The Ending Of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Explained

Contains spoilers for "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon"

It's hard to overstate exactly how popular the crossbow-wielding survivor Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) became during the original run of "The Walking Dead" on AMC. Despite the fact that Daryl was an original character created for Season 1 (and had never appeared in Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" comic series), the hardened loner became a fan favorite almost immediately.

Online news outlets began to call Daryl the best character in the series as early as Season 2, and over time he became the de facto face of the franchise alongside series lead Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). As such, it should be no surprise that Daryl received his very own spinoff series, which follows his overseas exploits after he leaves the Commonwealth to search for Rick.

In "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon," we learn that Daryl's search took an unexpected when he was captured by a group called Pouvoir des Vivants ("Power of the Living" in French) and transported across the sea to France. Led by the tyrannical Genet (Anne Charrier) and headquartered at Maison Mère, the Pouvoir engage in human experimentation to find a cure to the zombie outbreak. Thus, "Daryl Dixon" is a show centered around Daryl's attempts to fight his way back to America, though unfortunately, that journey ends in a tantalizing cliffhanger.

Early on in "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon," the titular survivor manages to break free from his captors and starts wandering France — searching for a way home, running into some new walker variants, and meeting plenty of new characters along the way.

Where the original series focused on Daryl's transformation from a "lone wolf" survivalist to a beloved leader and a surrogate father figure to R.J. and Judith Grimes (Antony Azor and Cailey Fleming, respectively), "Daryl Dixon" explores this newfound empathy as Daryl becomes the protector of a young boy named Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi). Laurent is a young boy who was born via C-section after his mother had already turned into a zombie, and who is now revered as the Messiah by a religious network called the "Union of Hope." Members of the Union believe Laurent is destined to end the apocalypse and restore humanity to its former glory.

In a storyline that draws some parallels to that of "The Last of Us," Daryl agrees to transport this young savior across France to the Union's base on Mont Saint-Michel, though in Episode 5, Daryl, Laurent, Laurent's father Quinn (Adam Nagatis), and the nun Isabelle (Clémence Poésy) are captured by agents of the Pouvoir. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, in which Daryl is forced into a gladiator fight against the enhanced walkers created by the Pouvoir, while Union devotees Sylvie (Laïka Blanc-Francard), Fallou (Eriq Ebouaney), and Émile (Tristan Zanchi) sneak into the Pouvoir's arena to stage a desperate rescue attempt.

The finale of "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon ” begins inside the gladiator pit, where Daryl quickly defeats a few of the Pouvoir's genetically enhanced walkers. Quinn is sent in and chained to Daryl to provide more of a challenge, though the pair still manage to defeat wave after wave of these new and improved zombies.

Their success draws a surprising amount of support from the crowd, who start cheering "Dixon" as Daryl and Quinn fight. The enraged Pouvoir leader Genet decides to execute Daryl and Quinn before things get out of hand, but they're saved by a well-timed bullet from Fallou, who kicks off a full-blown uproar inside the arena. In the ensuing chaos, Daryl and Quinn escape their chains and Quinn reveals that he was infected during their battle. Quinn sacrifices himself to make way for Daryl and Laurent's escape, declaring his love for Isabelle — his former lover and Laurent's biological aunt, who raised Laurent in Quinn's absence.

Daryl and his Union allies rush to free Isabelle and Laurent from Pouvoir custody, though during the final stage of their escape, they come face-to-face with the reanimated corpse of Quinn. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Laurent is forced to kill the walker who was once his father, saving Isabelle and declaring that Quinn "was never my father."

With Quinn put down for good, the group completes their escape from the arena and splits up on the road. Fallou and Emile depart into the woods while Sylvie, Daryl Dixon, Isabelle, and Laurent flee towards Mont Saint-Michel. Along the way, Isabelle confesses to Daryl that she invented a good deal of Laurent's "Messianic" powers, hoping to impress Daryl and draw support for the Union.

Oddly, this brief confession is juxtaposed with a roadside ambush from Pouvoir agents led by Stéphane Codron (Romain Levi), where Laurent displays an eerie level of persuasion that borders on the supernatural. Laurent imparts a "message from God" and somehow convinces Codron to gun down his fellow agent, allowing Isabelle, Daryl, and Laurent to continue on their way. Thus, the trio finally arrives in the fortified city of Mont Saint-Michel, where the religious haven known as "The Nest" resides.

Despite all that he went through to protect Laurent and deliver the boy safely to The Nest, Daryl still has his heart set on a return to America, and he departs in the night against Isabelle's protests. After a brief stop in Normandy (where Daryl visits the grave of his grandfather, a World War II veteran), Daryl boards a boat on Omaha Beach. He is about to set sail when he hears someone calling his name, and discovers that Laurent had followed him in order to say a proper goodbye. Unfortunately, his calls have also attracted a fresh horde of walkers, and thus the first season of "Daryl Dixon" ends with a cliffhanger as Daryl decides whether to set sail or turn back to save Laurent.

