In the episode, a heavily wounded Rick Grimes struggles to divert a zombie herd while he questions his legacy in maintaining his vision of the united communities.

This episode included guest appearances by former regular cast members Jon Bernthal (Shane Walsh), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha Williams), Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene), Sarah Wayne Callies (Lori Grimes), Emily Kinney (Beth Greene), Michael Cudlitz (Abraham Ford), and Lennie James (Morgan Jones).

Throughout this, Rick falls in and out of consciousness and has lucid dreams of him trying to find his family, which includes conversations with Shane and Hershel, both of whom urge him to wake back up to reality and stay ahead of the horde.

Maggie worries that if the walkers cross, they will continue onto Hilltop, and leads a group to try to turn the horde around, but Rick waves them off, muttering to himself that he found his family.

Six years later,[1] a small group of survivors, Magna, Connie, Kelly, Yumiko, and Luke are trying to hold off a walker horde when a few are shot from a forest nearby.

The group is told to take cover, and find that they have been rescued by a now-preteen Judith Grimes, who wears Carl's hat and is armed with Rick's revolver and a katana like Michonne.

[2][3] Lincoln had been working with Scott Gimple, the former showrunner and now current content manager for all of AMC's The Walking Dead properties, about how Rick's story could continue for some time.

[1] Showrunner Angela Kang also confirmed that this episode would be the last episode of this season for Lauren Cohan as Maggie, due to previous commitments she had made for the show Whiskey Cavalier prior to signing on for the ninth season, though it is uncertain yet if she will return to the show; Kang stated they have additional stories they can tell with Maggie's character should Cohan be able to return.

This led to some discussion about whom to bring back for these shots between Kang and writers Scott Gimple and Matt Negrete, needed characters that were essential to Rick.

They had considered bringing back others like Steven Yeun who played Glenn, but there were scheduling conflicts, and the production felt the three guests they had worked strongest for the story.

[6][7] Additionally, former The Walking Dead actors Lennie James, Sarah Wayne Callies, Emily Kinney, and Michael Cudlitz all provided voice-line cameos as their former characters Morgan Jones, Lori Grimes, Beth Greene, and Abraham Ford respectively as part of Rick's lucid dreams.

The episode introduces Cailey Fleming as an older Judith, as well as the members of Magna's (Nadia Hilker) group, including Lauren Ridloff as Connie, Angel Theory as Kelly, Eleanor Matsuura as Yumiko, and Dan Fogler as Luke, who are key elements related to the Whisperers arc in the comic book series.

The critical consensus reads: "'What Comes After' serves as an emotionally raw and rousing farewell to series lead Andrew Lincoln, though some viewers may find Rick Grimes' ambiguous departure more of a cop out than a relief.

"[9] Jeff Stone writing for Indiewire praised the episode with a qualification of B and in his review he said: ""What Comes After," at least before things take a serious turn for the bonkers, is a perfectly acceptable, if somewhat, cliché-ridden hour of television, with some extremely welcome returns.

"[10] Megan McCluskey of Time Magazine praised the Lincoln's development and said: "The Walking Dead has a sprawling cast of characters, but the story at its core has always revolved around Rick's leadership of the group of survivors.