Rick could have just lied they could have easily come back and killed them all or just defended the prison a bit better

 

I agree with you. I think Rick mentioned the only reason to not go away is that there were kids and some others in the prison group that would likely not survive out there.
But I disagree. If I were him, I would take the chance and would save Hershel and Michonne, without the hindsight of knowing Julio and possibly a few redshirts (in the blue bus) would die.

I wonder how others (Daryl, Maggie, Glenn...etc) would respond to the Governor's offer. They had one hour to pack up and leave. That amount of time should be sufficient to pack most of the supplies in the prison and move along.

 

This one is hard to speculate on. First, there is no guarantee the Governor would honor his end of the bargain; nor is there any guarantee his new army would follow his orders to attack Rick's troops if they withdrew. It is hard to believe the Governor would just hand over Michonne unharm (and in his mind, unavenged).

In Rick's mind, it may have been too demoralizing for his group to retreat. Even though they were already beaten down with the flu and other set-backs, their backs were against the proverbial wall. Trying to sell his group on leaving their relatively protective shelter and supplies, going back on the road in survival mode, with the prospect of still having the Governor hunt them down (remember, he sent Merle's assassins to track down Michonne), probably wouldn't appeal to the group. They also have a lot of walking wounded and children, which makes things extremely hard for being on the road. Granted, they would be a detriment in a defensive battle as well.

It may have just boiled down to something as simple as Rick & Co. were defending their home. I suspect they were pissed off at the audacity of someone demanding they give up all they had worked so hard for. If a armed group came to your house and demanded you leave, give them most of your stuff, and turn you out on the street, I suspect many of you would stand and fight, even if the odds were against you.

 

I do want to add that leaving the prison might be what Rick would of done after he tried all the other options. He said he wouldn't leave, I'm assuming to get a reaction to see if the Governor was bluffing. Then he gave his speech about trying to get everyone together and share the prison...

I have no doubt that Rick would of left if it saved Hershel's and Michonnes life. They just didn't get to that part because the Governor did his thing to Hershel during Rick's speech about joining groups. Then Rick and his group didn't have a choice anymore and were pretty much forced into fighting for everyone to stay alive.

 

seems like you people were watching a different show, lol

1) He never decided to fight until Hersell was be-headed...he was basically pleading with the governor and I believe they would have left if that never happened

2) who's to say they were going to leave and give team prison a chance to get ready for a fight? I would think they would just stay there camped at the gate waiting for them to pack and not to prep to fight them

3) If I were the governor, I would still track them down and take them out while they are leaving with the tank so i didn't have to worry about revenge...I'm sure Rick considered this too

so how is leaving a good idea? Now the governor is dad and THAT threat is eliminated!

 

How could Rick ever trust the Governor would keep his word?

Here was a man who came to kill the prison group once, and then gunned down most of his own people when they failed.

The prison was their home, and Rick and the others had put so much into defending it and building it up. They know what it's like on the road, and the high probability that the children and the elderly wouldn't survive out there.

In the end, I think Rick was trying to appeal more to the people with the Governor, to get them to lay down their weapons and join him. He was desperate but he tried to honour Hershel's way, and he truly didn't want anyone to die.

If they had just packed up and left, they would have been out on the road with no safe haven in prospect and with sick, elderly, young people to care for. That would have been just as much of a potential death sentence as staying and fighting for what was already theirs. There is also no guarantee that the Governor wouldn't have changed his mind and decided they needed to be wiped out anyway, even if he let them all leave the prison in one piece. They would all still potentially be competing over the same dwindling supplies, and the Governor already said he wouldn't tolerate that when he had Woodbury.

 

To be honest, even if Rick did decide to leave the prison the Gov would've probably killed Hershel anyway.

