'The Walking Dead' Season 10 Episode 17 Spoilers: Reapers and Why Maggie Returns

The Walking Dead Season 10 just won't end, as episode 17 prepares to grace AMCs airwaves Sunday evening. In advance of the premiere, we've got some sweet SPOILERS to share regarding the emergence of a new threat and how they're linked to Maggie's surprise return. The news arrives courtesy of a We are The Walking Dead Fans Facebook post published one week ago.

The bulk of episode 17 focuses on Maggie's reveal of a new enemy and the continued search for Connie. Before getting there, however, the source post answers a few looming questions regarding Maggie's current relationship with characters like Negan and Carol. Carol feels guilty for releasing and cooperating with Negan, so she tells Maggie how the situation played out. Maggie is obviously hurt by the news but seemingly forgives her by the end of the episode.

And, following along his redemption arc, Negan finds it extremely difficult to watch Glenn's child Hershel running around without a father because of what he did. Maggie and Negan do bump into each other a few times over the course of the episode, but nothing is said. There are, however, many tearful reflections on Glenn's character along the way.

As far as the larger Maggie questions are concerned, she reveals she had been working with Georgie "for a while," but the mysterious character moved to a town out west. Now on her own, Maggie establishes a new community at a village that has since been ransacked by a group called the Reapers. This is why she has come to her old friends for help. The Reapers are a formation of well-trained killers who often wear ghillie suits to get the drop on their adversaries.

Maggie has also brought with her two trusted companions from her settlement, who we now know to be Cole and Elijah. Elijah is the mask-wearing character viewers briefly saw at the end of episode 16, and he's fiercely protective of Maggie and his identity. When Kelly asks him to remove his mask, he trembles while doing so. Cole, on the other hand, is extremely proficient with blades.

Elijah, Cole, Kelly, Daryl and Maggie travel in a group to see what's left of Hilltop while simultaneously searching for Connie. It's learned that the Reapers are on a persistent hunt for Maggie, as even her makeshift camp is completely torched. Daryl and young Hershel also encounter some Reapers of their own. Thankfully, both characters manage to escape, with the young boy playfully tossing a rock at his mother's head from the top of a tree. Beyond those brief confrontations, it's discovered that the Hilltop has been destroyed and Connie still isn't found. At Alexandria, the gang is still repairing damages left as a "present" from the Whisperers.

Episode 17 of The Walking Dead Season 10 gets fans caught up with Maggie's story while introducing a new threat. Unfortunately, because the Reapers appear to be entirely separate from the source comic book series, it's difficult to know what to expect going forward. At the very least, this bonus batch of episodes seems like it'll offer an interesting side arc that fans haven't seen before. We still have plenty of questions about those stormtroopers and the presumed introduction of the Commonwealth, but maybe those plot threads won't be addressed in a significant way until Season 11.

The Walking Dead continues February 28 on AMC.

What do you hope to see from these bonus episodes for Season 10? Should our heroes fear the Reapers? Tell us in the comments section!