"Power Equals Power" is the first episode of the second season of AMC's The Walking Dead: Dead City. It is the seventh episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 4, 2025. It was written by Eli Jorné and directed by Michael Satrazemis.^[1][2]

Plot

In the war for control of Manhattan, Maggie and Negan find themselves trapped on opposite sides.

Synopsis

As a walker wanders through Manhattan, a garbage truck driven by two Burazi arrives. The Burazi put down the walker, load him into the back of the truck with a number of other corpses, and take them to St. Patrick's Cathedral where the Burazi have a large operation to harvest methane from the bodies for power. Throughout Manhattan, power comes back on for the first time since the Trials began.

Guided by his mother, Hershel attempts to kill a deer with a throwing knife, but he fails. Ginny joins them and Maggie notices that the girl has scrape marks on her hand. However, Ginny -- who is now speaking again -- brushes off her concern. Maggie briefly takes notice of a moth on a nearby leaf.

The three return to the Bricks with a single dead deer where residents are collecting corn from around their dead crops and performing their daily tasks. In Hershel's room, the two discuss how he is donating his desk to Casey and Maggie suggests that some of his old clothes could fit her brothers. When Hershel removes his shoes and socks, Maggie notices his missing toe, but doesn't say anything and finds the hat that Negan had gotten for her son on his shelf. Maggie notes that Hershel seems to have outgrown his corduroy jacket and claiming to be tired, Hershel suggests that they can take the clothes down to Casey's family the next day. Things are clearly still awkward between mother and son following Hershel's blowup about her behavior.

Maggie plays with Hershel's flashlight, reminiscing about their old signal from when he was little in case they ever got separated so that she'd know that he was okay. It had started when Hershel was five or six and they were camping on the road just north of Charleston. Maggie had woken up, heard feet crunching on leaves outside, found Hershel missing from his blanket. As she headed towards the sound with her knife out, a creature came running out from the bushes and Maggie heard Hershel calling out "look, Mom! I got it!" Hershel had captured a lightning bug and it became the inspiration for their signal. The two share a smile at the fond memory of better times.

In a cell, Negan negotiates with his guard Victor for the plate of cockroaches that the Burazi had given the other man as food. After some banter, Victor gives Negan the plate and Negan recalls how a year before, Victor had said that Negan would begging for cockroaches. After making sure that no one else is around, Victor begins to play the violin, but stops as the Croat arrives with two more Burazi. Looking around Negan's cell, the Croat tells Negan that it pains him to see Negan like this. Time has run out and the Dama is going to talk and Negan needs to listen now. However, Negan doesn't respond when the Croat asks if he will listen now and the Croat asks about Hershel. Negan states that he's been thinking about that himself and "he is home. He's safe. And in order to get to him, you would have to go through his mom. Who, I'm not sure if you recall, but she is a mama bear that would tear out your throat with her teeth right after she gutted you with her claws. Yeah, that's what I've been thinking about." Negan claims that he's content with his current life, angering the Croat who warns him that things will have to escalate. The Burazi leave, taking Negan with them.

Maggie, Hershel and Ginny go hunting again with Maggie noticing a moth again. Hearing the sound of engines nearby, the three rush back to the Bricks as a convoy from the New Babylon Federation arrives, one man being tied to a truck and forced to run behind it. Charlie Byrd introduces herself to the residents as the Governor of the New Babylon Federation, and calls forward Perlie Armstrong to speak on her behalf, exalting him as a man who has traveled to a distant land, made huge discoveries, and brought the notorious outlaw Negan to justice. Perlie tells the gathered residents that they are no longer just lucky to be alive, they're living and getting back what they lost when the Trials began. However, their work isn't done, and he describes Manhattan as it once was, stating that all that's left of that once vibrant city is "crumbling buildings and a million dead souls." Manhattan has been overrun by lawless barbarians, but the New Babylon Federation wants to retake the city, supposedly to bring it back to what it once was so as to inspire and spread hope as a bastion for civilization.

New Babylon has been going from town to town drafting soldiers for an exploratory mission as is their right by treaty. The crowd clearly isn't interested in Perlie's pitch, so the soldiers bring forth their prisoner and Maggie sends Hershel and Ginny back inside. The man identifies himself as Jason Ornell from Madgeburg whose crime is, as explained by Major Lucia Narvaez, choosing to shamefully flee rather than face conscription and he was caught in the forest. Code 52, Section 8 decrees that "refusal or evasion of registration into the armed forces of the New Babylon Federation shall be punishable by public execution." In front of the horrified crowd, the soldiers hang Jason to death. Maggie is visibly furious by the display while Perlie is upset as well.

