The Walking Dead is a franchise with a history of redeeming, or at least trying to redeem, its villains, and I love a good redemption arc. Screen Rant was at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 when The Walking Dead team released their trailer for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, a trailer which strongly hints at a redemption arc for one of the antagonists of the first season: Stéphane Codron’s (Romain Levi).

If Codron’s actions in the finale of Daryl Dixon season 1 are anything to go by, his redemption could shape up to be one of the most captivating of the entire franchise. Further fueling that is the Daryl Dixon season 2 trailer, which suggests Codron’s potential redemption arc teased at the end of season 1 wasn’t just a fluke. Judging by The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 trailer, it looks set to become a major plotline, which is a great turn for the underrated villain and the audience.

Daryl Dixon’s Spinoff Looks Like It’ll Redeem Codron In Season 2

A Combination Of Trailer Hints And His Own Actions

I was shocked by Codron’s actions at the ending of Daryl Dixon season 1. Codron had spent virtually the entire season blaming Daryl (Norman Reedus) for his brother’s death, as Daryl was involved in the fight that killed him. I could feel the anger emanating from the screen, particularly as Codron had to put his brother down after he turned into a walker. I was terrified for Daryl’s life when Codron eventually cornered him and his group in the season finale, aiming a gun at Laurent. However, Laurent (Louis Scigliuzzi) merely says “God loves you” to Codron, making him kill his men and letting the group go.

After seeing Codron being dragged off to who-knows-where for betraying Marion Genet (Anne Charrier) in his failure to eliminate Daryl and tell her where The Nest (a sanctuary located in the fortress of Mont-Saint Michel) is, I felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. I was therefore happy to see Codron make an appearance in “The Book of Carol” season 2 trailer released at SDCC, albeit with a few major injuries. He is seen shooting at cars that I can only assume are part of Marion’s paramilitary group, Power of the Living, strongly hinting that his redemption arc has not yet reached its conclusion.

I cannot predict where exactly Codron’s redemption arc will take him in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, but wherever it ends up is likely to be a captivating story. It’s possible that he might cross paths with Carol (Melissa McBride) and assist her in finding Daryl, or he might strike out on his own for a bit, working to bring Marion and The Power of the Living down. What is for certain, in my mind at least, is that Codron deserves a shot at redemption, I just hope he lives to tell the tale.

Why Codron Deserves A Redemption Arc In Daryl Dixon Season 2

A Complex And Compelling Tale To Tell

I’m all for seeing Codron fight Marion and the Power of the Living in Daryl Dixon season 2. I just hope that the show fully explains his intentions and decision to let Daryl and the group escape, because it was a rather inexplicable moment in the first season. Nevertheless, Codron fully deserves a full redemption arc for several reasons. For starters, I’m always engrossed in villains who truly believe that what they are doing is right, even if those things are unspeakable. When Laurent told Codron that God loved him, perhaps this was a way of getting through to his principles to make him change his mind.

While Codron was wrong to blame Daryl for Michel’s death, he was right to be angry about it.

I’m also a sucker for antagonists with compelling backstories that fuel these principles, which Codron certainly has. Not only was his brother, Michel (Paul Deby) killed, but Codron actually had to be the one to put his walker down in a shocking and heartbreaking scene. While Codron was wrong to blame Daryl for Michel’s death (as Daryl did not actually kill him), he was right to be angry about it. Providing Codron with a redemption arc, and therefore the chance to come to terms with his brother’s death, is an opportunity for Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol to tell a captivating tale of fraternity and grief.

Whenever The Walking Dead franchise has provided villains with compelling backstories in the past, such as with the death of the Governor’s (David Morrissey) family, or Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) naming his barbed baseball bat Lucille after his deceased wife, I have found myself drawn most strongly to these characters and their storylines. Codron deserves a redemption arc, not just for his character’s sake, but also to add another layer of complexity and human emotion to the Daryl Dixon show. A story with two sides is an interesting dynamic that I have loved to see be explored in previous seasons of The Walking Dead, and Codron’s redemption arc is no exception.

Codron’s Redemption Arc Isn’t A Great Sign For His Character’s Survival

You Don’t Betray Friends Without Making Some Enemies

One of the first things that got me engrossed in the original The Walking Dead show was the premise that no character was safe from death in this post-apocalyptic world. Sadly, I have to admit that I believe Codron, for all his toughness and fighting skill, is not exempt from this rule. After all, Daryl Dixon season 1 ended with Codron being dragged away by Marion’s guards, presumably to be brutally tortured or used in her experiments. In fairness, I’m not sure what Codron expected by double-crossing a brutal leader like Marion.

Codron’s appearances in the trailer did not provide me with any more hope for his survival. I was initially worried that he wouldn’t appear in The Book of Carol at all. He is depicted wearing an eye patch and a sling, which, while certainly making Codron look even cooler, means that he has sustained injuries that have probably severely weakened him. One clip of the trailer sees him with a gun to his head, while another sees him firing a machine gun at a convoy of cars that are chasing him. These aren’t typically ideal scenarios that make me have faith in a character’s survival.

I think it is easy to admit that as soon as Codron shot Marion’s men and let Daryl and his friends escape, his chances of survival plummeted dramatically. Very few people betray powerful leaders and get away with it – when Simon (Steven Ogg) betrayed Negan in The Walking Dead, for example, the latter strangled the former to death. Nevertheless, killing off Codron (while a realistic consequence of his betrayal) may cut his redemption arc short, and it is possible that the producers of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon want to flesh out his story more before bringing it to an end.