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Video Game / The Walking Dead: Season Two

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All spoilers from Season One, as well as the Late-Arrival Spoiler in Episode 2, will be unmarked. You have been warned.

Clementine: His name was Lee. He taught me how to survive. He taught me how to shoot a gun.
Luke: What, uh...happened to him?
Clementine: The same thing that happens to everyone. But he saved me, first.
— Episode 1, All That Remains

The Walking Dead: Season Two is the second season of the titular series by Telltale Games, available for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, with a Nintendo Switch port released on January 21st, 2020. It is preceded by Season One and followed by A New Frontier.

Two and a half years after Lee's sacrifice, an 11-year-old Clementine (Melissa Hutchison) has been travelling with Christa and Omid in search of a place to settle, but they have had no such luck. With dwindling supplies and no shelter from the elements, they are lost, cold, and starving in the forests of North Carolina when an ambush from bandits splits the last of the group up. Clementine, all alone in the woods with nobody to guide her, is on the verge of dying when she is rescued by a survivor named Luke (Scott Porter) and brought to a log cabin in a clearing.

There, she meets a new group of survivors and is able to integrate with them. Her newfound safety doesn't last long, however, when a mysterious man knocks on the door and asks around while everyone else is away gathering food. Upon their return, Clementine learns that Luke and his group are on the run from an authoritarian settlement led by William Carver (Michael Madsen), and with their location discovered, they are all forced to leave the cabin.

Now a capable survivor herself, Clementine is faced with moral dilemmas, personal conflicts, and threats from Walkers and other survivors alike as the group searches for a new place to call home.

Season Two is split across five episodes, which released periodically over the course of 6 months:

  1. All That Remains (December 17th, 2013)
  2. A House Divided (March 4th, 2014)
  3. In Harm's Way (May 13th, 2014)
  4. Amid The Ruins (July 22nd, 2014)
  5. No Going Back (August 16th, 2014)

Michonne follows the character of the same name from the comic series, covering her adventures during the Time Skip between the conclusion of All-Out War and A New Beginning.

Episode List:

  1. In Too Deep (Released February 23rd, 2016)
  2. Give No Shelter (Released March 29th, 2016)
  3. What We Deserve (Released April 26th, 2016)

This video game contains the following tropes:

