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The brewing Carol vs. Morgan philosophical feud came to a head in

midseason finale when Crol tried to kill Morgan’s Wolf prisoner. The fight was on, with Morgan knocking out Carol and then the Wolf knocking out Morgan and taking Denise hostage.

But don’t think that battle between Morgan and Carol is over, according to

creator Robert Kirkman. We talked about that and what else to expect when the show returns with its midseason premiere on Sunday night.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The last half of season 5, and the first half of season 6 was all about finding a safe place, that ended up being Alexandria, and fighting to keep it. So the world has been very much about Alexandria and what was happening there. How much of what we see going forward is going to be about expanding that world.

ROBERT KIRKMAN: Very much so. Alexandria is a step. Seeing our mid-season finale, it’s a very shaky step right now, and the outcome of that, it’s certainly unknown, but Alexandria is kind of a gateway to this larger world, to rebuilding some semblance of civilization. And it changes the kind of stories that we’re telling.

So, safe to say that not everyone in the midseason premiere is going to make it out of Alexandria alive?

Some people are going to die, that is one hundred percent true.

What does it mean in terms of the people that

die? This has been a community that’s been struggling to acclimate to each other. Is this the type of thing that’s going to pull the people that do survive together, or is it going to push them apart further?

I think this event has the potential to bring these people together once and for all, which is potentially a benefit that will solidify them all behind Rick, and will unify the group in a way that will make it much more efficient than it had been before. That will, in a sense, wipe away the conflict that’s been present since Rick’s group arrived in Alexandria.

This has very much been a show about struggling to find a sanctuary, and then losing it in different ways, and then struggling to find a different sanctuary. We’ve done that with the prison, and with the farm, and then with different locations. And it could seem like that’s what we’re going to be doing with Alexandria here, but this is a very different story, and I would say it’s a much more optimistic story.

So, it’s very likely that this could be something that will strengthen the bond between these people and allow them to survive in a better, much more efficient way moving forward.

What is Rick’s view going to be on this outside world now and some of the people they may be meeting?

Well, anyone who’s been paying attention to the show knows that Rick’s views are always evolving, and I think that’s one of his strengths. As he experiences more, as he learns more, his viewpoint changes, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but he is constantly trying to feel his way around this new world and adapting to it.

I would say that moving forward, I would expect things to be no different. Just because in the first half of the season he felt one way doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to be that way moving forward, and I would say that the loss of Deanna, and everything that he had learned from her during his time in Alexandria is going to have a meaningful impact on him that is going to change the way he’s thinking moving forward.

What about Morgan’s place in the group? Obviously, he’s in a tenuous position. He has this shared history with Rick, but they clearly are coming from different philosophical sides. And then, obviously, we saw the whole brouhaha with Carol there at the end. So, what’s Morgan’s place in this group going to be in terms of his philosophy and how that jibes with everyone else?

Morgan has a very solidified way of thinking that he truly believes in that is at times very much in conflict with almost everyone in Rick’s group, and that’s going to be a huge part of this back half of the season. I would say that the conflict between him and Carol is only beginning. I would expect to see, a little bit more of that in the back half of the season as Morgan is still finding his place within this group.

He’s still very much new to the scene and trying to feel out, how it is that he interacts with these people. And his philosophy, as I said, is at odds with Rick, and it’s possibly going to be more at odds after the attack on Alexandria than it was before. So, there’s been some interesting things ahead for the character Morgan, and we’ll just have to see where they go.

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