Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 2.
Having managed to escape the subway tunnels of Washington D.C., The Walking Dead season 11 throws another obstacle at the survivors with the arrival of a dangerous-looking group — but who are these masked enemies? Airing Sunday nights on AMC, The Walking Dead season 11 has just begun its first of three, 8-episode blocks that will wrap up the long-running show. During this first batch of episodes, The Walking Dead season 11 is concentrating on the survivors' desperate search for food as well as the introduction of the Commonwealth, a massive and potentially antagonist community.
Going from bad to worse, The Walking Dead season 11 pits the survivors against a new group of masked killers. The final moments of The Walking Dead season 11, episode 2 "Archeron: Part II", has Maggie, Daryl, Negan, and the rest of the survivors believing the worst is behind them. All they need to do is stick to the road and they'll arrive at their destination. However, they're soon confronted with an ominous sight — the road ahead is lined with dead bodies hanging upside down from scaffolds. The gruesome scene stretches as far down the road as they can see, and as they stand around looking on in horror, an already gravely injured Roy is shot in the eye with an arrow and killed. Cole is then immediately hit in the leg with a throwing knife and everyone runs for cover. From further down the road, a large group of masked assailants marches towards them.
Everything about these masked strangers is threatening and it's obvious their sudden appearance is very bad news for our survivors. Still, who are they? The Walking Dead season 11 doesn't give a direct answer, but knowing what's already been teased, this group is most likely the Reapers. This group is first mentioned back in The Walking Dead season 10, episode 17 "Home Sweet Home". In that episode, it's only a single member of the group who appears, but it's revealed the Reapers are a violent, deadly group who Maggie and her new allies have encountered before. In fact, the season 10 episode has its unnamed Reaper reveal before he dies that their leader, Pope, has ordered Maggie killed and more Reapers are hunting for her. Given this, it's likely this cliffhanger ending is depicting just that — a group of Reapers coming to kill Maggie.
Then again, if this group is actually the Reapers, then surely the stringing up of bodies along the road would have tipped off Maggie. The gruesome stunt is quite theatrical and is meant to intimidate, meaning it's probably something this group has done before. As this wouldn't be Maggie's first run-in with the Reapers as a whole, surely this would be a tactic she'd recognize. Of course, everything happens so quickly, it's possible she simply doesn't have enough time to properly react. The chosen apparel of this group, though, is also unlike the military garb of the previously introduced Reaper, and in fact, looks more like the masked getup of Maggie's friend, Elijah. That similarity may just be a coincidence, though, and the evolution of what the Reapers wear could merely be a result of The Walking Dead's vision for the group changing between seasons.
The Walking Dead season 11 is almost certain to introduce the Reapers, making it extremely likely that is who attacks the survivors at the end of "Archeon: Part II". Still, there are some discrepancies between what was previously established, meaning it could be another, equally dangerous group. Whoever they are, their arrival on The Walking Dead in season 11 couldn't come at a worse time for the survivors, jeopardizing not just those on the road but those back at home, too.