As previously mentioned, the Pouvoir agent Stéphane Codron inexplicably chooses to betray his allies after Laurent tells him that "God loves him." Despite being a brutal murderer and a sworn enemy to Daryl Dixon, Stéphane is visibly conflicted when Genet gives him the orders to kill Laurent, and his resolve crumbles when faced with actually murdering the child.

Stéphane betrays the Pouvoir and instructs Daryl on the best path towards Mont Saint-Michel, having deduced that is where "The Nest" actually is. Returning to the Pouvoir hideout of Maison Mère, Stephan attempts to lie his way out of Genet's interrogation when he returns without Daryl or Laurent. Unfortunately for him, she doesn't believe any of it, and orders her agents to torture him for more information. While Daryl Dixon and his comrades may have escaped the wrath of Genet for now, their fate now hinges on Stéphane's ability to withstand torture — since he is one of the few people who knows the secret location of "The Nest."

Considering the gross levels of human experimentation that Genet and the rest of the Pouvoir have demonstrated, it's unlikely that Stéphane will be able to hold out forever. This perfectly sets up the impending conflict between The Nest and the surviving members of the Pouvoir, something that will likely be a major focus in "Daryl Dixon" Season 2.

As if the finale of "Daryl Dixon" Season 1 wasn't already executing enough, the episode's final moments reunite fans with longtime "The Walking Dead" staple Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride).

Just before the credits roll the episode cuts away to Freeport, Maine, where an unnamed drifter (Paul Zies) is seen riding Daryl's iconic motorcycle. The cyclist is pursued by Carol, and after a brief scuffle, she knocks him unconscious with a wrench. She interrogates him and discovers that he bought the motorcycle from survivors living further up the road, and she locks him in the trunk before riding off on Daryl's motorcycle.

Any "Walking Dead" fan will know that Carol and Daryl are closer than perhaps any other characters in the entire series, and have been there for each other through more than a decade of strife and heartbreak. Despite never pursuing a romantic relationship, they professed their love for each other before Daryl left in the original series' finale. Now, love has driven Carol to seek out her friend after his disappearance — picking up the trail in Maine, and setting up her return for the next season of "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon." After leaving their relationship up in the air in the original series finale, this reunion could herald a true happy ending for both Daryl and Carol.

While much of "Daryl Dixon" Season 1 centers around Daryl's survival and desire to fight his way home to his family, the finale helps to clarify that the series is also a very dysfunctional father-son story — one that is bogged down by a long history of family trauma.

Throughout both the original "The Walking Dead" series and "Daryl Dixon" we learn that Daryl's father was extremely abusive and neglectful, and that he was hardly ever there for him or his brother Merle (Michael Rooker). In a rare moment of vulnerability, Daryl tells Isabelle that his grandfather had neglected Daryl's father as well, and hints at the generational trauma that has been passed down through the Dixon family. Now, this trauma threatens the development of another young boy — Laurent, to whom Daryl has become a pseudo-father figure.

The series tells us as much during the final confrontation between Quinn and Laurent, where Daryl encourages Laurent to kill his father's reanimated body, and Laurent disowns his true father once and for all. When Daryl leaves in the middle of the night, Isabelle boldly calls him out for repeating the cycle of father-son abandonment that left him so dysfunctional in the first place. Thus, when Laurent arrives on the beach he forces Daryl to finally confront the trauma left behind by his father. Will Daryl end up breaking the cycle and remaining by Laurent's side as a real father figure? Or will he succumb to the same weakness that caused his own substantial abandonment issues?

Although this season finale places a heavy emphasis on Daryl Dixon's attachment issues and his newfound connection to Laurent, some fans online aren't too thrilled about this "family trauma" storyline that the show has thrust into Daryl's lap.

As pointed out by many fans on Reddit, Daryl has already served as a surrogate father figure for R.J. and Judith Grimes, essentially raising both of them after Rick Grimes' disappearance in Season 9. This somewhat invalidates Isabelle's argument about "repeating the cycle," since staying in France would be an act of abandonment in itself. "I mean wouldnt he be repeating it more technically if he doesn't go back to rj and judith," argued u/KindlyPerspective389. "[Isabelle] seems to not realise Daryl knew her and Laurent for not even a month and knew his family for over a decade," echoed u/ndieneidnwkn. "But yet she tries to guilt trip him into staying it just made no sense to me for the writers to switch her up all of a sudden."

