Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 1, "Power Equals Power".The Ones Who Live's ending indicated that he had made an alliance with the CRM and headed back home. As a result, Alexandria should be stronger than ever, and the community's relationship with the Commonwealth and the Bricks means that all three settlements would be extremely difficult to target due to their alliance.

However, while we haven't seen the fate of Alexandria or the Commonwealth since then, Dead City made it clear that things haven't gone quite so well for the Bricks. After Dead City season 1's ending set up New Babylon as a major antagonist, the group made an instant impression in "Power Equals Power", where it was revealed they cut off the Bricks' trading partners and forced them to the Federation. This resulted in Maggie's community falling under the thumb of this villainous faction, and while this is a compelling narrative, I find it hard to believe after Rick's return.

I Refuse To Believe Rick Grimes & The Others Let Maggie's Group Get Taken Over

The Walking Dead's Main Communities Surely Could Have Prevented New Babylon From Taking Over The Bricks

Despite the Bricks being situated quite some distance from Alexandria and the Commonwealth, I still can't imagine Rick and the franchise's other main protagonists allowing New Babylon to take over Maggie's community. Based on what Dead City has shown so far, the Bricks seem like a fairly small group, potentially even smaller than Hilltop. As a result, it is understandable how an authoritative group like New Babylon could force them to the Federation, but surely Rick and the Commonwealth alliance would have intervened at some stage.

While it could be argued that this was a recent takeover, Alexandria and the Commonwealth would be impacted by New Babylon cutting off trade to the Bricks. Therefore, they would surely be aware by now that something has gone wrong regarding Maggie's group, making it a mystery as to why they haven't tried to help. Considering some of the powerful Walking Dead villains the central survivors have taken down over the years, New Babylon is hardly the most intimidating faction to overcome, especially if everyone banded together.

This makes the Bricks falling under their rule a genuine shock, and with Dead City taking place several years after Rick's return, I'm convinced he would suggest investigating what is going on with Maggie's settlement. Maggie still has plenty of long-term allies in Alexandria and the Commonwealth who would want to look out for her, and given everything the main characters have been through, I refuse to believe they'd just leave the Bricks' residents to fend for themselves.

Dead City's Plot Hole Exposes The Weakness In The Walking Dead's Shared Universe

While Each Spinoff Is Good, The Lack Of Cohesion Between Shows Has Become A Problem

Since the main show finished, The Walking Dead has continued through three major spinoffs, and while they're all good, Dead City's plot hole highlights the biggest problem with the shared universe. Maggie and Negan's conflict in New York has been compelling and should only grow more interesting as season 2 progresses. Likewise, Daryl Dixon has been pretty consistent, and while The Ones Who Live did struggle a little with its ending, it also contained some of the best Walking Dead TV in recent years. Unfortunately, all of these projects feel completely disted and don't work in unison with one another.

Maggie and Negan's Dead City feud has no real mention of other characters or what's going on elsewhere, presumably because it takes place years after the other shows. This creates a big issue as the franchise's other communities can't get involved since the writers presumably haven't decided what has happened to them at this point in the timeline, creating a slight continuity issue. The Ones Who Live at least brought in characters like Gabriel, but only for a flashback, and it refused to acknowledge characters like Daryl or Negan.

Daryl Dixon even teased Carol bringing up Rick's return, only for it to be a bait and switch, leaving each show feeling isolated. While it's great these spinoffs are all telling fun, self-contained stories, the lack of cohesion only hurts the overarching narrative and creates plenty of contradictions and plot holes, making it extremely difficult to follow this shared universe without a show to branch everything together.

The Commonwealth Alliance Could Easily Beat The New Babylon Federation

The Commonwealth Is One Of The Walking Dead's Biggest Communities & Should Have CRM

Although New Babylon shouldn't be underestimated, they wouldn't stand a chance against the Commonwealth Alliance. New Babylon is a relatively large community and appears to have other settlements ing them, even if by force. However, compared to the Commonwealth Alliance, they are pretty tiny. The Commonwealth has one of the largest communities in the entire franchise with around 50,000 residents, and mixed with Alexandria and potentially even Oceanside, they are a formidable force for anyone attempting to oppose them.

Assuming a war broke out between The Walking Dead's main groups and New Babylon, Rick could easily get access to CRM technology and potentially some soldiers, which would make it nearly impossible for New Babylon to come out on top.

In addition, the prospect of assistance from the CRM only furthers the Commonwealth Alliance's advantage. Rick may not have become CRM leader, but he did seem to make peace with the Civic Republic and even traveled home via one of their helicopters, suggesting he has friends in high places. Assuming a war broke out between The Walking Dead's main groups and New Babylon, Rick could easily get access to CRM technology and potentially some soldiers, which would make it nearly impossible for New Babylon to come out on top.

To make matters worse, many of the people forced into conscription by New Babylon would probably be convinced by Rick and Maggie that they don't need the Federation to thrive, meaning many of the villains' fighters would back down. Therefore, if Rick and the others were to intervene, the conflict would be over quickly, adding even more questions about why they haven't attempted to help.

Why Rick & The Others Might Not Have Helped Maggie

The Commonwealth & Alexandria May Be Facing Their Own Conflicts When Dead City Takes Place

Assuming word has reached the Commonwealth and Alexandria regarding the Bricks' situation, there has to be some explanation as to why they haven't helped. Perhaps the most likely scenario is that the communities are dealing with their own conflict during the time Dead City season 2 takes place. Given the story is set around four years after any other ongoing Walking Dead project, it's possible that a new villain has entered the scene and is causing the Commonwealth Alliance big problems, hence them not having the resources or capability to help the Bricks.

It could even be a case of the CRM returning to their sinister ways, potentially looking for revenge on Rick and Michonne. Things could have even escalated further to the point where one if not all the allied communities were destroyed, leaving the survivors without any real supplies. Until we get more information on the state of these settlements, it's impossible to know for sure why they haven't offered assistance to the Bricks, and while it would be great to get a definitive reason, I'm not confident that Dead City season 2 will give us the answers we're looking for.