The Walking Dead: World Beyond boss breaks down latest big reveal

Between Silas leaving and the reveal that a main character is working for the Civic Republic, it’s all going down on The Walking Dead: World Beyond.

The latest episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond, “The Sky Is a Graveyard,” was another example of how this show continues to get better every week. In this episode, we get a dark and sinister backstory for Silas, learning of the parental abuse that eventually led to him killing his own father. We also get the shocking reveal that Huck (Annet Mahendru) is the daughter of Civic Republic Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth (Julia Ormond). This spinoff is heating up, and showrunner Matt Negrete is here to break it down.

Let’s start with Silas’ terrible flashbacks of beating his abusive father to death. It was pretty harrowing stuff. Naturally, a story like this is difficult to depict, especially since Negrete wanted to capture the complicated nuance of the situation. “One of the things that the writers and I talked about in terms of how we wanted to depict Silas’ dad is a disturbing portrait of domestic abuse,” he told Entertainment Weekly.  “I think it’s really easy to categorize someone as being horrible and abusive. Silas’ dad definitely was, but I think part of the nature of the abuse is that it’s not always bad.”

"I do think that he loved Silas, but his father was obviously a very disturbed person and had demons of his own. It really was designed to create the full picture of Silas. Obviously, Silas was influenced by his father in so many ways in terms of the music he listens to, and so there was the good of that, but also the bad that Silas took from it, which was he fears that he’s like his father in other much darker ways. That’s the thing that’s really affecting Silas in the present."

By the end of the episode, Silas ditches his beloved Walkman on the road behind him as he leaves the group on his own, but is followed by Elton. Some fans have been wondering why exactly he throws away the Walkman. It turns out, the music reminds him of his father and therefore is symbolic of his dark past:

"I think for Silas, music is a powerful thing that reminds him of his family — not just his father. He references his grandparents in episode 4. I think part of it is that music and his headset is a combination of who he’s become at this point, and all he’s wanted is to start over. By him leaving the Walkman down on the road as he’s walking away, it’s really him basically shedding everything from his past, including his friends because he sees himself as probably a danger. But maybe if he can shed these things, these parts of himself he’s carried with him over all these years, he can finally start over again. That’s his hope at the end of the episode.”"

I think these character flashbacks are the best part of the show. It’s very interesting to get glimpses back to the beginnings of the apocalypse. So far, we’ve had backstories for Hope, Elton, Silas and Huck. They have all been unique and given us clues as to why they act like they do in the present.

Now for the other big reveal. As the episode draws to a close, we find out that Huck is actually working for Civic Republic boss Elizabeth Kublek. That’s a revelation nobody saw coming, although it explains why she mysteriously ditched the group for several days earlier in the season.

Elizabeth also hands Huck “Dad’s watch,” which seems to imply they’re mother and daughter. Could it be true? “Yeah, that’s a big revelation there at the end of the episode,” Negrete said. “I will say that we’ll get some answers in the coming episode before the end of the season.”

As for the mother-daughter connection, Negrete went right to the edge of confirmation but didn’t quite step over. “I will say that, if nothing else, there seems to be a mother-daughter relationship. There are more things to unfold there, but they referenced dad’s watch, so it sort of leads one to believe that there’s some sort of a familial connection happening there.”

We’re hungry for more answers, and now we know we’re going to get them! The Walking Dead: World Beyond airs Sundays on AMC.

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