Morning Star

The official promotional poster used during the 101st Oscars

**Morning Star** is the tenth, and final, episode of the first season of HBO's Grimes. It was written and directed by Daniel Stephen.

This is the highest rated episode within The Walking Dead brand. Alongside, "What We Become", the sixth episode of this season, it was nominated for an Oscar for best Television Episode which it won, becoming the first Television Episode to be awarded this title.

## Plot

As all hope appears to be lost, Reece makes his decision as to what is best for the children of Oxford House.

## Synopsis

Two weeks following the events of "No Turning Back" a small group head to a nearby town to find a Delta checkpoint where Bonnie thinks there will be supplies. Reece, Broady, Bonnie and Ruby go together.

They go over buildings to avoid any complications and while crossing using planks, Broady slips but Reece pulls her back up, they follow the other two while discussing Reece's distrust for Clementine. She convinces him to give her another shot as she is just emotional after what happened to Grace.

Eventually, they find the check in point which has a bag of food, not enough for everyone though. Bonnie suggests they have it themselves, both Reece and Broady disagree as they have kids back at camp. Meanwhile, Ruby hears something and goes to investigate, she thinks she sees someone watching them but as she gets closer she is attacked by a walker and kills it. As they leave, it is revealed Lillian was watching them and she has a small group of survivors from the Delta.

The group arrive back at the observation deck, Reece announces to them that he and Broady have decided they will move back south, towards Washington, and eventually; Alexandria. Clementine voices her disagreement with the idea as the cold helps slow the walkers down, he replies it also means food will be far more scarce. Ruby reveals she is beginning to get a sore head and asks them to stop arguing. Reece storms out, annoyed at Clementine. She taunts him and Judith asks her to stop.

Reece sits at the edge of the deck with Taron on his lap. He is telling him a story when Broady comes and sits with him, thanking him for everything he's done. He promises her that she and Abi will be safe in Alexandria. Taron goes to speak to Scott, who is still unresponsive after his sisters death. Reece reveals he fears Scott will become a liability. Broady scolds him before agreeing, he promises he'll do everything he can to protect the group. She kisses him before saying she knows.

The next morning, the group shuffle along the road, Ruby begins to cough up blood and she takes a seat on the tires. Reece reveals to Broady and Bonnie that he thinks she's been bitten. Suddenly, a group of walkers appear, they dispatch them and find the last one is Grace, they stare on at her as she shuffles towards them. Reece prepares to put her down but Clementine stops him, asking if she can do it. He nods and leaves her to do it. After she is put down, Lillian and her group appear, surrounding them. Everyone holds each other at gunpoint, Reece tries to plead with them but Lillian demands they lay down their things to make this easier. Suddenly; Ruby, who has died and reanimated, bites Samuel in the neck. Judith executes her while everyone opens fire.

Everyone dives into cover and a shootout, Clementine fires at Lillian from behind a tree while Bonnie and Miguel engage another shooter from behind a wall. Reece, Judith and Broady take cover behind the tires Ruby was on, however, he cannot get a shot in. Willie and Scott attempt to move towards them but Scott is shot in the foot, as a gunman is about to finish him off, Willie kills him. Reece and Willie drag him behind cover. Lillian realises all of her group are dead and surrenders. Reece goes to execute her but is stopped by Clementine. Reece accuses her of still caring about her, Clementine scoffs at the accusation. Lillian offers to take them to her main safe house which has a car and supplies, then she'll leave and they'll never hear from her again, Reece prepares to kill her but backs off.

They move along the road and take refuge in a power station that night. While sitting round a fire, Reece reveals it is his birthday, he is 29. Lillian tells him there is wine in her bag, he makes her sip it first. They enjoy a more peaceful evening together. Later on, Reece voices his concerns to Broady once again, she tells him that she will not leave the kids she has survived 13 years with. He apologizes and promises there will be a place for her in Alexandria, she tells him she's only staying there if he stays. They kiss before having sex.

The next morning, everyone moves along the road feeling rough. They make it to the area where the safe house, but it is surrounded by a frozen lake, Lillian insists that it is safe. Reece tells her the moment he senses any funny business from her, he'll shoot the ice beneath her feet.

As they cross, Walkers begin to appear. Lillian panics and runs. Reece instructs Willie to follow her as he is too heavy to run on the ice. The ice begins to crack around them. Everyone apart from Reece, Judith, Bonnie, Broady and Scott make it. Scott is standing on the most cracked ice as walkers move closer. He is panicking, Reece tries to calm him but he keeps moving, trying to get off the broken ice. Reece shouts at him to stop and freezes. Meanwhile, Broady and Bonnie pick the walkers off. Reece attempts to move closer but is too heavy. Bonnie urges Judith to move closer to help but Reece tells her no, Judith does it and the ice cracks as she reaches him, taking herself, Scott and Bonnie down.

In the water, Judith and Bonnie swim to Scott who is being dragged down, Bonnie is bitten and pushes the walkers away in a moment of self-sacrifice. Judith takes Scott's hand and swims up with him but he cannot swim and is dragged down by a final walker, Judith tries to help but ends up letting go of his hand as he tries to grapple for her, she looks down at him sadly before she is scooped out of the water.

Reece drags her from the water, sprinting across the ice with her in his arms. She looks back, not seeing Bonnie or Scott resurface. He tells her not to look back as he sprints into the house. He tosses her down at the fire and tries to light it, failing. He strips out of his jumper and jacket, wrapping it round her. Lillian appears with fire starters and he gets a fire going. Taron asks where Scott is and the realization sets in.

