"This Sorrowful Life" is the eighth episode and mid-season finale of the third season of The Walking Dead Survive: The Grimes Journey. It is the twenty-sixth episode overall. It premiered on May 20, 2018.
Plot[]
A burly survivor, Tyreese Williams, his younger siblings Sasha, and Noah, and their fellow survivors Ben, Billy, Allen, and Donna, fight their way through a walker herd in the forest. Donna gets bitten, but Tyreese has enough compassion to bring her along until her husband Allen and sons Ben and Billy are psychologically ready to let her go. The group seeks refuge in a crumbling building that is revealed to be the back side of the prison.
Martinez tells Rick that they are escaping. Rick ignores him, and tells him to let go of him. Martinez says they have to hurry before any of The Governor's henchmen discover they are gone. Rick asks what they are going to do about the guards outside his room. Martinez reveals that "we" took care of the guards. Rick asks what Martinez means by "we". Martinez has released Glenn and Maggie from their cell, and they are happy to see Rick.
Glenn thought that Rick was dead. Rick says he thought they released Glenn and Maggie and were following them to the prison. Glenn says that he didn't tell them anything and he wasn't even questioned. To keep Maggie safe, Glenn says that he would have never said anything. However, he might have after hearing Michonne's screaming and suffering at the hands of the Governor. Martinez says the Governor has been acting strangely for a while and didn't know that the Governor was keeping any prisoners. Suddenly, Rick remembers the riot suit and prison uniform that he was wearing when they were captured and that the Governor might infer that they live in a prison. The three of them then make for their escape.
At Woodbury's perimeter, Daryl Dixon and the rescue team deliberate their next move. The Governor is angry that Michonne killed Eugene, and that he will have to find new biters and arena fighters. Bruce and Gabe are about to open the door, when suddenly the Governor stops and says that he wants to sleep on it first.
Alice catches up to Rick and others and tells them that she and Stevens would like to come with them. Rick would love to have them and they are going to find Michonne's cell. They find it, thanks to Glenn, and Martinez goes to take care of Gabe. Glenn introduces himself to Alice. Martinez goes around the corner, and talks to Gabe, then knocks him out when his guard is down. Martinez yells that it's clear, and they open Michonne's cell. Michonne is tied up and mistakes Rick for the Governor and spits on him. She then recognizes what's happening and they untie her. Rick asks if she needs help, but, she says that she is okay. Around the corner, someone is approaching. Martinez is ready to knock him out, but, it turns out to be Stevens. The group wants him to come with them. After thinking about it he agrees, but, he needs some supplies.
They run through Woodbury trying to avoid people when Marianne approaches. She wants Stevens to stop and look at her son, who is feeling ill and has a fever. Stevens tells her to bring him by his office later in the day. Alice asks him about Williams' boy, but, Stevens says he can't think about him, and they have to continue their escape. Martinez tells a fence guard he will take over the shift and that he can have a day off. Michonne informs them she isn't coming yet. She says she has to pay the Governor a visit. Alice tells her where he lives and Michonne says she will catch up if she can. She leaves, and so do the others. Martinez helps everyone over the wall and Stevens says he's relieved to be out of Woodbury. Suddenly, a lurker comes from behind him and bites him on the neck. Alice screams, grabs the gun from Martinez, and shoots the roamer. Alice cries, but, Stevens tells her not to. He says he's evolving to a worse life form. He also says that they have to continue escaping and she needs to take the supplies to help Rick and his people. All are upset, but, Martinez says they have to continue.
The Governor tells Merle Dixon about his plan to wipe out Rick's group and let walkers repopulate the prison. He suggests Merle enlist Daryl as their inside man. "Nothing happens to Daryl," Merle clarifies. "Of course not," the Governor reassures Merle, ordering him to bring Glenn and Maggie to the "screamer pits" before Andrea finds out about them.
Back at the prison, Axel flirts with Beth Greene, and Carol warns Axel to stay away from her. "Maggie's with Glenn, and you're a lesbian," he replies, noting the lack of available women. Carol clarifies that she's not a lesbian, then leaves when Axel gets flirtatious.
Meanwhile, Merle goes to collect Glenn and Maggie but the two are already gone.
Daryl and the rescue team follow the sound of gunfire into the warehouse where Glenn and Maggie were being held. Daryl releases a smoke grenade, enabling the group to escape. As gunfire erupts in the street, the Governor tells residents to hunker down at home. He tells his men "We are under attack, don't take any chances trying to take prisoners. You shoot to kill."
The rescue team regroups in Woodbury's distribution center, where they are reunited with Rick, Glenn, Maggie and Alice. Glenn tells Daryl that Merle is alive and working for the Governor. "He was gonna execute us," Glenn says. Daryl wants to find Merle to try and convince him to let them go, but Rick insists that he stay by his side.
The Governor confers with his men and tells Andrea to check in on the residents. She wants to fight, but he ignores her request.
The rescue team makes a run for the wall. Andrea, disobeying the Governor, shoots at them, not knowing who they are. She tells the Governor she spotted a man in a prison jumpsuit. "Black guy, young" she says. "Escaped convicts," he tells her.
As they escape, Rick hallucinates Shane Walsh emerging from a cloud of smoke. Momentarily stunned, he watches as "Shane" shoots Oscar dead. Rick guns him down, only to realize that it wasn't Shane, but in fact a Woodbury resident. After yelling to an unresponsive Rick, Maggie shoots Oscar in the head to prevent reanimation. The group climbs over the wall and hides in the bushes to plan their next course of action, although Daryl and Michonne are still missing from the group.
