"You can give Danai Gurira her Emmy now" - The internet reacts to The Walking Dead's best episode in years

The Walking Dead season 9 has been a strong outing for the show thus far, but it's most recent episode, Scars, may have just raised the bar to an all time high. Consider this your spoiler warning for episode 14, because we're about to break down exactly what happened over its 45 minute runtime, and how Walking Dead fans could barely keep it together in their online reactions. 

Scars was a flashback-focused episode, set during the few weeks after Rick "died" in episode 5. To put a long and terribly tragic story short, Michonne is betrayed by a old, pre-apocalypse friend and her band of feral children, who end up branding both her and Daryl before the former kills them all in a fit of parental rage when Judith's life is threatened. To say it was a tough watch is putting it lightly and the internet had plenty to say about what went down.

Hello? Is this the Academy?

At the beating heart of Scars was Dania Gurira, who gave it her all as a mother fighting to protect her children, no matter the cost. It can't have been an easy episode to film, but Gurira displayed the rawness of Michonne's strength and vulnerability as tactfully and emotively as always. Naturally, fans took notice, and have rightly taken to Twitter to praise the hell out of the actress who, last week, nearly didn't receive her own credit in the Avengers: Endgame poster. 

Won't somebody think of the children?!

Yes, there was a lot of infanticide in this week's episode of The Walking Dead, but it never came across as exploitative. The scene in question was directed and choreographed with enough sensitivity to make it appear both heartbreaking and necessary all at once. Still, it was a tough moment for Michonne, and indeed the show as a whole, and people had opinions. 

Long live the Queen of Alexandria

Whatever your thoughts about the episode, everyone came out of it with a newfound respect for Michonne, who has already become the most interesting and captivating leads of the show since Rick's exit. What's more, Scars saw her finally overcome her fears in the present day, deciding to rebuild bridges with the other communities in time for the upcoming fair. Everyone's in agreement; this katana-wielding badass is a true Walking Dead legend. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering...

Of course we can't have an episode of The Walking Dead season 9 without Henry being weird and creepy in some way, and this brief moment saw him let Lydia fiddle with his newfound scar from the fight with The Whisperers in episode 13. Funnily enough, this scene has its origins from the comic books, only between Lydia and Carl instead, but it's somehow even more disgusting than on the page...

Now please excuse me while I go and throw up for the next 24 hours. Henry hating aside, the general consensus on Scars is a hugely positive one, even for those who haven't been too taken by season 9's soft refresh of The Walking Dead so far. 

What's more, with just one episode left before the big finale (which will presumably focus on the upcoming trade fair between Alexandria, Hilltop, and The Kingdom), even bloodier things could be in store for Michonne and company. Fingers crossed she isn't forced to make mince meat of any more feral children this time...

In the mean time, check out the biggest questions we have about the upcoming Walking Dead movies, and how Rick Grimes might return to our small screens.