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  • Abandoned Camp Ruins: Clementine comes across one in Episode 1, which she scavenges for food alongside Sam.
  • Acceptable Breaks from Reality: At the end of Episode 3, already a very dark episode, you have the option of cutting off Sarita's arm after a Walker starts chewing her hand. Should you do so, Clem only needs two hits with her hatchet to cut all the way through Sarita's forearm. After watching Carver kill Reggie (and possibly Alvin) and beat Kenny so bad he loses an eye, and then watching Kenny beat Carver to death with a crowbar (including seeing Carver's eye pop out of his skull), avoiding a prolonged amputation is probably okay. Plus, in the middle of a horde of Walkers, it would probably stretch disbelief if it took too long.
  • Adorably Precocious Child / Wise Beyond Their Years: Clem certainly acts like somebody twice her age (which is quite justified considering the circumstances), so much so that many of the other adults turn to her for advice and help (something which even gets lampshaded by a dialogue option). Carver picks up on this much more than her companions do.
  • A House Divided: The name and overall theme of Episode 2. Clementine's group meets another group at the ski lodge, which includes a surprisingly alive Kenny. He immediately butts heads with Luke and Nick, and on top of that, Nick had killed Walter's partner Matthew earlier by accident.
  • Alone with the Psycho: Sometime into Episode 3, Clementine has a meeting with Carver inside his office.
  • All Just a Dream: Near the end of Episode 5, Clementine passes out after Arvo shoots her and wakes up in the RV next to Lee, just after Lilly murdered Doug/Carley during Season 1 Episode 3, who assures her that everything that happened after that point was all just a bad dream. She goes back to sleep and it is revealed that this was the dream, and she wakes up in the real world again. Also a Call-Back, since the layout of the dream is the same as Lee's bad dream from Season 1 Episode 3.
  • An Ass-Kicking Christmas: Episode 2 takes place around Christmas time...maybe. Most of the episode is fairly calm if not a bit tense, but the final leg has Carver and his group finally catching up with the others, resulting in a confrontation that results in Walter and possibly Alvin dying and the others taken.
  • Anyone Can Die: As per tradition.
    • Episode 1: Omid, within the first five minutes no less. His murderer, Michelle, is shot in cold blood by Christa less than a minute later. Christa isn't seen again after the Cold Open. Sam (the dog Clementine finds), also dies after getting impaled on tent poles. If Clementine runs to Nick during the riverside encounter, Pete is eaten by Walkers.
    • Episode 2: Pete dies if he survived the last episode, having been bitten on the ankle and sacrificing himself so Clementine can get back to the cabin. Matthew is shot dead on a bridge by Nick. If you fail to convince Walter to forgive him, Nick is eaten by a Walker. Walter is shot point-blank by William Carver, and Alvin meets the same fate if Clementine refuses to surrender.
    • Episode 3: Reggie is thrown off a rooftop by Carver. Alvin, if he survived the previous episode, dies in a Heroic Sacrifice after being savagely beaten by Carver. Carver himself is later killed brutally by Kenny in the most karmic way possible. Jane shoots Troy and leaves him to be eaten in the episode's climax. Carlos is hit by a stray bullet and then devoured by Walkers. And finally, Sarita is bitten by a Walker, although she may survive if Clementine opts to cut her hand off.
    • Episode 4: Being the penultimate chapter, things don't look too good for the protagonists. Sarita dies at the beginning of the episode, no matter the choice you made at the end of Episode 3 (she's either devoured by Walkers instantly after you amputate her or later put down after she turns). If Nick survived Episode 2, he is shot in the shoulder while following Luke, and bleeds out on a chain-link fence after leaving the trailer park to find help. Sarah is Eaten Alive (either by being left behind at the trailer park or getting trapped under debris when the observation deck collapses, regardless of whether or not you get Jane to help her). And lastly, Rebecca dies of exhaustion from her childbirth at the end of the episode, forcing Clem or Kenny to shoot her to stop her Walker form from eating her baby. The episode's cliffhanger involves a shootout with an unconfirmed number of fatalities, but judging by how many shots were fired, it was likely a lot.
    • Episode 5: Surprisingly, all protagonists survive the Bolivian Army Ending of Episode 4 with relatively minor injuries, but all of the Russians bar Arvo are killed in the confrontation. It doesn't last, though, as Luke falls through a frozen lake and drowns, and if Clementine covers him and makes no attempt to save Luke when he falls, the same happens to Bonnie. If she is still alive. Mike, alongside Bonnie if she survived, flees the group alongside Arvo, who (accidentally?) shoots Clementine, causing her to fall unconscious; when she comes to, she's driving away in a truck with Kenny, Jane, and AJ, leaving their fates are unknown. Kenny and Jane will confront each other later on with fatal consequences — if Clem doesn't shoot Kenny, he will kill Jane. You can choose to shoot him after he kills her or abandon the survivor of the brawl in disgust, leaving just Clementine and AJ.
      • In early PS3 versions of Episode 5, Clementine had the option to shoot and kill Mike as he and Arvo are taking off, but this was since removed in an update.
  • Apologetic Attacker:
    • Michelle, who comes in at the beginning and holds Clementine at gunpoint. Omid comes in to try to save Clementine, but the door he left open slams shut, startling her so that she instinctively turns around and shoots Omid. She actually feels remorse over this — or is panicking because an obviously pregnant woman holding a rifle has just walked in — and then repeatedly starts shouting that she didn't mean to shoot him! She even drops her gun to plead with Christa, who shoots her anyway.
    • Episode 3 has Carlos forced at gunpoint to slap his daughter, apologizing before and after for what Carver made him do.
    • At the beginning of Episode 4, if you cut off Sarita's hand at the end of Episode 3, you can apologize to Kenny after Sarita freaks out and gets bit some more. Then you can apologize a second time if you choose to Mercy Kill Sarita.
  • Art Evolution: Season Two's art style is still in-line with Season One, though it employs slightly more vibrant colors as well as making the cel-lines more noticeable, and character animations are far more fluid and less prone to being recycled. The Walkers also have more variety in models, along with being more detailed.
  • Badass Adorable: Thanks to both her time with Lee, as well as Omid and Christa in the Time Skip between seasons, Clementine has picked up some survival techniques and skills, has become even more resourceful, and is still just an 11-year-old girl. Understandably, this impresses some of the adults she comes across.
  • Badass Boast: "I'm still. NOT. Bitten!" This is one of the responses that can be said by Clementine in Episode 1 when, after being locked in the group's shed, she has to kill a Walker that breaks inside with a claw hammer. Not to mention this happen after she sneaks in and out of their cabin unnoticed, steals medical supplies, and stitches her dog bite without anaesthetic.
  • Bait-and-Switch:
    • At the end of Episode 3, Sarita is bitten and you're given the choice of killing the Walker chewing her or cutting off her hand. Reggie claims to have survived a Walker bite after immediate amputation, so you're led to believe cutting off her arm is the best option. But in the next episode, if you cut off her arm, her screaming will rile up the Walkers, who proceed to bite Sarita all over and result in her immediate death. Killing the Walker is actually the best option, as it at least gives Kenny time to say goodbye. Furthermore, chopping Sarita's arm off will cause Kenny to deliver a brutal speech to Clementine in Episode 4.
    • In Episode, Clementine acquires a Canine Companion, Sam, who will accompany her on her continuing adventures. That is, until Sam suddenly and viciously attacks Clem when he wants the beans Clementine found and gets greedy, the struggle resulting in his death from being impaled on tent poles.
  • Bambification: Pete's story about Nick refusing to shoot a buck has elements of this, especially when you consider that it could represent a loss of innocence.
  • Big Bad: William Carver for the first three episodes, at least. At the climax of Episode 3, he is brutally killed by Kenny. By the end of Episode 5, Kenny and Jane can hold these roles for each other's endings, depending on your perspective.
  • Big Friendly Dog: Subverted so very, very hard in Episode 1. Clementine comes across a dog at an abandoned campsite, and shares some tender moments with it as she investigates the area and searches for food. Once she finds some food, the dog attacks her for it, biting her hard on the arm and forcing Clementine to kick him off of her.
  • Bitch Alert: In Episode 1, Rebecca is very much in favor of killing Clementine when the cabin group debate over whether she's telling the truth about her dog bite. Understandably, Clementine isn't too fond of her after this.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Episode 5. The player can choose how it goes (see Multiple Endings for more), but in any case, Kenny or Jane — or even both of them — are dead, as are pretty much everyone else Clementine has met and befriended over the story. On the plus side, Clementine and whoever she's with by the end are looking towards a future that may not be happy, but they're not alone and have a chance. Even the ending of Clementine alone can be considered bittersweet if the player looks at it that way, as even though it's only Clementine and AJ now, she's capable of caring for herself now, and the player may have thought both Kenny and Jane unfit to be around her anyway.
  • Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch: Turns out Clementine overheard Rebecca worrying about who the father of her child is (since it's possibly not her husband) and later isn't shy about letting the abrasive Rebecca know it. Even the dialogue choices in that conversation are bitchy.
  • Bolivian Army Cliffhanger: Episode 4 ends with an all-out shootout between Clementine and Arvo's groups, with only the sound of gunshots and a cut to black. Episode 5 reveals that while Mike was shot in the shoulder, Natasha was the only one killed.
  • Bookends:
    • In Episode 5, if Clementine goes with Kenny after the rest stop, the game cuts to Clementine's somber face after a nine day time skip, in near the exact same expression and angle as the first time skip in Episode 1.
    • Similarly, if Clementine goes with Jane and invites the starving family into Howe's, the boy will remark that Clementine has a nice hat, which could echo back to the conversation that Clem has in Episode 1 with Michelle, right before the latter killed Omid.
    • Episode 1 begins at Gil's Pitstop from 400 Days, where one of Clementine's caretakers is shot using her pistol. The climax of Episode 5 is also set in a rest area, where another of her caretakers can be potentially shot by her pistol, this time by Clementine herself.
  • Brand X: The Howe's Hardware store that Carver's settlement is built around is clearly modelled on Lowe's Home Improvement, an American based home and building supplies company that mainly operates in the southern states.
  • But Thou Must!:
    • Players may attempt to pick up Clementine's gun when searching for her lost water bottle or find a food dish for the dog, but you aren't allowed to in either case, making the consequences in both cases unavoidable. Granted, there was no way for Clementine to know in advance that a random bandit would wander into the bathroom in the few seconds she spent picking up the water bottle.
    • In Episode 4, when Jane and Clementine come to Luke and Sarah's rescue, the player is forced to have Clementine talk to Sarah and take quite the time doing it instead of just being allowed to immediately flat-out abandon the latter as soon as the Walkers arrive. This is despite being offered the opportunity to mostly leave Sarah to herself — and even fire some snarky lines at her — during previous episodes.
  • Call-Back:
    • Clementine falling in and out of consciousness while the cabin survivors argue what to do with her is evocative of Lee suffering the same thing in Season 1 Episode 5.
    • When finding the a tied-up Walker at the campsite, Clem will reassure Sam that it's safe, repeating whatever advice Lee gave her in Season 1 Episode 5.
    • In another parallel to Season 1 Episode 1, Clementine brains a Walker with a claw hammer, exactly how Lee killed his first one. This time we get to see it in all its bloody glory.
      Clementine: It's okay, we're smarter than it. We're smarter than all of them.
    • One of the promotional pictures👁 Image
      ◊ for Episode 2 is almost a perfect match for one👁 Image
      ◊ from Season 1 Episode 1.
    • In Episode 3, the entire escape plan is lifted from the Season One group's time in Savannah, from Molly using noise to attract a Walker herd to Lee's using Walker guts on Clementine to blend among zombies. Both are explicitly referenced.
    • In Episode 5, as Kenny tries to kill Jane, it parallels neatly with the Stranger's attempted murder of Lee in Season One, to the point of using lines very analogous to the Stranger. Kenny could be considered a Foil to the Stranger by now, while Jane's gambit of lying about a family member to manipulate the situation and gain her trust is disturbingly similar to the Stranger lying about Clem's parents. Clementine can further the similarity by shooting Kenny to save Jane's life (if you let her kill the Stranger in Season One).
  • Canine Companion: Sam serves as one for Clementine. Ultimately subverted shortly after you meet him, where he turns hostile and tries to take Clem's food.
  • Character Death:
    • Episode 1: Omid is shot in the chest during the prologue, and Christa will do the same to the girl that killed him. Sixteen months later, Christa is possibly killed by bandits, albeit it's ambiguous. One of the bandits will be killed by a Walker as he's pursuing Clementine, while Clem, Nick, and Pete find his partners (and Roman's body) at the riverside. If you choose to go with Nick at the end, Pete is eaten by Walkers.
