The ultimate Walking Dead recap: catch up on every major moment from seasons 1-11

The Walking Dead recap: season 6

What happens in The Walking Dead season 6?

The Wolves attack Alexandria after an attempt to divert a large group of walkers at a nearby quarry goes wrong under Rick's leadership. The group are eventually defeated, with only one member (Owen) captured.

A flashback episode fills in Morgan's adventures since we last saw him; he's now a pacifist, refusing to kill. Early on in the season, Maggie also reveals she is pregnant with Glenn's child.

The leader of Alexandria, Deanna, is bitten by a walker and dies, while Alexandria is completely overrun by walkers. The undead are eventually beaten back but Carl is shot in the eye by Ron, an Alexandrian trying to escape with his family, after a tussle between he and Rick.

Later in the season after the Wolves have been dispatched, a new group emerge: The Saviors. They continually take Alexandria's supply, which forces the town, now led by Rick, to broker a deal with The Hilltop.

Carol and Maggie are kidnapped by The Saviors but eventually escape, while Alexandria's doctor, Denise, is also killed by prominent member, Dwight.

Carol ends up leaving Alexandria but is pursued by the Saviors – she is eventually rescued by Morgan and taken in by a new community.

Elsewhere, Negan makes his mark. The leader of the Saviors introduces himself by intercepting the survivors en-route to the Hilltop to help a heavily pregnant Maggie. The season ends with Negan killing an unseen member of the group with his barbed wire baseball bat, Lucille.

Moments to remember - our season 6 cheat sheet

• The Wolves invade Alexandria – but are swiftly defeated
• The leader of Alexandria, Deanna, dies
• Maggie reveals she is pregnant
• Rick becomes the new leader of Alexandria
• Carl is shot in the eye
• The Saviors are introduced, robbing much of Alexandria's supplies and capturing various members of the group
• Alexandria forms a pact with the Hilltop
• The leader of the Saviors, Negan, arrives and kills an unknown group member

Who died in The Walking Dead season 6?

• Eastman, Morgan's mentor (killed by walkers)
• Deanna (bitten by walkers)
• Jesse, Sam, and Ron (bitten by walkers)
• Denise (killed by Dwight)
• Unseen person [Abraham] (killed by Negan)

The Walking Dead recap: season 7

What happens in The Walking Dead season 7?

The season 6 cliffhanger is revealed: Negan kills Abraham, as well as Glenn. Daryl is also brought in and held captive by the Saviors. The people who took Carol and Morgan in are also revealed – The Kingdom, led by the eccentric Ezekiel, who keeps a tiger for a pet.

Another group is introduced. After Tara is swept away on a supply run gone wrong, she ends up at Oceanside, an all-female community.

The Saviors continue to make those at the Hilltop and Alexandria live in fear, including killing doctor Olivia, while Daryl eventually escapes from his confinement. At the mid-season finale, Negan takes Eugene and also stabs Spencer, Deanna's son, which eventually drives Rick to bring the fight to the Saviors.

Rick's group joins forces with the Kingdom and also encounters the Scavengers, led by Jadis – a group that has no stake in the oncoming war. Jadis, though, tells Rick to bring her group guns so they can help fight against the Saviors. Negan's right-hand man, Dwight, also wants to take down Negan.

The season culminates in a standoff at Alexandria, with Sasha committing suicide inside a coffin with the aim being to kill Negan, though she fails thanks to the Scavengers aligning with the Saviors. The Hilltop and Kingdom eventually ride to Alexandria's rescue while Negan retreats.

Moments to remember - our season 7 cheat sheet

• Glenn and Abraham are killed by Negan
• Daryl is captured by the Saviors
• Tara arrives at Oceanside
• The Kingdom is introduced – and allies with Alexandria
• Rick meets The Scavengers, led by Jadis
• Sasha kills herself
• The Scavengers betray Alexandria

Who died in The Walking Dead season 7?

