Season six has come to an end for The Walking Dead. However, things did not go smoothly for Rick Grimes and friends as they finally meet the leader of The Saviors, Negan. After a whole season of Rick Grimes picking off his men, Negan is pretty pissed off, which results in the death of a beloved character.

　　Warning: Major spoilers for "Last Day on Earth," the season six finale of The Walking Dead.

　　

5. Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn are MIA

Last week, a group from Alexandria found themselves under The Saviors' guns after Daryl was shot. During the season finale, many fans were wondering where the characters had been the whole episode.

　　The three fan-favorite characters are all but missing for two-thirds of the episode. Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn are nowhere to be seen. With someone from the cast dying this week, there's quite a bit of tension as it's eventually revealed that The Saviors had Daryl, Michonne, and Glenn held hotage the entire time.

　　

4. Morgan Breaks is Own Rules

Carol's been shot, but she's still on the run, avoiding Morgan as much as possible. She seems fine and mobile, but she comes up against a walker. After taking care of the walker, she meets one of The Saviors, who shoots her in the arm and leg, torturing her for fun. The man is about to finish her off, but Morgan comes in and saves the day, shooting the Savior down. Two men on horses, wearing body armor (most likely members of The Kingdom), come by and help them out. Morgan has been against killing the past couple of seasons, choosing to spare his enemies over ending their lives. Is this a one-time thing, or has his mindset changed?

　　

3. The Saviors have the Numbers

While Rick and company are on the road, trying to get to Hilltop to save Maggie's child, they quickly find out that the "small" group of Saviors they took care of a few weeks back was just the tip of the iceberg. Every place the group goes, they see members of The Saviors, and not just the same members, over and over. They're seeing lots of different faces, which means this group is larger than any group they've ever come up against.

　　

2. The Leader of The Saviors Finally Shows Up

Eugene heads off with the RV while everyone else carries Maggie through the woods. However, they don't get too far before they find a large group of Saviors have them surrounded. The Saviors have already the RV and Eugene, and they make the rest of Rick's group get on their knees and hand over their weapons. Michonne, Daryl, and Glenn are let out of a van.

　　Negan steps out with Lucille, his barb wire-wrapped baseball bat. He tells Rick it wasn't "cool" that the folks of Alexandria killed a bunch of The Saviors. Negan wants Rick's stuff/supplies or he will kill him. That's the longterm deal Negan presents.

　　

1. Someone Meets Lucille

Negan lines everyone up in order to decide who he should kill. This will be a punishment for the all The Saviors Rick's group killed over the course of the season. Negan does "Eeny, Meenie, Miney, Moe" to decide, and he lands on the person he beats to death. However, in true Walking Dead fashion, fans won't figure out who died until next season.

　　Fans of the comic book series know that issue #100 of The Walking Dead marked the first appearance of Negan where he did the same nursery rhyme and viciously beat Glenn to death. Unfortunately, the AMC series decided not to show who actually was killed at the end of the episode turning it into more of a mystery over an extremely emotional moment.

　　Obviously, the biggest part of the season finale is that someone big is going to die, but the show doesn't reveal who it is yet. Prepare for an off-season of theories, articles, and clues to help figure out who actually died. Sadly, the way this played out takes away from the emotional impact the death is supposed to have. It turns the event into a guessing game. It's better to focus in on the fact that The Saviors are an insanely large and well put together group. These aren't people Rick and company can just barrel through. It'll also be hard to be level-headed against The Saviors since one of the members of Alexandria is now dead.

　　All the focus shouldn't be on Negan and The Saviors though, as Morgan and Carol have met what seems to be two members of The Kingdom, who will be a big part of next season's "All-Out War" storyline. On top of that, Morgan broke his "no killing" rule. It seems like both he and Carol, who have both gone through some tremendous changes the past season, are moving forward to live somewhere else.

　　What did you think of the way this episode played out? What worked and didn't work?

　　Mat Elfring on Google+