In case you are wondering if you missed my recap of E19 of The Walking Dead, One More…you did not. I just didn’t like the episode enough to write about it. I did not like last night’s episode either, and I am wondering if TWD universe is just throwing episodes out there until they premier the eleventh and final season. Let’s hope that I am wrong.
Splinter
This week, we get to concentrate on one of my favorite characters, Princess (Paola Lazaro). Princess, Ezekiel, Eugene, and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) have been captured by the apocalyptic stormtroopers and are now separated and locked inside train boxcars.
What we do learn in this episode is that Princess hates small, dark places. She was abused as a child and has many a battle scar from her childhood. She has also grown close to her new friends even though she just met Team Ezekiel. She was hit pretty hard during the scuffle with the stormtroopers and may be suffering from a concussion because the rest of the episode has her talking to Yumiko through a crack in the boxcar. Princess is able to rip off a piece of rotted wood, but it earns her a splinter which we learn has something to do with the maltreatment and neglect she suffered as a child.
Stormtroopers
We are given no hint on who these Stormtroopers are, or what they want from Team Ezekiel. When they drag Princess out of her boxcar, the questions they ask make her suspicious. She only wants to know if Yumiko is okay, and if they are taking care of her injuries. She also pleads for them to take the splinter from her finger, but if we thought that they were decent people, that brutal slap to Princess shows us differently.
Princess
Paola Lazaro really made this episode worth watching. Her Princess was both brave and frightened. Princess had survived severe childhood abuse and neglect, but she had learned to deal with the abuse and fear by using tools such as repeating the names all the states to keep calm.
All through the episode, Princess displays her survivor abilities when she sneaks in and out of her boxcar via a broken plank to chat with Eugene (Josh McDermitt), who was locked up in the next boxcar. Princess may have been afraid of the Stormtroopers, and she may have wanted to run away…but she was loyal to her new friends. Princess refused to leave her friends, even when Ezekiel climbed down into her boxcar… not even when Ezekiel knocks out the Stormtrooper who delivered her lunch.
Conclusion and Spoiler
Nothing is as it seems. Princess is suffering from a mental breakdown, and the Stormtrooper that brought lunch was attacked by Princess. Ezekiel (Khary Payton) was a figment of her fear and imagination as was the broken plank. Our little Princess was hallucinating her conversation with Eugene, and Ezekiel.
Who are these people who hold Princess and the others captive? Why the ridiculous outfits? Are they connected to the woman that spoke to Eugene? I don’t know, but Princess does get to see her friends alive before a cloth bag is pulled over her head. I definitely liked this episode better than last week’s.
gilbertspeaks 
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