• Glenn (killed by Negan)
• Heath (unconfirmed)
• Olivia (shot by Saviors)
• Spencer (stabbed by Negan)
• Richard (killed by Morgan)
• Benjamin (shot by Saviors)
• Sasha (suicide)

The Walking Dead recap: season 8

What happens in The Walking Dead season 8?

Season 8 steps up the conflict between the Saviors and the remaining communities. Sanctuary, the Saviors' home base, is attacked and overrun with walkers early on in the season; the group hit back by massacring several members of the Kingdom and Ezekiel's tiger, Shiva.

In a blast from the past, Morales (from way back in season 1) returns as a member of the Saviors, though he is swiftly dispatched by Daryl. Eugene also works on the side of the Saviors early in season 8, though works at a plan to turn against them.

Maggie’s group encounters Georgie, who makes a quick stop at the Hilltop to promise them plans and “essential knowledge for a new future.”

A new member joins the group: the doctor, Siddiq. He is there while Carl gets bitten by a walker during their journey to Alexandria. Carl later kills himself instead of turning, but not before writing letters to his friends and family, including Negan, reminding them of the good in the world.

Negan, meanwhile, has internal conflict to deal with. His trusted lieutenant, Simon, massacres every Scavenger except Jadis, despite this going against Negan's orders.

Back at the now-reclaimed Sanctuary (and with a blind and sick Gabriel in tow), Negan kills Simon, but Dwight's newfound alliance with Rick is discovered, forcing him to leave for good. This greatly reduces Negan's might, and the final blow comes when The Saviors' attempt to kill Rick blows up in their face – Eugene sabotages their ammo.

Rick finally defeats Negan in a one-on-one fight and slices his neck. He lets Negan live, however, after remembering Carl's parting words of forgiveness.

Moments to remember - our season 8 cheat sheet

• The communities attack the Sanctuary, making it overrun with walkers
• Morales returns – and is killed by Daryl
• Many citizens of the Kingdom (and Ezekiel's tiger, Shiva) are killed by the Saviors
• Carl befriends Siddiq, a doctor
• Eugene helps the Saviors escape the Sanctuary
• The Hilltop befriends Georgie
• Negan retaliates against Alexandria
• Carl is bitten in the aftermath and later dies
• Negan's new lieutenant, Simon, wipes out the Scavengers, though Jadis lives
• Gabriel goes blind in one eye
• Negan kills Simon
• Dwight escapes from the Saviors
• The Saviors' plan to kill the remaining Alexandrians backfires – literally
• Rick defeats Negan, though lets him live as a prisoner in Alexandria

Who died in The Walking Dead season 8?

• Mara (killed by walkers)
• Morales (killed by Daryl)
• Eric (killed by the Saviors)
• Shiva (killed by walkers)
• Carl (suicide after walker bite)
• Scavengers (killed by Simon)
• Dr. Harlan Carson (killed by the Saviors)
• Simon (killed by Negan)

The Walking Dead recap: season 9

What happens in The Walking Dead season 9?

The Walking Dead season 9 follows on from the aftermath of Negan's defeat and concerns the insubordination of both the Saviors and the Hilltop's former leader, Gregory, who bowed to Negan's demands in the past. Gregory is swiftly dealt with – executed by new leader (and now mother to baby Hershel) Maggie after a failed assassination attempt – while some of the Saviors clash with Rick's group and a handful are even taken by the Oceanside, which leads to a full-scale revolt. There are more hopeful developments, however, as Carol and Ezekiel's relationship blossoms.

During the riot, Rick's attempts to re-direct a herd of oncoming walkers leads to him falling off his horse and being seriously wounded. In a last act of sacrifice, he blows up the (then-just finished) bridge to stop the walkers encroaching on any communities. He appears to die in the eyes of Daryl, but is miraculously rescued by Anne (the former Jadis who has been in league with a new group) who takes him away on a helicopter.

After Rick's apparent death, a six-year time jump takes place and, in the interim, Maggie leaves Hilltop to join Georgie’s group. Rick's daughter, Judith, now forms a key part of the outreach project to help survivors in the wild. One such group, Magna, Yumiko, Luke, and Connie, are eventually taken in, despite Michonne's distrust of outsiders, as shown by her scar – one we come to learn was a result of believing the intentions of a woman and a group of children. Michonne had to massacre the children to escape, as shown in a flashback episode.

