Daryl might continue to be a fan favorite, but it’s been years since Norman Reedus got anything particularly significant to do. Next, that may have changed.

For the sake of Walking Dead fans everywhere, let’s hope that Daryl’s new pet this season fares better than his old one. Remember seasons ago, when he rehabilitated a horse, just to see it eaten alive by walkers?

This time around, Daryl has opted for man’s best friend—and that’s not the only change he’s made. As seen briefly last week, and a lot more during Sunday’s episode, Daryl is now living on his own in a camp in the woods, guarded by his dog. For a while now, Daryl has been floating on the margins of The Walking Dead’s most important stories, rather than acting as an important player; most of the time, it seems the writers have struggled to figure out what to do with him, barely giving Norman Reedus a few grunts by way of dialogue each episode. Now, at last, it seems they’ve at least given him some direction—but will that grow into something more substantial?

At the very least, this episode made clear that The Walking Dead is trying to reconnect viewers with what they once loved about Daryl, re-establishing his core character traits and possibly introducing a new mission. Yes, he’s still a loner, and yes, Carol is still one of the few people who can get through to him. (This week, she even gave him a haircut, in a moment that’s sure to melt the hearts of any surviving Caryl shippers out there.) Daryl is still impatient, but also protective, as we saw during his heated exchange with the show’s new rebellious and foolish teen, Henry. We should all hope that Daryl’s quest to figure out what happened to Rick—years after his disappearance after the explosion on the bridge—doesn’t last too much longer, given Andrew Lincoln‘s departure from the series for a movie trilogy, but hey—at least Daryl has a goal now. It’s good to have goals!

But there is some cause for concern. Once again, Daryl has been split off from the main group, leaving him without any other characters to bounce off of. It’s a move the writers have used on him several times—like when he and Merle struck off from the main group, or when the Saviors captured him. Usually, these gambits are short-lived and quickly reversed—but if Daryl can cross paths with the group fairly often, as he did in Sunday’s episode, perhaps this arrangement is actually for the best. After all, Daryl has made it clear multiple times that he has trouble functioning in a community—and anything is better than watching him sleep outside like a sullen outcast, as we did when the group first arrived in Alexandria.

Ahead of Lincoln’s exit from the series, it had been suggested that Reedus and his crossbow-wielding character would take center stage in The Walking Dead—but so far, that does not appear to be the case. Instead, it’s Michonne who’s stepped up the most—a far more understandable decision, given her character’s central position in more recent seasons. It’s been Michonne who has developed, more than anyone, perhaps, into a capable leader—and with Rick and Maggie gone, it’s Michonne who appears to be struggling with what it means to be a leader who simultaneously must attend to her own battle scars. This week also introduced Jesus in a similar position over at Hilltop, trying to cope with the loss of Maggie. It’s not yet been explicitly stated what happened to her, but the character’s departure seems to have something to do with whatever divided the communities during that time jump. And whatever it was, it seems Maggie took Hershel and left without telling Michonne. Going forward, this continues to be the biggest mystery at the center of Season 9’s latter half—well, that, and what the hell the Whisperers want.