After the introduction of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) in The Walking Dead Season 6 finale, things haven't been going so great for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and his crew in Alexandria. After promising the Alexandrians that they can take care of Negan and the Saviors, Rick gave in to these villains, to save anyone else from being killed by the dreaded barbed wire bat known as Lucille. Next month, the show returns with the back half of Season 7. Andrew Lincoln revealed in a new interview that Rick is finally ready to fight once again.

Fans found out in the brutal Season 7 premiere, which sparked dozens of FCC complaints from angry viewers, that Negan had killed both Abraham Ford (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun), which caused Rick to do whatever it takes to keep his "family" save, including obeying Negan's every command. That all changed in the Season 7 midseason finale, when Rick watched Negan kill Spencer (Austin Nichols) in the middle of an Alexandria street. Entertainment Weekly caught up with Andrew Lincoln, who teased that the back half of Season 7 will be nothing like the first eight episodes, while revealing a powerful moment in the season finale.

"It's probably the opposite of what you just witnessed. Certainly from Rick's point of view. You see a man in action again with some of the members of his closest family. There's a lot more levity, if you can believe that, than you've ever seen before in Mr. Grimes. There's sort of a freedom in him, a feeling that comes from losing everything, and also the thrill of the fight. It's the thrill of the fight again. He's back in. All I'm saying is that the band is back together. There are several episodes that I loved being involved in and it certainly feels very much more like a show that I knew and recognized in the back eight. I loved the episodes that I was in. It's The Magnificent Seven in the back half. Rather, the magnificent eight episodes. Wait till [episode] 16. I promise you, there is one beat in 16, I dropped my script and started punching the air and did a little jig."

Shortly after the mid-season finale, AMC release a clip from the Walking dead mid-season premiere, where Rick first learns about The Kingdom and its leader, King Ezekiel (Khary Payton). While viewers were first introduced to The Kingdom earlier this season, when Carol (Melissa McBride) and Morgan (Lennie James) were taken there after Carol was hurt, Rick and the rest of his crew had never even heard of The Kingdom until Jesus (Tom Payne) mentions in the clip that he thinks it's time Rick meets King Ezekiel. The network even released artwork for the back half of this season with the tagline "Rise Up," teasing that there will be a battle brewing between Rick and Negan.

The Walking Dead Season 7 midseason premiere has been set to air on Sunday, February 12 at 9 PM ET on AMC. The series, which is executive produced by Scott M. Gimple, Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero, Dave Alpert and Tom Luse, will once again be followed by the after show Talking Dead hosted by Chris Hardwick, for the remainder of the season. Hopefully AMC will start debuting new footage from the mid-season premiere soon, as the countdown towards the back half of The Walking Dead Season 7 continues.