#team fence

Hate: Just because she’s back, doesn’t mean the anti-hate for Beth is going to end. In fact, it’s going to be triple because people will say “oh she’s only back because of your all’s stupid petition” and “this is just fan pandering” and many similar things. It will still be seen as a joke. Ratings are definitely going to roller-coaster.

How: The explanation for how Beth is alive is going to need to be solid. Yes, I’m aware TD has a lot of theories for it. But the theories mean nothing. It’s what the show brings that’s important. It’s the way Gimple and Kang explains it all. And they’re going to need to show something GOOD and BELIEVABLE for a lot of people. Even the casual fan is going to question HOW this all went down. And I myself want this to be seriously explained. Prove It, you two. Show it all.

Shipping: The shipping wars are going to be far from over. IF Beth comes back, that means the C_@ryl / B_ethyl war is going to be at full blast. Not to mention the heavy C_@rzekiels fans are gonna have something to say... So things can and will get messy and that hate I was talking about? It’s gonna be thick as soup. Because yeah even with Carol apparently going to marry Ezekial, do you really think that’s the end of the war? Nope!

But right now Cyndie is hurt and angry. Her grandmother was killed by Enid. Natania was making choices, killing whoever she could find that encroached the Oceanside territory. Enid didn’t have to kill her, but she did to save herself and Aaron. It was Natania or them. There could’ve been another choice, sure. But a choice was made. And it hurt Cyndie. That was her family, no matter if she was in the right or wrong. And Cyndie made a choice to not kill Enid and Aaron and let them go... Just like she did with Tara.

Right now, the only person that Cyndie has a decent connection to is Tara. Aaron is trying to connect to them and make a connection. But Aaron might not be able to alone. These women are wary of men. Aaron may be gay, but he’s still a male and that trust is going to be hard for Cyndie to reach for. Especially with Aaron being with Enid when Natania died.

So here’s what’s possible. Aaron may return to the fray and need help with things. Or Tara decides to go for help. Oceanside had people willing to fight and Cyndie has a relationship of some trust with Tara already. Tara is the one who can truly bridge Oceanside and TFs group together for the final fight. aron might be the one to bring them all to the battle, but Tara is the one who can close the bridge. Thus why I personally feel like she’s still got a story to work through.

Now I could be wrong and Tara is approaching death. It won’t be from Dwight’s arrow - again, don’t believe he poisoned his arrows and he shot her to save her from Simon - and this is going to be important for Simon and Tara. And also for Daryl.

See Tara’s story still connects to Daryl. Tara and Daryl and Dwight and Rosita have the strongest connection. I keep seeing people say that Tara is too forgiving of Dwight, but Tara’s not. She hasn’t forgive Dwight for killing Denise. She will always have hate in her heart for him and what he did to Denise... But she saw him as she saw herself.

The argument between Daryl and Tara in 8x13 was interesting because it was a full circle connection for Tara... And it also brought up something weird

Daryl: Hey... You shouldn't be out here. Tara: Oh it's just.. It's just a scratch. I can help. Daryl: What if it wasn’t? Tara: Then it'd be my own damn fault. He’s back with them because of me. Daryl: No, he’s back with them because that’s who he is. Tara: We got lucky. Finding Maggie, Rick. It could have been different. It was for me, when I was with the Governor. Daryl: Yeah, but you weren’t one of them. Tara: But I was with them. Your brother too. Daryl: My brother? My brother ran the wrong way his whole life. If he were here, if I’d stuck with him when he left, we’d be with the Saviors too. Or some other group just like them. But I’d have figured out who they were, just like you did. Tara: Maybe that’s what happened to Dwight. Daryl: Is that before or after he killed your girl? Or is that all square now? Tara: It is. Look, I might hate him forever, but he saved my life. Daryl: No, he tried to kill you last night. Tara: When we were in the woods, when we were coming here, I saw him try and help us win. Daryl: Yeah, I saw what I saw too. 

