‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9: Who Are The Highway Men?

In Episode 13 of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 9, viewers were introduced to a brand new group that has quickly been dubbed the Highway Men. So, who is this new group?

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains information about Episode 13 of AMC’s The Walking Dead Season 9. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

Last week’s episode of The Walking Dead Season 9 saw the Kingdom receive a ransom note from a new group who claimed ownership over the roads surrounding the Kingdom. The ransom was simple: pay the toll or bad things will happen. On the letter was a symbol that viewers had seen previously.

As speculated in a previous article by The Inquisitr, many comic book fans were anticipating this newly introduced symbol — a red inverted V with a line across it — was a representation of the Whisperers. This was due, in part, to the fact that the symbol could be seen as a stick person representation of a decapitated person. And, for comic book fans of The Walking Dead, this could certainly tie in with the Whisperers and potential upcoming storylines involving this new group.

However, Episode 13 showed something entirely different, surprising everyone — including comic book fans.

Episode 13 saw Carol (Melissa McBride) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton) negotiate with the new group. After all, the Kingdom was not in a position to either pay the toll or take on the group. And, all it took was the promise of movies to persuade the new group to join with them rather than against them in helping to protect the highways for the gain of everyone.

According to an interview that The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang did with Entertainment Weekly, the writers for Episode 13, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Eddie Guzelian, were the creators of this new group. At the time, they had suggested that it “might be fun to have this left turn” and Kang let them run with the idea.

But, considering that the group has already threatened the Kingdom, what is the likelihood of them turning on the communities?

According to Kang, the group is neither good nor bad at this point in The Walking Dead.

“I don’t really see the Highway Men as being good or evil. They’re just people who exist in this world, and they’re trying to grapple with having neighbors just like our people are.”

She also sees the new group as an interesting dynamic not seen before in The Walking Dead which should play nicely alongside the current new threat of the Whisperers.

Season 9 of AMC’s The Walking Dead will return to AMC on Sunday, March 17. The show is scheduled to air at 9 p.m. ET. Episode 14 is titled “Scars” and AMC lists the following synopsis.

“An outsider’s arrival forces Alexandria to rehash devastating old wounds; eye-opening secrets from the past are revealed.”