Negan is driven to the King Francis Theater where the Croat tells Negan and the Dama that their eyes and ears on the mainland have intercepted messages between the colonies revealing that there is to be an exploratory mission followed by a massive land invasion. As a result, they must be ready with an army of their own. Uptown is controlled by three groups who are ferocious and territorial with Central Park sitting between them, acting like a buffer because no man comes out alive. If they can form an alliance and bring everyone onto their side, then New Babylon won't stand a chance. The three groups interface once a month at a plaza for a form of street trade, gambling and sport. A man named Bruegel came up with it and he has, unsurprisingly, accumulated a good deal of wealth from this trade, things like weapons, food, armor and shelter. The Croat describes Bruegel as a silver-tounged snake charmer, and the Dama tells Negan that the next meeting is that night and she has invited everyone to the church afterwards for a little nightcap.

The Dama's overtures have gotten them as far as they can go and what they need now is leadership, namely Negan's. She wants Negan to inspire and terrorize the gangs, to put on a show, whatever it takes to get the gangs on board. However, Negan's answer is still the same as it was when the Dama had asked him a couple of months before: "hell no." The Croat urges Negan to help them, reminding his former friend that Negan has seen what New Babylon is capable of for himself. They have been given a gift because the old world was a place of suffering and injustice, but their past has been erased. With the methane, they can bring the city back in wonderous new ways. In this world, a church can be a power plant and a gym teacher can command an army. Negan simply states that the gin is a bit too fancy for his taste, but he does appreciate the gesture.

Stopping the music, the Dama tells Negan that while the Burazi were out searching for him, they heard whispers of a settlement in Tennessee that was home to a woman and her child named Annie and Joshua, Negan's estranged wife and son. The wagon train was meant for Missouri as Negan knows because he's the one who paid the driver, but the Mississippi River flooded and rerouted the wagon train to Memphis, Tennessee. "I hate spoiling the surprise, but now that they're en route to the island, I suppose you'd want to make your preparations."

As night falls, Tim, Victoria and Gretchen argue over what to do. While Tim feels that at least there's a chance with Manhattan, Victoria calls it a death sentence either way and anyone who goes to Manhattan with New Babylon won't survive. Benjamin Pierce describes what Manhattan used to be like to people passing by in an attempt to get them to sign up. Hershel calls it all bullshit and Benjamin tells him that he's spent years pouring over old textbooks, maps and periodicals which is the source of Benjamin's claims. Hershel reveals that he's actually been to the city and it's full of more walkers than you've ever seen before and all of the museums and churches have all been looted or blown up. Hershel draws a picture of a destroyed bridge that had gotten caught between the buildings and calls Manhattan "better now than it ever was." Watching Hershel and seeing Perlie approach, Maggie dismisses the others to pick up the discussion after dinner.

Maggie and Perlie greet each other and Maggie congratulates Perlie on tracking down Negan and shooting him dead, well aware of what really happened. Perlie explains that he had only lied to protect Negan and asks Maggie where he is and what happened to him. Maggie admits that Negan is still on the island for all that she knows. Perlie explains that he's going to recommend Maggie's conscription because he feels that she could be an asset on the mission. Maggie has been to Manhattan, she got her son back from the Croat and she knows his weaknesses and how he operates. Perlie knows that Maggie has doubts about New Babylon and admits that he does too, but Maggie knows the real reason that New Babylon wants to go to Manhattan: the Burazi's methane. Maggie has seen the moths, and she knows that New Babylon is running out of ethanol. Perlie explains that the moths have spread all over the south, laying eggs in the corn and rotting it from the inside. The Bricks can survive without the corn, but New Babylon can't which Maggie is fine with.

Perlie tells Maggie that if they can take over the Burazi methane operation, they'll have a ready, practically unlimited power source. With it, they can fuel power grids, bring back technology and medicine and people wouldn't have to die of infection or the flu. If they don't get the methane and New Babylon falls, the survivors of the Trials will be greatly set back in what they have managed to rebuild of the world. Perlie insists that they're in this together, but Maggie calls him out on his bullshit, asking why Perlie's family isn't coming to Manhattan too then. Maggie knows that the "exploratory mission" is just the first wave of an invasion, the conscripts, the people who are expendable. Perlie reminds Maggie that they're treaty-bound members of the New Babylon Federation, but she accuses New Babylon of forcing them into it and cutting off all of their other trading partners which she didn't agree with. Perlie reveals that he's a Colonel now rather than a marshal and Maggie threatens to inform his superiors about what really happened to Negan. Calming down, Maggie offers that if she goes with the army, then no one from the Bricks who doesn't want to get drafted goes. While Perlie would have to sell it to the governor, he agrees.

