‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ Recap – ‘Blood and Lies’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 207 of ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’.
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Thus far, our journey through the second and final season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, has provided us with some fascinating insight on the nature of revolution and what motivates people to rise up against oppressive powers, alongside some fascinating explorations on the nature of growing up, thrown in for good measure. And while that has indeed provided the audience with some fascinating insight on topics that some of us barely remember or don’t understand in the slightest, we’ve yet to really understand a bigger question hanging over this season’s storytelling. In that, what it is that motivates an organization or a political entity or military force, to desire and crave power in a manner akin to the Civic Republic Military? And as it turns out, last night’s episode of the show was the perfect time to explore the answer to that question.

But before we dive too deeply into the answer to that particular question, it’s important to follow up on an important plot thread that was left hanging a few weeks ago. Specifically, what was the fate of Silas? For the last time we saw him, he was surrounded by CRM forces with weapons drawn and thankfully, ‘Blood and Lies’ caught us up on that concern as well. And it just so happens, that Silas is okay after all, courtesy of his CRM badges and standing within his work facility. Which allowed for him to undergo some light questioning from Warrant Officer Stokes before being remanded back to the clearing facility and Dennis’ command, and it was quite lovely to see that Silas is okay and free from harm since it offered up a touch of peace and joy in an episode… that was devoid of it otherwise.

Because shortly after Silas returned to work, panic spread through the facility. For it was finally discovered that a vial of the super-secret green stuff went missing, which put the facility into lockdown and allowed for Jadis to begin to interrogate those who might be responsible for this mistake and that of course, meant that Leo was going to be interrogated hard since he had ties to this mess and was potentially compromised with his family being inside the facility. Which motivated Lyla, to take part in quite the incredible gambit. Wherein she revealed to both Hope and iris, what she was actually working on in the hopes of saving Leo and to bring a sense of normalcy back to the base and what she and Jadis revealed, over the course of two separate scenes, was nothing short of terrifying. 
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For it turns out that two years after civilization collapsed at the hands of the dead, Major General Beale and Lieutenant Colonel Kublek, founded a Project known as Votus. Which was designed to study reanimation and its origin so that a cure for living death could be found. An idea that is indeed grounded in nobility and hope, but also one that was quickly bastardized. Since it didn’t take long for the CRM to realize that traditional research on victims that were bitten or dying, took too much effort and time in an era where urgency was needed. Which in turn motivated twisted science to come into play. Wherein the green stuff, a chlorine-based bioweapon, one that contained a ‘cure’ that was designed to stop the reanimation process, was pushed into the testing phase in the worst way imaginable. Since it was deemed to be used on living test subjects to see which iteration of the cure would work.

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Which was a horrifying revelation to say the least, one that made it clear that the Omaha campus became a grand science experiment in order to test the most hopeful iteration of this cure and that human experimentation was happening often, and well, that makes the CRM an utterly horrifying organization. One that is clearly motivated and driven by utter fear. Fear that the world as they knew it will be forever gone, and fear that they have no control over the future and it is that kind of fear that will indeed warp a government or a powerful entity into something terrifying and the parallels to the CRM here to the world we live in now, are quite chilling for certain. Since we’ve watched fear transform America over the past few years into something unrecognizable at times. But while that is indeed powerful and poignant commentary on our modern world, there were more powerful revelations to be found in this story.
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Because that fear and that desire to control everything and everyone, is forcing the CRM to make more terrifying moves. For it was also revealed in this tale that in order to consolidate its power and its grip on this fledgling new world, the CRM is fully prepared to end the alliance with Portland and destroy it in a similar manner as Omaha. Which means that our intrepid heroes are going to have to act fast to do something to teach the CRM a solid lesson in humility and how humanity cannot be controlled in this manner. And thus far… the plan is to rescue the scientists in this facility and their work, before finding a way to burn Project Votus to the ground, all while getting word to Portland that an attack from ally is imminent and if that doesn’t seem daunting enough, Jadis has inadvertently figured out how to make life even more difficult for the Endlings and their plans for a better tomorrow.

For she took the time to kill Lyla for revealing Project Votus to Leo and his girls and to clear the way to install a more easily controlled leader of the project. For a parent is quite the vulnerable being. One that will work hard to ensure their family is safe and sound, and that is of course her hope, now that she is going to promote Leo to the head of Project Votus. But while we wait to see how Leo will respond to his new role, and the forthcoming threats to his family, we can bask in the horror of one powerful tale. One that finally revealed the true intentions of the Civic Republic Military and just how awful an organization it truly is. For any entity that kills innocents in the name of the greater good and does experiments in this style, is disgusting and monstrous and that made for one bleak and hopeless tale when all is said and done.

One where we also came to learn that Jadis is beyond corrupted at this point, since she killed with impunity here and manipulated everyone as she saw fit and well… how does one rise up against a brilliant military officer that is clearly three steps ahead? But all darkness aside, this episode does deserve our awe. Because this one definitely raised the stakes for the Endlings and gave them a hell of cause to fight for, since hundreds of thousands of lives now hang in the balance thanks to their horrifying discoveries and truly, it will be quite interesting to see where the story takes us next and whether the Endlings can save the day or find some measure of hope. Now that we know that the Civic Republic Military is willing to do whatever it takes to keep its twisted vision of tomorrow, alive and well. Until next time.

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