In the argument, Tara brings up Merle. This was both delightful to me because I love Merle... But it makes no sense. Why? Because Tara never met Merle. Tara met the Governor after Merle was killed, after the Governor lost the to Rick and Woodbury fell. How would she know about Merle? Unless Daryl or someone has explained everyone's history to her... Even so, she didn’t know Merle and wouldn’t have known him from cow shit vs horse shit.

Even Daryl seems a bit surprised by Tara mentioning Merle. He’s actually kind of defensive and against using Merle in the topic because to him, Merle was always on a path that’d get himself in trouble or killed. Because that’s who Merle was... But that’s wrong in a sense.

Merle fucking KNEW how the Governor was. He knew how Philip played. It’s why he lied about killing Michonne. It’s why he was so amped up to kill the guy. He knew that the Governor was bad news a long time ago. He was sticking around because he owed Philip and he needed the man to get the resources to find Daryl again. To see of his brother was still alive. Merle made reckless and cruel choices under the Governor, but you can see he wasn’t necessarily okay with them. He did what he had to because he believed that was how he found Daryl. Merle was an enigma. He even said so himself that he didn’t understand the thigs he did. Just that he did them. But even so, 90% of the time - ten percent being when Merle was high on the roof and when he didn’t know TF was still alive - Merle did what he did to be with Daryl and find him. Would Merle have ended up with someone like Negan? To save his and Daryl’s ass, probably yes. He would’ve done what he needed to keep him and Daryl alive. Merle wasn’t dumb. He was a cold survivor. To have Daryl brush Merle off like he’d just go with the next big bad guy... That doesn’t sit right with me at all. Pretty sure Michael Rooker would agree with me as well. For the most part anyway.

(Sorry, got on a rant here)

So using Merle and writing him off like that doesn’t work... And Daryl acting like he’d have just left is wrong too. S1 Daryl was still the Daryl that went around and did whatever Merle said. Merle was going to have him and Daryl rob the camp near Atlanta and then split. If that had gone through, Daryl would still be following Merle and probably end up dead or yes, sticking to a group like the Saviors and backing Merle up. They both would’ve probably wised up real quick, but they’d still be doing what they needed to stay alive and get out.

By S3, yes. Daryl leaving off with Merle and finding a group like the Saviors.. He would’ve wised up to them quick. Even S1 Daryl would’ve. But because Rick took a chance on Daryl in S1 and S2, by S3 Daryl had been allowed to grow out of Merle’s shadow so that kept him from making a choice that lead him and Merle to someone like Negan.

Tara was a different story. She was hauled up in an apartment with her sister and niece and father. the Governor saved her from her father after he turned into a walker. She had no clue about his past, who he was and what he’d done. He was just the guy who saved her. That he was a guy who wanted to help them find a better, safer place. Especially since Tara didn’t really know how to stop walkers until the Governor told her how. She was even one of the first to agree with the Governor to take the Prison from TF. But things weren’t like she was expecting them to be and Rick SAW that. It was Rick who turned to Tara and tried to reason with her. To have her help reason with the Governor. When shit hit the fan, Tara ran away and hid because once she saw the Governor kill Hershel, she realized that she wasn’t where she should be - that she was wrong - and made a run for it.

Tara mentions to Daryl that maybe that’s what happened to Dwight. Daryl sayibg he would’ve wised up and left the bad people he might’ve ended up with, is what Tara did and she believes that is what Dwight did. Which is kind of right. Except Tara didn’t kill people. But she was there and didn’t stop people from getting killed. So in a way, yes. Her and Dwight are similar in that they got blood on them. Dwight killed because he believed that was what he had to do to keep going on and be safe and alive for Sherry. Sherry chose Negan to protect herself and to protect Dwight. When they came back, she went back to Negan so Dwight wouldn’t be killed. He was maimed but he was alive. Negan took a lot from Dwight and it took Daryl and Sherry leaving to really make Dwight realize just truly how much he wanted Negan dead. He even says to Simon that, yeah, he thought about killing Negan. But he was surviving. Sherry was too. But Sherry had enough and ran. Because Dwight was surviving to a point he was no longer the man she loved. That pushed Dwight. Her saving Daryl. Meeting Daryl... That all changed Dwight. Or at least snapped him back to who he was meant to be; a better man.