In the church's confessional, the Croat apologizes to Negan for his family getting dragged into this situation, but he suggests that Negan see it as less of a threat to his family and more of a chance to welcome them into a larger family. As a surprise, the Croat introduces Negan a new Lucille with some improvements that he has added. Negan is not enthusiastic to have a new Lucille, but the Croat tells him that while a performer may want to try out new material when they take the stage again after a long break, "but in the end, all the audience really wants are the greatest hits."

Negan, wearing a similar attire to when he was the leader of the Saviors, and the Croat drive to the gang meeting where they find the audience gathered to watch a gladiator match between two walkers who are both covered in spiked armor. One walker kills the other before being pulled away, much to Christos' dismay.

At dinner, Benjamin tells Lucia that he read that Manhattan's power grid was run underground after the Blizzard of 1888, meaning that it probably survived the destruction of the city. Lucia rudely brushes off Benjamin, but Charlie tells him that she's just jealous because the history that Benjamin is recording, the tales of discovery and glory, will be their biggest victory of all. Charlie presents a box of cigars which are only to be smoked in celebration when they get what they're after. Lucia and General Houseman each take one, but Lucia stops Benjamin from doing so as well.

Perlie asks if they have given any thought to what they had talked about earlier about Maggie's proposal. Lucia asks if Maggie is really that important, and Perlie tells her that Maggie is the woman he met on the island who had single-handedly rescued her son from the Croat. Lucia wants to just draft Maggie, but Perlie tells her that "we could try. Over her dead body as she put it. Either we bring her on incentivized alive, or we throw away yet another opportunity." Lucia tells Perlie that by her count, they have 20 able-bodied soldiers at the Bricks and asks if Maggie is really worth that which Perlie confirms. Charlie agrees to conduct an assessment of Maggie to let her prove herself.

In Hershel's room, Maggie gets ready, explaining to her son that she has to do this because it's the only way that this works. Hershel is angry because his mother didn't even try to find another way, almost like she wants to go. Maggie insists that she doesn't want to go and she's doing this for her son and the Bricks, but Hershel just storms out.

Armed with a staff, Maggie goes outside where Lucia tells her that if Maggie plans on taking the place of 20 conscripts on the island, it won't be soldiers that she'll be fighting. Lucia reveals a coral with a herd of around 20 walkers and Perlie tells Maggie that he just found out what she will be up against. Lucia calls for anyone who intends to enlist to step up to the coral and Ginny joins Maggie over her objections. Perlie protests sending in a kid, but both Charlie and Lucia are unmoved, reminding Perlie that the deal is that no one gets drafted involuntarily.

Ginny rushes into the coral with Maggie following her, quickly tossing aside her staff in favor of her knife. Separately, the two begin taking down walkers with impressive skill, but start to get overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Maggie gets pinned in a corner while four walkers knock Ginny to the ground. Ginny manages to take out two, but she struggles against the last two. Finally, Maggie manages to break free and save Ginny. A final walker comes at them from behind, but Lucia shoots it and silently expresses her newfound respect for Maggie and Ginny.

The three gangs wait impatiently in the church while the Dama watches from the back. As the lights suddenly go on, Negan walks down the aisle and on stage. Negan thanks everyone for coming, telling them that he's heard that they all hate each other's guts and he gets it because he feels the same way about them. However, they are all gathered together in God's house and Negan jokes that as they are all the walking manifestation of sin, he's surprised that no one got struck down in an act of divine retribution. To explain why everyone has been brought together, Negan shows them Perlie's marshal badge and tells them that he got it when the lawman from the New Babylon Federation that was chasing him down lost it. Negan claims that he came to Manhattan because he was being chased by a lawman and he's heard that the island has no laws which Dre agrees with. However, the question is whether they are going to keep it that way.

