'The Walking Dead' Season 7 finale brings 'All Out War' but only one major death

This recap contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 7 finale, titled "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life."

It took around 40 minutes for The Walking Dead's finale to actually get somewhere, but once Negan and his posse showed up at the gates of Alexandria, the episode transformed from an exercise in navel-gazing into a vaguely compelling installment. (Further proof that these "extended" episodes benefit no one -- as nice as it must be for indecisive showrunners and directors to get a little extra wiggle room, there's something to be said for keeping things lean and disciplined and getting right to the action.)

Speaking of the action: Apparently the fan theories about Sasha's death were correct -- she popped Eugene's suicide pill on the way to Alexandria, and burst out of Negan's painfully on-the-nose casket as a walker. I wonder how many people were surprised by that twist when speculation was running rampant online in the weeks leading up to the finale.

It's admirable that Sasha attempted to complete her mission to kill Negan the only way she knew how, with the one weapon made available to her, but sadly it still wasn't enough to overpower the bat-loving villain -- who's likely to be with us at least through the first half of Season 8, if not longer.

The finale did bring back a familiar face in the form of Michael Cudlitz's Abraham -- giving us a small chance at closure after his death in the premiere, which was undeniably overshadowed by the shock of Glenn's murder immediately after his.

The ginger giant returned through Sasha's memories, which took us back to the morning of the day Abraham and Glenn died, when we learned that Sasha tried her damnedest to convince him to skip out on helping get Maggie to Hilltop -- a choice that might've kept him alive at least a little longer.

The finale also paid fitting tribute to Glenn through Maggie's touching monologue at the end of the episode, in which she credited her husband with setting the heroic example that the rest of them have followed ever since.

"You were in trouble, you were trapped; Glenn didn’t know you, but he helped you, he put himself in danger for you," Maggie told Rick. "That started it all — from Atlanta, to my daddy’s farm, to the prison, to here, to this moment now. Not as strangers, as family. Because Glenn chose to be there for you that day a long time ago, that was the decision that changed everything. It started with both of you and it just grew to all of us. To sacrifice for each other. To suffer and stand. To grieve. To give. To love. To live. To fight for each other. Glenn made the decision, Rick, I was just following his lead."

But despite the focus on the past, at the end of the finale, Sasha was thankfully the only fatality (and at least we can get our fix of Sonequa Martin-Green on Star Trek: Discovery), thanks to the well-timed arrival of The Kingdom and Hilltop's forces, who saved the Alexandrians from certain death after the Scavengers double-crossed Rick and chose to side with Negan. (Highlight of the episode? Watching Shiva pounce on hapless Saviors as Negan lost his shit about it.)

Now our forces are united against the Saviors and ready for "All Out War," the 12-issue arc in Robert Kirkman's comics that sees Rick and his group attempting to take down Negan once and for all. And thanks to the note that Dwight left (via a carved soldier, fittingly) confirming that he didn't know about the double-cross, now the Alexandrians and their allies have an inside man to use against Negan in Season 8.

Here's hoping the show can maintain that hopeful tone and restrain itself from wandering too far into the bog of angst and torture that slowed down much of Season 7.