As such, one could argue that Daryl's "abandonment issues" concern his true family rather than his newfound French allies. To truly conquer his history of family dysfunction, Daryl will need to return to America and resume his role as the father figure to the Grimes children. If this explanation holds any weight, it could set up a very interesting conflict for Season 2 of "Daryl Dixon" — wherein Laurent and his religious allies attempt to stop Daryl from returning to where he truly belongs.

While the ending of "Daryl Dixon" primarily serves as a setup for the series' forthcoming second season, it's important to clarify how this season finale could tie into the rest of the franchise as a whole.

Most obvious is the return of Melissa McBride as Carol Peletier, who was originally slated to appear in "Daryl Dixon" but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. With McBride confirmed to appear in Season 2 of "Daryl Dixon," it's likely we'll see their story from the original series continue. Carol's presence in the show also means she will be away from the Commonwealth for the immediate future, and when she and Daryl return (if they return at all) they could find the oft-troubled community in another state of upheaval.

Because Daryl is still in France at the end of the series, this finale also makes it extremely unlikely that we'll see Daryl in the upcoming "Rick and Michonne" spinoff – something which will no doubt disappoint plenty of fans, since his original goal was to track down Rick Grimes. On top of that, it's important to note that both Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) find themselves in Manhattan at the end of "The Walking Dead: Dead City." If Carol and Daryl do return to America, it's not out of the question that we'll see them overshoot their destination and wind up further down the East Coast — potentially making a cameo in "Dead City" Season 2.

While some fans online were entirely unenthusiastic about the way this finale put pressure on Daryl Dixon to stay with Laurent (abandoning his real family back home in the process), showrunner David Zabel says that he had planned this ending from the start.

"That was really my first pitch on the story," Zabel explained during an interview with TheWrap. "At that point — he's not going to say it because he's not that kind of guy — he is like, 'I know I've got to do this. This is an obligation. Regardless of what I want for myself, I've got to do this thing.'" Zabel went on to say that this inner conflict is hinted at earlier in the episode when Daryl is trying to leave in the middle of the night. Zabel explained that Norman Reedus chose to play that scene with demonstrative frustration, angrily throwing supplies into his bag because he is torn on whether or not he should really leave.

Though this cliffhanger ending might not sit well with some fans, it's clear that both Zabel and Reedus wanted to emphasize Daryl Dixon's inner turmoil when he finally arrives on that beach — having discovered a new kind of family, and nearly abandoning them when they need him most.

It's safe to say that many fans were probably disappointed when it was announced that the rumored "Daryl and Carol" spinoff series would be moving forward with only one of its titular characters. On top of the fact that Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier are both fan-favorite characters who have been around since Season 1, their chemistry together is one of the undisputed highlights of the entire series.

Daryl's solemn journey overseas through France feels a little bit lonely when you remember he was supposed to be accompanied by his best friend, though "The Walking Dead" primary director Greg Nicotero says there was an unseen benefit in removing her from Season 1. "I think having the show concentrate on Daryl specifically and his experiences, to lay the groundwork for that and then to bring Carol in later, it allows for richer storytelling," he explained during an interview with TV Insider. "It just doesn't rely on two characters that you already know because then there are less places to go. I think it allowed Daryl to grow."

Nicotero went on to clarify that the return of Melissa McBride in the finale is also a boon for the series, since both McBride and Norman Reedus will have a good deal of involvement with the development of Carol and Daryl's next chapter. Nicotero said that it would be foolish to move forward without collaboration from these actors who know their characters so well, and reiterated his excitement at how Carol and Daryl will develop in the next season.

When Norman Reedus was asked about the story of "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon" in December 2022, Reedus said the spinoff felt like a "reset," telling Entertainment Weekly, "It's kind of a fresh start for us, with all the things that we loved doing, and just a whole bunch more."

Reedus' comments make much more sense in the context of the "Daryl Dixon" season finale, which feels much more like the start of a brand new story rather than a heartfelt sendoff for the grouchy, motorcycle-loving survivor. The finale opens up plenty of new plot points that could continue Daryl's story through multiple seasons, making it abundantly clear that Norman Reedus isn't done with the character just yet.

In addition to reprising his titular role in "Daryl Dixon" Season 2, Reedus also has several other high-profile roles lined up for the immediate future. Reedus' upcoming projects for 2024 include the video game "Death Stranding 2" (in which he provides the voice and likeness for Sam Porter Bridges) and the "John Wick" spinoff film "The Ballerina," in which he stars alongside Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas. While it will certainly be interesting to see Norman Reedus take on these fresh new roles, there's no doubt that most "Walking Dead" fans will be most excited to see him continue his role as Daryl Dixon.