Daryl looking sad in 'The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon'

The season finale of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2 brings the spin-off’s time in France to a close, at least for the time being. After Melissa McBride‘s Carol took the bold step of flying to Europe in search of her best friend. The final chapter in The Book of Carol is now written, and rather than leaving Daryl behind and heading back to the Commonwealth with Ash (Manish Dayal) and Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), Carol will join her bestie, Daryl (Norman Reedus) for a trek across Europe in future seasons as they seek to return home. Director and executive producer Daniel Percival has discussed just how many episodes future seasons of the post-apocalyptic series will have.

Prior to The Book of Carol, the first season of the Reedus-led spinoff contained just six episodes. In that time, it wove a compelling narrative, bringing in several new characters for audiences to care for, including the now deceased Isabelle (Clémence Poésy). Season 2 ran the same program, and in a conversation with CBR, Percival commented on the prospect of more episodes in future seasons of the show. The Walking Dead franchise typically delivers well over six episodes a season, and Percival reveals that it’s an ongoing conversation being had, saying:

“There was a lot of discussion about the number of episodes. It doesn’t just involve Daryl Dixon . There are two other shows that are part of this franchise. They’re character continuation stories more than spin-offs, since we’re taking the lead characters on separate journeys. Scott M. Gimple is the person who has to overview them, the episode lengths and what’s going to work.

But there’s this constant discussion about how many we order and how many we can deliver. That continues with this season, too. We set out to make 12 episodes [total for Seasons 1 and 2], if that makes sense. And we made 12. Now we’re elsewhere, having the same conversation. It’s not set in stone, but it’s a manageable segment to budget, plan and sell. That’s really outside my decision-making, but I know it’s a conversation about whether it’s better to do more or less of these.”

Since the mothership series, The Walking Dead officially came to an end with season 11, the franchise has remained quite alive. The Walking Dead: Dead City and the other spinoff, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, are two of the most recent projects used to furnish the franchise. The Ones Who Live, stars the returning duo of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Danai Gurira as Michonne. Both spin-offs, just like Daryl Dixon, ran for only six episodes.

‘The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon’ Has A Future Beyond Season 3

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon holding onto the side of a wall in The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2
Image via AMC

A third season of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is coming in 2025 and with it the continuation of Carol and Daryl’s journey across Europe. Collider sat for a discussion with showrunner David Zabel regarding future plans for Season 4 and beyond. The showrunner concurred that those plans existed, while almost confirming that the six-episode season model might continue to hold sway going forward. “I have a little bit. Who knows if it will happen,” Zabel explained. “If we get a Season 4, it will be an outgrowth and a continuation of the story we’re telling in Season 3. That’s the pattern I’ve fallen into now. I think in 12-episode segments in my mind, which is two seasons of the show. There are six episodes in a season, so far. The first 12 were all of a piece, and if there’s a next 12, they will similarly be of a piece. If you ask me about Season 5, all bets are off. I have no idea about that.”

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 3 premieres in 2025. Stay tuned here at Collider for updates.