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The Walking Dead: Will the Governor Take the Prison?

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, as well as the comics the AMC series is based on. Read at your own risk.] Sometimes it sucks to be right. On Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, one of our worst fears come true: Maggie (Lauren Cohan) became the new...

Natalie Abrams
Natalie Abrams

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, as well as the comics the AMC series is based on. Read at your own risk.]

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

On Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead, one of our worst fears come true: Maggie (Lauren Cohan) became the new Michonne (Danai Gurira, who had originally been the target of the Governor's sexual intimidation tactics in the comic books. But with the katana-wielding heroine now at the prison, Maggie took her place within the walls of Woodbury, where the Governor (David Morrissey) forced her to undress and nearly raped her in order to get information on the whereabouts of her fellow survivors back at the prison. (In the comics, the ruthless Governor actually did rape Michonne.)

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In a similar twist-nod to the comics, the Governor threatened to cut off Glenn's (Steven Yeun) hand — something he actually did to Rick in the comics. But Maggie eventually gives up the information after seeing how much worse for wear Glenn is after a severe beating by Merle (Michael Rooker).

The Governor's not-too-gentle treatment of his prisoners is in keeping with how dark the producers intended for this portion of the story to play out this season. "This is a show that I don't think we'd pull any punches," executive producer Glen Mazzara recently told TVGuide.com. "There's a lot of graphic material in the comic book, and we're not shying away from that. This is not the softer version. We are very committed to telling a story in the horror genre. So it's something that we have to figure out how to do that it's satisfying and it doesn't feel gratuitous, but I don't think there's any material that we would say is off the table because it's too explicit."

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Back at the prison, Michonne isn't finding a very hospitable reception, with the group very wary of trusting her. It's certainly a direct result of Andrew's actions that cost the lives of Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), T-Dog (IronE Singleton) and almost Carol (Melissa McBride). But they trust Michonne enough to lead them to Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie.

Unbeknownst to them, though, the Governor has sent a reconnaissance group of his own to the prison, which is barely protected since Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl (Norman Reedus), Oscar (Vincent Ward) and Michonne have already left for Woodbury and are lying in wait maybe 100 feet from where Andrea (Laurie Holden) has settled.

But who will be successful? Will the Governor take the prison before Rick can rescue his people? Will Rick & Co. even stand a chance against the Woodbury crew in a battle for the prison? We can only hope that with Michonne — and possibly the newly cast Tyrese (Chad Coleman) — on their side, they just might be able to hold onto their one save haven.

Do you think Rick and the group can survive the impending onslaught? And are you curious as to why Michonne doesn't realize who she's really with? (Come on, Andrea had to have spent the last eight months talking about these people!) Hit the comments with your thoughts!

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.