"What Comes After" is the fifth episode of the ninth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on November 4, 2018. The episode's teleplay was written by Matthew Negrete, from a story by Scott M. Gimple and Negrete, and it was directed by Greg Nicotero. In the episode, a heavily-wounded Rick Grimes struggles to divert a zombie herd while he questions his legacy in maintaining his vision of the united communities. This episode included guest appearances by former regular cast members Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha Williams), Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Emily Kinney (Beth Greene), Michael Cudlitz (Abraham Ford), and Lennie James (Morgan Jones). It was Wilson's penultimate on-screen appearance before his death. It also marks the final appearances of Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes), and Pollyanna McIntosh (Anne). It was also the last appearance for Lauren Cohan (Maggie Greene) in the season, due to other acting commitments. She returned to the show in late second part season 10 and was a series regular in the third part of season 10. Plot Rick dreams of a swarm of helicopters, before regaining consciousness and finding himself surrounded by walkers. He manages to free himself off the rebar he had been impaled on after being thrown off by his spooked horse, but is bleeding profusely. He makes it back to his horse, barely holding onto consciousness to lead the merged walker hordes away from the construction camp. Getting enough of a lead, he finds an abandoned cabin nearby to create makeshift bandages, before leading the hordes onward. Throughout this, Rick falls in and out of consciousness and has lucid dreams of him trying to find his family, which includes conversations with Shane and Hershel, both of whom urge him to wake back up to reality and stay ahead of the horde. Anne is trying to make her way to a planned rendezvous point in Heath's stolen RV, and is told by the man on the other end of the walkie-talkie that she had misled them before. She assures them she has the "A" they need and needs to get out of this place. Maggie continues onto Alexandria; Michonne hears of this and intercepts her before she reaches the cage where Negan is being kept. Maggie is able to convince Michonne to hand over the keys, telling her she will