    • Episode 2: If you go with Pete at the end of the episode, you'll find his body as you leave the cabin. Matthew is shot in the side of the head by Nick and falls off the bridge to his death. One of Carver's men will be killed by Kenny, with Carver shooting Walter dead as payback. If you attempt to help Kenny defend the ski lodge, Alvin will die as well.
    • In Episode 3, Carver pushes Reggie off the roof of Howe's. If you saved Alvin in Episode 2, he will buy Clementine time to escape Carver's office, and will die from a gunshot from one of Carver's men and the wounds that Carver gave him previously. Kenny smashes Carver's head in with a crowbar, which Clementine can possibly watch. Jane shoots Troy in the groin and leaves him to the Walkers. Carlos is shot in the neck as the group are leaving through the horde, and is devoured by surrounding Walkers.
    • In Episode 4, if Clementine cuts off Sarita's hand, her screams will attract Walkers that bite her, and you have the option to either leave her or Mercy Kill her. Alternatively, if you don't cut off her hand, she will be killed by Kenny to prevent animation at Parker's Run. If Nick lived in Episode 2, Clementine will find him as a Walker at the trailer park and will kill him. Sarah is either left for dead at the trailer park or trapped under debris when the observation deck collapses, resulting in her getting eaten by Walkers. Rebecca dies from a combination, blood loss, exhaustion, and hypothermia at the end of the episode, forcing either Clementine or Kenny to shoot her before she turns and eats her baby.
    • In Episode 5, All of the Russians bar Arvo are killed in the shootout. Luke drowns in a frozen lake, and if Clementine covers him like he tells her to but makes no attempt to break a hole in the ice for him, Bonnie meets the same fate. In early PS3 versions of the episode, Clementine could shoot Mike dead as he bailed with Arvo, but this was later patched out. During the rest stop brawl, Clementine must choose between shooting Kenny or letting him kill Jane, having a second chance to shoot the former if Jane dies.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • Matthew's knife is the reason Walter finds out he'd dead, and when he flicks it away, it is later found by Clem when Walkers start attacking.
    • Double subverted in Episode 4. Mike and Bonnie comment that the cannons at Parker's Run could do some serious damage if they got them to work. Jane later explains at the observation deck that you can't get them working, as they've been filled with cement for safety reasons. But when you have to keep the Walkers off the deck, it can still be used to block the gate — except the weight of the cannon breaks half the deck when you try to move it, resulting in Sarah's death if she wasn't left at the trailer park.
  • Chekhov's Gunman
    • The guy at the bridge. It's Matthew. As in, the Matthew that's Walter's significant other.
    • Bonnie may also count. She's a character who first appeared in 400 Days, with the implication that said story would be completely separate from the main plotline. Instead, she returns in Episode 2 as a member of Carver's group and remains with the group until the last episode. The other 400 Days characters also appear in the next episode, but only as cameos if Tavia convinced them to join the settlement.
  • Chekhov's Skill:
    • In Episode 3, Reggie is living proof that someone can survive a Walker bite to a limb if it's cut off fast enough. At the end, you're given the choice of doing the same for Sarita. A special note for this particular example is that attempting to put it into motion will cause Sarita to die immediately upon Episode 4's start, tricking the player into taking the worse conclusion (though leaving her to deal with the bite is still really bad to say the least).
    • In Episode 4: Who's the only person who knows anything about pregnancy? The only man left in the group who ever had a child; Kenny.
  • Child by Rape: Rebecca's baby is heavily implied to be this. However, by Episode 5, the baby's character model has been modified to more resemble Alvin, and is even named Alvin Jr. by Kenny.
  • Cliffhanger:
    • Episode 4 ends on a nasty one. Clem's group is confronted by Arvo, the Russian kid who Clementine and Jane encountered (and possibly robbed) at the observation deck. His group emerges from the woods with guns and demands all of the group's goods and supplies, triggering a Mexican Standoff. Things go From Bad to Worse when an ill and exhausted Rebecca suddenly expires and reanimates, forcing either Kenny or Clem to put her down... cue Blast Out. Smash to Black, roll credits.
    • The Alone Ending may also count. How are you supposed to know if Clementine and AJ got safely through the herd? You see Clem covering them both in Walker guts and blood to help, but what if something happens?
  • Color-Coded for Your Convenience: Each episode has a key colour, used for the menus while playing as well as the relevant achievement icons: yellow for Episode 1, orange for 2, red for 3, purple for 4, and blue for 5.
  • Coming of Age Story: Seems like one for Clementine. In Season One, she was just a timid youth with someone to look out for her. This season sees her grow more into an independent survivor, able to take care of herself despite others still viewing her as a child. She learns the grey zone of survival, like how to recognise a threat and how her actions can be more dangerous and lethal than she wants them to be. When Kenny returns to Clementine's life, she still sees him as a friend and paternal figure, while everyone else sees him as a walking time bomb. In the end, Kenny finally snaps when Jane fakes AJ's death, forcing Clementine to make a choice: either kill Kenny for everyone's safety, or let him kill Jane.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • The reveal trailer shows almost all of the previous locations from Season One and 400 Days, now overrun by Walkers, and the group of bodies Clementine, Pete and Nick find at the end are Roman's group, who were presumably hunting Shel and Becca.
    • In the hunting cabin, Clem will comment that a picture of a mallard reminds her of Duck.
    • If Lee had his bitten arm cut off in Season One, this gets a couple of nods. First, when Clem finds the tied-up Walker who'd attempted to cut his bitten arm off; second, when Clem mentions having once known somebody who'd lost an arm; and third, when she notes later that she's glad she still has both arms.
    • There are a number in Episode 2, including in the beginning. Depending on if you're with Pete or Nick, she'll mention Lee or Ben respectively, and when Carver shows up at the cabin, Clementine can say that her name is Carley. If you tell him it's just you and your dad living in the cabin, Clementine will say her father's name is "Ed", which is the name of her actual father, and when talking with Alvin about Nick losing it, Clem can mention Lilly. Also, when you reunite with Kenny, he'll either reference Lee as one hell of a guy or having their differences, depending on how their relationship was. If Clementine asks, he'll also reference either having put Ben out of his misery or jumping down to save Christa, depending on whether Ben survived Season 1 Episode 4.
    • In Episode 4, while talking to Jane, Clementine can mention her babysitter, Sandra.
  • Convenient Miscarriage:
    • In Episode 1, this ends up being implied as the ultimate fate of Omid and Christa's baby. After Omid's death and the Time Skip, Christa is no longer pregnant and the baby is nowhere to be seen. However, Clementine's reaction when she thinks that AJ died implies that the baby died after birth.
    • In Episode 4, this is thankfully Subverted. When Rebecca gives birth, we see Kenny hold up the motionless baby in silence as everyone looks on in horror... and then the baby coughs and wakes up as everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
  • Cutting Off the Branches: Happens often, as is common for a branching-paths story, but especially blatant with Nick's death in Episode 4: It's possible for him to die in Episode 2, and so just finding his Walker caught in a fence seemed to many fans like Telltale simply Dropped a Bridge on Him in order to get his determinant status out of the way.
  • Darker and Edgier: To Season One, big time. Omid gets shot and killed by a teenage looter at the very beginning, Christa shoots the looter in retaliation even though she'd dropped her gun and was completely defenseless, absolutely no mention is made of what happens to Christa and Omid's baby, and Clementine makes friends with a stray dog only for it to turn feral and give her a nasty bite on the arm before she fatally impales it by accident... Of course, that's all just from the first half of the FIRST EPISODE. The second half will likely leave your jaw hanging off the side of your face.
  • Dead Guy Junior: Kenny names Rebecca's baby Alvin Jr., AJ for short, after the baby's late father.
  • Dead Person Conversation: In Episode 5, after getting shot, Clem sees Lee in a dream. Specifically, she dreams that they are back in the RV after Lilly murdered Doug/Carley in Season 1 Episode 3.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Episode 5 has Jane return and save Kenny's life, and, at the end of the episode, if Clementine went with Jane but lets the final decision time out, Jane will be the one to take the risk and let them inside Howe's.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Omid's death causes this for Christa and Clementine. Even almost a year and a half after it happens, they are pretty broken up over it, and Clementine takes a more bleak, realistic look at the world after it. Just merely mentioning Omid's name will elicit a Death Glare from Christa.
  • Devoured by the Horde:
    • In Episode 1, if Clementine goes with Nick at the end, Pete gets surrounded by Walkers and is eaten alive when his rifle runs dry, with Nick unable to save him in time.
    • In Episode 3, when the group is escaping Howe's, Troy holds them at gunpoint. Jane talks him down and convinces him that she'll lead him to safety, but once he's distracted, Jane shoots him in the groin and leaves him to be devoured by the incoming herd. Shortly afterwards, as the group moves through the herd, Carlos is trying to calm Sarah down when a stray bullet from the survivors in Howe's hits him in the neck. He staggers forward, the blood and sudden motion attracting the Walkers who promptly eat him alive.
    • In Episode 4, no matter what choice you make, Sarah will unfortunately suffer this fate. When Clementine and Jane try to find her after being separated, they find her trapped inside a trailer with Luke as Walkers try to enter. After getting inside, Clementine tries to get Sarah to leave with them, but she still hasn't recovered from her panic attack. If Clementine chooses to leave her in the trailer, the Walkers will break in as Sarah comes to her senses, crying out for Clementine and reaching out to her moments before being devoured. If Clementine chooses to save Sarah, she falls and is trapped under the rubble after the observation deck collapses during the Walker attack. Regardless of whether you get Jane to try and help her, Sarah cannot be saved at this point, and she gets devoured.
  • Diabolus ex Machina: The end of Episode 3. Clem and her group kill Carver and manage to escape his settlement by using Walker guts to sneak through a herd, when a stray bullet results in Carlos getting eaten, Sarah panicking and splitting off from the group, and Sarita getting bitten.
  • Disney Death:
    • Clementine gets shot in Episode 5 and finds herself speaking to Lee. She turns out to be dreaming, not in the afterlife.
    • In the climax of Episode 5, Jane implies that AJ was killed by Walkers. It turns out that AJ was fine and Jane lied in order to provoke a violent reaction from Kenny.
  • The Dog Bites Back:
    • Happens literally in Episode 1, with Sam going feral and biting Clementine's arm.
    • At the end of Episode 4, Arvo comes back, looking for revenge, bringing his friends with him.
  • Downer Beginning: Holy. Fucking. Shit. Within the first part of the first episode, Comic Relief character Omid is shot dead, Christa's baby is implied to have been stillborn or otherwise lost, and Clementine is separated from Christa, her only remaining companion.
  • Downer Ending: Naturally, but there's two out of a possible five.
    • You can leave with Kenny and Alvin Junior to Wellington, but it will be overpopulated. You and Alvin Junior can stay, but Kenny must leave. Can also be a bittersweet ending, as Kenny has finally achieved his goal of keeping his surrogate son and daughter safe, and Clementine and AJ can have a chance at a normal life in Wellington. Assuming that You don't just leave with Kenny. It still can be a Downer Ending if you think that after all that searching throughout basically the entire season, you have to leave if you want to stay with one of your only allies left. What makes all of this even worse is that you never get to find Christa. You can ask the guard, but there's still no sign of her.
    • The Alone ending has Clementine kill Kenny or Jane and then possibly leave one or the other behind afterwards. Don't like the thought of either of them even getting to live? Well, you can also kill Kenny almost immediately after you let Jane die. Doing any of this pretty much makes it certain that you are only staying with Alvin Junior. Later, as they go towards a field of walkers, she covers them both in walker blood to pass through a herd.
  • Dramatic Irony:
    • In Episode 2, as the ski lodge group talk about how they're hoping Matthew returns soon, Clementine suspects Matthew is the man Nick shot on the bridge. Later, her suspicions are proven right.
    • After Jane comments that Clementine's group is fracturing (in no small part due to Kenny), cue Luke and Kenny arguing bitterly in front of a Civil War mural showing the eventual armistice, with a Union and Confederate soldier shaking hands beside quotes by General Lee and Abraham Lincoln extolling peace and forgiveness.
