“We’re ready for war,” says Melissa McBride about season 8 of The Walking Dead. The good news is Carol is ready for that war as well, and McBride couldn’t be happier about her character’s change of heart. “Carol is in a very different place than she was in season 7,” says McBride. “Which I’m really happy about. I’m happy to get her out of the cabin and in the fold of something moving forward. It’s going to be action-packed, very physical, and suspenseful.”

While in between takes at EW’s recent Walking Dead cover shoot, McBride explained why Carol is ready to suit up in the battle against Negan. “I think by now, given the circumstances and what she’s learned about Glenn and Abraham and just exactly what this whole wrath of Negan is like, the threat — I think she’s come to terms with the fact that this is really what you have to do, like it or not, hate it or otherwise — exploring exactly the reasons why you continue on and having to do those things to survive. I think she’s really, really working that out and coming to terms with the fact that that is the way to move ahead.”