Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2, episode 2, "Another Shitty Lesson".After playing more of a background role in Dead City season 1's finale. We did hear plenty about their marshals and the group's attempt to enforce their laws upon people, but their true goals remained a mystery.

Fortunately, the spinoff has changed that by giving them the spotlight this time around while introducing some of their key figures, many of whom have been a great addition to Dead City season 2's cast. We have also found out more about their intentions, making it easier to understand how they'll fit into the overall narrative. Rather than sitting back and letting the action happen around them, New Babylon has taken its soldiers to Manhattan, where a war is brewing, and the group is quickly becoming one of the most interesting aspects of the season as a result.

What We Know About The New Babylon Federation's Structure & Setup

The Faction Are All About Bringing Back & Enforcing The Law, Regardless Of How Extreme Their Methods Are

With New Babylon making their presence known, we have already learned a lot about how they operate. Firstly, they seem to have a core settlement that has spread their influence across multiple communities, including the Bricks, creating the New Babylon Federation. Their structure consists of a more old-school, traditional form of government, with Governor Charlie Byrd leading the group, while other also have prominent roles. Perlie Armstrong has the title of Colonel, while Lucia Narvaez has the role of Major, resulting in these figures having more authority than regular marshals and civilians.

This system may seem like a way of returning to regular civilization, but the laws that they enforce are often abused. Lucia had a man publicly executed for desertion, even though his conscription was forced, showing the faction isn't about creating peace; instead, they care more about enforcing their beliefs by any means necessary. In some ways, the New Babylon Federation feels like The Walking Dead's CRM replacement, as the two communities disguised their extreme methods and inequality behind the idea that they were fighting some noble cause for the greater good.

Truthfully though, New Babylon's hierarchy gives power to those in charge and oppresses those below them, with this power continuing to grow as they recruit new communities such as the Bricks. Even if they offer safety and security, it comes in exchange for basic human rights, suggesting New Babylon's setup is extremely flawed in Dead City.

Why Maggie's Community Serves The Walking Dead's New Babylon Federation

New Babylon Cut Off The Bricks' Trading Partners To Force An Alliance

As season 2's premiere highlighted, Maggie's community is part of the New Babylon Federation, and the reason that the Bricks serves them is rather simple - they were forced. It's unclear exactly how big New Babylon's influence goes, but given that they are able to go from community to community, demanding soldiers, it's clear they are a fairly big group. However, this alone wasn't enough to force the Bricks into submission, as it was revealed that New Babylon had cut off their trading partners, essentially making Maggie's group accept the Federation's laws despite Maggie voting against this decision.

After the community sustained damage in the Whisperer War and the battle against the Commonwealth, Hilltop was forced to relocate, setting up a new settlement around New York which eventually became the Bricks.

The takeover does set up a bit of a Rick Grimes plot hole as none of The Walking Dead's main settlements seem to have helped the Bricks despite being under New Babylon's rule for around two years. However, it's possible the faction had been fairly peaceful up until their New York mission, hence there being no need for intervention. Overall, it appears as though Maggie's community simply didn't have the numbers to fight against New Babylon or find some sort of counteroffer, eventually leading to Maggie and Ginny officially ing their Manhattan mission, which has already experienced a few problems.

The New Babylon Federation's New York Mission Explained

Despite Being Disguised As An Exploratory Mission, New Babylon Really Wants The Dama's Ethanol

"Another Shitty Lesson" saw New Babylon officially begin their New York exploration, and despite suffering some serious hiccups, they did at least make it to the island. On the surface, their goal seemed fairly noble, as Charlie and Perlie claimed they were going on an exploratory mission to New York to bring back hope through the historic city. The idea that Manhattan was once all about the arts, food, and commerce makes it the perfect hub for a fresh start, with Perlie even claiming it could serve as a "Bastion for civilization".

New Babylon's attempt to catch the Croat by surprise while sailing to the island went poorly as their ferry was easily attacked, leading to the deaths of several soldiers.

However, while this all sounds great, it isn't New Babylon's real motivation. They forced people to enlist as soldiers since they were really after the Croat and the Dama's methane that had been powering parts of Manhattan. While they mentioned to the Bricks that the location had been overrun by barbarians, they didn't mention how powerful Manhattan's factions had become, perhaps because they themselves weren't fully prepared. Inevitably, New Babylon's attempt to catch the Croat by surprise while sailing to the island went poorly as their ferry was easily attacked, leading to the deaths of several soldiers.

How the survivors improvise will be fascinating to watch, but given how stubborn New Babylon is, it seems like the group will continue with their plan to seize control of the methane operation in the city. They may have spent a lot of time planning for this mission, but their failure to listen to Maggie has already caused them major problems, and with Hershel seemingly attached to the Dama in The Walking Dead spinoff, it looks like New Babylon will have to figure out a new strategy quickly.

Is The New Babylon Federation Another Walking Dead Villain Group?

The Group Looks Just As Evil As The Dama & The Croat's Community

Despite portraying themselves as good guys, New Babylon is undoubtedly a new villain group in The Walking Dead. Between forcing the Bricks to become their allies, enforcing mandatory conscription, and publicly executing civilians, it's crystal clear that this faction is far from friendly. Even though New Babylon is going against the spinoff's other main antagonists, they are just as bad, considering they don't mind losing soldiers for the so-called greater good. Additionally, individual of New Babylon possess the sort of traits typically seen in villains, with Major Narvaez and Governor Byrd being the main culprits.

Narvaez has happily thrown her authority around, imprisoning Maggie for punching her and sending Hershel with her despite the teenager being innocent. While Byrd may not seem as sinister, she appears to be in charge of proceedings and was happy to let Maggie and Ginny face 20 zombies on their own, proving she is just as guilty. Characters like Perlie and Benjamin have more of a moral com, but they are still naive about what is really going on, making them able for some of New Babylon's actions, especially since they haven't tried to intervene.

Whether they are more or less evil than the Dama and the Croat is up to the audience to decide, but New Babylon's actions so far indicate that they are at least a strong candidate for being Dead City's leading villains, making the war incredibly interesting.