    • Episode 3 has Clementine's group decide that they should escape the compound by using the approaching horde of Walkers to mask their escape. During their escape, Sarita is bitten, Carlos is killed by a stray bullet, Rebecca goes into labour in the next episode and eventually dies from it. If anything, the group would have been safer staying with Carver until after Rebecca gives birth (even if they didn't know how close she was to giving birth). Carver's compound had enough medicine that could have saved Rebecca and or Alvin Jr., Carlos would be safe because he might be one of the few doctors in the base, and Sarita would not have been bitten. Even if Carver was a dictator, he still had the means to help them and had a personal reason to keep them around.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: Nick in Episode 4. After he catches a stray bullet while leaving Carver's settlement, he doesn't show up again for a while. Then Clementine finds him caught in a fence, already turned into a walker, and she puts him down. Besides Luke, Clem, and (briefly) Rebecca, no one seemed to care much about his death.
  • Dwindling Party:
    • Naturally. However, Episode 4 goes into full throttle with this trope. Sarita dies right at the beginning (or if you didn't cut off her hand, she dies later on). Nick is Killed Offscreen very abruptly and is forced to be killed after he becomes a walker. Sarah dies if you leave her inside the trailer or she dies when the observation deck collapses. Jane leaves the group shortly after Sarah dies. And Rebecca dies from exhaustion seconds before the episode is over..
    • Episode 5: Luke will end up freezing/drowning to death, Bonnie can also do so, Mike and Arvo (and possibly Bonnie) will abandon the group, and it's possible for Kenny or Jane, or both, to die as well. Clementine and AJ are the only characters that cannot die.
  • Easter Egg: One for sharp eyes: in Episode 1, amongst the graffiti on the public toilet's cubicles, there's a tiny smiley face with the words 'We're back!' written underneath.👁 Image
  • Empathy Doll Shot: Clementine finds a stuffed rabbit while searching the bathroom stalls at the very beginning of Episode 1. It's actually one of the LEAST sad things about that chapter. She can also find a doll at the abandoned campsite in the woods.
  • Establishing Shot: Comments from Christa and a discarded license plate establish that they have made it as far as North Carolina. In Episode 2, a quick shot of a map shows the group has reached Virginia.
  • Everybody's Dead, Dave: By the end of the season, almost every single main character except Clementine and Alvin Jr can die: Pete, Nick, Alvin, Carlos, Sarita, Sarah, Rebecca and Luke all die by the end of Episode 5. Bonnie can die if you let her drown during the lake scene. Either Kenny, Jane, or both will die at the climax of Episode 5, and Mike could be killed by Clementine in an early PS3 release of Episode 5.
  • Everyone Has Standards: If the player chooses to kill the dog at the camp site, and to tell Luke and Pete about it, Luke is disturbed because "you don't kill dogs."
  • Evolving Title Screen/Evolving Credits: The menus change to use the key colour of the current episode, while the title screen also shows a relevant set piece: the riverside for Episode 1, the wind turbine for Episode 2, the exterior of Howe's for Episode 3, Parker's Run for Episode 4, and the rest stop for Episode 5.
  • Extremely Short Time Span: Not counting the Time Skip at the beginning, the entire season takes place over the course of about 7-8 days.
  • Eye Scream: Kenny gets one courtesy of Carver in Episode 3. How fitting, then, that Carver ends up getting one from Kenny at the end of said episode.
  • Fission Mailed: If you don't hide in time in the bathroom, Rebecca doesn't discover you. Before she can enter the bathroom, you luck out, because Sarah asks Rebecca what she's doing, and when Rebecca replies she's looking for a towel to wash up, Sarah says there are towels in the kitchen, so Rebecca leaves.
    • Also, if you save Nick over Pete in episode 1, then in episode 2, it looks like Nick sacrifices himself to save you just as Pete does if you save Pete instead...but, unlike Pete, your group comes back to find Nick alive.
  • Foreshadowing:
    • When Clementine is separated from Christa and finds herself in another part of a forest, she can read a sign that warns of dangerous animals that wanders around the forest. This is a big hint to Sam the dog's true nature when meeting with him shortly after reading the sign.
    • During the trailer when Chuck says "or smart" it shows Omid, after showing clips of others who didn't make it. This may have been Tell Tale hinting towards his fate at the very beginning of Season Two.
    • Episode 3 has Reggie and his missing arm, proving that cutting an infected bite fast enough can save a person - this comes back at the very end with Sarita's bite.
    • Throughout Season 2, people constantly point out Kenny's increasingly violent behavior, showing that sooner or later, it's going to come to a head.
    • In Episode 5, Clementine dreams she's back with Lee after Lilly kills Doug/Carley, and he tells her sometimes people change in circumstances like these, and there isn't always a right answer to their problems. How oddly fitting when we see Kenny and Jane fight to the death, and she has to end it.
    • In Episode 5, Kenny says "Where there's smoke, there's fire" regarding how widespread the rumors of Wellington's existence is. If he survives his fight with Jane, Clem and Kenny find Wellington by following a plume of smoke.
    • In Episode 2, Carver warns Clementine that sooner or later, everyone will find a reason to betray her. This is exactly what happens in the later episodes with Luke, Bonnie, and arguably Jane
    • In Episode 3 in Carver's final moments, and if Clementine stays to watch Carver's horrific death, he will comment that her grit and unwillingness to turn away is what makes her stronger then the rest of the group. one ending involves Clementine surviving alone, every one of the rest of her group dead or gone
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: When Nick dies, Luke gets exactly one line of dialogue to regret his loss. He then seems to completely forget he ever existed, apparently more upset when Jane leaves after a one night stand than he is by the death of his best friend of 20 something years. Sarah is another example, considering how after she died no one gave a damn for more than a few seconds because the baby was born. A little kid just died (If you chose to save her earlier on in the episode)! Addressed more fully in Episode 5, as Luke comes to the realization that he's the last survivor of the group he'd started with, and it becomes apparent that he was just trying not to think about it at all.
  • Funny Background Event:
    • While riding in the truck at the beginning of Episode 3, there's a sign behind Kenny reading "WARNING: CRUSHING HAZARD," a sly way of referencing him crushing Larry's head during Season One.
    • Which becomes Harsher In Hindsight by the end of the episode, as Kenny had his face smashed in by Carver enough to lose an eye, and Kenny later repays the favor on Carter.
  • Gameplay and Story Integration:
    • If you ask Sarah about the book she was reading when you stumble into her room Clementine can later be seen with said book while eating. Looks like Sarah loaned it to her.
    • In Episode One, if you give water to the dying bandit by the river you won't have any left for Pete if you decide to save him.
  • Genre Blind: The loner characters tend to make the mistake of assuming that others follow their practices. Michelle's hold-up goes badly because she assumes the nine-year-old Clementine is a loner, while Jane doesn't consider that Arvo could have a group, nor that they'd be back for revenge after she robs and threatens him. By contrast, when other characters find someone alone they tend to ask, "Where is your group?"
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: In Episode 4, you have to slap Sarah to convince her to leave the trailer park.
  • Gone Horribly Right: Jane's plan to show what kind of violence Kenny is capable of, especially if you don't save her.
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Averted big time in the second season. You never directly see Clem die during game over scenes in the first season when Lee fails to save her. In the second season however her promotion to playable comes with death/game over scenes that are just as bad as some of Lee's if not worse due to her age. To say it's very unsettling to see Clem get her neck torn out or her stomach ripped open by a walker is a massive understatement.
  • Groin Attack: At the end of episode 3 Jane shoots Troy there so he would draw the walkers.
  • Gray-and-Grey Morality:
    • One of the themes of the season. While in Season 1, all the people that are in your group are good people at heart, even if they don't show it. The Cabin Survivors, on the other hand, often are somewhat grayer in their morality, and a lot of times the conflicts that the group solves has no clear good or bad solution.
    • Exemplified further with Kenny and Jane. Kenny violently attacks Jane because he thought she killed or left behind AJ, and can kill her if you let him. Despite this, he legitimately cares for Clem and AJ, and is willing to sacrifice himself to make sure they're safe. On the other hand, Jane is extremely callous and underhanded in her manipulation of proving to Clem that Kenny is crazy, purposely gaslighting him into attacking her. It's also implied that she did this for the purpose of keeping Clem to herself. Despite her initial disdain towards AJ, she seems to care for Clem and AJ somewhat, and desires to keep them both safe. She can even care enough to let a starving family into their new home. There's no real resolution for the conflict, and neither side is entirely justifiable in their actions.
  • Hope Spot:
    • In Episode 2, the group is force to flee the cabin after a dangerous former ally finds them. They reach a bridge and Clem and Luke go scout up ahead. They find another survivor, Matthew, and he seems nice enough. Even willing to share his food. Then Nick stupidly comes running up without assessing the situation and shoots him thinking he was about to attack the pair. This leads to consequences later when they find the rest of Matthew's group. Maybe even moreso as Matthew was that group's lookout and without him. Carver manages to catch up to the cabin group easily.
    • Also in Episode 2, when Carver is holding Alvin hostage if you tell Kenny to take the shot, he does. Carver goes down... for a bit. Then he gets back up like nothing happened and kills Alvin. Turns out the bullet only got his shoulder but the fact that it didn't even slow him down says something about the man.
    • One of the most notable examples of this is Episode 5, which is, in a way, one gigantic hope spot. Throughout the first half of the episode, the group works out their problems and come together, finally accepting each other and acting as a group. After one of the most heartwarming scenes of the series, with the group talking around the bonfire, the episode viciously tears this hope to shreds by slowly tearing apart the group with Luke's death, Bonnie and Mike's betrayal and finally the struggle between Kenny and Jane, ending on one of the most traumatic Sadistic Choices in video game history.
    • To a lesser extent, Clementine waking up back in the RV in Episode 3, with Lee by her side, making it seem like everything after that was all a horrible nightmare. And then she wakes up in the back of the truck while Kenny and Jane argue.
  • Hypocrite:
    • Jane is one, attempting to prove how dangerous Kenny is by pushing literally every single one of his buttons in an attempt to start a conflict.
    • Christa seems like one. Early on in the first episode she leaves you in the bathroom and it's implied that she has sex with Omid. She left a kid in an abandoned bathroom, one they didn't check before, just to do something they could've waited a few more minutes to do. Remember Episode 3 of Season 1? Where she yells at Lee for going alone into a place possibly full of zombies? Yeah.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Clem complains how she hates scavengers because they always take everything — while she's scrounging around an abandoned campsite for food.
  • Ice Princess:
    • Due to the events of the games, and partially depending on your choices, Clementine shows signs of turning into this in Episode Two. Even the gentlest version of Clem is notable for being considerably more emotionally dead compared to her personality in Season 1. The least gentle version is a cold, abrasive and manipulative Jerkass. This is understandable, given that everyone she's ever cared about is dead or missing, people who are capable of helping her initially refuse to, and she was engaged in Passive-Aggressive Kombat with one of her new group.
    • Carried a step farther in Episode Three, where Carver explicitly acknowledges her as the shrewdest, strongest, and most experienced member of the group, willing to do whatever it takes to survive. He even compares her to himself, which, considering his status as a stone-cold killer whose very name inspires fear in the rest of the party, is seriously saying something. At the end of the episode, Clementine can choose to stay and watch Kenny beat Carver's skull in with a crowbar, and her own face barely strays from cold indifference throughout the entire ordeal.
  • Idiot Ball: Played catch with in Episode 5. First, nobody believes that Arvo, who was left with nothing to lose and whose remaining allies were unknown, might be leading the group into a trap (conversely, assuming that he isn't leading the group to a trap (which he isn't) the fact that Kenny treats him so terribly gives him plenty of reason to abandon the team as soon as safely possible). Then, on the thin ice, when the goal is specifically not to put too much weight in one area, if Clementine chooses to cover Luke as he climbs out of a small hole Bonnie will lumber up to him instead, causing them both to fall in. Finally, the ball is caught by Jane, who decides to prove a point to Clementine by playing a trick on Kenny which provokes him to fight her to the death - at no point during their fight, which she claims later not to have expected, does she think to reveal that AJ is alive and well.
  • In Vino Veritas: Invoked by Mike when Bonnie lets it slip that she had romantic feelings for Luke.
