We’ve known that “The Walking Dead” was moving into a new phase, one defined less by the peregrinations and shifting fortunes of Rick and company, and more by the relationships between competing colonies, each with its own version of civilization. Sunday’s episode represented a notable expansion not only of the players and cast of this story, but also of philosophy.

Whatever you think about the fairy tale aspects of the Kingdom, it seems to be a settlement based in hope and, perhaps, a belief in the fundamental goodness of humankind, which distinguishes it from roughly 100 percent of the groups that Rick and the gang have encountered this far. From the Nero-esque Governor to those ravenous Terminus lunatics to Officer Dawn’s actual police state to the predatory Wolves to the despicable Saviors, “The Walking Dead” has so far equated post-apocalyptic polity with toxicity. Even the fatally oblivious Alexandrians based their decency in denial, leading to vulnerability within — think Pete the serial abuser — and without — think Season 6.

The Kingdom seems to favor a quasi-Marxist program of meeting needs by tapping its members abilities, with spiritual overtones. “Drink from the well, replenish the well,” Ezekiel says, dropping the episode title. Sunday’s hour was about pondering whether Carol could believe in decency anymore, or commit to it enough to risk having to defend it at some point. (You’ll recall that she left her friends in Alexandria because she didn’t want to kill anymore, speaking of fairy tales. The quicker the show abandons this silly pretense, which was apparently a device for getting us to the Kingdom, the better.)

But first, viewers put off by last week’s violence — those who returned on Sunday, anyway — had something special waiting for them: a sliced walker whose face opened like an old mailbox. It was part of an impressionistic sequence that illustrated Carol’s struggle to reconnect to her humanity, the walkers shifting between their pre- and post-death selves as riders wielded swords with ruthless grace.

At least I think that’s what it was supposed to illustrate. Like many “Walking Dead” set pieces, the line between meaningful moment and “check it out bro” visual effects was as hazy as Carol’s perspective. If nothing else, it provided another wallow in fetishized gore for hot-takers to parse.