"Mercy" is the eighth season premiere of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 22, 2017.

This episode focuses on the combined attack, involving the communities of the Alexandria Safe-Zone, the Hilltop Colony and the Kingdom, against the Sanctuary, thus starting the "All Out War" story arc.

It also introduces the character Siddiq, portrayed by Avi Nash, who plays a significant role in the upcoming story arcs in the comics.

The Militia, a coalition of people from the Alexandria Safe-Zone, the Hilltop Colony and the Kingdom, prepare for war in an alliance to fight the Saviors.

Rick starts a countdown, but ends it early, firing at the walls and windows of the Sanctuary, creating noise to draw the incoming walkers.

With signals sent by Carol's group, Gabriel positions their RV, rigged with explosives, in front of the Sanctuary fence and exits as it continues slowly moving forward.

In one, Rick and Carl are scavenging for gas when they encounter Siddiq (Avi Nash), a man of Middle Eastern descent, rambling to himself and begging for food.

A second scene has Rick, alone, crying to himself against a tree in a forest in the light refracted through a stained glass piece, muttering "My mercy prevails over my wrath".

Nicotero wanted this scene to make the audience feel part of the group while also conveying a lot of information at the same time.

The episode's "flashforward" to an older Rick uses the song "Another One Rides the Bus", by "Weird Al" Yankovic (a parody of "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen).

Along with host Chris Hardwick, all twenty of the main cast for the season and the showrunners were present along with former stars Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha Williams), Emily Kinney (Beth Greene), Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene), IronE Singleton (T-Dog), and Michael Rooker (Merle Dixon), while Steven Yeun (Glenn Rhee) and Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes) provided video messages.

The site's consensus reads: "Mercy" mixes mysterious time-hopping sequences with explosive action to create a more hopeful premiere than previous seasons of The Walking Dead.