The Dixon brothers are in a major pickle now that the Governor has accused Merle of being a traitor and demands they fight to the death.

But thanks to Rick & Maggie, they are able to escape Woodbury unscathed.

A smoke bomb reaps confusion and panic, giving Merle and Daryl enough time to get out and with Rick and Maggie, meet up with injured Glenn and Michonne.

This is not a happy reunion. Glenn, after being captured by Merle in the first place, wants nothing to do with him. Michonne wants to kill Merle.

Merle reveals fresh info to Glenn, Rick and Maggie: Andrea is alive, is bonking the Governor and spent the winter with Michonne.

And he keeps goading everyone with racist, nasty remarks. Rick bonks him unconscious. (That's so easy to do in movies and TV, eh?)

Daryl tries to make a case to keep Merle around: "We could use the muscle."

But Rick knows Merle can onlhy sow discontent. And Glenn is dead set against Merle staying. Daryl has no doubt who he's sticking with.

"Don't ask me to leave him. We did that once," Daryl plead. (See season one, when Merle was left on the Atlanta rooftop, handcuffed to a pipe. He ultimately had to cut his hand off to escape the zombies.)

Daryl tells Rick he and Merle will "fend for ourselves," saying "it was always Merle and me before."

He said Carol, his closest friend in the group, "will understand" why he left. He then wishes him, the "asskicker" baby and Carl well. "That's one tough kid," Daryl says, a true compliment.

Daryl, under Rick, learned over the months he could live on without Merle but was second fiddle to Rick in the pecking order. With Merle, he will also be second fiddle. We'll have wait to see how their interplay will be in the new world. But not this episode. They leave and we don't see them again. 

Nobody wants Michonne around, but Rick decides to bring her back to the prison to recover from injuries before letting her go on her way.

Later, Rick, Maggie, Glenn and Michonne return to the prison. Rick has to break the bad news to Carol that Daryl is gone. She is bereft but as Daryl said, understanding. "Daryl has his code," she proclaims. "The world needs men like that."

There's a touching moment between Herschel and Glenn, who is hurt but has no broken bones. "You're like my own son, Glenn," he said. Maggie and Glenn are not very talkative about what happened at Woodbury and Herschel worries for them. "You got your mother's spirit and her stubborness," he tells Maggie.

Axel, the lone prisoner still alive, is saddened that Oscar didn't make it episode eight. "He went out fighting," Rick says.

Rick tells Herschel that the Governor is a bit nuts and expects him to go after them at the prison soon.

He also meets with Tyreese's group, all who appear to be in decent physical shape. But Rick naturally doesn't trust them. (We learn a bit about their background earlier in the hour. They hid out with a survivalist for many months until they ran out of supplies. "I must be the first brother to break into prison," Tyreese joked. Allen actually plotted to kill Rick's crew earlier in the episode, saying it's "survival of the fittest," but Tyreese told him they were good folks and kept Allen from acting.)  Herschel, the only person left Rick will truly listen to, thinks they need the muscle with the Governor inevitably coming.

"You've done so much for us," Herschel tells Rick. "I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you ask without question.I'm telling you. You're wrong on this. You got to start giving people a chance."

Rick relents but then sees the ghost of Lori and goes nuts. In a frenzy, he tells Tyreese's crew to get out. All the psychological damage he's accumulated to date is catching up to him. But it's clear he's going to need Tyreese and his trio. But given Allen's attitude, he probably won't be around too long for this world.

Meanwhile, back at Woodbury:

The Governor is cracking as much as Rick. He isolated himself after the Dixon mess. A rudderless town is in borderline mutiny. Several citizens just want to leave. A couple of the Governor's muscle men fend them off rather aggressively and clumsily.

Rick and Co.'s escape path, a little opening in the fence, allowed a zombie to get into the Woodbury sanctuary. The zombie gnaws on a Woodbury citizen. Andrea kills the zombie. Everyone watches in horror as the citizen writhes in pain. The Governor shows up briefly, shoots him, then disappears again. Andrea gives a speech to calm everyone down, showing nascent leadership skills.

Andrea is later shown livid with the Governor. She finds out Maggie and Glenn were kidnapped and can't believe the Governor didn't tell her. He says they are now at war, that her friends killed several of Woodbury's citizens. "You're just a visitor, just passing through so why should I tell you?' he says.

But his betrayal does not cause her to leave. Her loyalties now are firmly split, but the Governor realizes he needs her. When the two sides go to war, what will she do?

And when will we see the Dixon brothers again?