In Issue 176 of The Walking Dead, New World Order Part 2, we got to see how the Commonwealth operates when Eugene and the others are taken to meet its leader Pamela Milton.
The issue picks up immediately after the shocking reveal of the previous one that Michonne’s daughter Elodie is alive and looking for her.
Michonne’s reaction to this was well done, with her wanting to see Elodie immediately, even going so far as to threaten Lance to see her but he wants them to meet Milton first.
Over the next few pages we get to see how The Commonwealth operates.
We finally get to meet Stephanie, who tries to talk to Eugene but is reprimanded by Lance, rather severely in fact.
After this, we meet Maxwell Hawkins and the leader of The Commonwealth, Governor Pamela Milton (I am sure it is not a coincidence that Kirkman decided to bring another Governor into the story).
It is through these two characters that we see how The Commonwealth is actually run like a modern day government… but that is not a good thing.
It seems that Milton and Hawkins only see people who were of elite status before the apocalypse as important to The Commonwealth.
This can be seen when Hawkins decides to have Michonne talk to Milton instead of Eugene (even though Eugene was the one who lead them there and is one of the most important people from his community) just because he was a science teacher while Michonne was a lawyer.
It only gets worse when Michonne meets Milton.
Milton views herself as bringing back civilization, even though Rick’s group has been doing this as well and wants Michonne to thank her for what she has done when she has not done anything to help Michonne yet.
She also seems to view people below her status as weaker because of how she refers to the soldiers guarding her as “brutes”.

These factors combine to show that The Commonwealth is run by elites and people who were not important before the apocalypse but are now, like Eugene, are of no importance to them, apart from doing grunt work.
This has pretty bad implications when you think about it.
Milton views her soldiers as “brutes” and soldiers are technically more regarded than police officers.
Rick was a police officer before the apocalypse so Milton might view him as lower than her own soldiers and therefore see him as an unfit leader.
Since Milton views herself as bringing back civilization, she will probably try to take over Rick’s communities.
I do not believe she and The Commonwealth are villains because they do have the best intentions but they will most likely be a problem for Rick’s communities rather than allies.
It has some very interesting implications for the future of The Walking Dead, which I like.
Then we get the final scene of Michonne reuniting with her daughter Elodie.
I was very surprised by this because I thought it would be at least a couple more issues before the two reunited but I am very glad it happened sooner.
It was a very touching moment and I cannot wait to see how their relationship evolves, considering the two have spent years apart thinking each other were dead.
Overall Issue 176 of The Walking Dead was a pretty good one.
We got to see how The Commonwealth is run, opening up some interesting story points for the future and got to see the heart warming reunion between Michonne and Elodie.