"The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" is the sixteenth and final episode of the seventh season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired in the United States on AMC on April 2, 2017.

In the episode, Sasha Williams (Sonequa Martin-Green) comes to terms with the decision to commit suicide while in captivity, in order to kill Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) as a walker.

Brief flashbacks show her short-term relationship with Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and her friendship with Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan) as a reason to sacrifice herself to protect her friends.

Khary Payton, Steven Ogg, Katelyn Nacon, and Pollyanna McIntosh reappeared as guest stars before being upgraded to series regulars for the eighth season.

Sasha listens to an iPod in a casket in the back of a truck, struggling to maintain consciousness and has daydreams of her now-deceased boyfriend Abraham and friend Maggie.

At the Alexandria Safe-Zone, Rick and his allies question Dwight, a former member of the Saviors group, who warns them their leader Negan has captured Sasha and is preparing a major attack.

Before a fight can start, Jadis and the Scavengers turn their weapons on the Alexandrians, revealing that they double-crossed Rick's group after the Saviors approached them and offered them a better deal.

After subduing them, Negan prepares to kill Carl in front of Rick, but is stopped by the arrival of forces from the Kingdom and Hilltop, led by King Ezekiel and Maggie, who help successfully fend off the Saviors and Scavengers.

The website's critical consensus reads, "'The First Day of the Rest of Your Life' overcomes sporadic doldrums with an action-packed battle sequence, satisfying and innovative storytelling, and impressively imaginative use of a tiger.

"[8] Jeff Stone of IndieWire gave the episode a grade rating of a "B−", summarizing the season finale as being poorly paced, but having "enough thrills to get by.

[17] Lastly, from the Orlando Sentinel, Hal Boedeker wrote that "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" gave viewers "memorable twists and an unforgettable sendoff".