i was confused by that as well. obviously King Zeke thought it was righteous cause - or he wouldn't have went there himself along with Shiva - so wouldn't you think that he would bring more of a force along with him? I do totally understand leaving some people behind for protection, but his force was a total of about 10 people and a Tiger. there is no way he couldn't spare more than that.

 

I think EZ only took a dozen or so men with him to Alexandria because he was just going to tell Rick that the Kingdom would join in the fight and brought Shiva along for extra protection. I don't think he expected the Saviors to be in Alexandria, so he left most of his forces back at the Kingdom.

 

Ezekiel had Carol, Morgan, Jerry, Dianne, Alvaro, and Daniel + 4 extras = 11 people total. You're right I did see a lot more soldiers in training, but maybe they were kept at home in case Gavin's crew was sent to retaliate. Hilltop had about 15 people total at the fight, the rest at home to protect as necessary.

 

Yea, tactical move. The other communities knew about the plan. The plan was for Negan to arrive with about 20 saviors. So each community only needed to send a small number of fighters. A dozen from each community plus the Alexandrians, plus the junk yardians, should have been more than enough to take out 20 saviors. Plus that allowed the other communities to leave people behind to protect their community. Another factor was weapons. Each group has a limited number of weapons, no need to have people out number the available weapons.

The biggest obstacle these groups will face is lack of communication. With no phones and no real way to communicate it is impossible to relay information and changing situations to one another. Long range radios will help, but even then there is no way to call for backup.

 

I don't remember anything that would suggest the Kingdom knew anything. The Maggie knew that Rick was starting a resistance movement, but if I remember correctly she made the decision to go to Alexandria on her own. Rick told her to stay put but at that time they didn't know Gregory was gone.

 

As best I can remember, the plan was what Dwight laid out. The Saviors would come, get all blowed up and killed by Rick and the Garbagers surprise attack, roll back into an unsuspecting Sanctuary and take it down, and eliminate the rest of the outposts from there.

Maggie was supposed to protect the Hilltop but made the decision to go to Alexandria after Gregory Defected. The Kingdom and Rick were mutually unaware of each other's plans.

The timing of the other groups arrival was fortuitous (and very unrealistic, but you know...).

 

I was under the impression that everybody was aware of the plan. Dwight laid out the plan to take out Negan and his 20 saviors when they arrived at Alexandria and he was going to slow them down to give more time to prepare. Maggie seemed to know about the plan, obviously Jadis knew about the plan, and I assumed kingdom knew as well because why else would they have been armed and on their way to Alexandria at the same time?

 

I don't remember any time there had been any interaction between the Kingdom and Rick since Rick left after the meeting with Ezekiel. Even if you count Daryl, he left well before the events that led Ezekiel to decide to join the fight.

Maggie specifically said that Rick wanted her to stay but she was going to have to make a decision because when Rick said that they didn't know what Gregory was up to.

 

Agreed, but they never showed any interaction between Rick and Jadis after Dwight laid out his plan, and they showed up ready to take on Negan. It is implied that Rick communicated with Jadis and told her of the ambush plan. Maggie, and the junkyard knew of the plan Dwight came up with, even though we never see Rick contact them. I don't think it's a stretch to assume Rick also contacted the kingdom at the same time.

 

Only that Rick had an assumption that the other groups were in for the fight. That was not the case with the Kingdom.

I just did something I never do to make sure I was remembering correctly. I re-watched the scenes in question. Maggie mentions Dwight, Seaside and the Scavengers but never mentions the Kingdom. Ezekiel in his speech to Morgan mentions forming an alliance but not an imminent battle of any kind, no urgency to get there quickly as though anything was going to go down soon.

That's the way I see it. Not that it really matters I guess.

 

I guess I'm giving the writers the benefit of the doubt. If we are to believe that hilltop, the junkyard, and Alexandria were the only ones privy to the plan of ambushing Negan and were the only ones who knew when Negan would arrive. Then we have to believe that the kingdom just so happened to want to go tell Rick they are on board at the exact same time they would have arrived if they were part of the plan.

