WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: World Beyond Season 2, Episode 1, "Konsekans," which aired Sunday on AMC.
At the start of The Walking Dead: World Beyond's first season, the Civic Republic Military (CRM) destroyed the Campus Colony just after Hope, Iris, Felix, Elton, Huck and Silas set out in search of Leo Bennett. While pretty much all of those survivors now know that the Campus Colony is gone, not all of them know the cruel way in which the CRM destroyed both their home and the safe zone in Omaha, which the latest episode of World Beyond, "Konsekans" reveals.
At the very beginning of "Konsekans," World Beyond flashes back to the day Omaha was destroyed. Elizabeth Kublek -- the CRM's lieutenant colonel -- stands watching the city as her soldiers place bombs against the wall. They then lure a giant group of zombies, which they call a "column," towards the city using helicopters. CRM blows the walls, allowing the zombies into the city. At some point prior to the zombie attack, CRM cut off communications between Omaha and the outside world. As a sign outside of Omaha makes clear, there are at least 97,000 people in the city, all of whom presumably perished in the attack. Kublek then makes clear this is only the beginning and that the Campus Colony is next.
In many ways, what the CRM is doing is somewhat analogous to the Whisperers in the main series. That group uses massive groups of walkers to aid in their attacks against survivors. However, their means and reasons for doing so are markedly different. The CRM sees itself as an organization dedicated to preserving the future, while the Whisperers are essentially trying to find a more wild version of humanity. The CRM also doesn't move amongst the zombies in the same way. Still, how both groups use zombies is absolutely horrifying.
The choice to deploy zombies against people -- especially innocents -- is a dark one, and the method by which CRM extinguishes cities is brutal. This is a big part of the reason that, later in the episode, Kublek doesn't disclose to Huck or Hope just how the Campus Colony and Omaha were destroyed, as on some level she knows the method will result in them turning against her and CRM. And when the truth does come to light, the CRM might find that there's no amount of manipulation that can bring people to its side.
The first episode of The Walking Dead: World Beyond is out now. Episode 2 releases Oct. 10.