Judith's Fate
SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 4x08 - "TOO FAR GONE" BELOW
I doubt Judith is actually dead. While they might just not have wanted to show a dead baby, I think they would have still shown something more definitive - a Walker crouching right over the stroller, the stroller could have been damaged in some way, the belt shredded instead of neatly unbuckled... she could have ended up in a lot of places, and I don't think the answer is a Walker's belly. But where is she now?
We saw a lot of people on the verge of leaving, but no one besides Rick and Carl actually outside of the prison. Still, there are people more and less likely to have her.
First off, Glenn and the bus? I doubt she's on the bus mainly because anyone going for the bus would've taken the whole stroller with them. Only people on their feet who needed to move light and fast would leave the stroller behind.
Next, Beth and Daryl. Beth was actually the one looking for Judith, but after she and Daryl catch up with each other he makes it clear that they have to leave now. They could have still caught sight of Judith on the way out, but they didn't seem to be going in that direction (they ran past the tank that Judith was behind, along the fences). I'd say they're likely on their own.
Maggie, Sasha, and Bob already had enough to worry about as they left the prison - mainly, Bob's through-and-through gunshot wound. They were also close enough to the edge of the prison to see the bus driving off toward freedom. It doesn't seem likely that they'd make their way back toward the inner area where Judith was at that point (and plotting-wise, I just don't think they'd give one group both a shot guy and a baby to deal with).
Tyreese and the children? The children were the ones who knew where Judith was. And he already has a group of kids to take care of, what's one more to make him the official Apocalypse Nanny going into the next half? (As an aside, I like the irony of him getting stuck taking care of "Carol's kids.") But when the kids started to scatter back toward the interior of the prison, Tyreese pointed in the opposite direction, saying "hey, we run that way!" Depending on whether or not they listened, he would've never had an opportunity to find Judith. I'd say there's maybe a 10% chance he has her.
Michonne. Where the heck did she end up after she killed the Governor? She was right by Rick, and then turned back to take one final look at her dying nemesis, and then the next thing we knew, Rick was stumbling up to the prison on his own, shouting for Carl. She doesn't seem to have caught up to them later on either, when Rick and Carl leave the prison behind. So where did she go?
Michonne had a great moment with Judith earlier this season, where we see that she's got some kind of baby issues but also a strong mothering instinct probably tied to a past tragedy. Did she make it back to the prison before Rick? Not hard to imagine, considering how slowly he was moving. If she found Judith abandoned on the ground with Walkers stumbling around nearby, I could easily see her grabbing the baby and cutting her way out in another direction. Michonne having Judith would allow her to continue that "mother" thread shown earlier, would give her someone to be with and interact with (since, as far as we know, she's on her own), and would make some logical sense.
The only main issue with this theory is that Michonne was right next to Rick when she killed the Governor. If she was heading back to the prison after, why would she leave him behind instead of giving the badly beaten Rick a shoulder to lean on? And since she knew where he was, wouldn't she make her way back toward him instead of just ditching the prison with his baby? It seems more likely that she's still out in the field, or headed off on her own after leaving the Governor to die. So I'll give Michonne's chances of having Judith a 25%
So where do I think Judith ended up? Not in the belly of a hungry Walker, I hope...
No, I think Tara ended up with the baby. Shocked and horrified by the entire situation, Tara seemed to be stumbling around the edge of the action more than being actively involved with it. She was sickened by the Governor's actions, and just wanted to get away from everything. We see her still with the tank after it breaks through the prison fences, and our last shot of her is wandering away in a daze after Daryl lobs at grenade toward her fellow fighters. She wouldn't have been far from where Rick and Carl find the stroller later on, which is only a bit behind the tank.
So Tara, who we already know loves kids and is disgusted by the battle in general, stumbles across an abandoned baby just outside of the action. She picks it up, almost as much to comfort herself as to protect little Judith, and together they go and find "somewhere safe" to hide and wait for Alisha, who will never find them.
The question is, how will we ever find Judith again if this virtual stranger has ended up with her? That's a question for another time (though I've got a floating notion it might involve her running into Carol, Carol realizing who the baby is, and somehow bringing her back, which would offer strong redemption points with Rick and the group as a whole).
Anyway, that's my theory: Tara's got the baby, 65% odds.
Thoughts?