The Walking Dead: Heres who dies in the season 9 premiere

Warning: Contains spoilers for The Walking Dead season nine.

The Walking Dead returned with a promising first episode balancing touching moments with cunning deception, before climaxing with a long overdue death.

After becoming reacquainted with Hilltop following the time jump, we find Maggie is now the official leader of the settlement following a democratic vote which ousted Gregorys reign.

While Maggie believed this fair approach would rectify any bad blood between them – Gregory had other plans. Namely, capitalising on Maggies mistakes to prompt an assassination attempt against the new leader.

After Hilltop resident Ken is killed in action, his parents are left bitter and grief-stricken in what was supposed to be a safe supply run. Gregory sees their anguish and encourages the father to attack and kill Maggie, only his attempt is stopped by Maggie who fights him back.

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Quickly realising who was behind the attack, Maggie makes an example of Gregory to affirm her status as leader — making the bold decision to hang him in front of the community.

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Gregory has been top of the death list throughout season eight, so the fact his send-off was given more importance than most B-tier characters is quite impressive.

It now begs the question of how Maggies community will react to her threatening methods. Could she be ousted from below? Or will they obey to her rule?

Actress Lauren Cohan, who plays Maggie, is set to leave the show temporarily due to commitments on TV show Whiskey Cavalier, with the circumstances surrounding her exit unknown.

The Walking Dead continues on AMC Sundays and airs on Fox in the UK Mondays at 9pm.

MORE: The Walking Deads Norman Reedus pays emotional tribute to late co-star Scott Wilson

MORE: Walking Dead star Scott Wilson had already finished filming for season 9 before death

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