u/sephirothvskuja

When Pete kills Reg, Abraham instantly tackles him and pins him to the dirt. It completely exposed Pete for what he truly was: a paper tiger.

A lot of people point to Pete’s street brawl with Rick in the previous episode to argue that Pete could hold his own. But looking back, that entire fight only happened because Rick was actively restraining himself to orchestrate a public exposure. Aside from Deanna, absolutely no one in Alexandria knew that Pete was hitting his family. Deanna was actively hiding it because Pete was the town doctor.

Rick knew that if he just went inside the house and ended Pete quickly, the citizens would just see a crazy intruder assaulting their beloved doctor perhaps to steal his wife. Rick intentionally baited the fight into the open street to force the town to look at reality. The ultimate proof that Rick was holding back is that he had a gun on him the entire time; he easily could have pulled it and shot Pete instantly, but he chose to use his fists instead to draw out the spectacle.

The exact proof is also right there in the choreography: the absolute second Pete strikes Jessie in public, Rick instantly stops playing defense. He immediately flips Pete back over, takes full control, and violently restrains him. Pete fought with every ounce of strength he had and, despite his bigger size and best efforts against a heavily restrained Rick, the best he could secure was a temporary draw before getting thrown through a window.

The finale with Abraham just solidifies how weak Pete actually was. Sure, Abraham technically blindsided him, but a truly skilled fighter—or even just a genuinely tough guy—would have offered at least some slight resistance or tried to scramble. Pete completely failed to do that. He was drunk, armed with a sword, and enraged with murderous intent, which usually gives someone a massive surge of adrenaline strength. Yet, he was effortlessly pinned to the ground.

Completely helpless against Abraham's sheer muscle, all Pete can do is pathetically whine and try to blame Rick for Reg’s death, screaming "This is him!" while face-down in the dirt. Abraham proves that Pete may have the physical size, but against a battle-hardened survivor who has actually lived through hell, he stands absolutely no chance. It’s an incredibly satisfying scene, and moments like that are exactly what make Abraham one of my favorite characters.

While it may seem like Pete was holding his own during their fight, Rick was actually restraining himself. He intentionally prolonged the brawl to expose Pete's abusive nature to the public.

Since the town other than Deanna was completely oblivious to the domestic abuse, Rick knew that effortlessly destroying the town doctor would make himself look like a violent intruder assaulting a citizen perhaps just to steal his wife. By letting it become a chaotic public spectacle, he forced the community to witness Pete's true abusive self.

There are obvious hints that Rick was holding back. When Pete pinned Rick to the wall, Rick could have easily gouged his eyes or bitten his throat out like he did to Joe; instead, he simply chose to break the hold and keep the fight moving. If Pete actually stood a real chance against Rick, he would have easily defeated him inside his own house before they ever went through the window. One of the most obvious hints that Rick was holding back is when he had a gun on him the entire time. If his goal was simply to eliminate Pete, he would have just shot him instead of tackling him through a window.

When we look at Pete’s physical advantages, he is about 6 inches taller than Rick and was fighting with absolutely everything he had because he realized his control over Jessie was threatened. Yet, despite his size advantage and fighting for his life, all Pete could manage was an even brawl against a restrained Rick and Rick pushes him through the window in order to cause a scene to the public. It takes great skill and effort for a 5’10 man to push an enraged 6’4 man through a window.

The biggest proof of Rick's control comes at the end of the fight. Pete manages to pin Rick to the ground, but this positioning puts Pete in the perfect spot to hit Jessie when she tries to pull him off. If Pete had remained on the bottom, he would have been unable to strike her. The exact second Pete punches his wife—thereby completely incriminating himself in front of the entire town—Rick immediately flips Pete over and defeats him. So Rick was in complete control of the pacing the entire time.

While Rick shoves Carl away, there’s a difference between a punch and a shove. You don’t “accidentally” punch someone to shove them away which is what Pete did. Closing one’s fist is a conscious act so by giving Jessie time to try to pull Pete off of Rick, Pete knew it was Jessie and punches her to get her off him. Rick shoves Carl away immediately because he is too focused on Pete. Pete punching Jessie is a conscious act while Rick pushing Carl is a result of his tunnel vision.

