Note: There are spoilers for The Walking Dead comic, which may or may not play a role in the actual television series.

The Walking Dead is finally coming back.

On October 22nd, season 8 kicks off, and there is a whole mess of things to look forward to. Last season left fans with a spark of hope that has long been needed since the head-busting entrance of Negan at the beginning of the season. With so much that happened last season, here’s a list of the top ten things to watch for in season 8.

1. Alexandria, Hilltop and The Kingdom VS. The Saviors.

This is the premise for the entire next season, with all trailers emphasizing the arc of All Out War. The final scenes of last season centered on Rick, Maggie and King Ezekiel representing their respective groups, giving speeches in preparation for the war about to break out. There will no doubt be action galore.

2. Where is Gregory?

Gregory disappeared a few episodes before the finale. After being saved from a walker by Maggie, he suddenly tells one of the members of the Hilltop to join him, and they take off for some unspecified destination—presumably to Negan and the Saviors to alert them of Maggie’s presence and the plans for the communities to revolt. Gregory has already been shown to be a spineless, failure of a leader, which makes him dangerous to everyone. He’ll look after himself before anyone else, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of mayhem comes with his return.

3. Is Eugene going to stay a member of the Saviors?

Speaking of spineless individuals, there’s the mullet-wearing, socially awkward brainiac Eugene. In stark opposition to Daryl, Eugene very quickly identifies himself as Negan. Even after everything Rick’s group has done for Eugene, he still remains the same coward who looks after only himself. As shameful as Eugene’s character has become, I think there might still be hope for a redemption for him. In the comics, Eugene is instrumental in developing the three communities into real societies, using his genius to create technological advancements; however, Eugene also never joined Negan in the comics, so it’ll be interesting to see where the show takes him.

4. Richonne.

Rick and Michonne—one of the fan favorite relationships. They really are perfect together, both of them being strong leaders who bring out the best in each other, and Michonne is a perfect mother figure for Carl and Judith. But knowing Rick’s track record with relationships, as well as the show’s tendency to rip happiness out of our hearts, it’s hard to imagine this actually lasting. I hope Richonne remains, but everything comes to an end.

5. Maggie’s pregnancy.

Maggie IS pregnant; I know many fans have referenced that it seems like a lot of time has passed since it was announced she was pregnant, yet her stomach hasn’t reflected that at all. More importantly than the visual representation of Maggie being pregnant, however, is just how that will affect her ability as a leader. There is no doubt that Maggie is perfectly capable of leading the Hilltop, regardless of her being pregnant; but knowing Maggie, she can’t stand being idle while everyone else does something. She’ll want to be in the midst of the fighting, pregnant or not. Also, people have raised the fact that the show may just not want to have another baby on set in addition to Judith, so we may possibly even see Maggie losing her baby (not to mention her last physical connection to Glenn). As horrible and awful as that is to imagine, it certainly seems like something the show would do just to remind fans how tragic this universe is.

6. Carol’s state of mind.

Scarol Carol, the ultimate survivor. Whatever needs to be done to survive, you can bet that Carol is doing it. However, the past season has captured a break in Carol’s psyche, showing her struggling with the thought of ever taking another human life. Carol has emphasized repeatedly that it’ll destroy her if she has to kill someone again, but she has also made it known that she would absolutely kill to protect those she loves. It’ll be interesting to see if Carol is ever able to find peace with her actions. As terrible as it is, we might not see Carol ever at peace with her actions until she’s about to die, which very well might happen in this next season. Seeing as how in the comics Carol died in the prison, her character has been on borrowed time for a VERY long time.

7. Dwight and Daryl dynamic.

Daryl does not like Dwight, to say the least. Whether or not Dwight can be trusted is still up in the air. Even if Dwight is able to be trusted and ends up becoming a valuable ally to Rick and the gang, it certainly feels like too much has happened between Dwight and Daryl for them to coexist. Dwight and Daryl are so similar in their skill sets, it’s possible the show might be setting up for Dwight to replace Daryl (cue fan girls/boys including myself crying at this thought). Daryl is another character who has been on borrowed time when looking at the comics because, well, he doesn’t even exist in the comics. Dwight on the other hand is still present, and is actually one of Rick’s most trusted members.

8. Old Man Rick.

For those who have seen the first trailer for the next season, the very final scene gave a hazy, glow-filled view of Rick waking up, except he is noticeably older, having grey hair. The scene ends with a shot of a cane. Some people have tossed around the idea that maybe this is Rick waking up from the coma in the pilot episode, making every episode since then a dream. However, Robert Kirkman has directly stated that Rick is not in a coma. For followers of the comics, this scene is HUGE. In the comics, All Out War ends with Rick severely injuring Negan in a fight, but refusing to kill him, electing to keep him as a prisoner in a jail cell that happened to be constructed in Alexandria (remember that in the television show, Morgan made a jail cell; potentially a foreshadowing). During this fight, Negan breaks Rick’s leg, an injury that permanently leaves Rick hobbling and using a cane. After beating Negan, a time lapse occurs, long enough for the communities to have built windmills that supply energy and planned out trading routes between each community. We might have a major time lapse by the end of this season, a time lapse that will be a very different world for our survivors.

9. Is Negan going to meet his end?

As already mentioned in the previous point, Rick doesn’t kill Negan at the end of All Out War. In fact, Negan is still alive now in the comics. As is to be expected, people do not appreciate Rick letting Negan live, least of all Maggie. While the show has deviated from the comics plenty of times, it’s hard to imagine them actually killing off Negan, especially after seeing how well Jeffrey Dean Morgan has played the character. Negan has such a major presence within the show and is a catalyst for numerous events within the comics; it’s very likely that he’ll be around for a long time.

10. People are going to die. A LOT of people.

This seems pretty obvious, but it’s crucial. War means death, and a lot of it. While we can obviously expect the numerous deaths of characters that we don’t care about/know nothing about, I think it’s safe to say we are going to lose some very loved characters. As much as I hate to say it because of how much I love them, Carol and Daryl seem like perfect candidates for the chopping block for reasons already mentioned. I’ll be happy if I’m wrong about that. In fact, I’ll be happy if I’m wrong about all of this.

I want to be surprised. I want to be confronted with moral dilemmas and hard questions. I want to watch an episode that sparks hours long discussions with my friends that watch it with me. Regardless of what happens in the next season, I know without a doubt that I’ll be presented with all of that and more. Now just to sit back and wait for those beautiful words of “Previously, on AMC’s The Walking Dead.”