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.

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."

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.

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?

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.

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.