    Mike: They say a drunk man's talk is a sober man's thoughts.
    Bonnie: Well, I ain't a man, so "they" can take that shit somewhere else.
  • Irony:
    • The sign in the campground warning Clem of dangerous animals. There IS a dangerous animal around, but not one you'd expect. A starved Dog bites her after she tries to take some food back from it after it tried to keep it all for itself.
    • Also, if you opt to help Sarah pick berries she'll worry about making a mistake. Clementine responds that it won't be the end of the world if she does. Cue Carver showing up and pushing Reggie off the roof for not making sure they picked enough berries.
    • A more depressing irony is present in Amid The Ruins where a memorial in a civil war site quoting "Fallen, but not Forsaken". Sarah, if she was saved in the trailer house, literally falls to her death and is immediately forsaken by her friends afterwards.
    • Kenny ends his storyline in by doing exactly what Lilly did - violently snapping and killing/attempting to kill someone in a fit of rage and paranoia.
    • Jane is known for her loner characteristics, but at the end, if Clementine chooses to abandon her, she'll practically plead for Clem to stay with her.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Sam gets kicked into a group of sharp metal tent-poles and stabbed though his leg and chest, and unlike other examples where the victim either dies moments after or immediately, Sam remains fully conscious and whining in pain while trying to pull himself off of the poles.
  • Improperly Placed Firearms: The only long guns seen in the game are Russian AK-47 copies.
    • In Episode 1, Omid and Christa's baby isn't mentioned again after the Time Skip, implying a Convenient Miscarriage.
    • In Episode 4, Clem can leave Sarah at the petrol station if she doesn't think she will be able to convince her to leave, and even if she does save her, Sarah will die in a later scene.
    • In Episode 5, this is played straight in all 5 possible endings; Clementine and baby AJ survive to the credits no matter what else happens.
  • Insult Backfire: In Episode 3, Clementine can tell Carver that she wishes Kenny had shot him. He appreciates the gall it took to say that to his face, and segues it into a "Not So Different" Remark.
  • It's Up to You:
    • The number of times an 11 year old girl is asked to take point on even extremely dangerous tasks becomes almost comical. Especially egregious is when all of the adults defer to Clem's expertise in figuring out how to turn off a wind turbine. Though this is usually because the other members of the group are otherwise preoccupied taking care of their family or recent events have made their abilities... questionable. There are also other times where Clementine's specially suited to a task (such as being smaller and sneakier) so there are at least in-story reasons for this besides the fact that you're the protagonist.
    • Clem finally gets the opportunity to lampshade it during "In Harm's Way" as she's volunteered to set off the PA system to attract walkers.
      Clementine: Ugh, why is it always me?
    • In Episode 5, She and Kenny have this exchange when she's given the task of cleaning his eye wound.
      Kenny: You shouldn't have to do this.
      Clementine: I shouldn't have to do a lot of things.
  • Jerkass Has a Point:
    • Nick really comes across as this, since the last time they'd let a bitten survivor into their group, his mother wound up being killed when they turned. He does later apologize for his behavior, giving the player the choice to forgive him or not.
    • As unhinged as he becomes, Kenny's actions aren't entirely irrational or baseless. His treatment of Arvo is horrible, but Arvo tried to ambush the group, tried to run away from them across the ice to a cabin, getting Luke killed, and shoots Clementine when he, Mike and Bonnie were stealing the vehicle. His desire to leave with the truck as soon as possible is seen as insane by everyone, but last time Kenny fixed up a vehicle, it got stolen when the group's attention was directed elsewhere. When everyone is asleep, this is precisely what happens, by Mike and Bonnie no less. Granted, these cases have traces of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy given that Kenny's actions played a part in their reactions, but he's not entirely wrong in what he's saying.
    • As utterly sociopathic as Jane's plan to fake AJ's death and demonstrate just how tenuous Kenny's grip on his own sanity is, there's little denying that it worked far more than she expected it to.
  • Karma Houdini: Arvo, Mike, and (if still alive) Bonnie completely get away scot free with screwing over the group, stealing all of the supplies, and shooting Clementine. Funnily enough, there was an option to shoot Mike in the PS3 port before it was patched out.
  • Kick the Dog: Carver shoots Walter in the back of the head after torturing Carlos in front of his sobbing daughter.
  • Killed Offscreen: Nick in Episode 4. He was with Luke and Sarah, but after leaving them, somehow managed to get bitten. Clementine and Jane find him as a walker, stuck in the fence.
  • Language Barrier: In Episode Four, Clementine and her crew encounter a group of Russians who want revenge for Jane (and possibly Clem) robbing and threatening one of their members, Arvo. They demand that Clem's group surrender all their supplies, but Clem's group refuses, resulting in a Mexican Standoff. By this point, everyone wants to back out, but only Arvo can understand both languages. Unfortunately, when an undead Rebecca is killed, the gunshot causes a firefight.
  • Last Breath Bullet: How Alvin takes out one of Carver's Mooks, buying time for the group to escape Carver's camp.
  • Late-Arrival Spoiler: Lee died in Season One, leaving Clementine to fend for herself.
    • The promotional artwork for Episode 4 clearly depicts Kenny, spoiling his return in Episode 2. Players who were waiting for the entire season to be complete before playing, and were just casually browsing the Steam Store front page around Episode 4's release, might not appreciate this.
  • Let's You and Him Fight: The escape plan in Episode 3, deliberately attracting a massive herd to overrun Carver's settlement.
  • Life-or-Limb Decision: Carlos and co. consider doing this when they think Clem is infected. Ultimately averted. Similarly done later with Pete if he's saved, as he can't bring himself to saw off his own leg, figuring he'd bleed out anyway.
    • Also done at the end of Episode 3, where you have to choose to cut Sarita's arm off or not.
  • Let's Split Up, Gang!: Forced by circumstances. Clementine and Christa split up when they're attacked by thugs early on in "All That Remains", and at the end, if you opt to run to Pete's aid, he and Clem are separated from Nick as they escape from walkers. When crossing the ice to get to Arvo's cabin, the group needs to split up to avoid putting too much pressure on any particular spot.
  • The Main Characters Do Everything: This job needs someone small? Let's get Clementine. This job requires someone who knows Kenny well? Let's get Clementine. This job requires fixing a windmill? Okay, let's get Clementine.
  • Man Hug: In Episode 2, Luke gives one to Nick when comforting him over Pete's death.
  • Mentors: A recurring theme throughout the season. Due to Clementine's age, pretty much every character attempts to play one to her, but their own flaws generally lead to situations where Clementine is the one guiding them, coming to its head during the finale where two characters fight to the death for the position of Clem's mentor. This creates a massive contrast with Clementine's relationship with Lee in the previous season.
  • Mature Work, Child Protagonists: The protagonist is an 11-year-old girl named Clementine, whom the player has to help with navigating life in the post-apocalyptic world, handling tensions within her group of survivors (in which she's one of only two kids, and the only one who doesn't have a parent looking out for her) and growing up.
  • Mercy Kill: Clementine can do this to the dog that attacked her...
  • Mexican Standoff/Blast Out:One particularly traumatic one at the end of Episode 4 between Clementine's group and Arvo's group. Sadly, when Rebecca reanimates, and Kenny or Clem is forced to shoot her, it ends in a Blast Out after a Smash to Black with an unconfirmed number of fatalities
  • Mood Whiplash: Clementine finds a dog, plays with him for a bit, then finds some food and decides to share it with him. Then the dog attacks her for trying to take "its" food.
  • Moral Myopia: During Episode 3, when the group is taken captive by Carver and his goons, the entire group wastes no time planning an escape route by having Clementine turn on the PA system to attract a hoard of walkers to the community they are imprisoned in, and uses Jane's advice by covering themselves in walker blood to blend into the crowd. Though they manage to get out after having Carver and Troy killed, the group's actions ends up luring a massive amount of walkers into a community full of unseen people who have likely done no wrong to the group, and were not directly involved in Carver's atrocity towards them. Regardless it is possible that the group had gotten many innocent people killed during their escape, all because they wanted to get out sooner rather than wait until the walker hoard passes by the next day or so, and the protagonists never once questions how they doomed a once well guarded community because one or two people working in said community were evil to them.
  • Morton's Fork:
    • In "All That Remains", you have the choice of feeding the dog Sam. If you don't feed him, He will attack for denying him food. If you do feed him, he will try to take all of it, and attack you for trying to stop him.
    • In "In Harm's Way," Reggie is on thin ice with Carver, who is furious that he helped the group escape the first time. He is tasked with making the Clem and Sarah work cutting berries and trimming plants. Sarah immediately has a breakdown and cannot complete her task, giving the Clementine the choice of helping her finish or doing their own work. Regardless of what option you choose, one of the girls will have not completed their share when Carver returns and he murders Reggie in retaliation.
    • At the end of "In Harm's Way," Sarita is bitten and you're given the choice of killing the walker or cutting off Sarita's arm. In the next episode, Sarita is killed by walkers immediately no matter what you did.
    • The real Morton's Fork comes at the climax of Season 2, Episode 5. By this point in the game, it's obvious to all that Jane and Kenny are two sides of the same coin. The player is left to choose which of the two madmen she will side with Unless you kill the other in cold blood.
  • Multiple Endings: Serveral, all of them bittersweet. Suffice to say, Telltale Games could have a lot of juggling to do at the start of Season 3👁 Image
    .
    • Kenny Ending: Clem, Kenny, and AJ (the baby) make it to Wellington, only to be told that they can't accept any more people at the moment due to winter food shortages. The defenders toss the three a bag of survival supplies and suggest that they keep returning, in case some space opens up. Kenny, not content with this, successfully argues for them to keep the supplies if they let Clem and the Baby in. The player is then given a choice...
    • Stay with Kenny: Clem refuses to leave Kenny behind, and while he resists, she ultimately convinces him. They agree to keep returning to Wellington until they are allowed entry, and leave to find shelter for the time being.
    • Go to Wellington: Clem tearfully agrees to leave, taking the baby to the gates. After one final goodbye, Kenny leaves as the gates close behind him, and in front of Clementine.
    • Jane Ending: Clem, Jane, and AJ (the baby) return to Howes', the department store that Carver used as his fortress, quickly finding food for the baby. While none of the defenders are alive, Jane notes that the decimated walker population and still-intact defenses and greenhouse would make it an excellent hideout. Suddenly, a family of three approaches. The father begs for food and shelter, stating that they been wandering for some time and have not eaten in a day. The player is then given a choice...
    • Let Them In: Clem lets them come in, and Jane reluctantly agrees. The family is overjoyed at their kindness, and the father begins sizing up the place, also noting that it would make a great place to live. However, Clementine silently notices that the father's situation and gung-ho attitude is eerily similar to Kenny's, and seems worried about the possibility of everything coming full-circle.
    • Send Them Away: Clem and Jane tell them to leave, worried about their limited supplies and the possible danger the strangers may present. The father threatens them, but Clem calls his bluff, and they leave, dejected. Jane worries that they'll be back, but Clem coldly notes that they'll be ready if it happens. The final shot is of the family's son, sadly looking back at Clementine.
    • Alone Ending: Clem takes the baby and either abandons Jane after killing Kenny or abandons/kills Kenny after he killed Jane, disgusted by their callous, selfish actions. 9 days later, she and the baby are seen walking over a hill, seeing a massive herd in the distance as they reach the top. She silently kills a straggler, covering herself and the baby with their guts to disguise their scent, and calmly begins pressing on through through the field of walkers.
    N-Z 
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: Players who strove for the Golden Ending in 400 Days. Anyone they convinced to come along with Tavia becomes security at Carver's stronghold, and are likely killed by the herd in the climax of Episode 3.
  • No Ending:
    • The "Alone" ending. Clem is wandering through a field with AJ in her arms, when they come across a herd of Walkers in the distance. Clem covers herself and the baby with Walker guts to disguise their scent, then begins to walk through the herd. Cut to black, credits.
    • The "Jane" ending, with the "Let Them In" option, in which Clementine and Jane let a family take shelter in Howe's. Clementine watches the family enter, and while everything seems normal, the dad is seen carrying a gun. Clementine signs to Jane about it. The kid of the family says to Clementine she has a "cool hat". Cut to black, credits.
