Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
While the group travels toward Fort Benning, a highway herd scatters them and Sophia Peletier disappears into the woods. Carl is accidentally shot by Otis, a farmhand who directs Rick to Hershel Greene’s farm, where the boy is treated. Shane later goes with Otis to retrieve the medical supplies Carl needs, but returns alone: he shot Otis and left him as walker bait so he could escape. The search for Sophia keeps the survivors at the farm, where Glenn and Maggie begin a relationship and Hershel’s family shelters the group. When they discover Hershel keeps walkers in his barn, Shane opens it and shoots them. Sophia emerges as the final walker, and Rick puts her down.
The farm’s losses deepen the split between Rick and Shane. Dale objects to killing Randall, a captured teenager. A walker later mortally wounds Dale, and Daryl puts him down. Shane takes Randall into the woods and breaks his neck. He then lures Rick away and tries to kill him; Rick stabs Shane, and Carl shoots Shane’s reanimated body. A massive herd follows the sound of gunfire to the farm, forcing everyone to flee. Jimmy and Patricia are killed in the escape, and Andrea is separated from the others until a hooded stranger rescues her. On the road, Rick tells the group Jenner said everyone is already infected and reveals that he killed Shane. He takes control of the group.