'The Walking Dead' Season 4 Recap: Is the Governor Redeemed in Episode 6 "Live Bait" Flashback?

Well the Governor is officially back! But back to what? In last week's epic 10-second conclusion the camera panned down to the Governor standing on the outskirts of the forest surveying the prison. Understandably many thought there would be some Governor vs. Rick and Michonne action in last night's episode 6 "Live Bait."

Instead AMC decided to backtrack a little and clue us into what the Governor's been up to during the six-month gap between Season 3 and 4. In a surprise swing the flashback actually humanized the maniac from last season's finale and even earned him a little bit of sympathy.

Ok, so what do we know about the Governor? He's definitely changed. Ever since murdering most of his Woodbury army [save Martinez and Shumpert] he seems extremely lost; as if all sense of his pre-apocalypse identity is gone. Knowing that he's not the leader they once had, Martinez and Shumpert abandon him.

He's now all alone stumbling the streets of small town Georgia with a beard that would make the men of Duck Dynasty jealous. Collapsing to the ground he looks up and sees a young blonde girl [who is definitely supposed to resemble his dead daughter] looking down from an apartment building window.

He befriends the family over time and earns their trust by risking his life for them in two missions. The first involves the Governor going upstairs to retrieve a backgammon set in hopes that the grandfather can make his traumatized granddaughter Megan talk and smile.

The second mission requires the Governor to hit up the retirement home and steal some oxygen tanks for the grandfather, who has exceeded the life expectancy of his stage 4 cancer.

Eventually the grandfather dies, turns to zombie almost biting his youngest daughter Tara, until the Governor smashes his head in with one of the oxygen tanks.

The foursome decides to leave the apartment but are ambushed on the streets forcing them to flee into the surrounding woods. Holding Megan in his arms and running as fast as he can, he falls into a "walker" pit that belongs to none other than Martinez [and most likely Shumpert].

Was the Governor redeemed in episode 6 "Live Bait," or will he flip the switch back to beast mode somewhere later in the season?

The Walking Dead Season 4 airs Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.