Last Sunday’s new episode of The Walking Dead season 5 found a new character named Aaron entering the world of Rick and company. Is this guy truly a friend with good news?

Things were looking grim during much of The Walking Dead season 5, episode 10 and — honestly — pretty boring. After reflecting on their recent-ish losses and fighting zombies during an intense thunderstorm, the end of the episode saw Maggie and Sasha meeting someone named Aaron (played by Ross Marquand) as the ballerina in the music box began to dance. Could this be foreshadowing true good news?

While we don’t know Aaron’s backstory in the realm of the television show, The Walking Dead comic readers know that Aaron is a recruiter for the Alexandria Safe Zone in Virginia. The compound made up of several streets is a few miles away from Washington D.C., and Rick and company end up spending three years there.

Aaron is gay in the comics and is in a relationship with a character named Eric (who would help Aaron recruit). Aaron’s job is to invite people to Alexandria if he believes that they won’t be a threat to their establishment.

The water supply that our group came across in the episode was left by Aaron, who wanted to leave the gang some good news as he continued to monitor their activities.

Previews for next week’s show reveal Rick acts very cautiously when deciding what to do with Aaron — just like he did in the comics. With the whole group out on the road and desperate for haircuts and showers (seriously, how bad must they smell right now?), our guess is that Rick will decide to head to Alexandria with Aaron after all.

Check out this preview in which Rick gets a look at the strong walls at the Safe Zone. How could you say no to those, Rick?

Some questions still linger: How long will it take for Rick to decide on Alexandria? What kind of trouble will they face in their new home? And will they hang around there for a while? We’d like to see the group stay there for a good length of time because they’ve been out on the road for a while now. A safe place like the prison or Hershel’s home would be a refreshing change of pace.

The show tends to change dramatically every eight or so episodes, so by the series finale we should see the whole group living in Alexandria.

What are your first impressions of Aaron?

Hopefully Aaron and the Alexandria Safe Zone will offer this show an exciting path forward. Episode 10 was lacking excitement and progress until the very end due to the group’s slow walk toward D.C.

The Walking Dead season 5 continues this Sunday when it goes against the 2015 Oscars at 9 p.m. eastern/pacific.