‘Walking Dead’ Season 5 Spoilers: Major Character Dies In The Midseason Premiere; Episode 9 Recap

After months of waiting “The Walking Dead” returned to AMC Sunday night. On hiatus since November, the hit series reunited fans with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang as they mourned Beth (Emily Kinney) and looked toward the future.

The midseason premiere, episode 9, kicked off with the survivors still grieving; however, they needed to come up with a new plan. With Father Gabriel’s (Seth Gilliam) church no longer an option, they decided to take Noah’s (Tyler James Williams) suggestion of going to a safe haven outside Richmond, Virginia.

In usual fashion the group split up. Rick, Noah, Tyreese (Chad L. Coleman), Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) headed toward Noah’s old stomping grounds while Carol (Melissa McBride) stayed back with the others for safety reasons. Going off of past encounters with survivors, Rick made everyone park in the woods and enter the potential safe haven on foot. Noah told him they didn’t need to, but Rick warned him “just in case.”

Unfortunately the group didn’t need to sneak in because the safe haven had already fallen to walkers. Buildings were burned and bodies littered the ground when Glenn looked over the gate. Noah had to see for himself, and had a meltdown when he discovered into what his former home turned.

Although the area as a safe haven was a bust, Rick decided to take Michonne and Glenn to sweep it for supplies. Tyreese stayed behind to watch Noah, but the newcomer decided he couldn’t stay in the middle of his old complex -- he had to go see his old house.

Tyreese followed Noah, and the pair discovered that his family had died -- but some had also turned into zombies. As they explored the house, a young boy bit Tyreese on the arm after a set of photos distracted him. Noah came in and put a toy through the walker’s head, but it was too late for Tyreese. Noah ran out of the house to get help; however, Tyreese wasn’t left alone. He began to see the dead.

The Terminus guy who threatened Tyreese and baby Judith at the beginning of the season, Beth, Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.), the Governor (David Morrissey), Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) and Mika (Kyla Kenedy) all appeared before him.

“I tried to tell you, man,” the Terminus guy said to Tyreese.

“You have to earn your keep,” the Governor told him as he began to bleed out. “Remember that? That’s what you said.”

“It’s better now,” Mika and Lizzie added.

The fever was getting to Tyreese, and that wasn’t the only bad news for him. One of the dead he was hallucinating actually turned out to be a walker. Weak from his wound, Tyreese couldn’t battle the zombie. To avoid getting a bite on his face or another limb, he resorted to shoving his already injured arm in the walker’s face and using a rock to bludgeon it in the head.

Elsewhere, Michonne was trying to convince Rick that they should make the location their new home. Rick argued that it would never work because there were no walls to protect them from outsiders. Michonne suggested chopping down some trees to build a wall, but when she walked toward the woods she discovered body parts -- the bottom halves of bodies and arms -- strewn all over the ground.

With Beth’s death eating away at everyone emotionally, Michonne explained they needed a new home to survive. Since Noah’s old safe haven was out, she pitched their original game plan -- Washington, D.C. Although Eugene (Josh McDermitt) had lied about a cure being in Washington, Michonne said they were so close they might as well scope out the situation. Rick surprisingly agreed, but they didn’t have time for further discussion because they heard Noah shout for help.

When they found Noah he was being attacked by a group of walkers. After getting the zombies off him, he hurriedly explained Tyreese had been bitten and needed his arm amputated. They raced toward their friend as he continued to hallucinate.

“Its OK that you didn’t want to be a part of it anymore, Ty,” Bob told Tyreese. Meanwhile, the Governor ripped Tyreese apart for forgiving Carol for killing the woman he loved.

“I forgave her because it’s not over,” Tyreese angrily told the hallucination. Lizzie and Mika began pulling Tyreese’s arm, but in reality it was Rick holding the arm straight while Michonne used her katana to cleanly cut it off.

They rushed Tyreese back to the car, but it got stuck in the dirt and hit another vehicle. The jolt sent the contents of the other car flying -- the upper halves of the bodies they discovered by the woods.

Rick finally managed to get the car going, but it was too late. They pulled over and took Tyreese’s out of the car when he stopped breathing.

The final moments of “The Walking Dead” midseason premiere concluded with the group burying Tyreese.