  • No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Delivered to Kenny by Carver during Episode 3. He returns the favor later.
  • No Name Given: Even worse than in the last game - the only two characters who have full names are William Carver and Peter Randall. As Clementine still has no full name, you literally don't know your own last name.
  • Not Quite the Right Thing: Reggie confirms that a prompt amputation will stop infection. Good to know, right? Well, at the end of "In Harm's Way," Sarita is bitten on the hand by a walker during the group's escape, and the game prompts you to either get it off her or take her arm off. If you choose the latter, she is swarmed by walkers and dies immediately.
  • "Not So Different" Remark:
    • Carver claims that this is the case with him and Clementine. He notes that when they first met in Episode 2, he realized how brave she was for looking him straight in the eyes, without any signs of fear, and that there's no way she could've survived in this world without being like him.
    • Jane accuses Kenny of turning into another Carver.
  • Oblivious Guilt Slinging: In Episode 2, holy hell does Walter do this in regards to the missing Matthew! He is completely unaware that Nick shot and killed Matthew on the bridge, and while talking to Clementine about him, the poor girl looks very uncomfortable with the knowledge.
  • Offhand Backhand: Christa doesn't noticeably seem to aim her rifle or even look at her target when she guns down Omid's killer.
  • Old Save Bonus: Whatever decisions that were made in Season One can be carried over to the second via a save file of your choice from the last season. If there are any uncompleted episodes (including 400 Days), or no save file, the decisions that were to be made in those episodes are randomized.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted by Rebecca (one of the main characters in the cabin group) and Becca (the younger sister of Shel from 400 Days). If you managed to convince Shel and Becca to join Carver's group, Rebecca and Becca will briefly live together in Carver's compound, though they never share screen time.
  • Only a Flesh Wound: Clementine is shot in the shoulder in Episode 5, which causes her to pass out from shock. Once she wakes up, she is told that the bullet went straight through. She is then able to walk and use both arms with minimal difficulty, and by the end of the episode the injury is completely forgotten about.
  • Palette Swap: Randy and Patricia from the go with Jane ending are pretty clearly texture swaps of Carlos and Molly respectively.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: Carver's ultimate fate is very, very ugly and cruel, but he just soooooo had it coming.
  • Perpetual Poverty: Particularly in Episode 4 and especially Episode 5. While Bonnie and Mike's hunger is mentioned during a raccoon chase, they are never shown finding food. And while in Episode 5, they do finally find some food, Clem, Jane, AJ and Kenny do not appear to have it the next day. Despite this, Clem, AJ, and possibly Jane or Kenny survive the next nine days as they look for a settlement.
  • Please, Don't Leave Me:
    • In Episode 5, Clem has a dream where she's with Lee and the Season One group in the old RV. Toward the end of the dream, she can ask Lee to promise not to leave her.
    • If Clementine shoots Kenny to save Jane, Jane will almost beg Clem to stay with her when it's revealed AJ was okay.
  • Plot Immunity: In Episodes 4 and 5, there are at least 7 scenes in which it makes perfect sense to just shoot Arvo. He proves, at the cost of Luke's life and Clem's shoulder, that it would have been a good idea too. However, the option is never presented, as those things happening are critical to the story.
  • Post-Apocalyptic Dog: Clementine encounters Sam, a starving dog, near an abandoned campsite.
  • Post-Rape Taunt: Carver cruely does this to Rebecca, just as he's about to die.
    Carver: [to Rebecca] The fuck are you lookin' at, bitch? Don't act like you didn't enjoy every second— [gets kicked in the face by Kenny, who proceeds to smash his face apart with a crowbar]
  • Precision F-Strike: Clementine isn't as opposed to cursing as she used to be, but she never added "fuck" to her vocabulary. However, the player can have her drop an F-bomb after she shoots Kenny and discovers Jane lied about AJ's death, meaning she murdered her last remaining Season One ally for nothing.
    Clementine: You're fucking crazy!
  • Press X to Not Die: Back once again though now include directional presses ala The Wolf Among Us
  • Promoted to Playable: You're controlling Clementine this time out who, unlike Lee, is limited in fending off Walkers and hostile survivors, meaning it's up to you how you have her deal with certain situations.
  • Properly Paranoid: While it seems harsh to players, how many wouldn't be suspicious of someone with an unidentifiable bite on their arm that claims that it was only a dog during the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse?
  • Protagonist-Centered Morality: In Episode 3, when the group decides to make a plan to escape Carver’s settlement, not only does no one mention how the other, innocent survivors (the ones who are largely unseen but still present in the episode) will be affected due to the plan, but the game itself doesn’t even hint at the devastation they caused to Howe's. The game acts as if their plan isn’t morally grey at best because we’re only supposed to think about how the group needs to escape from Carver, not think about how the other people either died or were forced to leave their home.
  • Public Domain Soundtrack: A folk song for the end credits and two classical pieces at the ski lodge in Episode 2.
  • Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: One of the dialog options after the cabin survivors find that Clem has killed a Walker that broke into the shed they put her in (and the achievement you get for reaching that scene) is aptly labeled as "Still. Not. Bitten."
  • Puppy-Dog Eyes: When the cabin survivors are deciding whether or not to help Clementine, she can appeal to several of them by picking a "sad eyes" option. Doing it to Luke (who is on Clementine's side) gets him to complain about her trying to "guilt trip" him.
  • Pyrrhic Victory: Clementine and the group manage to kill Carver and escape his compound, but their plan involved leading a colossal herd of Walkers to storm the department store. Alongside destroying a well-barricaded safehouse with a good supply of food, the group had to deal with the Walkers they invited, and the stray bullets of survivors firing into the horde. The ensuing chaos throws the survivors into absolute turmoil. On top of all that, Carver's morbid predictions were pretty much spot on. In choosing freedom over safety, all of the original cabin survivors are dead in less than a week, and the chances of survival are pretty slim for the rest.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Carver's last words if you choose to watch Kenny kill him in Episode 3 heavily implied that he raped Rebecca.
  • Red Herring: Rebecca's pregnancy, her uncertainty of the child's father, and Carver's obsession with her and the baby's safety all gives off the impression that she had an affair with him behind Alvin's back. Episode 3 and 👁 This example contains a TRIVIA entry. It should be moved to the TRIVIA tab.
    Word of God reveal that it was definitely not an affair; Carver raped Rebecca, and wants to make her his bride.
  • Replacement Goldfish:
    • Kenny seems to treat Clementine and Sarita as his new family. Becomes pretty obvious when he accidentally calls Clementine "Duck".
    • Jane also appears to treat Clementine this way, though how much is up to interpretation. It's very evident she views Sarah this way, and not in a good way; she has precisely zero interest in protecting her, and even goes so far as to call the other girl's PTSD selfishness. You start to wonder if she's referring to Sarah at all, or to her own dead sister, Jaime, whom she finally got sick of and abandoned.
  • Sadistic Choice:
    • At the end of Episode 1, Nick is surrounded by Walkers, while Pete is only facing one but has a leg injury. You have to choose whether to save Nick or Pete; you only have time to save one because earlier, Clementine was attempting to grill a bandit she recognized about Christa's whereabouts. Similar to The Wolf Among Us, the choice actually has a good and bad option, as running to Nick (as he is surrounded by more and could use more help) results in Pete being overwhelmed when more Walkers appear, but going to Pete (who is injured and has no ammo left) results in Nick running off into the woods unscathed. However, it ends up being subverted, because in Episode 2, either Pete dies anyway sacrificing himself to save you, or Nick seems to sacrifice himself but you later find him alive. No matter who you save, in the end, Pete dies, and Nick lives.
    • Double Subversion in Episode 4 regarding Sarah. You have the option to leave Sarah in the trailer to die, or to rescue her. If you choose to rescue her, later on, there's another choice where you have to either rescue Jane, or drop Jane and tell her to help free Sarah from the observation deck debris. If you try to save Sarah this time around, she'll die anyway, just like Pete.
    • Played straight in Episode 5, where Jane and Kenny get into a fight at the end of the episode. Kenny gets the upper hand and attempts to stab Jane. The knife goes into Jane slowly due to her resisting, but it is clear that Kenny will kill her if Clementine does not intervene. The player is forced to choose between shooting Kenny dead, or letting Jane die.
  • Scenery Porn: The environments in this season are gorgeous.
  • Schmuck Bait: The gold watch Clem can find in a drawer. Everything about it just screams that it is a Kleptomaniac Hero's trap, given the circumstances it is found under. Surprisingly, it is ultimately Subverted. If you took the watch, you can give it back to Nick in Episode 2 and he thanks you for it, meaning you're actually rewarded by the game for stealing since Nick doesn't even realize you "stole" it in the first place; he thinks you deliberately grabbed it just to return it to him.
  • Scream Discretion Shot: In Episode 2, if Clem goes outside to find Kenny after Carver shows up with his thugs, we don't get to see what Carver does to Carlos. Presumably, Carlos lost an ear (camera angles hide it after that, so that the scenes can play the same regardless of which choice you made).
  • Searching the Stalls: Done by Clem in the prologue to Episode 1. While in the bathroom, she makes sure there's no one alive or otherwise in the stall before taking care of herself.
  • Self-Surgery: Clementine has to stitch her own arm up after she's bitten by Sam. It's gut-wrenching.
  • Shoo Out the Clowns: Of the surviving three characters from Season One, Omid is by far the most light-hearted and jovial. Guess who dies in the very first scene?
  • Shoot the Dog:
    • Clementine ends up fatally wounding Sam by accident after he attacks her to get at the food she found. She can end his life mercifully if the player chooses to. And yes, the game makes this as unpleasant as humanly possible. After all, the dog was just as desperate for food as she was...
    • At the end of Episode 4, either Clementine or Kenny has to shoot Rebecca after she dies and reanimates.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Twice in Episode 4:
    • The entirety of Sarah's plotline ends this way. Over the course of three episodes, Clem is given repeated chances to choose whether to be friendly and help Sarah or to be mean and abuse her. She can help Sarah learn to use a gun and seems to be preparing her to finally face the post-apocalyptic world without her father sheltering her. Then Carlos dies in front of her, Sarah becomes catatonic, and everything you may have tried to build with her comes to nothing as she inevitably dies being torn apart by Walkers and screaming for her father before the end of the episode. Even if Clem saves Sarah in the trailer park, Sarah will still be killed by Walkers during the attack on the observation deck.
    • Double subverted with Rebecca. After all the effort the group went through to ensure she could give birth safely, it looks like her baby was stillborn, only for the baby to start breathing a few seconds later. However, Rebecca dies of exhaustion at the end of the episode.
  • Slashed Throat: If the player chooses to Mercy Kill Sam in Episode 1, this is the method that is used to do it.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: Everyone in Arvo's group apart from himself has almost no lines in English and all of them die after about five minutes. However, if it weren't for them Arvo wouldn't have become the group's prisoner, which may have had a different effect on Kenny's sanity and prevented you from finding their hideout and their truck. It would also result in Luke and Mike not being shot during the firefight, which might've saved Luke's life later on.
  • Sole Survivor: A picture Clementine can find at the abandoned campsite features a family, all of whom are implied to be dead, with Sam the dog in the background, revealing he's the only family member left.
  • Story Branch Favoritism: Of the three main endings to Episode 5, going with Kenny to find Wellington has significantly more length and interpersonal conflict devoted to it than the other two. Going with Jane results in a scene about a third of the length, with a minor choice that ends up not mattering by the time of A New Frontier, and going off alone gives only a short, silent segment of Clementine making her way through a field of Walkers. Kenny's ending, by comparison, involves the deeply conflicting choice of either staying at Wellington without him or refusing to stay if it means leaving Kenny, and gives Clementine the chance to at least give him a final goodbye that she can't give Jane in A New Frontier should she go with her.
  • Stupidity Is the Only Option:
    • Even after Omid tells Clementine to keep an eye on her stuff, the game doesn't give you the option of keeping the gun with you while retrieving the water bottle.