. Daryl can’t see that though. Some people say that Daryl wants to kill Dwight because of what he did to Denise... But there’s more to it than that. Before Daryl even came across Dwight, he was having nothing but shit luck on saving people. He was still trying to be a good person like Aaron said he was. Like Beth and everyone knew he could be and he was. But then Daryl couldn’t save Button the horse, he was already hurt from loosing Beth and Tyreese and Noah, and then he tries to help Dwight and Tina and Sherry and they knock him out and tie him up and take his stuff from him while holding a gun to his head. That was enough for Daryl. Dwight and them get away, sans Tina, and Daryl is left angered that he went back to help these people with Tina’s insulin and they still fuck him over. Flash forward, he meets Jesus and Hilltop and he goes with Rick on killing a whole damn community in their sleep because, to him, there aren’t good people anymore and fuck everyone. So he helps kill this community. Jump forward, he takes Denise out with Rosita to help her get the medicine... But also because Denise WANTED Daryl and Rosita because - as she says - he reminds her of her brother and makes her feel safe. Right after she says that and chews him out, she gets shot WITH HIS OWN FUCKING CROSSBOW by Dwight, who he TRIED TO HELP AND FUCKED HIM OVER. Daryl’s anger over Dwight fucking him over and getting one of the few good people he believes exists killed sets Daryl off and he goes off on his own in anger to find Dwight and kill the bastard. But that gets Glenn out there with Michonne and Rosita. They can’t bring him back and Rosita and Daryl get captured with Glenn and Michonne. Then TF gets lined up and whose with the Saviors and WHO shot him? Dwight again. Dwight was a big reason that Negan knew about Daryl and his group. He was a part of the reason that Abe gets killed and while I don’t believe he was the main reason Negan killed Glenn - because Negan was WAY to happy to kill again, he just needed someone to pop off and thought it might be Rosita - and now another good person and HIS DEAR BEST FRIEND is bludgeoned to death like a rat before him and Daryl is swallowed in guilt. He’s scooped up by Negan and he’s tortured by the saviors AND Dwight. Dwight is the one who sleep deprives Daryl, shoves dog food at him, gets him beat up, and pushes him around like a dog. Daryl admits to Dwight that he gets why he did what he did, but that doesn’t square away everything that Dwight has done to him and his people.

So Daryl’s anger for Dwight - all lined up - makes sense and him not being able to see good people and being ready to just fucking murder all the saviors without care... It makes sense. And for awhile he had an ally with Rosita and Tara. But after loosing Sasha, Rosita started to see that her rage and anger were gonna get her killed. She wanted Dwight and Negan dead. But she wasn’t gonna run off to get herself killed or get others killed. Tara and Daryl were still ready for blood. Dwight’s blood... But Dwight had hos own journey and wanted to help take Negan down. Daryl knew that too or he wouldn’t have sent the letter to Dwight with the “Tomorrow” on it. Daryl keeping Dwight alive shows restraint on his mind set. But right now wasn’t the time to murder Dwight. The man was still gonna die but other pressing matters were on his mind... But Tara wasn’t there. She wants the man dead and Dwight knows that... But he still saves her. He was ready to sacrifice himself. But nobody had known about his betrayal to Negan so he now had a way back into the Saviors. He could save Tara, lead them away from TF and get back to help them while being on the enemy line. A line he knew well. And Tara saw all this. Dwight told her he wanted Negan dead and he showed her he was on their side by jmping out, ready to die.