Later on, Reece and Broady sit upstairs, he is comforting her before they hear a gunshot outside.

Meanwhile, Judith wakes up when she hears a thud, she goes outside and sees people at the car in the back. She moves towards them, raising her gun, she calls out to them and it turns out to be Miguel and Lillian. She asks what they are doing, Lillian says they are leaving and that she can come with them. Judith says she can't leave her brother and nephew. Lillian tells her Reece is psychotic and it's only a matter of time till he turns on the group. She deny's this. Lillian begs Judith to put her gun down and moves closer, Judith turns to call Reece but is suddenly shot in the shoulder by a panicked Miguel. Lillian panics and takes off running with Miguel.

Judith awakens in her bed in Alexandria, she goes downstairs where Michonne, Reece, Carl, R.J., Rosita, Taron, Coco and Rick are eating, they welcome her to join them and she does. After dinner she sits with her mom and dad, she tells them she is worried about Reece. Rick tells her that Reece has lost the most out of everyone he knows, having lost multiple families. He reminds her that Reece has never had the privilege of feeling comfortable in life, hence why he is always on edge. Michonne reminds her that Reece will always put family first and that everything he does is for her and Taron. She thanks them before telling them goodbye.

She then awakens in the car with Reece driving while Clementine shouts directions at him, Broady sits with her and alerts them she's waking up. She looks around, those three are there as are Willie, Taron, Abi and A.J.. She questions them what happened, Reece angrily explains that Miguel and Lillian ran off. Clementine accuses him of driving them away, they get into an argument and crash.

Reece is thrown from the wreck and returns to the car, Broady, Abi and Willie are there. Broady tells Reece, Judith went ahead to distract the walkers while Clementine get Taron and A.J. to safety.

Reece leads them through the fog before being separated from them, he is attacked by multiple walkers before he stumbled into a service station where he finds Judith. They then notice two figures appearing from the fog. It is Clementine and A.J.. Reece runs out to greet them but then realises, Taron is not with them.

Reece stands still, taking it in while Judith is shocked, Clementine begs him to listen to her but he charges at her, attacking. The two stumble through the building and then outside again, fighting to the death. Clementine slashes his hand while he breaks her nose. Judith begs them to stop before noticing something. Reece grabs Clementine's knife and forces it down on her while she pushes back. Suddenly, Reece is shot and falls off of Clementine who scrambles away to A.J.

Judith lowers her gun while holding Taron's hand, tears are streaming down her face. She approaches Reece, who is alive as the bullet went through his shoulder, although he is in a lot of pain. He tells her she did the right thing and that he's sorry. He asks her to bring Taron over but Clementine stops her, she tells Judith that Reece is far too dangerous to be near a child. Judith turns back to Reece who is begging. She tells him that he knows everything he does is for family, but now she needs to do something for her family. She tells him goodbye before walking away with Clementine and the other two. He calls out to her, begging her to come back but he is in too much pain to get up. He falls back onto his back before beginning to black out, he notices someone walking towards him as he drifts off.

## Cast

### Starring Cast

* Calum Kelmer as Reece Grimes
* Cailey Fleming as Judith Grimes
* Felix Drake as Scott
* Lucy Tate as Broady
* with Zendaya as Clementine

### Also Starring

* Andrew Oran as Taron Grimes
* Cameron Olsen as Willie
* Issac Ryan Brown as Alivin Jr.
* Yvonne Marsh as Ruby
* Lucy Hoey as Bonnie
* Anthony Guajardo as Miguel
* and Stephanie Beatriz as Lillian \*Does not appear in this episode \*\*No lines

### Special Guest Stars

* Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes
* Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes
* Christian Serattos as Rosita Espinosa
* Danai Gurira as Michonne Grimes

### Co-Stars

* Peter Vindikar as Samuel
* Freeya McCarr as Abi

Legend
 \*\*

## Deaths

* Ruby *(Alive and Zombified)*
* Samuel
* Bonnie
* Scott
* 4 unnamed Delta Soldiers.

## Trivia

* Last Appearance of Grace *(Zombified)*.
* Last Appearance of Ruby.
* Last Appearance of Samuel.
* Last Appearance of Bonnie.
* Last Appearance of Scott.
* Last Appearance of Miguel *(IUnknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Lillian *(Unknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Judith Grimes *(Unknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Taron Grimes *(Unknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Clementine *(Unknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Alvin Junior *(Unknown)*.
* Last Appearance of Rosita Espinosa *(Hallucination)*.
* The plot of this episode is based on the Telltale's Season Two Episode titled "No Turning Back".
	+ Reece fighting Clementine while Judith begs them to stop is a reference to Kenny and Jane fighting while Clementine watches and begs them to stop.
		- Following this episode, Daniel Stephen confirmed that this version of Clementine has not lived through similar events.
* The title of this episode is based on the hope Reece has to find somewhere safe for the children to stay as well as the hope he has of returning to Alexandria and getting Coco and R.J. back.
	+ It could also be a reference to when Reece calls Clementine a demon on his shoulder as Morningstar is the surname most often given to Satan human body named Lucifer.
	+ This episode is the only episode in Season One of Grimes which has a name not based on an already established title in The Walking Dead Brand.
* At 68 Minutes long, this episode serves as the longest episode of the series.