We’re getting closer to All Out War: here’s Article Four in the Countdown to All Out War.

With only six more days until the beginning of war, we welcome you to the fourth day of the JustUs Geeks War Report countdown to All Out War.  Today, Jamey Nunley takes over to help shed some light on Ezekial and The Kingdom, and what the consequences might be for their involvement in the war.

One of the least well known factors in All Out War will be Ezekiel and his group, The Kingdom. They were introduced in issue 108 and have since only appeared in three other issues. However, what we know about The Kingdom and their self pronounced king, may hint at what Kirkman is preparing us for in the future of The Walking Dead.

The first thing to note about The Kingdom is that the entire group is held up in a school that has a wall built around the school yard that appears to be around six foot tall and is reinforced by buses (issue 108). This is plenty strong enough to keep out a few walkers, but not strong enough to keep out the living. During the winter the members live inside the school and spread out in tents within the wall during the summer. The edge of the Kingdoms territory is guarded by men resembling knights as they ride horse back in full body armor and wield swords. No one is allowed to enter the kingdom without an escort and must wait at the entrance until the king is notified of their presence and is ready to greet them. The community seems to embrace this medieval style of life even with the way they speak.

One of the biggest surprises about The Kingdom is Shiva, Ezekial’s pet tiger. Ezekiel has known her since she was born in captivity during his job as a zookeeper. She has been trained since a cub which gives Ezekiel some control over her at least. He told Michonne “I’ve been leading her around by the chain since she was a cub — it stopped her then, she thinks it stops her now.” He also knows that big cats are unpredictable, however I think he has become to relaxed with his pet. He has brought her to the Alexandria Safe Zone and allowed her to get involved with the fight against Negan. Will he bring her to War? I think he is over looking two problems with that if he does. A tiger is still wild and will even turn on familiar faces when riled up, and Shiva already gets riled up from violence. Letting her loose on a battlefield could easily cause her to go berserk and kill an ally just as quickly as an enemy, or get her killed by gun fire.

“King” Ezekiel has been leader of The Kingdom for an unknown period of time and has taken up the role of its king. He claims he took charge to give his people the best life possible and tells Michonne he has used Shiva to gain the respect and fear he needs to run The Kingdom. Which makes me wonder how loyal his people are to him. He was self pronounced as the king and there must be a reason he thinks he needs fear. Jesus trust him, but we know Ezekiel is an actor with a background in a community theater. So who knows the real Ezekiel? Just because he addressed Michonne’s problem’s with him does not mean she was wrong with her original assessment. Ezekiel could be as big a threat as Negan.

Ezekiel seems to hate Negan with a passion, but I question why. I get Negan is not the kinda guy you want to hang out with, but the hatred is deep. What did Negan do to Ezekiel to cause this hatred to come off as personal? Negan and Ezekiel have a history but that does not mean there problems are similar to Rick and Negan’s . How long has Ezekiel know Negan and how far will he be willing to go to end him?

With all the room that Kirkman has to develop Ezekiel and The Kingdom during All Out War I’m sure he has some big plans with the theatrical zoo keeper and his cuddly kitten. We know there will be plenty of surprises and losses from all sides. The future could depend on the history of this community and their leader.