Negan reveals that New Babylon is coming as they speak, having found out about the residents' "kick-ass, bad-ass way of life" which is a problem to New Babylon the solution to which is their laws. Negan starts to propose that the gangs put aside their differences and join the Burazi in fighting New Babylon, but Christos rudely interrupts him and openly challenges Negan, asking what will happen if they don't want to join him and put aside their differences because they like things the way they are and don't care about someone else's problem which the crowd cheers to. Christos declares that he doesn't know what the Dama was hoping for, but there is no way that he's bending the knee to Negan. The Croat tosses Lucille to Negan as Christos riles the crowd up against him. Banging Lucille on the altar, Negan tells the crowd "this is my fault. It is. I'm gonna take all the blame for it, but I think we're having a little bit of a misunderstanding. I am not asking for any kumbaya. You see, I am not a preacher. And you sure as shit ain't no congregation. But you are gonna fight. And not for the common good. I could give a rat's ass about the common good. No, you are gonna fight... You are gonna fight because I say so." Negan approaches Christos who orders him to get Lucille out of his face. When Christos grabs the bat, Negan triggers Lucille's new feature and shocks the gang leader unconscious while two Burazi use a flamethrower to keep the crowd in check.

As the Croat and the Dama watch in delight, Negan addresses the crowd with his old swagger. "Methane... We got it. You don't. We got the bright lights, the cool cars, the awesome weapons. We got bombs. You see, power equals power. It's as simple as that. So, if you ain't with us... I guess you're in for a bit of a shock. So, why don't y'all talk amongst yourselves. Think about it. But do me a favor, yeah? Don't think too hard." The Dama silently claps, and the gangs make their exit, Christos being supported by two of his men. As they leave, the power comes on on the street.

In his room, Hershel practices throwing his knife into the wall, but the knife bounces off. Ginny comes in to get her compass and Maggie angrily tells her son that Ginny thinks that she's coming to Manhattan, but she's not. The three of them know what it means to go back to the island and Maggie is worried about Ginny. She made Negan a promise to look out for the girl and Maggie asks if Negan is the reason that she wants to go. Ginny snaps that Maggie isn't her mother or anything to her and leaves after getting her compass from Hershel. Hershel reveals that he wants to go too, but Maggie isn't willing to let her son go, telling him that she's only going because she has to. Hershel accuses his mother of going for Negan too and feeling guilty about leaving him in the Croat's clutches or that it's still about everything from before which he thought they were past. Maggie had promised that it was finished, but she seems to keep holding on. Maggie insists that this has nothing to do with Negan and asks why Hershel wants to go back after everything that had happened.

Pulling out Hershel's drawings, Maggie tearfully tries to get answers from him about what had happened to her son in Manhattan, but he brushes off her questions. Maggie shows Hershel his drawing of the Dama and asks who she is, but Hershel claims to have just seen her face on a billboard. Hershel tells his mother that he doesn't want to be apart, and he doesn't want her to go. Maggie reveals that she didn't know her mother for very long and very well and by the time that Maggie got things right with her father, she was all grown up with her own life. "All I'm trying to say is that these last few months with you have meant the world to me. And it's like you said, we're finally getting better. We're finally moving past... all of it. That's why I have to go, so that you don't have to. So I can protect what we have here. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna come right back. And we are gonna pick up right where we left off," Maggie tells Hershel who finally agrees.

Dragging Lucille, Negan walks through the church before dropping the bat.

As the New Babylon convoy leaves the Bricks, Perlie looks at a zombified Jason who is still hanging where he died. Maggie and Ginny leave with the New Babylon forces as a crowd watches them go, amongst them Hershel who waves goodbye to them.

The Dama watches a rat try and fail to make its way through a miniature maze to its food. The Dama comments that it won't be eating today, but not to worry because it won't be long, it will get there.

In his room, Hershel finally succeeds in throwing his knife into the wall. Hershel looks through his drawings, lingering on the Dama and one of the post-apocalyptic Manhattan.

In Central Park, there's the sound of walker growls and the roar of a larger animal of some kind.