Finally, the Whisperers enter the picture. Led by Alpha, the group of walker-skinned adversaries kill Jesus. After her daughter, Lydia, is taken in by the Hilltop, Alpha strikes back at the fair, which was originally designed to re-connect the Kingdom, Hilltop, and Alexandria. The Whisperers kill several – including Carol and Ezekiel's adoptive son, Henry, Tara, and Enid – and the Kingdom falls.

The season ends with a mysterious voice being heard over a radio…

Moments to remember - our season 9 cheat sheet

• The Saviors struggle to adapt to life post-Negan
• Maggie gives birth to her son, Hershel
• Gregory is executed after his assassionation plot is foiled
• Rick supposedly 'dies' but is rescued by Anne (Jadis) and taken away on a helicopter
• The communities fall out of contact after a six-year time jump
• The Whisperers are introduced and kill Jesus
• Alpha's daughter, Lydia, is taken in by Hilltop
• The Whisperers kill Henry, Tara, and Enid
• A voice is heard on the radio

Who died in The Walking Dead season 9?

• Gregory (executed on Maggie's orders)
• Jesus (killed by the Whisperers)
• Tara (killed by the Whisperers and head placed on pike)
• Enid (killed by the Whisperers and head placed on pike)
• Henry (killed by the Whisperers and head placed on pike)

The Walking Dead recap: season 10A

What happens in The Walking Dead season 10A?

The season starts with the Whisperers and the survivors keeping away from each other – something that abruptly changes after a Russian satellite comes crashing down to Earth within the Whisperers's boundaries. Alpha takes issue with the survivors heading into her land to extinguish the flames from the crashed satellite, and demands more land from them. The Whisperers also bolster out their ranks with new lieutenant, Gamma.

Ezekiel attempts to commit suicide, but is stopped by Michonne. He later reveals to Siddiq that he has thyroid cancer.

Following a Walker attack on Alexandria, Negan – back in prison for committing manslaughter to save Lydia – goes missing. He later bumps into Brandon, a former Savior who kills a mother and child to impress Negan. In turn, Negan kills Brandon, and is then captured by Beta after walking into Whisperer territory. Beta then tests Negan, who manages to pass and seemingly aligns with Alpha.

Alpha has been telling other Whisperers that she killed her daughter, Lydia, which is a lie. When Carol and Daryl head out to destroy Alpha's walker horde, and instead capture a Whisperer, they realise their prisoner believes Lydia is dead. Carol vows to reveal the truth to the Whisperers. Meanwhile, the captured Whisperer is killed by Dante, who Siddiq soon realises is actually a Whisperer spy. Dante strangles Siddiq, but once his true identity is revealed and he's imprisoned, Gabriel kills him in his cell.

Around the same time, Michonne, Judith, and Luke travel to Oceanside and meet Virgil, who agrees to show them a valuable weapons cache in return for safe passage back to his family.

Carol and Daryl once again go looking for Alpha's horde, this time with Aaron, Magna, Connie, Kelly, and Jerry. Carol spots Alpha takes chase, luring the entire a cave where they are surrounded by the Whisperer's horde.

Moments to remember - our season 10A cheat sheet

• Negan joins the Whisperers
• Ezekiel has cancer
• Alpha's horde surrounds Carol, Daryl, and others
• Michonne, Judith, and others follow Virgil

Who died in The Walking Dead season 10A?

• Siddiq (strangled by Dante)
• Dante (stabbed by Gabriel)
• Brandon (head bashed in with a rock by Negan)

The Walking Dead recap: season 10B (and bonus episodes)

What happens in The Walking Dead season 10B?

The second half of the 10th season features a cave-in near Hilltop that traps Connie and Magna, though Magna later escapes.

Over on the Whisperers side of things, Alpha has to deal with the twin loyalties of new recruit Negan and Gamma, who is having her head turned by the humanity of the survivors.

