The Walking Dead: 10 Hidden Details About Woodbury You Never Noticed

With everything going on in The Walking Dead today, Woodbury is almost considered a piece of forgotten history within the lore of AMC’s hit drama series. The rural town that was run and influenced by the infamous Governor, who was first introduced in the first episode of The Walking Dead‘s third season. In this episode, titled “Seed”, Andrea and Michonne are welcomed into Woodbury by the Governor himself, along with his right-hand men, Merle Dixon and Milton Mamet.

Woodbury was the first gated community that was introduced in the TV series, and the Governor was the first prominent villain. Since the Governor and Woodbury seem pretty subdued in hindsight, now that the show has introduced more sinister and nefarious antagonists such as Negan and the Whisperers, it’s easy to overlook just how eerie and ominous this whole idea was. Let’s look back at some details about Woodbury that you might have missed.

10 Even The Pets Were Thriving

Woodbury, by the first appearance at least, managed to provide idyllic sanctuary for not only human survivors, but also their furry companions. Multiple dogs appear in the background of several shots of Woodbury, running and playing alongside their humans.

It’s uncommon for pets to have a very long lifespan in the world of The Walking Dead, so the fact that pets seemed to thrive in Woodbury sets it apart from other communities.

9 The Governor Seemed To Have Rather Questionable Relationships With The Women

There’s no doubt that the Governor’s constant manipulation didn’t stop when it came to the female citizens of Woodbury. The notorious villain seemed to specifically take advantage of them and automatically assumed that he could just charm and smooth-talk any of their suspicions away.

He was shown to be having affairs with multiple women, up until he and Andrea started their short-lived romance. One of the only people who seemed to be immune to the Governor’s charm was Michonne, who saw through his act from the beginning.

8 Season 4 Marked The Deaths Of Almost All Of The Surviving Woodbury Citizens

The end of season 3 saw the partial fall of Woodbury and the end of the Governor’s reign of terror over the community. However, there were several survivors of the town, and it was shown that Rick and the others took them in and gave them sanctuary at the Prison in the finale of the third season.

It wasn’t until the fall of the Prison that most of the remaining Woodbury survivors were killed off. Tyreese and Sasha were the only survivors of the community after this, with Tyreese dying in season 5 and Sasha having her last episode in the season 7 finale.

7 It Wasn’t The Only Community To Stage Walker Fights

While Woodbury was certainly the first community on the show to stage walker fights for some sort of entertainment, it wasn’t the last. Season 7 introduced a group of eccentric survivors who were referred to as the Scavengers. Jadis, their offbeat leader, was revealed to routinely stage walker fights.

The Scavengers kept a walker that they called Winslow and had him fight unsuspecting survivors. Rick was subjected to this in the tenth episode of season 7, in yet another unforgettable walker vs. survivor showdown.

6 Progressiveness

Despite being kept in line by the Governor’s dictatorship, Woodbury was shown to actually have some rather forward-thinking values. The first couple of seasons of The Walking Dead are often criticized for feeding into gender role stereotypes; having the women survivors wash clothes and cook while the men went out and fought walkers.

A significant change was made in season 3, and Woodbury serves as a notable example of this. The men and women in the community appeared to be equal, and girls were often seen working as guards and killing walkers.

5 The Citizens Deliberately Turned A Blind Eye To The Governor’s Corruptness

The Governor appeared, at first glance, to be a charming, capable leader, but it didn’t take long for anyone to uncover his true colors.

The citizens of Woodbury had, for the most part, been living there and under the leadership of the Governor, for several months to a year, so the notion that they had no idea just how twisted their governor just seems utterly ridiculous. They most likely just turned a blind eye on the undeniable red flags.

4 A Village Of Psychopaths?

Not only did the Woodbury citizens most likely deliberately ignore the Governor’s psychotic behavior, but the walker fight that was shown in the sixth episode of season 3 seems to hint at the fact that the civilians joined in on this.

As Merle and Caesar fight walkers in what seems to be a weekly show, the other citizens cheer and shout as though they’re watching their favorite sports show.

3 It Was Filmed In The Same Location As Alexandria

Think Woodbury and Alexandria look a little similar? That’s because they are. Not only are the two both gated, posh communities, but they were actually both filmed in the same location.

Senoia, Georgia served as Woodbury for season 3, and the location was soon reused and remodeled as Alexandria. While the survivors may have made the move to Virginia from Georgia, the filming – in reality – has never really gone far.

2 Sasha Was The Last Known Survivor Of The Community

Sasha and Tyreese were introduced in the third season of The Walking Dead. They first appeared in the midseason finale, “Made To Suffer”, and soon migrated from the Prison to Woodbury, were they unwittingly thought they’d be safe.

After the ultimate fall of Woodbury, the brother-sister duo moved back to the Prison where they became a beloved part of the main group. After losing several people – such as her brother and two partners – Sasha went rogue and this would ultimately lead to her death at the end of season 7.

1 Woodbury Was Not Destroyed In The Comics

At the end of season 3, the Governor failed to infiltrate and take over the Prison and later had an extreme emotional breakdown, executing several former Woodbury citizens. The fate of the community was left ambiguous until season four’s episodes 6 and 7 – which delved into where the Governor had been for the past few months.

It was revealed that the Governor burned down the remainder of Woodbury, and this is interesting since Woodbury lives on in the comics, still standing, but as a ghost town.

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