The Walking Dead:10 Important Things To Remember Before Season 8
2. Walkers Aren’t Really A Threat Anymore
Surprising fact: there was only one televised death at the hands of walkers throughout season seven, and even that was an anonymous Saviour by a recently-turned Sasha.
This is a show set in a post-apolcalyptic, zombie-infested world, but the walkers are no longer the biggest threat, or even a threat at all. One single human can dispatch of them 10 or 15 at a time with no more than a sharp object, and even large herds can be easy pickings as Rick and Michonne showed with their barbed wire trick in episode nine of last season.
This is not just the case for seasoned warriors like the Alexandrians, but for young children such as Oceanside’s fearless Rachel, who attacked the walkers with a confidence and glee that is stark in contrast to the trepidation shown by Carl and Sophia in the earlier seasons.
The Saviours have taken it one step further, capturing walkers and bringing them to The Sanctuary as a means of torturing other humans, with no concerns over their own safety.
Humans have largely adapted to this threat, and any training conducted now - such as the sessions led by Maggie and Sasha at The Hilltop - is with the aim of fighting the living.
Walkers remain dangerous in the sense that one bite will turn the victim, but the living are a much greater threat to each other now, as the story delves deeper into the human psyche.