At the prison, Carl Grimes and Hershel Greene hear screaming coming from the tombs. Hershel attempts to stop Carl from investigating the noise, but decides to let him go. Carl investigates and finds Tyreese's group fighting walkers in the boiler room. He urges them to follow him.
The Governor is feeding Penny someone's foot. A loud, pounding knock comes from his door. Suddenly, Michonne bursts in and the Governor exclaims, "...This should be interesting." Michonne and The Governor are about to fight. They both are thinking the same thing: grab Michonne's katana on the floor. The Governor almost gets it, but, Michonne kicks him back and grabs her katana. She kicks him again, in the groin this time, and The Governor throws up. While he's on the ground, Michonne is about to cut his head off, but, she states that doesn't want it to be over so quickly. The Governor knocks her over. Michonne bites The Governor's neck and knocks him on the head with her katana until he passes out.
Michonne tells The Governor to wake up. He wakes and she tells him that she has nailed his penis to the wooden board which had caused him to pass out the second time. She wonders about his zombified daughter and why's he keeping it alive. She wonders if she's his "sex slave" and decides she'd rather not know. She introduces some weapons: a blowtorch, a hammer (she says that she already used that on him a little bit, meaning when she nailed his penis to the board), a spoon, and a drill. She says she's going to use every single one of the items on him before he dies. She says that she'll start with the drill. She drills a hole in his shoulder. The Governor's mouth is covered, so his screams are muffled. She proceeds to cover the drill hole with bandages. He's about to black out, but, Michonne slaps him in the face to prevent that. Then, she says he's going to love this. Michonne pulls his fingernails off with pliers. She says that his hand is ruined and cuts it off with her katana up to the elbow, which is followed by her cauterizing the wound with the blowtorch, causing him to black out. While he's out, Michonne takes the spoon and shoves it inside his anus. When he comes to, she's struggling to pull it out, but, succeeds. She kicks him in the face and mentions that something may have "ripped" (meaning his penis, which we know WAS nailed to the board he was on). She then proceeds to dig his eye out with the very same spoon. The Governor passes out for the last time.
Michonne starts to cry, and Bruce, Gabe and Jameson are at the door. Michonne has nailed the door shut and Bruce announces that the prisoners, along with Alice and Stevens, are missing. He then announces that they're coming in. Michonne says that whatever is left of The Governor's penis might heal, but, she doesn't want that, so she cuts it off, barely missing a major artery that would have killed him for sure if she had severed it. Bruce, Gabe and Jameson break in, but, Michonne is able to escape. Both of them are shaken by The Governor's state. Gabe asks if he is dead.
The Governor reels as Michonne prepares to finish him off with her katana. But then, Andrea walks in and draws her gun on Michonne. The two face off, but ultimately, Michonne flees.
Meanwhile, Carl leads Tyreese's group into the prison common room and insists that Donna be killed since she was bit in the arm by a walker before entering the prison with the others. "We take care of our own," Tyreese says. Sasha objects when Carl locks them in the room, but Tyreese points out this is the best living situation they've had in weeks.
Back in Woodbury, Gabe places gauze over the Governor's ruined eye. Andrea demands an explanation for his fight with Michonne, the walker heads in the tanks, and Penny. He tells her he forced himself to look at the heads to prepare him for the outside world, but evades her other questions.
Merle checks in on the Governor, asking what happened. "I was attacked," the Governor says, glaring at Merle. Merle's previous lie about killing Michonne is now apparent.
Michonne walks the whole night and finds the crashed helicopter, where Rick, Martinez, Glenn, and Alice had stayed the night. Michonne asks where Stevens is and Rick responds that he didn't make it. Rick asks if The Governor is dead and Michonne says she doesn't know what he's talking about. She wants to continue walking.
In the arena, the Governor addresses the town's citizens, declaring that Woodbury was attacked by Rick's group, whom he calls "terrorists," and accuses Merle of betraying the people of Woodbury. His men drag Daryl into the arena as proof of Merle's complicity. "Kill them!" the crowd chants. Andrea stares at Daryl, stunned.
"You wanted your brother," the Governor tells Merle, "now you got him." The bloodthirsty townspeople cheer as the episode fades to black.
Deaths[]
Credits[]
Co-Stars[]
- Addy Miller as Summer
- Michelle Ang as Charlie Rhee
- Erik Jensen as Stevens
- Tyler Chase as Ben
- Michael Zegen as Billy
- Cherie Dvorak as Donna
- Daniel Thomas May as Allen
- Vincent Ward as Oscar
- Leon Thomas III as Sam Curtis
- Jackson Beals as Denny
- Sebastian Sozzi as Lou
Special Guest Star
- Jon Bernthal as Shane Walsh (Hallucination)
Uncredited[]
- Unknown as Andre Anthony
- Adelaide and Eliza Cornwell as Judith Grimes
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Tyreese Williams.
- First appearance of Sasha Williams.
- First appearance of Noah Williams.
- First appearance of Allen.
- First appearance of Ben.
- First appearance of Billy.
- First appearance of Jameson.
- First appearance of Sam Curtis.
- First (and last) appearance of Donna. (Alive)
- First (and last) appearance of Denny.
- First (and last) appearance of Lou.
- Last appearance of Marianne Williams.
- Last appearance of Stevens.
- Last appearance of Oscar.
- Last appearance of Shane Walsh. (Hallucination)