The Walking Dead Fans Finally Get The News They've Been Waiting For

On Friday, July 24, 2020, the entire Walking Dead fanbase began listening to Etta James' "At Last" following an announcement made during the series' Comic-Con@Home panel that afternoon. 

Okay, so that's an exaggeration, but hey — they had been waiting what's felt like an eternity to hear the news that was announced: The Walking Dead season 10 finale will finally air on AMC on Sunday, October 4 at 9 PM ET. 

Entitled "A Certain Doom," the episode is the 16th one of The Walking Dead season 10, and was originally supposed to air on April 12, 2020. When the coronavirus pandemic made it so that the necessary post-production work to be done on "A Certain Doom" couldn't be completed, AMC was left no other choice than to let go of the episode as the intended Walking Dead season 10 finale and allow episode 15, "The Towers," to be the makeshift season-ender. 

While "A Certain Doom" continues to be colloquially described as The Walking Dead season 10 finale, it's technically a post-season standalone special — as so described by AMC Networks. The company confirmed via Twitter on March 24, 2020, "Current events have unfortunately made it impossible to complete post-production of The Walking Dead season 10 finale, so the current season will end with its 15th episode on April 5. The planned finale will appear as a special episode later in the year."

The good news didn't stop there. At the Walking Dead's Comic-Con@Home panel, viewers were also gifted with the reveal of the first few minutes of the upcoming episode. 

In the footage, the Whisperers are closing in on Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and other survivors, who are doing all they can to ready themselves for the onslaught. Father Gabriel explains to two young children that when banded together to fight against a common enemy, groups of survivors are a powerful force. "Alexandria, Hilltop, Oceanside, People of the Kingdom," Father Gabriel begins, revealing that the fifth addition to the proverbial fist that can knock out the Whisperers and the walkers are "the others." He promises the kiddos that the "others" will make their way to them — or, falling short of short of that, will do their best to help however they can. 

Who are these "others"? For starters, Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) and Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride), seen in the clip facing their own threat of walkers who are after them. Virgil (Kevin Carroll) is another one; he's returned to Oceanside following a stint at Bloodsworth Island and a journey, aided by Michonne (Danai Gurira), to find his family. Carol's ex-husband and the ex-Kingdom leader Ezekiel (Khary Payton) and his crew are "others" as well. 

But the biggest "other" out there is Maggie Rhee, the widow of Glen Rhee (Steven Yeun) and the one-time Hilltop leader, confirmed earlier this year to appear on the last episode of The Walking Dead season 10. Played by Lauren Cohan, Maggie was last seen on The Walking Dead during season 9. She's now spotted in the clip from The Walking Dead season 10, episode 16 — seen reading a letter asking her to please come back and help, as the Whisperers have murdered many of the people she knew and loved. 

There's no telling exactly how Maggie will factor into the episode — or whether this means that Cohan will be back on a more permanent basis for The Walking Dead season 11 — but it's certainly something delicious to chew on. 

The Walking Dead season 10, episode 16 will premiere on AMC on Sunday, October 4 at 9 PM ET.