‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’ Recap – ‘Truth or Dare’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Seven of ‘The Walking Dead: World Beyond’.
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If there is one particular act that all of us attempt to do emotionally as we grow older, it is to abandon all the dark parts of our past, so that we can move forward in life. Because unfortunately, life is a difficult ride at times and some of the decisions we make and the experiences we undertake, don’t end in a preferable manner and the resulting pain that comes from those unsavory moments, hangs over our heads and our souls for ages on end. Which is why we are eager to try and abandon those feelings and those memories and sadly… this is something that is downright impossible to accomplish, regardless of how much effort we put into it. Simply because, the past is something we cannot escape.
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For we are not computers, and there is no button that allows for us delete the images from our mind the same way we can from our cameras or our social media feeds. No instead, what truly needs to happen in order for us to find peace in regard to the parts of our past that we aren’t proud of, is to face everything head on and reconcile the meaning and the impact those moments had upon us. Because if we cannot learn from our past and how those moments shaped us into the person we are today, we will forever be haunted by it, and it just so happens that this particular exploration served as the focal point for the next episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

For a little downtime in ‘Truth or Dare’ prompted Hope and Huck to ponder upon yesterday for fascinating reasons. In Hope’s case, it was simply because she was still struggling to deal with the fact that she murdered Elton’s mother in cold blood and the longer she carried this troublesome secret, the more she began to realize that she would have to do something devastating in order to be free of its pain. Such as telling Elton the outright truth about what happened on that fateful and unfortunate night and that would likely cause him great emotional harm, and that revelation left her lost and looking for answers and it fell to Huck to guide her on the right path. 

Because an encounter with a zombified soldier, put Huck in a strange place as well, one where she took a little time to reflect upon her journey. Because before she settled at the Campus Colony she served her country and was of course called into service the instant the dead began to return to life and well, she saw some horrible things during this time. In fact, not only was she asked to face the dead head on and figure out how to keep her men in line and calm, she was also asked to murder innocent people when Operation: Cobalt kicked into high gear. But rather than go with the flow, she opted to put her fellow servicemen down and save as many civilian lives as possible and the decision to turn her back on people she trusted and kill them in the name of a better cause was difficult for her to reconcile as well. 

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But eventually, she came to realize that making that decision, made her a better person. For she chose the high road in that moment and despite the difficulty that comes with taking a life, she saved so many more and gave them a fighting chance. And while her rough journey doesn’t quite compare to Hope’s situation, the lesson embedded her in her path was quite clear. In that… while our past is indeed filled with dark moments and sometimes outright sins, how we atone for those moments is what matters more and by doing good and keeping people safe, Huck is now working to make a wrong, right and if Hope can continue to be good to Elton and keep him safe as well, then she’s offering his dead mother quite the penance for certain. And it was just wonderful to see this particular lesson on display in a story about walking corpses that straight up eat people. 

But while that made for quality storytelling and a smooth way in which to explain how Huck became so wise and so Zen, there were more important moments to be found in this particular tale. Such as the fact that Percy and Tony helped Iris figure out exactly where her father is located in New York. For this Uncle and nephew duo, came to realize that the blank maps that the CRM use, aren’t as empty as one might think. For their soldiers all carry filters that reveal locations on a map and after toying with those filters for a bit, Iris was able to figure out that Ithaca, New York was where her father went to help this mysterious organization. A discovery that sent the group’s spirits soaring, since they could now quickly make their way there in that stolen CRM truck. 

But alas, the wonder of this discovery didn’t last. For eventually, a stop on their way east ended in outright disaster. Because shortly after Iris came to realize that Percy wasn’t going to show up to explain the romantic setup, he assembled for her in the back of the truck, she came to discover exactly why he was missing in action. For something horrible happened in the silence of the night, since it would seem that Silas murdered Tony in cold blood and wounded Percy in the process and well, that’s where this story leaves us. With a grand cliffhanger that has us questioning whether or not Silas snapped because the status quo of the group was shaken up by Percy and Tony’s arrival or if he went into a jealous rage over Percy putting the moves on Iris, or for that matter, if he even committed this crime at all.

Time will tell of course, but that is definitely one hell of a way to end this particular tale. But while this one does leave us wondering exactly what happened in the middle in the night, it’s best we focus on its more positive messages. Because what it had to say about the past was downright brilliant and it was nice to have this series once again find a way to teach us something positive in the midst of this nightmarish world and sadly… this might be the last time that happens. Because clearly, that ending signals quite the shift in tone and design storytelling wise and that likely means that these intrepid and brave characters are going to be forced to apply what they’ve learned thus far in a hasty manner, as this cruel world begins to challenge them like never before. Until next time.   

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