    • In Episode 2, Clem will spot the flashlights of Carver's group approaching from across the bridge. Despite the approaching danger, the game forces Clem and her group to stay in the ski lodge and be utterly surprised when they're suddenly held hostage by armed psychos. To be fair, Clem did tell Rebecca and Alvin about the flashlights, which is what prompted Carlos to say they'd leave at dawn. It's just that "dawn" turned out to be too late.
    • After said event in the same episode, Bonnie abruptly appears snooping at the back of the lodge. None of the characters put two and two together.
  • Sure, Let's Go with That: In Episode 5, when the adults are talking about sex in front of Clementine, Bonnie tells them off. One dialog option allows Clementine to say that she's not stupid, she knows what they're talking about. The script then has her elaborate that they're talking about kissing and stuff. They go with that description.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute:
    • Arvo's group as a whole is reminiscent of the Stranger: Regardless of whether you take or leave the meds, his group attacks you for Jane's treatment of him, rather like the Stranger blaming Lee even if he didn't participate in looting the station wagon.
    • Jane comes off as very much akin to Molly. Both are extremely pragmatic (almost to a ruthless extent), both have Dark And Troubled Pasts that were in part caused by losing little sisters, each are aloof to the group at the start before gradually warming to the player character after learning how efficient and sensible they are, and each end up departing the main group at the end of the fourth episodes of their respective seasons, claiming that they prefer isolation to travelling with a group. However, unlike Molly, she returns in the next episode and becomes an important character in the season's finale.
  • Tempting Fate: Jane and Luke have sex in Episode 4. Not only does this have immediate repercussions (Luke was supposed to be on patrol, and their interlude allowed a herd of Walkers to show up and directly leads to Sarah's death), but in A New Frontier, it's revealed that either they used the "withdrawal method" of birth control or didn't bother at all, as Jane is pregnant. Like much else in the game, it doesn't end well.
  • That Came Out Wrong: This infamous line from Mike in Episode 4, when talking about eating a raccoon:
    Clementine: We can eat raccoon?
    Mike: I'd eat the shit out of that raccoon.
    [Bonnie and Clementine both grin]
  • The Load: Sarah. Her father's sheltering of her from the chaos of the outside world left her inexperienced. Because of this, she often gets herself, and others, in trouble. You can choose to save her or leave her to be devoured at the trailer park in Episode 4, but she dies shortly afterwards either way.
  • This Is Gonna Suck: Said word for word by Clementine before she disinfects and stitches her arm. And you know what, it does, because the game makes you do every agonizing second of it. It gets a Call-Back in Episode 5, as Clementine can repeat this to Kenny as you prepare to clean his wounds.
  • I Thought You Were Dead: Said by Clementine in the trailer for Episode 2, and a possible dialogue option when players reach the scene in the episode itself.
  • Time Skip: Even if the developers hadn't said that Season Two starts "months" after the events of Season One, it's pretty obvious. Clementine looks a bit older and Christa is big-belly pregnant when she wasn't even showing at the end of Season 1 Episode 5. Then there's another sixteen-month time skip from the first scene to the rest of Episode 1, meaning the bulk of the season takes place almost three years after the beginning of Season One; interestingly, this put the game further into the Zombie Apocalypse than any other The Walking Dead media at the time (the original comic swiftly caught up with a time skip of its own shortly after the game's release).
  • Took a Level in Badass: CLEMENTINE. Post Time Skip, no longer is she the bright-eyed little girl from Season One. On top of being a better shot, she's more capable of fighting in general, and can fire some snappy quips at other characters if the player chooses.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass:
    • Can be played straight with Clementine, depending on the choices made. She can go from The Heart of the team to a manipulative survivor who taunts a starving dog with food, threatens a pregnant woman, and manipulates a girl with mental issues into giving her supplies. Given what happened to her in Season One and the Downer Beginning of Episode 1, she can't entirely be blamed for going off the rails.
    • Christa as well, due to the death of Omid and fate of her child. It's implied her cold demeanor towards Clementine is due to blaming her for Omid's death.
    • Bonnie seems to have become much more ruthless and cunning since her appearance in 400 Days. Subverted, as it turns out to be her assuming that Carver knows what's ultimately best for his settlement; as soon as she realizes just how horrible he is, she lightens up considerably. The rest of the 400 Days crew, however, seem fairly tight-assed if they went with Tavia as well.
  • Villain Has a Point: Considering the cabin group locked Clementine in a shed in Episode 1 and we don't really know much about their background... Let's just say this quote struck a chord for some players.
    Carver: If people don't trust you, how can you trust them?
  • Wham Episode:
    • Episode 4. It can be best described as "fuck" . To elaborate: Sarita dies, Kenny goes into shock, Nick dies (if he hasn't already) and you have to kill him as a Walker, Sarah dies, Jane and Luke (who are barely seen interacting) have sex when they were supposed to be on watch, which allows a herd of Walkers to catch the group off-guard, Jane leaves, Rebecca's baby is born, Rebecca dies from exhaustion, the group is attacked by a group of armed Russians, a Blast Out is trigged after either Clementine or Kenny shoots Rebecca before her Walker can eat her baby, and then the screen cuts to black with no preview for Episode 5.
    • Episode 5: Natasha, Arvo's sister, dies and reanimates in the middle of the gunfight, forcing Clem to shoot her and causing Arvo to think she murdered his sister. Jane comes back and helps kill the Russians, except for Arvo, who is taken hostage. Kenny becomes increasingly hot-tempered and abusive towards Arvo, who offers to lead them to their base. Luke — and potentially Bonny as well — fall through the ice of a frozen lake and drown. Kenny nearly beats Arvo's face in, and later that evening Mike, Bonnie (if she's still alive) and Arvo try to hijack a truck Kenny fixed, with Arvo shooting Clementine in the shoulder when she catches them. Clem survives, but loses Jane (who has AJ) and Kenny in a snowstorm. When they find each other again, Jane has lost AJ, prompting a fight between Jane and Kenny, with Clem forced to either shoot Kenny or let him kill Jane — shortly afterwards, AJ is found safely inside a nearby car. If Clementine sided with Kenny, the three of them reach to Wellington, where Clem is forced to choose between leaving Kenny for the safety of Wellington or staying with him. If Clem saves Jane, they return to Carver's now-abandoned outpost, and Clem must choose to help or turn away another family of survivors. Alternately, Clem can leave the survivor of the brawl in disgust, and take her chances on her own with AJ.
  • Wham Line:
    • From Episode 2:
      Kenny: [to Clementine] Pass me that can, Duck.
    • From Episode 5, when Bonnie admits her feelings for Luke:
      Bonnie: ...Worked on me.
    • Also from Episode 5, the moment when Jane's funny anecdote turns into a violent retelling of a Dark and Troubled Past:
      Jane: The problem with glass is that it looks a lot like sugar crystals.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • Actually intentionally done, as there's no indication what happened to Christa's baby after the Time Skip. Have fun picturing all kinds of grisly fates for it.
    • Nor is there any indication of Christa's fate after Clementine is separated from her.
    • In Episode 5, Mike, Arvo and (potentially) Bonnie's fates are unknown, since Clementine passes out after being shot and ends up waking up in the backseat of the truck with only Kenny, Jane and AJ.
    • It's not made explicitly clear whether any of the 400 Days survivors (other than Bonnie) who joined Carver's camp died in the Walker attack at the end of Episode 3 or escaped. It's also never mentioned what happened to the survivors who declined Tavia's request, or even Tavia herself.
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • In Episode 3's preview, if you gave yourself up to keep Carver from hurting Carlos further, Kenny gives Clementine an angry dressing-down.
      Kenny: I don't know if we could've saved Walt, but I know one of us didn't just give up.
    • On the giving end, if Walter lets Nick get his throat torn out by a Walker and then lies about knowing what happened to him, among other dialogue options, you can hit him for this.
    • Kenny gives Clementine a particularly vicious one in Episode 4 after Sarita is bitten, especially if you chopped off her arm.
  • Who's Your Daddy?: Rebecca is heavily pregnant with a baby and doesn't know who the father is. The candidates are her husband, Alvin, and Carver, who is later revealed to have raped her. The first two episodes heavily imply that Carver is the father, but later episodes backtrack on that and imply that Alvin is. In the end, the truth is never revealed, and Alvin is considered to be the father anyway.
  • Willing Suspension of Disbelief: Luke's (lack of a) reaction to the death of Nick, his best friend of over 20 years, led many fans to question the quality of writing in Episode 4, especially since Luke had more of a reaction to Jane leaving the group. This is largely a case of the game Cutting Off the Branches, and a pretty blatant example at that, as Nick could have already died in previous episodes.
  • Would Hurt a Child:
    • Unfortunately for Clementine, a lot of people are not so reserved about hurting other children. Christa even crossed this the moment she saw Omid accidentally murdered by a teenage survivor as he attempted to save Clementine from her.
    • Carver has no problem threatening to shoot Clementine to get Kenny to surrender.
    • Troy appears to have no problem with harming children, as he smacks Clementine with the stock of his assault rifle, leaving a bruise that lasts into the next episode.
  • Wrong-Name Outburst: At dinner in Episode 2, Kenny calls Clementine Duck, making it clear that despite surface appearances he's still somewhat of a wreck.
  • Yank the Dog's Chain:
    • In Episode 1, Clementine loses the last of her companions from Season One, gets swept downriver in a rainstorm, and is cold and hungry while lost alone in the woods. However, things start looking back up for her when she befriends a dog named Sam, finds an old campsite, and comes across a can of beans that are still good. [[spoiler:Just when things are starting to look fine, Sam (equally desperate for food) attacks her to get the can, ripping open her arm. Clem fatally wounds it in the struggle. Then she is back to being alone, cold, and hungry.
    • And later in the same episode after that, the chain gets yanked again when a group does discover Clem, so she's no longer alone and can now has access to food and a warm shelter... but because of the dog bite, they're suspicious of her, and end up locking her in the shed overnight to be sure she's not a Walker victim. Once again, back to being alone, cold, and hungry.
  • Zombie Infectee:
    • In Episode 1, the cabin survivors accuse Clementine of this — to test if she's infected, they lock her in a shed for the night to see if she becomes sick, which forces Clem to sneak into the cabin to procure medical supplies so she can stitch and clean her arm. Of course, her bite wound came from a dog who, decidedly, isn't infected.
    • Pete is bitten at the end of Episode 1. If Clementine chooses to save him, he survives but ultimately sacrifices himself at the start of Episode 2 to help Clementine escape back to the cabin.
    • Should Clementine not amputate Sarita's arm at the end of Episode 3, she becomes this during the next episode.
    Michonne 
  • Accidental Murder: Zachary accidentally shoots Greg dead after being pressured by Randall.
  • Affably Evil: Norma dislikes her brother being excessively violent, is fairly friendly to Michonne and offers her a drink, and believes in giving second chances. However, she also captured Michonne, Pete, Sam and Greg and it's stated that she steals from other survivors and kills them if they resist.
  • Ambiguously Evil: Sam is not exactly the most trusting of survivors, but Norma is also an Unreliable Narrator.
  • An Arm and a Leg: Michonne chops off Norma's arm with her machete.
  • And Now for Someone Completely Different: This is the first time that a character from the actual comic series is playable in the game.
  • Anyone Can Die: Yes, this applies even in a spin-off series:
    • Just when it looks like gamers might get an episode of the Walking Dead without any major character deaths poor Greg and potentially Zachary get shot with just under five minutes left before the credits of episode 1.
    • John is shot in the head after he is introduced by Randell, who the player can then choose to either murder or use him as a bargain with Norma at the end of the episode.
    • By the end of the mini-series, Zachary and Randall end up dying regardless of the previous choices you made. Norma, Berto, and (if you bungle up the trade with Norma) Oak also perish, along with most of the community from Monroe. Even Sam can die, depending on what choice you make in the end.
  • Asshole Victim: Randall and all of Norma's Jerkass goons all go down in the end after pushing Michonne to far.
  • Beard of Evil: Randall is a brute and has a beard.
  • Big Bad: Norma is the major villain of the story.
  • Bittersweet Ending: Michonne, Sam's brothers, Paige, Pete, Siddiq, and (if she's alive) Sam all manage to get away from Norma and her thugs, and most of the Monroe community (Norma and Randall included) are dead. However, dozens of people have died, Sam and her family must find a new place to live, Pete has lost Berto (and if you handled the trade with Norma poorly, Oak), and Michonne still hasn't fully recovered over leaving her daughters.
  • Boom, Headshot!:
    • Sam's father gets shot by Randall.
