Episode 11.13 titled "Warlords" is focused on the Commonwealth arc. The premise for episode 13 reads: Maggie, Lydia and Elijah help a stranger from another community called Riverbend. They run into Aaron, who tells them about a mission he embarked on with Gabriel as emissaries for the Commonwealth. I think the editing and pacing was perfect in this episode, some of the best, with some great transitions. Jim Barnes & Erik Mountain penned the script for 11.13, the overall writing was brilliant and the dialogue felt right. Overseen by Angela Kang, the writing for this episode is consistent of the previous episodes in Part 2, maybe even a bit better. The episode uses the big budget wisely, making it brilliant both technically and the acting and so on, the camera work are brilliant and it's visually a great episode, an overall impressive production.
Loren Yaconelli directed 11.13 "Warlords" and the direction was surprisingly brilliant, there are so many great scenes in this episode and there's not one single bad performance throughout the entire episode. The cinematography is once again breathtaking and incredible, just right for the show, the way it was shot and so on, simply brilliant. The sets were detailed and perfect, and so are the art and production design. Superb sound design and a musical score both gripping and dramatic. It's one of many things on the technical side of things that the show succeeds perfectly with.
As this was a direct follow-up to the previous episode which ended with Pamela Milton finishing the long awaited tour of Alexandria and Hilltop. The best performances were Seth Gilliam as Gabriel Stokes, Ross Marquand as Aaron, Jason Butler Harner as Toby Carlson
and guest star Michael Biehn. Honestly these two actors, Ross and Seth are brilliant together and their characters are too incredible. But what surprised me was Harner and the character Toby Carlson, with his character and Lance Hornsby, we get to truly see the darker side of the Commonwealth. In my opinion, Jason Butler Harner is a great addition to the cast and Toby Carlson is a character I didn't think we would need but after watching the episode I'm 100% behind him and his ties to Hornsby, his performance were the episode's best. It was also nice to see Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan again.
"Warlords" has lots of things that fans of The Walking Dead will like. Angela Kang is truly giving the Commonwealth arc a lot of depth and I'm liking it a lot, Part 2 continues to be amazing and we're getting closer to the flashforward. This episode feels 100% like a TWD episode, not saying that the Commonwealth heavy episodes doesn't, but for the non graphic novel readers, 11.13 is more similar to previous seasons and for a good reason at that as it gives us viewers something fresh but also an episode that furthers the Commonwealth plot. I'm sure this is an episode many will like and if not for the acting and story the episode is telling, it's hundred percent for the callbacks to previous seasons. But just wow, this was a perfect TWD episode.
