What you need to remember before watching The Walking Dead Season 8

It’s time for “All Out War.”

AMC’s The Walking Dead returns Sunday for its eighth season and 100th episode (9 p.m.), and things are looking up for our survivors, at least after the setbacks and tragedy that dominated Season 7.

Last season, we lost beloved characters (RIP Glenn, Abraham and Sasha, among others); saw the power dynamics between the various communities fluctuate; and met a tiger. But here are the most important things to remember from Season 7 before Sunday’s première.

Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom are finally united

It took them a while, but our survivors were finally able to get the other two communities on board in their war with Negan ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors. And the Kingdom came just in the nick of time.

In the Season 7 finale, Ezekiel (Khary Payton), his tiger and the literal cavalry arrived to save Rick and friends, forcing the Scavengers (a.k.a. the “garbage people”) and the Saviors to retreat. His commitment to the cause means that when the conflict breaks out in full this season, Alexandria and the Hilltop have much greater reinforcements behind them. Both sides have been betrayed In the Season 7 finale, after successfully manipulating Negan, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) was able to give one last bit of help to her family and friends by killing herself in that coffin on the way to Alexandria, allowing them to use her body as a weapon against Negan. The walker she became didn’t kill him, but she caused enough panic and chaos to help the Alexandrians survive until the Kingdom arrived.

The Scavengers also showed their true colours, turning on the Alexandrians during the battle when Negan showed up. Whether they will continue to be a part of Negan’s army or go back to their trash heap remains to be seen.

The season also saw more personal betrayals. Eugene (Josh McDermitt) defected to Team Negan, after thriving in the rule-centric society of the Saviors. Dwight (Austin Amelio) helped Team Rick in the finale, but left Negan unsuspecting. His double-cross didn’t really help.

We don’t know what Gregory and Oceanside are up to

We haven’t seen the Hilltop’s cowardly former leader Gregory (Xander Berkeley) since he left the community in a huff ahead of the finale. We also haven’t heard from the women and children of Oceanside since the Alexandrians stole their weapons. “The Walking Dead” avoids leaving plot threads unresolved, so it’s likely Gregory and/or the members of Oceanside will return this season. Both have a lot of reasons to hate our survivors.