    • Michonne kills a random mook by forcing him to shoot himself with his own flare gun through his skull.
    • Berto gets executed by Norma's men no matter what you do.
  • Bring My Brown Pants: Greg wets himself when Randall holds a gun to his head. He's mortified and makes a point of telling Michonne this is the first and only time it's happened.
  • Cassandra Truth: Norma doesn't believe Michonne if she truthfully claims to have only just met Sam and Greg.
  • City on the Water: The settlement of Monroe is a drastically scaled down version of this trope done with various boats and rafts. It's not as visually impressive as most other examples, but it has kept the survivors living there safe for well over a year into the zombie apocalypse.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Michonne can torture a captured Randall by beating him and crushing his fingers in a vice.
  • Cool Sword: To Michonne Katanas Are Just Better.
  • "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The final battle in Episode 3 could have all been avoided if Randall (if still alive) didn't retaliate against Michonne's group anyway after the hostage exchange or if Norma and her goons didn't put Revenge Before Reason.
  • Creepy Child: Michonne's daughters are shown having their faces obscured by shadows while laughing in a scary manner.
  • Dead Star Walking: Jonathan Joss guest stars as a supporting character in episode 2 and dies in his debut.
  • The Dragon: Randall usually carries out his sister's orders and serves as her second-in-command.
  • Dreadlock Warrior: Our main protagonist.
  • Driven to Suicide:
    • Michonne very nearly shoots herself early in episode one, though is interrupted by Pete.
    • Sam's mother Sophia is revealed to have killed herself some time before the present events.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: If he's still alive, Zachary ends up getting abruptly shot in the head during Episode 3 after helping Michonne.
  • Dude, Not Funny!: In-Universe. Pete pretends to have had his arm infected by a walker, much to Michonne's anger.
  • Due to the Dead: Sam obligates to bury her father's grave before prepping for war with Norma.
  • Eaten Alive: Norma ends up swarmed by walkers, who begin to devour her. Michonne can either choose to put her out of her misery or let her suffer.
  • Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Sam is pale girl with a questionable past.
  • Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Norma really loves her brother Randall despite the two constantly arguing. When he gets captured by Michonne, Norma tries to negotiate for his safe return. He is ultimately killed by Michonne - either in retribution or in self-defense - causing Norma to grow enraged and order her people to burn the house down.
  • The Faceless: In one of Michonne's nightmares, she encounters a strange woman in the shadows who doesn't reveal what she looks like. When she hallucinates her daughters, their faces are always shrouded in darkness - until the end of Episode Three.
  • Facial Horror: Sam's father gets half his face shot off by Randall.
  • Fat Bitch: Norma.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Randall doesn't hesitate to drop his polite façade and get violent.
  • Filler Arc: In retrospect, this miniseries was made to entertain Telltale's The Walking Dead fans and tide them over while the company completes the third season of Clementine's story arc.
  • Fingore: Michonne traps Randall's hands in a compressor and closes it on his hands in order to keep him prisoner. The player has the option to squeeze it harder.
  • Good All Along: Sam turns out to be a Nice Girl who's simply misguided in the apocalypse.
  • Heel–Face Turn: If spared, Zach will turn against Norma and save Michonne's life. Unfortunately, this gets him killed.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: If you choose to stay behind with Colette and Elodie, Sam will force you out of the window before being crushed by the burning debris.
  • Interrupted Suicide: Michonne was about to kill herself until Pete met her.
  • Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Randall is eager to do this to make Greg and Michonne talk, though Norma prevents him. He does manage to punch them around a bit before she does, though.
  • Jerkass:
    • Randall is an ass to everyone.
    • Pretty much all of Norma's goons except for Zachary want Michonne's blood. A female guard even desired to kill Michonne against Norma's orders.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: In episode 3, Norma's bloodthirsty goons call her out on trying to negotiate peacefully with Michonne, who ended up demolishing their safe zone in her escape, and exchanging The Companion crew for Randall's life (if you kept him alive), despite the fact that he ditched them in their time of need to gain revenge.
  • Karmic Death: Randall will die by either Michonne or Sam's hand after relentlessly taunting them.
  • Kick the Dog: Randall rubs the death of Sam's father right in front of her and her younger brothers.
  • Lean and Mean: Randall. His sister on the other hand is a Fat Bitch.
  • Love Makes You Evil: Platonic example. Norma is driven into an intense rivalry with Michonne because Randall is captured and at her mercy.
  • Machete Mayhem: Michonne does most of her fighting with one.
  • Mercy Kill: When Norma is being Eaten Alive by walkers, Michonne can either put a bullet in her head or walk away.
  • Moral Myopia: A very similar situation to Season 2. In Episode 1, Michonne and Pete discover a group of people who were massacred, including a young child, and are horrified by it. In the very next episode, Michonne and her group escape the community of Monroe, but burn the whole place down in the process, leaving everyone homeless. And by the end of the mini-series, almost everyone from Monroe is either killed by Michonne and Sam's group or devoured by walkers. Monroe was a relatively peaceful community filled with people just doing their jobs, and some (if not many of them) were innocent. Michonne and Sam end up burning Monroe down and are largely responsible for most of the residents getting killed all because two members of this community (Randall and Norma) were antagonistic towards them, which Randall will call her out on, but considering what he's like, he's clearly pointed out to be in the wrong.
  • Mythology Gag:
    • While scavenging for food, Michonne finds one of the canned foods with the picture of a cartoon mascot that Clementine was compared to in Season 2.
    • In one of Michonne's dream sequences, the outside window of her apartment shows Atlanta in ruins just like depicted in flashbacks from The Walking Dead comic and the series.
    • When Michonne comes across James holding a pistol, she can ask him how it feels. He responds by saying it's heavy - the same thing Clementine said in Season One when she held a gun for the first time.
    • Michonne mentioned that she had met people like Norma and Randall before, likely referring to the Governor and Negan.
    • If Randall is killed in Episode 2, Michonne will put a sack over his face after he is reanimated and continue with the prisoner exchange in the next episode, a method she likely learned from Negan who did the same with Holly.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: The whole story arc is kickstarted by Sam's attempts to rob from the same villainous woman twice. Unfortunately, Michonne and Pete's crew are dragged along thanks to her as well.
  • One-Steve Limit: Averted. Michonne's friend Pete shares the name with the character from Season 2.
  • Outliving One's Offspring: Michonne's children were killed during the zombie apocalypse and she never found out until it was too late. In the comic in 2018 however, she found out that her eldest daughter Elodie was alive and living in another community.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: You can torture and possibly kill Randall for all the crap he's put you through.
  • Pet the Dog: If he lives, Zachary will help Michonne, Sam, and Pete escape the city of Munroe. He will also save Michonne's life in Episode Three, though this results in his own death.
  • Redemption Equals Death/ Redemption Earns Life: After all the trouble she's caused, Sam will either pull a Heroic Sacrifice to save Michonne or sincerely apologize to her after admitting that she would've been dead along time ago without her help.
  • Revenge Before Reason:
    • Randall stalks Michonne with a small squad of men without even telling his sister Norma about it and leaving his own safe zone in a state of disarray. It gets his men killed and himself either held hostage or killed as well.
    • Similarly, upon either hearing about or seeing Randall's death, Norma becomes enraged and orders her people to attack the house and burn it to the ground. This results in both her death and the death of most of her group.
  • Room Full of Crazy: Michonne's apartment in her dream sequences is full of discarded children's drawings, walker corpses, blood, and partially demolished furniture.
  • Sadist: Randall gets a lot of joy from hurting others.
  • Sadistic Choice: As per Telltale Games tradition.
    • You have to decide whether or not to allow Sam to kill Zachary for accidentally killing her brother.
    • You can choose whether to murder Randall for what he has done, or keep him alive as a bargaining chip. Letting him live greatly upsets Sam, whose father Randall has just killed, but killing him enrages Norma and leaves you without a hostage to negotiate with.
    • In the climax of episode 3, you have to decide whether or not to save Sam's life and escape the burning house or give Michonne more time with her children, which would cost Sam her life.
  • Saved by Canon: Michonne, Pete and Siddiq are all seen after the timeskip in the comic, which means that none of them will die during this series. Everyone and anyone else is fair game though.
  • Schrödinger's Gun: In Greg's interrogation in Episode 1 his response to the second question will change so that he always contradicts Michonne's earlier testimony.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Michonne shows definite signs of being this, frequently having flashbacks to her missing daughters.
  • Shout-Out: The dream sequences in the game share very similar gameplay elements from Silent Hill.
  • The Smurfette Principle: Michonne is the only female crew member on The Companion.
  • The Social Darwinist: Randall brags about how only the strong survive and how a human either adapts to the horrors of the world or dies weak and pathetic.
  • Spiteful Spit: Possible for Michonne to do to Randall after he brings up her daughters.
  • Straight Gay: Jonas and Zachary are a couple.
  • Straw Nihilist: Randall goes into a villainous monologue about how all hope is meaningless.
  • Thousand-Yard Stare: Michonne stares far away while she contemplates suicide.
  • Through the Eyes of Madness: There are several levels you have to play through as Michonne suffers from her nightmares and loses grasp on reality.
  • Time Skip: After Michonne meets Pete, the game skips three weeks ahead.
  • Token Good Teammate: Zachary is very opposed to Randall's methods of withholding order in their safe zone and appears to be the most moral member of Norma's group.
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • One of Randall's men chasing after Michonne tries climbing up an unstable tower slowly falling apart. He naturally dies getting crushed by falling debris after putting too much weight on the structure.
    • After disposing of walker parts, Sam's father actually has the foolishness to pause at his wide open gate so he could cry and let out all his emotions. Since he takes his sweet time thinking his life through while standing at the vulnerable entry to his safe zone, he abruptly gets shot dead.
    • Randall in the final episode. If you hand him over to Norma, Randall will immediatelly attack Michonne for no reason the second she frees him, prompting Sam to kill him in self-defense.
  • Ungrateful Bastard: To hammer in how much of an ass Randall truly is, in the final episode, he attacks Michonne even if she releases him to Norma. There's no reason behind this, especially since Norma would've kept her word, and the two of them would've left Sam and her family alone and wouldn't have burned Sam's house down.
  • Unreliable Narrator: Norma tells Michonne that Sam is liar not to be trusted with, but Norma is also the Big Bad of the first episode.
  • We Hardly Knew Ye:
    • Greg and (potentially) Zachary in episode 1.
    • Sam's father in episode 2.
    • Berto and potentially Oak will get killed in episode 3.
  • What Happened to the Mouse?:
    • It's unclear whether or not Jonas survived the firefight at Sam's family's house.
    • With the exception of Michonne, Pete and Siddiq, none of the other surviving characters appear in the comics. Dialogue suggests that Paige and Samantha's brothers (and Sam herself if she survives) are brought to Oceanside after the events of this game.
  • Wide-Eyed Idealist: Pete certainly has an optimistic outlook during the zombie apocalypse.
  • The Worf Effect: Sam's father is told to be the man who's single-handedly kept his family together while enduring the zombie apocalypse. He gets shot dead by Randall.
  • Would You Like to Hear How They Died?: Randall actually jokes about how he killed Sam's father right in front of her family.
  • You Won't Feel a Thing!: Inverted with a vengeance in Episode 2; after Sam gets shot while fleeing from Randal and his flunkies, Michonne must extract the bullet from the wound (which is graphically oozing blood, btw) and then cauterize it with a red hot fire poker while Sam screams bloody murder.
    Michonne: I'm not gonna lie... This is gonna really fucking hurt.
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Video Example(s):

William Carver

William Carver kills hostages until Kenny surrenders, then rounds up his prisoners to take back to his settlement.

Example of:
Complete Monster

★★★★★ 4.83 (12 votes)

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William Carver kills hostages until Kenny surrenders, then rounds up his prisoners to take back to his settlement.

How well does it match the trope?

4.83 (12 votes)

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Main / CompleteMonster

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