Pete shows up in the meeting trying to kill Rick with Michonne’s katana. That is the final proof that Pete knew he can never defeat Rick in a fair fight so he cowardly resorts to using a weapon to finish him. Pete remains a pathetic worm even in the end.

TLDR; the fight didn’t make Pete look impressive at all despite him seemingly holding his own. It actually made Pete look even more pathetic because despite his advantages and best efforts, he never stood any chance against Rick. Even with a weapon in hand he still fails to defeat Rick.

Pete- While Carol famously tells Rick he should kill Pete, the real reason is when she enters Pete’s new house and threatens him. After she leaves, he loses it and goes to the meeting to kill Rick. Pete kills Reg instead and he is executed for it.

Sam- Sam remembers Carol’s threat causing him to panic and making the zombies eat him.

Jessie- Jessie is devastated when she sees Sam get eaten due to him remembering Carol’s threat and she gets eaten too.

Ron- Ron sees his mother and his brother get eaten which is due to Sam remembering Carol’s threat. Ron finally loses it and tries to kill Rick for the deaths of his family. Michonne drives her katana through Ron, killing him.

The only true hurdle I’ve experienced in the game is Gizamaluke and the end of Disc 1 in general. At that point there is no White Mage to heal so healing is limited to items and there are no Inns nearby once the party reaches Burmecia. But there is a way to make Gizamaluke less difficult. Use Tent at the beginning and hope it will give Gizamaluke Darkness and Silence status; if it fails, reset the game. Antlion can be dangerous if it decides to use Sandstorm but Vivi is likely to have Blizzara and Quina is likely to have White Wind at that point, making it less dangerous than Gizamaluke. After Antlion, the game becomes easy until the final boss. But don’t forget to train the party and give them better equipment. Of course, I’m not including optional content since Ozma is extremely difficult and its AI is highly intelligent.

Pete seems to hold his own against Rick during their brawl. But it’s only because Rick is holding back to expose Pete’s abuse to the town. No one other than Deanna knows Pete hits his family so Rick knows easily defeating Pete in his home will not only fail to expose the abuse but it will also make Rick look like a violent intruder who assaulted the town doctor maybe to get his wife.

Pete should have the advantages against Rick during their brawl. He is 6 inches taller than Rick which gives Pete a big size advantage over Rick. And Pete is clearly going all out because he realizes his grip on Jessie is being threatened. And yet despite his best efforts and larger size, all Pete can manage is an equal brawl against a restrained Rick and when Pete pins Rick to a wall, Rick frees himself and pushes Pete through the window because when they crash through the window Pete is the one in front. It takes great skill for a man to push an enraged man of that size through a window. Even though Pete pins Rick down outside, the moment Pete hits Jessie in front of everyone thereby incriminating himself, Rick immediately flips Pete back over and defeats him; meaning Rick is in control of the entire fight. That timing is too perfect for it to be a coincidence.

Pete didn't give Rick a tough fight because he's a capable fighter; he only lasted that long because Rick needed the town to see the monster Pete truly was.

I believe that Rick was never losing the fight to Pete. Most people question Rick’s skills because the fight looked "even," but I believe Rick was being tactical to force the town to see the truth. Aside from Deanna, no one in Alexandria knew Pete was hitting his family. If Rick had ended the fight in five seconds inside the house, the town wouldn't see a hero; they’d see a violent intruder assaulting the town doctor for no reason—maybe just to steal his wife.

There are scenes I noticed that could imply Rick was holding back. When they crash through the window, Pete is the one in front, meaning Rick pushed him there. This would be impossible if Rick was truly struggling, since Pete is 6 inches taller than him.

Pete is a bully who relies on size, but he has little real combat skill. He was going 100% because he felt his control over Jessie was threatened. Despite Pete's size and maximum effort, he could only manage an "even" brawl against Rick who was clearly holding back and refusing to use lethal moves like eye-gouging or throat-biting like he did on Joe.

Outside, Pete flips Rick over. I believe Rick allowed this so Pete would be in the perfect position to hit Jessie. If Pete stayed on the bottom, he never would have had the chance to incriminate himself in front of the crowd. The moment Pete punches Jessie, the "performance" ends. Rick immediately flips Pete back over and ends the fight quickly.

TLDR; Rick never had any difficulty against Pete; he was just waiting for the mask to slip so the town could see Pete's true nature.