 

I think it was a no win situation. Rick probably knew it, but tried any way. I think the gov thought Rick might be getting somewhere the his(gov) people, he wanted a fight so he kill Herschel to insure the fight happened. Besides do you really think the gov was going to let Ricks group go off with all the supplies the prison had. . The gov wanted all Ricks group dead, he just made his big speech, at the trailer park,sounding like he didn't want to kill anyone unless forced to, because that's what Ricks group was all about. So it was okay to go kill and take their stuff. Gov likes people looking up to him, thinking he's such a good man, not knowing the truth. That's why he had his henchmen in Woodbury and in this new group. He's a douche. No I take that back, because even a douche serves a good purpose. Haha.

 

^^ This.

When The Guv was talking to Hershel and Michonne in the RV, he said something like, "Rick and I couldn't live together, Michonne and I couldn't live together." Then when Rick makes the offer to The Guv's people to join the prison gang, The Guv's back was effectively put against a wall. If the rest of his group joined Rick's group, what would he do? He couldn't (in his mind) join them, so he'd be left out in the cold, alone - somewhere he didn't want to be again. Even if Lily and Meghan joined him, they'd be out on the road again, vulnerable.

So he really had no choice but to incite the conflict by beheading one of the hostages, and he (probably correctly) decided Hershel would provoke a stronger response from Hershel's friends and family.

Not that I'm trying to defend The Guv, but his actions are actually quite logical from his point of view. He may even have been right when he called Rick a liar - the prison might have had room for the others, but there probably wouldn't have been room for The Guv.

 

They gained nothing, but it was the governor who started the fight by doing you know what, not rick. Rick was still negotiating and trying to get everyone to live together.

 

Don't think it would had matter what Rick would had done. The Governor didn't get them the amount of time he claimed to leave and he didn't keep his word to his own people that this was all for sure and no one was going to die since well he chopped off Hershel's head. The only thing maybe Rick could of done is agreeing just to buy them more time to think of something since either way there was no guarantee of getting Michonne and Hershel back unharmed. No matter what though the Governor was going to have war.

 

I agree. Who would trust TG at the prison? I can't see Rick believing that TG would just let them stroll out of the prison, to be on their merry way. Even if he let them leave peacefully, I'm sure he would've stripped them of any food/ weapons/ medicine, they might have had...only to possibly off them once they were on the road.

 

Actually, the Gov. left himself an out. When he was talking his group into attacking the prison, he emphasized the plan of not having to fire a shot, but did make the disclaimer that they needed to be prepared for a major fight, if the prison group didn't cooperate.

 

They had to fight. That is just common sense.

 

Another idiotic move by Rick. He should have agreed, especially since the Governor was seeming to please the ones around him, he should have went back and they could have strategized what to do, they had a few hours. They probably could have saved Herschel's life. Rick poisons everything he touches.

 

The gov had every choice. For the simple fact he did not have to go to the prison. The new gov group was relatively safe and had the same chances to get food as Ricks group. Gov just wanted to stir the pot. And mess with Ricks group, and finally get the prison. He's unstable and not logical. Not matter what Rick said or did gov was gunning for blood.

 

I was thinking when Lilly walked up carrying Megan, she'd hand Megan to Brian, pull out her gun and shot him in the head. How jaw dropping would that have been? I'd of liked that much better then Herschel being killed. Which definitely was a jaw dropper.

 

It probably would have been a good idea to leave, but how could they be sure the Governor didn't plan to shoot them in the back? Philip didn't really need the rest of his group to hunt down Rick's group. He caught his own people by surprise and killed most of them. He could probably do the same to Rick and co. if he really wanted to.

I honestly don't think he did, though. The only person I think he still held a grudge with was Michonne.

Unfortunately, no truce or promise would have lasted long. As soon as Lily arrived with Megan's body, the Gov snapped. Again. All bets would probably be off at that point. The entire reason Philip wanted the prison was gone. He'd probably want to take that aggression out on someone. If Rick and co. were still in range, they'd likely be the first targets.

I think it was going to end in a fight, regardless of what Rick tried to do.