Other Cast

Co-Stars

• Logan Schmucker as Victor
• Anthony Molinari as General Houseman
• Sean Thompson as Piano Playing Buraz
• Karina Bonnefil as Dre
• Ari Loeb as Jason Ornell
• David J. Curtis as Tim
• Cathy Salvodon as Victoria
• Liz Bishop as Gretchen

Uncredited

• Nate Andrade as Tony
• Rhonda Araujo Smith as Bricks Guard
• Tierre Diaz as New Babylon Soldier
• Dennis Grajeda as Substation Buraz
• Christopher James as Buraz
• Ruby Masterson as Buraz
• Mckhelen Alcindor as Scraggler

Deaths

• Jason Ornell (Alive; Zombified, Off-Screen)
• 1 deer (Off-Screen)

Trivia

• First appearance of Victor.
• First appearance of Benjamin Pierce.
• First appearance of Houseman.
• First appearance of Lucia Narvaez.
• First appearance of Bruegel.
• First appearance of Christos.
• First appearance of Tony.
• Only appearance of Jason Ornell.
• Only appearance of Tim.
• Only appearance of Victoria.
• Only appearance of Gretchen.
• The title of the episode, "Power Equals Power", refers to a line that Negan said during his sermon to the three gangs of Uptown Manhattan.
• As of this episode, Lisa Emery (The Dama) and Logan Kim (Hershel Rhee) have been added to the opening credits.
  • Starting with this episode, Dascha Polanco (Lucia Narvaez) and Keir Gilchrist (Benjamin Pierce) have been added to the opening credits.
• The Bricks has a sign proclaiming it to be a part of the New Babylon Federation in the Blue Ridge Territory founded in 17 PDI.
• The Dama reveals that Annie and Joshua are apparently living in a settlement in Tennessee, possibly in Memphis. While their wagon train was bound for Missouri as Negan had told Maggie in "People Are a Resource", the Mississippi River flooded and forced them to reroute to Memphis.
• Maggie mentions that the New Babylon Federation forced the Bricks into joining and cut off all of their trading partners, possibly explaining why Maggie can't turn to the Coalition for help with things such as Hershel's kidnapping.
• In the Episode Insider, Jeffrey Dean Morgan reveals that half of the plate of cockroaches were real which no one had told him beforehand. As a result, he probably ate 10 to 20 cockroaches before he found out that there were real cockroaches on the plate.
• This episode contains a post-credits scene.

Episode Highlights

• Maggie, Ginny and Hershel are still living at the Bricks. Ginny is talking again and things between Hershel and Maggie are tense following Hershel's blowup about Negan in "Doma Smo".
• Negan is shown to be held prisoner by the Burazi, and is forced to eat cockroaches for food. The Croat visits Negan and asks about Hershel, but is left angry when Negan, who is content with being a prisoner, tells him to not go after Hershel unless he wants to deal with Maggie.
• The Bricks is revealed to now be under the New Babylon Federation's control with Charlie Byrd, Lucia Narvaez and Perlie Armstrong showing up at the community trying to draft conscripts for a mission to reclaim Manhattan. When no one is persuaded by Perlie's pitch however, Narvaez executes a prisoner for his crimes in front of a horrified Maggie and Perlie.
• At the King Francis Theater, the Dama and the Croat try to sway Negan to their side ahead of a meeting to discuss an alliance with three territorial gangs that rule Uptown Manhattan, one of which is ruled by Bruegel. As an extra bargaining chip to get Negan on their side, the Dama reveals the Burazi have located Negan's wife and son and that they are en route to the island.
• Perlie and Maggie discuss the upcoming reclamation mission and Perlie says he's going to recommend Maggie as a conscript for the mission due to her history with Manhattan, the Burazi and because she knows the Croat's weaknesses. After a bit of hesitation, Maggie agrees to go on the mission but only if those who want to stay behind at the Bricks don't get drafted.
• In the church's confessional area, the Croat apologizes to Negan about the Dama getting Negan's family involved and gifts an unenthused Negan an improved version of Lucille as a surprise. The Croat and Negan then head to the meeting to find the audience watching a gladiator match between two walkers.
• In order to have Maggie prove she's worthy of being drafted as a conscript, New Babylon has Maggie fight twenty walkers herded into a coral. Ignoring Maggie's objections, Ginny helps Maggie kill the walkers in the coral and ends up getting drafted for the mission as well, after impressing Narvaez.
• At the gang meeting, Negan tries to recruit the gangs with a charismatic speech. When one of the gang leaders, Christos, gets in his face, Negan showcases the improved Lucille by shocking Christos with the bat, which delights the Dama and the Croat.
• In Hershel's room, Maggie and Hershel argue about Ginny and Hershel wanting to go to Manhattan, with Hershel dodging his mother's questions about what happened during his time in Manhattan. After initially being against the idea, Hershel agrees to let Maggie go to Manhattan after Maggie tells him she's doing it to protect the Bricks.

References