Personally it's harder for me to believe that it was pure coincidence than it is for me to believe that when telling communicating with the junkyard and hilltop, he didn't also reach out to the kingdom.

 

Why would Ezekiel bring Shiva and a fully armed group if he was simply going there to tell Rick that he wanted to join him in the fight? Wouldn't it make more sense to just send Morgan and Carol to deliver the message?

 

Another good point, that supports the idea that the kingdom was part of the plan.

I watched the scene when Ezekiel runs into Morgan again, to see if there are any hints. But that scene still comes off as the kingdom marching to Alexandria to be part of the Negan ambush. It makes the most sense.

So to answer the original question about numbers, I believe Rick contacted the kingdom, hilltop, and junk yard. Telling Maggie to stay behind in case it doesn't work. Tells the junkyard to show up and kingdom to send people. But they don't need everybody, because they are initially only taking on 20 or so saviors.

 

Just going by what I saw and what was said. Rick had guns, thought he had a surprise army in the Scavengers and dynamite to set up a trap and ambush. He thought he had it covered so he didn't even think he needed Hilltop. You can add anything you want.

And as for something being too big of a coincidence that it stretches credulity for it to occur, give me a break.

 

So you think it's more likely that Ezekiel was on his way, with his best fighters, and his tiger, to Alexandria just to tell Rick he's on board......at the same time that they are about to ambush Negan. Than it is likely that Rick contacted him the same time he contacted the junkyard and Maggie?

 

If it was you and you knew you had less than a day to set up an ambush, would you travel the 15 miles or so to the kingdom for some reason when the last thing they told you was that they were not joining the fight.

They have never told Rick they were in, not once. Rick has not been in contact with them at all. Daryl left there because they were not doing anything, that is what he knows. That and that Carol is out as well and Morgan is useless to them. That is what he believed.

You would do that as well as go in 20 miles in a different direction to the Hilltop and to who knows where to the Junkyard?

Rick has never mentioned the Kingdom as allies since they refused his request, as far as I can remember.

Why would he contact them is the more logical question.

Also, if for some reason he had and told them what was up, why would they walk the 15 miles instead of driving to get there sooner?

Ezekiel seems to be about the grand gesture, Bringing a tiger to Alexandria would be one.

 

Oh, I absolutely see the flaws in both ideas. Including the theory that Rick contacted Ezekiel. I just take the easier one to believe.

You are right, the last contact Rick has had with the kingdom was him being denied. So it's easy to think that Ezekiel is not privy to the plan. But it's just as easy, for me, to believe Rick contacted him and asked him to join. Either way is a stretch.

It is night when Rick finds out Negan is coming the next day. We don't know what time of day Negan leaves the sanctuary or how long the trees held them up. We do know that Enid makes the trip to the hilltop. She is with them when they get back from Oceanside and meet Dwight, and she is at the hilltop the next morning when Maggie reveals that she knows about the plan to ambush Negan. So we assume Enid is the one who takes the trip to the hilltop. Either that night or early the next day. The junkyard people arrive geared for war following the rv, we assume Rick went to go get them that morning and is the one driving the rv. The leap in logic would be who, if anybody reached out to Ezekiel the same morning. If they did why were they not with the kingdom on their March to Alexandria? So I see your logic that the king isn't part of the plan, he was just on his way to talk to Rick when he happened to arrive when the battle was raging and joined in. But I also believe it is possible that Rick left Alexandria that night, dropped off Enid at the hilltop, went to the kingdom to tell them the plan, then went to the junkyard to get the heapsters.

The timeline has always been wonky on the show. So I suppose anything is possible. We agree to disagree.

 

I think you people forget that Ezekiel is a bit of a crazy man, we had several crazy villians, now we got a crazy good guy (or atleast one pulling a really crazy show)

it is a show of power, they even got banners for gods sake. It is to show the might of the Kingdom and of course, showing that Ezekiel is ready to take the fight by coming personally with his own personal guard. He also need guards of course. And the tiger can probably eat anything it comes over, saving food back home. I think if he would have gone to war he would have brought a bigger party.