‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ Season 3 Episode 5 Release Date and Time Confirmed

Maggie and Negan’s uneasy new alliance in Manhattan is about to face its next test. Episode 5 of ‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ season 3, titled “Imperialis,” is scheduled to arrive on August 23, 2026, continuing the show’s steady weekly rollout.

The episode picks up right after the events of episode four, and according to early details, it sends the show’s central duo deeper into the ruins of the city that gives the series its name. The episode description notes that Maggie and Negan travel into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long cut off from the mainland, a crumbling city filled with the dead and with residents who have carved out their own version of New York, one full of anarchy, danger, beauty and terror.

‘Dead City’ Season 3 Release Schedule and Episode 5 Timing

‘The Walking Dead: Dead City’ has followed a consistent pattern since its debut, and episode 5 is no exception. Season 3 released on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at 8 p.m. CST on both the AMC network and the AMC+ streaming app, with new episodes debuting at the same time each following Sunday.

Streaming subscribers tend to get access before the cable broadcast. Previous episodes have dropped on AMC+ in the early morning hours, around 3 a.m. Eastern Time, with the traditional broadcast airing on AMC later that same night at 9 p.m. Eastern. That gap gives viewers the option to stream ahead of the East Coast primetime slot or wait for the standard cable airing.

The full back half of the season lays out cleanly, with episode 4, “Found/Lost,” airing August 16, followed by episode 5, “Imperialis,” on August 23, episode 6, “Genesis,” on August 30, episode 7, “Hourglass,” on September 6, and the season finale, “Tenebrae,” closing things out on September 13. Each episode runs between 40 and 50 minutes, putting the full eight episode season at roughly six hours of total runtime.

Where the Story Stands Heading Into ‘Imperialis’

Season 3 has reframed the relationship between its two leads in a meaningful way. After years of hostility and mutual blame, Maggie Rhee and Negan Smith are now working as true allies rather than reluctant travel companions, a shift the writers built the new season around.

That partnership has already been tested by outside pressure. Earlier episodes found the pair deciding to stay in the Manhattan settlement instead of returning to The Bricks, with Maggie working alongside a woman named Renata to help the fledgling community grow while her son Hershel trained toward a role in medicine. The most recent episode, “Emigrants,” saw the community absorb an unexpected surge of new survivors, a development that appears to be setting up the pressures explored in “Imperialis.”

Negan’s arc has taken a quieter turn for now, though it has not stayed that way for long in past seasons. He has largely settled into a calmer role within the settlement, drinking, playing video games, and stepping in as enforcer only when the situation calls for it, often serving as a voice of caution against Maggie’s optimism. Episode 5 looks poised to pull both characters out of that relative stability and back into the more dangerous, unclaimed stretches of the city.

New Faces Shaping ‘Dead City’ Season 3

Part of what has kept this season feeling different is the expanded cast around Maggie and Negan. Jimmi Simpson joined as Dillard, a lone survivor who grows close to Negan, while Aimee Garcia stepped in as Renata, the leader of the new community the pair encounters in Manhattan. Raúl Castillo, Logan Kim, and Michael Emery round out the additions to the season’s ensemble.

Behind the camera, the season also marks a leadership change. Seth Hoffman has taken over as the new showrunner for season 3. Critics have pointed to a distinctly different energy running through this season compared to the more strained second outing, a shift that lines up with Maggie and Negan now being firmly on the same side.

The returning cast has generated its own share of conversation among longtime viewers of the franchise. Among the most notable is Emily Kinney’s return as Beth Greene, whose death in season 5 of the original ‘The Walking Dead’ remains one of the more heartbreaking moments in the franchise’s history, with no official explanation yet given for how her character factors into this season.

Watching ‘Dead City’ Season 3 Episode 5 and What Comes Next

For viewers looking to stay current, the path to episode 5 is straightforward. New episodes arrive on both AMC and AMC+ the same day, with the streaming release landing hours ahead of the evening cable broadcast, meaning East Coast viewers can catch “Imperialis” in the early morning before it airs on AMC that night at 9 p.m. ET.

With three episodes remaining after “Imperialis,” the season is entering the stretch where earlier tensions typically come due. The season’s stated focus on rebuilding rather than endless conflict gives episode 5 a clear narrative function, testing whether that theme can hold once Maggie and Negan are back out among the city’s more lawless corners.

How Manhattan’s older, forgotten pockets reshape Maggie and Negan’s fragile new alliance is likely to be the question fans debate most once “Imperialis” airs, and it’s worth hearing where readers land on it in the comments.