman Reedus) that resulted in the "X" scars, the ending looked promising. In the show's present, Michone and Judith (Cailey Fleming) end up escorting Daryl, Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Henry (Matt Lintz), and Lydia (Cassady McClincy) to the Kingdom.

One problem? Two Whisperers were watching  – and as our heroes make their way to the Kingdom for this week's episode "The Calm Before," they're going to learn firsthand that Alpha and the Whisperers are the worst kind of "party crashers"…

The Walking Dead s09e15 "The Calm Before": The fair at the Kingdom is underway, with all four communities coming together in celebration for the first time in years; while some pacts are renewed, other deals will come at a much steeper price. Directed by Millicent Shelton, and written by Corey Reed and Vivian Tse.

Let's cut right to the chase, because this was a rough episode re: spoilers:

● 1) Ozzy (Highwayman leader) 2) Alek (Ozzy's rand-hand man) 3) DJ (ex-Savior working with the communities now) 4) Frankie (Negan's former wife) 5) Tammy Rose (Earl's wife) 6) Addy (one of Henry's teen friends) 7) Rodney (another teen friendly with Henry) 8) Enid 9) Tara 10) Henry = Whisperers' spike victims as a warning/demarcation line between the communities and the Whisperers.

● Siddiq's dealings in what went down are now suspect… as he preaches unity over memories of the fallen.

The second half of "The Walking Dead" Season 9 finds our groups of survivors, both old and new, continuing to deal with the impact of events that took place during the six years that have passed. Since the disappearance of Rick, many of these characters have become strangers to each other, and in some ways, strangers to themselves.

What they do know is that they are in undeniable danger. They will soon realize the world just beyond does not operate as they thought. The group's rules and ways of survival no longer guarantee their safety. A whole new threat has crossed their paths, and they soon discover it's unlike any threat they have encountered or endured before. The group will start to question what they think they see. What may appear to be normal in this post-apocalyptic world could actually be more disturbing and terrifying than when the apocalypse first broke out. All that is certain is the stakes are high and numerous.

Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics, "The Walking Dead" tells the story of the months and years after a zombie apocalypse and follows a group of survivors who travel in search of a safe and secure home. The series is executive produced by chief content officer Scott M. Gimple, showrunner Angela Kang, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Dave Alpert, Greg Nicotero, Tom Luse and Denise Huth.

AMC's The Walking Dead season 9 finale "The Storm" airs Sunday night, March 31, at 9 p.m. ET.

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