Fear the Walking Dead Finally Let Strand Use His Sword
Fear the Walking Dead's latest episode "Divine Providence" finally lets Victor Strand grow into his signature sword - and use it in a major way.
Victor Strand has been around since Season 1 of Fear the Walking Dead, and over the course of the series, he’s effectively covered the character spread. At different times, he’s been a hero, a mercenary and a grifter — capturing fans’ hearts one moment and horrifying them the next. However, at the end of Season 6, Strand left his unpredictable habits behind and embraced the role of a full-on villain.
When Season 7 opened, Strand had solidified his place as leader of the Tower. He was completely in charge of his own domain, and he had a new characterization to go with it. He dressed in Civil-War style getup and carried a sword at his side. He’s had that sword for the entirety of the season, but never done anything with it. But in “Divine Providence,” he finally demonstrated why it was there — and put it to good use.
After the departure of Morgan, “Divine Providence” opened with Alicia ready to make her assault on the Tower — but Strand had other plans. Even though they had declared war on each other, he invited Alicia inside to “settle their differences.” He soon revealed his plan: he was going to force her to live inside the Tower while he used its beacon to draw new walkers that would massacre her army. What followed were a bunch of backstabbing arguments and pointless gunfights.
When the episode’s climax finally arrived, Alicia and Wes were standing opposite each other with guns drawn. Wes wanted nothing more than to kill Alicia; Alicia wanted nothing more than to talk him down. That’s when Strand shocked everyone by plunging his sword into Wes’ gut. Alicia was appalled that Strand would kill Wes. Fans were fine with it because FTWD ruined Wes’ character by turning him into a bad guy. Strand using his sword further solidified his own stance as a villain.
Like its flagship series, FTWD has given signature weapons to a few key characters. John Dorie had his pair of nickel-plated Colt Single Action revolvers and Alicia had her sharpened barrel shroud. Morgan has his axe, which might be the most badass weapon on any TWD series. But Strand’s sword is pretty cool too. The show established that it belonged to George Hockley — a friend of Sam Houston, the man who helped Texas secede from the US in the 1930s — and was used as far back as the War of 1812.
Strand’s sword is also important because it represents his character’s fall into villainy. When it showed up in “The Beacon,” it established his new position as a leader. When he used the weapon in “Divine Providence,” he completely accepted his darkness. As he plunged the historic blade into Wes, he effectively drove an insurmountable wedge between himself and Alicia. The conflict between Stand and Alicia had become stagnant, so Strand using his sword for something other than aesthetics was a good move by the writers — and a major step forward for his character.
