Warning: spoilers ahead for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, episode 4.

Even predictions that look watertight can turn out to be wrong, and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon proves it by ruthlessly debunking a popular Rick Grimes theory. Daryl Dixon season 1 was light on connections to the main show, but one standout scene promised a tantalizing link to the franchise’s wider universe. Contacting Carol over a crackly radio, Daryl heard his faraway friend utter the words “… came back.” Daryl desperately responded, “who came back?” but the signal had already been lost.

The mystery had only one obvious solution: that Carol was trying to say “Rick came back.” Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes went missing in The Walking Dead season 9, and remains the one AWOL character Daryl would be desperate to see again. That notion began looking less like a theory and more like a guarantee after The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live ended with Rick and Michonne at the Commonwealth. While The Walking Dead‘s timeline is far from clear, it was absolutely possible that Rick could have returned prior to Carol’s departure for France.

Daryl Dixon Reveals It Wasn’t Rick Grimes Who “Came Back”

Even Daryl Thought Carol Was Talking About A Person

An answer to Daryl Dixon‘s “who came back?” mystery finally lands in season 2, episode 4, “Le Paradis Pour Toi,” but couldn’t be further from the potential solutions that were speculated beforehand. After Daryl questions her about the fuzzy radio message, Carol admits it was never a person who returned, but a “feeling.” Strong enough to make her seek a vacation from the Commonwealth, the “feeling” Carol speaks of became a recurring element of her character throughout The Walking Dead, so the reveal stays faithful to her established character.

Carol’s feeling of unease bubbled up when The Walking Dead ‘s main group recaptured some normality after arriving in Alexandria.

Whenever Rick’s group settled in one place and began finding some semblance of peace, Carol would start getting twitchy and restless, unable to adapt to the calmness. Carol developed a tendency to dwell on dark thoughts during these times, separating herself from the main group and shutting off emotionally. That inability to switch out of post-apocalyptic survivor mode also caused cracks in Carol’s romance with Ezekiel, which she would later describe as nothing more than a “fairy tale.”

Carol’s feeling of unease bubbled up when The Walking Dead‘s main group recaptured some normality after arriving in Alexandria, so it comes as no surprise that the same happened in the Commonwealth after the main show concluded. Throwing herself into a dangerous mission to find Daryl Dixon in an entirely different country gave Carol an attractive excuse to distract herself from that inner turmoil.

Rick Returning Would’ve Been A Much More Satisfying Answer Than Daryl Dixon’s Actual Solution

Like Boston, The Walking Dead Needed More Than A Feeling

The reveal cannot be described as anything other than an anti-climax. By having Daryl ask “who came back?” season 1 clearly hinted that a character had returned, not something intangible like an emotion or feeling. The dramatic suspense of the radio cutting out at the worst possible time, meanwhile, afforded the scene an aura of being deeply significant for The Walking Dead‘s future. The answer provided in Daryl Dixon season 2 makes that setup feel rather misleading. Audiences were pulled toward thinking a character physically returned to The Walking Dead‘s group, but the franchise backtracks and attributes the line to a mere sensation in Carol’s mind.

Spoiling audiences with callbacks to the main show, long-awaited realizations, and juicy reveals would have justified the hype of Daryl Dixon season 1’s radio scene.

Character development is a crucial weapon in The Walking Dead‘s narrative arsenal, and the journey Carol has undertaken across Daryl Dixon season 2 has continued her story in a compelling and satisfying way. Not only has Carol’s new arc dealt with unresolved trauma from Sophia’s death back in The Walking Dead season 2, but Carol’s surprise – almost jealousy – over Daryl’s French friends also adds a fresh shade of envious green to her persona.

Nevertheless, it’s hard to get away from the sensation that Daryl Dixon‘s radio scene promised a major twist with far-reaching ramifications for The Walking Dead‘s universe, then season 2 delivers something very introspective that bears no real impact beyond one specific character. Going with the “Rick came back” theory offered a far more satisfying outcome. Daryl discovering Rick survived would have represented a landmark moment six years in the making, tying off the unresolved plot thread from The Walking Dead‘s ending when Daryl learned Rick might, against all odds, be among the ones who lived.

