TWD World Beyond: The Deepest Cut (Episode 1.09)

Sunday's two-part season finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond picks up directly following last week's stunning revelation that Huck (or Jennifer, if you prefer) is actually the daughter of Civic Republic Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth Kublek.

In their encounter, Huck ensures her mother that she's making progress with "the asset" -- meanwhile, Elizabeth reveals the intention behind her actions in the series premiere, having provided Hope and Iris with a map to their father to keep things on course.

A quick cut to present-day illuminates that Huck is intent on preventing the group from reaching their destination -- while the others sleep, her reckless driving renders their vehicle useless, and the group must depart on foot, seeking shelter and materials to patch a faulty tire.

As they move towards safety, Felix recalls interviewing Huck upon her arrival at the Campus Colony -- in this fateful moment, he also met Will Campbell, a "more qualified" interrogator and his future boyfriend.

Unfortunately, Felix's reverie is cut short by an invasion of barbed wire empties -- though the group manages to fend them off, one of the wires (apparently) slices open Felix's ankle, causing significant damage. 

When the group finally reaches their destination, they split into groups to search for supplies -- Iris and Huck scour the upstairs together, and Huck urges Iris to avoid one room specifically, claiming to have found suicide victims within.

Running low on options after a fruitless search, the group decides to ditch their motor transport and complete the journey to New York on foot -- however, Felix's ankle hinders their progress, and a setback forces him to realize that he may have to remain behind.

This dilemma seems to exacerbate the growing tension between Hope and Iris -- Hope continues to display the realistic mindset that viewers have come to expect from her, while Iris cannot fathom leaving Felix behind, expressing her need for "a map to figure [Hope] out".

As Felix struggles with flashbacks of the united departure of his love interest and father figure, viewers must also accept the unfortunate reality that a Season 1 reunion does not seem to be in the cards for this character (hint hint, wink wink).

While the group exchanges tearful goodbyes, it is revealed that barbed wire did not slice open Felix's ankle -- in reality, it was an intentional attack from Huck in her continued efforts to decimate the group.

Suddenly fearful about Huck's true intentions (as I have been since she abandoned the group on a "scouting mission"), Iris questions Hope about Huck's background -- Hope recounts that Huck was in the military, her mother died when she was young, and she was found on a raft to be brought to safety.

This response is inadequate for Iris, who has a "gut feeling" after watching Huck shamelessly agree to leave Felix behind -- Hope believes that these claims are unjust, accusing Iris of looking at her differently since finding out what truly happened on "The Night the Sky Fell".

In nostalgic Lord of the Rings fashion, our Frodo and Gollum now proceed toward Mordor while leaving Sam behind, as Hope asks Huck to depart under the cover of darkness, insisting that Iris won't move on without Felix.

Meanwhile, Elton has embarked on a journey of self-discovery after learning that his late mother was a killer -- though he recently risked his life to save her treasured manuscript, he now brutally destroys it with his bare hands.

During his travels, however, Elton stumbles across Percy, who quickly collapses due to a gunshot wound -- upon dragging his fellow survivor to safety, Elton's internal struggle continues to gnaw at his conscience.

As a horde of empties now approach the teenage boys, Elton argues with an imaginary Percy in his head who urges him to run -- this fictitious Percy agrees that Elton's efforts are noble, but there's no reason for him to sacrifice his life for someone who is dying. (What a thoughtful message from the fictional version of our resident grifter.)

This encounter proves particularly significant for Elton, as the imaginary Percy convinces him that his mother wouldn't have bothered bearing children if she believed the world to soon be extinct -- reinvigorated with the belief that the human race may survive, Elton single-handedly fights off the empties to save Percy's life.

Following the battle, Elton finds a radio in Percy's pocket and connects with Huck, who asks for his current location -- at this moment, the non-imaginary Percy suddenly grabs Elton and exclaims that Huck is the one who shot him and killed Tony.

Radio silence ensues.

As Hope and Huck continue to travel, viewers are made privy to a startling fact -- Hope has decoded a secret message in their map, learning that Huck is en route to New York with "the asset" and [her] "expendable" friends.

When Iris rushes to alert Felix that Hope and Huck have left without them, Felix realizes that his gun is missing -- meanwhile, Hope removes a gun from her pocket and aims it directly at Huck. (Their long-term bond has clearly been severed by Huck's blatant treachery.)

Episode 1.09 transitions into the season finale as a gunshot rings out -- viewers find Will scrambling through the woods, apparently being chased by CRM soldiers.

As a plethora of questions continue to mount, we fade to black.

My season finale blog will be uploaded on Tuesday, December 1.

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