The Kingdom was once a powerful place on The Walking Dead, but it fell into ruin and has since been abandoned by its leaders. Still, King Ezekiel, who was in charge of the Kingdom, remains an important part of the show.
The Kingdom first appeared in Season 7, with the eccentric king, his pet tiger, Shiva, and an interesting way a community could be run post-apocalypse. They would later be drawn into the war against the Saviors.
Portrayed by actor Khary Payton on the show, the story arc for King Ezekiel is a bit different than in the comics. On the show, Ezekiel married Carol Peletier (played by Melissa McBride). In the comics, Carol died before the Kingdom was even shown, and Ezekiel ended up in a relationship with Michonne (Danai Gurira).
It shows that things in the comics don’t and won’t necessarily correlate to what happens next on the show. It may mean the future is different for Ezekiel on TWD for AMC, much like who kills Beta could shift.
What happened to the Kingdom on The Walking Dead?
Following the end of the war with the Saviors, the Kingdom tried to put things back together, despite losing a lot of people. That was the case with all of the communities. Carol, Ezekiel, and Henry (Matt Lintz) form a family and they live at the Kingdom through the disappearance of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the Season 10 six-year time jump.
Carol and Ezekiel take on the Movie Theater walkers in this exclusive new clip from The Walking Dead's ninth season. pic.twitter.com/767tnT02Xt
— IGN (@IGN) February 21, 2019
Toward the end of Season 10, though, things start to turn really negative for the Kingdom. The Whisperers take advantage of a fair that the Kingdom is hosting to murder 10 people and place their heads on pikes. That includes Henry, which ends up destroying the relationship between Carol and Ezekiel.
The deaths from the fair, a failed boiler, fires destroying buildings, and a deteriorating infrastructure doom the Kingdom. During the Season 10 finale, a mass exodus takes place, with Ezekiel leading the final inhabitants to other places. Now, the Kingdom sits in ruin, Ezekiel is on his own, and Carol is still struggling with Henry’s death.
The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.