Warning: Spoilers for The Walking Dead season 11, episode 12, “The Lucky Ones.”
Lance Hornsby might be Pamela Milton’s most trusted deputy in The Commonwealth now, but by the end of The Walking Dead season 11, he might overthrow her. Pamela Milton is, of course, the governor of The Commonwealth, and one of its founders, having initially created the community during the early stages of the outbreak. The Commonwealth has since continued to expand, adding thousands of residents and incorporating additional communities. Milton was in a prime position for accomplishing this feat, as she hailed from a pre-apocalypse political dynasty, with her father once having been quite powerful himself.
Hornsby, on the other hand, didn’t come from money, with his father having worked as a chauffeur for the Miltons. To his credit, though, Hornsby was able to parlay his knack for problem-solving, personal charisma, gift of gab, and ability to manipulate situations into a rise through the ranks to the position of Pamela’s Deputy Governor, second-in-command of The Commonwealth. Based on his actions on The Walking Dead, it’s doubtful Hornsby got that far without his fair share of immoral behavior, but such is sadly life in politics.
As The Walking Dead spends more time with Hornsby, who has sometimes proved an invaluable ally to people like Carol and Eugene, but never without an ulterior motive, it becomes more and more clear that he’s a man of great ambition and thirst for power. In fact, there’s no way Hornsby is going to remain satisfied for much longer, serving as only Milton’s deputy. It’s only a matter of time before he seizes an opportunity and stages a coup.
Lance Hornsby Has Clear Ambitions Beyond Working For Pamela Milton
In The Walking Dead season 11, episode 12, entitled “The Lucky Ones,” it’s firmly established that Lance Hornsby (played by Josh Hamilton) isn’t content with his current place in The Commonwealth pecking order. For her part, Pamela Milton (Laila Robins) is quite aware of this, at least to an extent. She sees right through Hornsby’s attempts at playing off his desire to recruit and absorb Alexandria, Hilltop, and Oceanside into The Commonwealth as some kind of selfless, helpful act. As Milton points out, these communities will need their own direct leadership operating on behalf of The Commonwealth. That’s a position Hornsby clearly sees himself being put in.
While only Alexandria has agreed to cooperate with The Commonwealth so far, it would appear that as they become a proper part of the society, Hornsby will indeed get to have influence and likely eventual leadership authority over it. After all, nothing is given for free without a catch, and in this case, that catch will likely be Alexandria’s gradual loss of autonomy. At the same time, even if this change upsets people like Aaron and Daryl, Alexandria is really in no position to reject the help being offered, even if it comes at a price. Yet, even if he gains authority over Alexandria, Hornsby would still be operating in that role under the overall authority of the Pamela Milton government. He might be fine with that arrangement for a while, but the two will undoubtedly butt heads, leading to a clash over power.
Lance Hornsby Controls Secret Operations Within The Commonwealth
While it hasn’t been made 100 percent clear if Pamela Milton is at all aware of them or not, it’s apparent that Lance Hornsby controls and directs some kind of secret operations team within The Commonwealth. It was this team that was seemingly behind the entire gambit to lure Eugene in with a fake Stephanie, then press him until he revealed the location of Alexandria. This was, of course, all a part of Hornsby’s plan to recruit more communities into The Commonwealth, communities he hoped to become the leader of. So far, this operation has worked like a charm, outside of Eugene discovering the truth, but considering Eugene’s history of being untrustworthy, one wonders if people like Rosita would even believe that truth if he tried to reveal it.
Hornsby’s secret Walking Dead task force looks to operate out of the building in The Commonwealth that’s purportedly a plumbing company. If the team has carried out this shady op, it’s to be assumed that they’ve taken many more deceptive actions just like it. If Milton truly doesn’t know about what Hornsby is getting up to when he’s off the clock, that would give him ample time to convince his cohorts that perhaps The Commonwealth would be better with him in charge of it. By the time she managed to find out Hornsby’s team even existed, the coup plot could already be set in motion.
Lance Hornsby Can Use The Resistance To Stage A Commonwealth Coup
While Lance Hornsby’s secret operations group may well be enough to stage a successful overthrow of Pamela Milton as head of The Commonwealth, it definitely wouldn’t hurt to have other insurance policies waiting in the wings. That’s where the still pretty mysterious resistance movement forming inside The Commonwealth’s borders may come into play. Little is known about it, aside from what Tyler Davis said about there being thousands more secret members of the movement. While the resistance fight seems to be against the class system instituted by the Milton government, it’s not hard to imagine a manipulator like Hornsby being involved.
Perhaps Hornsby has been doing some whispering in certain ears, subtly suggesting to those on the lower end of The Commonwealth’s social totem pole that they deserve and could achieve better. Hornsby could suggest that the cause of the class discrimination and corruption that appears to be at the center of Milton’s government is Milton herself, and with her out as governor and him in, Hornsby could ensure an equal setup. Still, one wild card in Hornsby’s potential plan could be The Commonwealth’s armed forces, led by the seemingly decent Mercer. Mercer doesn’t seem like the type to associate with a snake-like Hornsby, but it’s not hard to imagine Hornsby being able to get in the ear of other security officers, trying to lure them over to his side if a coup plot unfolds. One thing’s certain going forward on The Walking Dead, though, that being that Pamela Milton needs to watch her back at all times.
New episodes of The Walking Dead season 11 air Sundays on AMC.