The other main throughline for the season is Eugene discovering a new community thanks to Stephanie, a woman communicating to the nervous scientist over the radio. He, Yumiko, and Ezekiel set off in search of the person behind the mysterious voice – and also come into contact with a quirky individual who goes by the name' Princess'.

The Whisperers and the survivors eventually clash, with Hilltop being razed to the ground. During the heat of battle, Judith kills a Whisperer (her first in the series, if you’re keeping track) and Gamma is killed by Alpha.

In a surprise twist – or maybe not, given his history – Negan kills Alpha and reveals he had been in cahoots with Carol the entire time.

Michonne’s time with Virgil goes less well. She is imprisoned by the man on an island, but eventually breaks free, attacks Virgil, and escapes. Via walkie-talkie, she tells Judith that she’s heading off to find Rick. For now, that’s the last we’ve seen of Michonne in the main series. Later on, Virgil meets Connie, who has just escaped from the cave-in during the mid-season premiere.

Beta, having taken control of the Whisperers after Alpha’s demise, draws a large horde of walkers towards the remaining survivors from Hilltop who have gathered in a hospital. Fortunately, a returning Maggie helps turn the tide, the survivors infiltrate the Whisperers, and Daryl kills Beta.

The season ends with Eugene’s group being surrounded by soldiers – but wait, there’s more!

There are six bonus episodes, referred to as '10C.' While they can largely be skipped, they introduce a new villainous group (The Reapers), and dig deeper into Negan’s pre-outbreak past with his wife, Lucille.

Moments to remember - our season 10B cheat sheet

• A cave-in traps Magna and Connie, though both are eventually rescued
• Lucille goes off in search of Rick
• Negan kills Alpha
• The Whisperers are all defeated
• Maggie returns
• Eugene goes off in search of Stephanie and a new community

Who died in The Walking Dead season 10B?

• Gamma (disemboweled by Beta)
• Alpha (decapitated by Negan)
• Beta (stabbed by Daryl/eaten by walkers)

The Walking Dead recap: season 11

What happens in The Walking Dead season 11?

Alexandria is running dangerously low on food and supplies so Maggie leads a group (containing Daryl, Negan, and Gabriel) to her old home of Meridian to help gather resources. Eugene, Ezekiel, Yumiko, and Princess are held by the Commonwealth community for questioning.

The new Reapers group cause havoc. Maggie's allies Cole and Duncan are slain. Daryl finds Dog next to a female Reaper, revealed to his ex, Leah. He is introduced to the Reapers' leader, Pope who "tests" Leah and Daryl by locking them in a hut. After they escape, a clearly uncomfortable Daryl is integrated into the Reapers.

Carol and Aaron happen across the scattered remnants of the Whisperers. Aaron tortures their leader, which leads to information about the missing Connie.

Over in the Commonwealth, Yumiko catches up with her brother Tomi. Eugene and his crush Stephanie attempt to contact Alexandria but are stopped and imprisoned. They are eventually released on the orders of the slippery deputy governor, Lance Hornsby.

The Reapers are on the tail of Maggie's group near Meridian, but Daryl aids their escape. Leah kills Pope after having enough of his disregard for whether Reapers lived or died. Daryl tries to convince her to leave the Reapers and join Maggie's group, but she refuses. Leah orders the Reapers to attack the group – a decision she'll later regret. Alden dies during the supply run.

A storm hits Alexandria and walkers enter the slowly-flooding house where some of our survivors, including Judith, Aaron, and Rosita, are holed up. If there's anything this lot do, though, it's get themselves out of sticky situations – and they make it through just in time to welcome Maggie, Daryl and co who return with much-needed food. 

The storyline jumps forward in time six months, and picks up with most of the main characters having relocated to the Commonwealth – and several of them struggling to stomach the vast class divide within the well-off society. Elsewhere, it depicts Maggie, standing off against a Commonwealth army led by Daryl, at the gates of a ruined Hilltop.