But Daryl can’t see that. Dwight is only looking out for himself. All he does is get people killed because he’s bad and he deserves to die. It’s why he brings up Denise to Tara. To him, those that take from him - take his good people - deserve to die. We saw this with Dawn at Grady. Dawn “shot” - no she didn’t, it was someone else but sure let everyone believe it was Dawn - Beth down and Daryl - point blank - shot her down because one of his own - someone he loved whether in a romantic way or a friend - was just taken and shot down before him so he took care of who he saw got her killed. Daryl cared about Denise, he liked her, he was growing a true friendship with her and she believed in him protecting her... And Dwight killed her with his own weapon. That’s really heartbreaking for Daryl but it’s also a fuel to that rage of his. If Daryl loves you, he loves you forever. He loved Denise in a way just as he loved Abe in a way and loved Glenn in a way. Dwight helped get them killed so Dwight deserves to die. That’s how Daryl is right now. The Saviors get his good people killed, gets the ones he loves killed. They deserve to die. So he can’t see how Tara sees things... Because Tara is seeing herself in Dwight, seeing their similarities. Daryl probably feels betrayed about Tara seeming to be so easy to “square away” things with Dwight on what he’s taken from Tara. To him, that doesn’t resonate because Daryl is too angry. There’s Them and Us in Daryl’s book and Tara defending Dwight as an Us makes no sense.

So now Tara and Daryl are on different sides of one road.They’re both on the road to fight the Saviors. But Tara isn’t in the mindset to murder everyone. She’s ready to see a future. She doesn’t know what that future is yet, but she’s going to be able to see one where she’ll never forgive Dwight, but she believes he’s trying to help and is on their side. Daryl is on the rage and death side of the road against the Saviors. He’s with Rick. There is no future. Just death and destruction.

With Tara now being open eyed, her story can now move on to a future and helping lead to a true win for TF. That’s why I believe she is still a key player in this war. She is still a key to helping bring in Oceanside. I truly feel that... I could be wrong. I’ll accept that. But right now, Tara isn’t over yet. She’s gonna live and she’s gonna help the future. Her meeting Oceanside was leading to this. In the comic, Siddiq is the one who discovers Oceanside and the one who tells Rick about the community. Now Tara has taken this role and Siddiq is present to take over as medical help. In the comic, the Oceanside pretty much stay to themselves the whole time. I don’t believe this will be the same here. The Saviors took a lot from the women of Oceanside and now they have a chance to make them pay for that... But they need someone to help pull them in. Aaron and Tara can be that.

So no. Tara isn’t gonna die. I feel that much... I’ve been wrong before on characters, but I’m really hoping that ain’t the case now.

Overall I liked this episode. But this scene has been eating at me with Tara mentioning Merle and then Daryl not seeing Tara’s side and also because of everyone talking about how Tara is gonna die and people hating on her... I had a lot of thoughts to share.

Also, someone fucking slap Henry. Damn kid... Fuck.

Recently, @twdmusicboxmystery made a post about the magazines seen at the end of S5E8 [Coda]. In that Meta, they talked about a specific magazine that was seen by Morgan as he came across the school that Father Gabriel had stirred the walkers from. The same walkers that he lead to the church and almost got everyone freaking killed over but also the same church that Morgan finds the map in that has Rick's name on it.

That magazine was this thing

Kinda hard to make out, right? Well @frangipanilove found a clearer image of it.

Okay, awesome. In the past I did a HUGE and obnoxious Meta on the magazines that Skybound had posted. Here.

I was kind of fascinated by some of the things that musicboxmystery talked about in their META. Keep in mind, they lean more on connecting pretty much everything to Beth (I myself do not). This is more of a simple observatory thought I had after reading the META.

First off, I'm gonna focus on the giant red box that was placed on the image for me. The word “Palendrome” is supposed to be the word “Palindrome”. It's been spelled wrong. If you try to look up the word as it's spelled above, the real spelling for the word – I instead of an E – constantly comes up and a suggested word search is given. So there's been a spelling error.

What is a palindrome? A palindrome is “a word, phrase, or sequence that reads the same backward as forward.” Examples: madam, nurses run, race car, Dammit, I'm mad, mom, dad.... Bob or Hannah. The word palindrome comes from the Greek word “palin” which means “again” and the Greek word “dramein” (or drom / dromos) which means “to run”. Together they become “palindromos” which means “running back again”.