Michonne found the first sign that Rick could be alive. She then told Judith, who eventually passed the information onto Daryl.

Another benefit of revealing Rick came back would have been Carol giving the audience a Grimes family update, tacking an epilogue onto The Ones Who Live‘s ending. Perhaps Rick became leader of the Commonwealth, or maybe Michonne fell pregnant with another child. Spoiling audiences with callbacks to the main show, long-awaited realizations, and juicy reveals about what happened after The Walking Dead‘s series finale would have justified the hype of Daryl Dixon season 1’s radio scene far better.

Daryl Might Not Discover Rick’s Survival Until He Actually Returns Home

Viewers Might Be Waiting A Long Time Before Daryl Learns The Truth

Daryl Dixon may sidestep a golden chance for Daryl to hear the truth about Rick, but that moment still needs to come sooner or later. The last survivor who refused to abandon the search, Daryl went so far as to spend a period of time camped near where Rick “died” in the desperate hope that he would eventually resurface. Even when Daryl left the Commonwealth before his impromptu trip to France, he promised Judith to keep an eye open for any sign of her father’s whereabouts.

Not only must Daryl be rewarded for his loyalty and faith in Rick Grimes, audiences must be rewarded for their continued investment in Daryl and Rick’s unbreakable bond across 14 years of The Walking Dead TV shows. Carol telling Daryl about Rick’s return would have been one way to honor that, but such a resolution now looks destined to wait until Daryl eventually steps foot back in the Commonwealth, at which time he will be greeted by an old friend sporting a light brown shirt and shaggy beard.

The Walking Dead may have actually made a clever choice by keeping Daryl in the dark during Daryl Dixon season 2. If Carol had simply told Daryl about Rick’s return, what followed would have been little more than Norman Reedus’ character reacting in shock. If the first time Daryl realizes Rick cheated death comes when the two characters clap eyes on each other, however, The Walking Dead can deliver a proper grand reunion between Reedus and Andrew Lincoln, filled with tears, man-hugs, and an altogether more definitive conclusion to Daryl and Rick’s friendship. In the long-term, patience may yield greater reward.

With that said, holding off is still a big risk. If The Walking Dead is waiting until Daryl and Rick can be brought together in person, Andrew Lincoln will need to reprise his role for a cameo in Daryl Dixon‘s final episode, whenever that may come. If a big reunion doesn’t materialize, the decision to avoid Carol delivering the news in France could come back to bite the franchise.

Daryl Dixon Could Have Found A More Exciting Alternative To “Rick Came Back”

Heath Came Back!

Even if The Walking Dead did have a sound reason for steering away from the “Rick came back” theories, Daryl Dixon could have picked a better alternative than “a feeling Carol had a few seasons ago came back.” A less prominent character – Morgan or Heath, for example – might have made for a suitable mystery returnee. Fear the Walking Dead‘s ending already teased Morgan returning to Alexandria, while Heath’s status remains entirely ambiguous. Admittedly not as seismic to AMC’s franchise as Rick, either character rocking up at the gates of Alexandria would have made for a bigger headline than what Daryl Dixon season 2 ultimately goes with.

Another tantalizing solution would have been Carol revealing that the mysterious train community known as Designation 2 had come back to the Commonwealth. These unseen foes would expect to be greeted by the plastic smile of Lance Hornsby, the go-between they were dealing with previously, and would instead have found the Commonwealth under new leadership. The addition of a new antagonist rising in the United States would have then made Daryl and Carol’s need to return home in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 3 all the more vital, elevating the stakes even higher.

Episode
Release Date

“La Gentillesse des Étrangers”
September 29

“Moulin Rouge”
October 6

“L’Invisible”
October 13

“La Paradis Pour Toi”
October 20

“Vouloir, C’est Pouvoir”
October 27

“Au Revoir les Enfants”

November 3