After Eugene tells her he loves her, Stephanie disappears. He confronts Lance when he spots her plotting with him and is told that Stephanie isn't actually Stephanie, she's a plant called Shira, who was used to get the location of Alexandria out of Eugene. Later, a mysterious woman named Max approaches Eugene and informs him that she was actually the one talking with him on the radio.

Carol calls in a favor with Lance, who bumps Ezekiel's name up in the surgery waiting list. His tumor is successfully removed, which inspires him to open up a special clinic with Tomi. 

As some of the residents of the Commonwealth go missing, Lance and his troopers take control of Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside; Lance flips a coin to decide the fate of Oceanside's residents. When Leah attacks Maggie, Daryl is forced to kill her.

Pamela strikes a deal with Carol, to present Lance as a scapegoat for the missing residents, but their plan hits a snag when Max and Eugene spark riots by broadcasting a recording they took of Sebastian championing the Commonwealth's elitist attitude. During the hijacked event, Sebastian attempts to murder Max by pushing her into a walker but Eugene intervenes, resulting in Sebastian getting bitten and turning. 

Hellbent on seeing Eugene convicted of murder, Pamela throws Lance in jail, has her troopers kidnap our survivors, and tries to force Yumiko to prosecute him. But the latter resists, and tells Pamela she's going to defend him instead. The kidnapped heroes are sent to work in a hard labor camp, dubbed Outpost 22, which is actually Alexandria – which sees Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Rosita, and the others set out on a rescue mission. Carol and Daryl break Lance out of prison to help them find their friends, and when he is of no use to them anymore, Carol shoots him in the neck with an arrow.

After liberating the inmates, the gang take the train back to the Commonwealth to overthrow Pamela, and Judith gets shot in the process. A horde of "smart" zombies make their way into the community, which leads Pamela to order her troopers to divert the swarm to the lower class areas to give the rich folk more time to escape.

Daryl and co intercept her, and force Pamela to open up the gates to the Estates so that all living residents can take shelter there. They get as many people to safety as they can before rigging the place with explosives and blowing up the herd. Mercer arrests Pamela for her crimes.

Rosita dies, having succumbed to a walker bite on her back, before the gang claim the Commonwealth and restore Alexandria and Hilltop to their former glory. One year on, the show reveals Ezekiel, Carol, and Mercer have taken on leadership roles within the former. 

The series ends with a split sequence that reveals Rick, on the run from the Civic Republic Military, and Michonne, in full samurai gear, galloping towards the biggest horde of walkers the horror drama has ever seen.

Moments to remember - our season 11 cheat sheet

• Eugene, Yumiko, Princess, and Ezekiel enter the Commonwealth 
• Leah kills Pope
• The Reapers attack Maggie's group
• A storm hits Alexandria, with Judith, Rosita, and Aaron placed in danger as walkers approach
• Alden turns into a walker while out looking for supplies 
• Daryl kills Leah
• Pamela's son Sebastian is killed during a Commonwealth riot
• Carol kills Lance
• Lydia loses an arm after being bitten by a walker
• Negan apologizes to Maggie
• Mercer and the gang arrest Pamela
• Rosita dies after being bitten by a walker
• The group claim the Commonwealth, and restore Alexandria and Hilltop

Who died in The Walking Dead season 11?

• Roy (shot with an arrow by a Reaper)
• Cole (throat slit by Jenson)
• Frost (tortured by Pope)
• Jenson (stabbed by Gabriel)
• Duncan (impaled by the Reapers)
• Alden (throat slit by a Reaper)
• Pope (stabbed by Leah)
• Carver (stabbed by Maggie)
• Leah (shot in the head by Daryl)
• Ian (shot in the head by Toby Carlson)
• Toby Carlson (shot off a roof and into a horde of walkers by Aaron)
• Sebastian (pushed into a walker by Eugene, and bitten)
• Lance (shot with an arrow by Carol)
• Jules (eaten by walkers)
• Luke (bitten by a walker, and bleeds out after a makeshift amputation)
• Rosita (bitten by a walker, and slowly succumbs to the infection)