So while the word is meant to describe words that can be played backwards and forward, it can also be related to the saying “running back again” or “going back again” or “to return to the beginning”. Because a palindrome can return to it's beginning. The word starts where it ends. Hannah will be the same if you flip it backwards or read it backwards in a mirror.

So what is the palindrome of Hannah Fairlight? Why use that word to describe Hanna? (Besides her name being backwards, there's no sense to the stitle then). Well I tried to do some digging into Ms Fairlight to get a feel about who she is and why this particular word was used for her. The title states “The Palendrome of Hannah Fairlight : Turning Heartbreak into Gold”.

I couldn't find anything that would explain why they would sentence it like that... Buuuut I did find something else kinda fun.

Hannah is from the midwest and she has a few EP's out, she's had a few roles in television, and she's currently known for being in Pitch Perfect 3 as one of the Veracity members. Coda was released in 2014. Filming for S5 began in 2014... There's no record of Hannah doing ANYTHING in 2014. In 2013 she was doing sound work for Double Divas, Love & Hip Hop, Jersey String, and Say Yes to the Dress. She's listed for the music department of the series The Adventures of Ben & Sarah in 2014. Otherwise... She hasn't had anything “big” until 2017 with Pitch Perfect 3... So why use Hannah in the magazine?

Because she does bare some similarities to Emily Kinney's career. Both are self promoted musicians, both are from the Midwest (EK in Nebraska and Hannah is from Tennessee), and both have a very unique type of voice. Also, I think because Hannah's Album “Creatures of Habit” was also being released in March of 2014. The album includes a variety of love songs. Sad love songs. Emily also has a habit of posting love songs. Hers sometimes are more lovesick and sugary. But she has the occasional naughty undertone or angry love or love is a battle feel to them. Like “Mermaid Song”; it's a broken heart song.... But in 2015 Hannah was releasing an album called “Bright Future”; which is music about things will get better. This Is War from EK was about love but also fighting to keep together or accepting the fall or just angry love. Hanna went from sad love to things can go on and get better. So both have shown that they use what relates to them or use heavy inspirations of life to express their music. Finally, both are under-appreciated in their music because Hannah has some pretty great songs from what I've listened to and EK deserves. If I knew more about Hanna, I bet I could find more similarities between her and EK.

So we have a self-promoted musician from the midwest singing about lost love and sad love being shown on a magazine in an after scene of an episode where a character who sings and was lost to loved ones after being shot... My head is VERY tilted to the side like “HMMMMMMM” because even I – who really doesn't like to get into relating everything to Beth and Emily – can not help but notice the simple but glaring similarities there.

While I'm still perplexed about using palindrome to describe Hannah... If they're using Hannah as a sort of representation to EK/Beth, then using that word could mean that the beginning is the end. Morgan said everything comes around; karma / life works in circles. What you do onto others will come back onto you. So if everything comes around... How does Beth come back to the beginning? Well that could mean a lot of things. It could mean we go back to the beginning of where this whole mess began for Beth; Grady. We might be able to go back to the prison or the farm, but there really isn't much left for anything there besides maybe triggering memories. The whole thing of “we can't go back” started with Terminus, so we could go back to what remains of Terminus, though Carol and everyone kinda left that place to burn to the ground... Or perhaps just going back to Gerogia in general is what could happen. Georgia is where everything is; the farm, the prison, burnt remains of Woodbury, burnt up Terminus, and Grady... There's all kinds of things left behind in Georgia and that's where a lot of these characters stories began; Rick, Morgan, Michonne, Carol, Daryl, and Tara all started in Georgia. Maybe it means to turn back to what happened in Georgia; what made them change and what changed. Who they lost and what they lost.

I'm wondering if this magazine cover is meant for Morgan. He's the one that stumbled upon it. He's the one who Eastman gave the door analogy to. Morgan's the one who wrote the infamous wall of CLEAR. Morgan may be the one who needs to go back to the beginning to reach the end. Or it could be about Beth because of the similarities we see in her and Hannah... Or it could be both and they're connected in a way that we the audience have yet to see. Hell maybe they don't realize they're connected yet... It's possible.