Michonne has an X scar on her back in The Walking Dead, and it’s an important character detail in the zombie series. Here’s why she has it and the meaning explained.

Rick and Michonne are back in The Walking Dead fray now that The Ones Who Live is here. And having these two crucial characters back is proving to be a great experience for longtime fans.

Amid the fun of being reunited with two of the most important TWD cast members, fans might have spotted Michonne’s X scar in The Ones Who Live Episode 4 and had their memory jogged.

The scar was shrouded in mystery until an episode in the main timeline finally showed us where she got it. Here’s Michonne’s X scar explained.

Why does Michonne have an X scar in The Walking Dead?
In The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 14, Michonne is branded with an X scar by Jocelyn’s children.

Michonne fights Jocelyn’s kids in The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 14.
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The flashback episode ‘Scars’ reveals why Michonne doesn’t trust outsiders. She had let Jocelyn inside Alexandria, only for her to kidnap Judith. This led Michonne and Daryl to venture out to save Judith.

Daryl and Michonne were attacked by Jocelyn’s adopted kids, who were reared to be violent and ruthless by Michonne’s old ‘friend’. Jocelyn’s group capture and restrain the pair, before one of the children brands their lower backs with an X.

What does the X scar mean?

The painful X branding was done to ensure Jocelyn’s kids would continue being ruthless under Jocelyn’s teachings.

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Jocelyn’s philosophy was that kids make the best soldiers because they were born into a world ravaged by the virus, unlike adults who knew the previous civilization. She encouraged violence and made sure one of the children, Linus, did the dirty work. Her goal of making them as lethal as possible meant torturing Daryl and Michonne made sense in her evil mind.

The scar represents a haunting moment in Michonne’s past when she had to kill the group of kids to escape. It was a divisive moment and one of the series’ darkest turns, especially since Michonne was heavily pregnant with her and Rick’s son at the time.

For more from TWD, learn about The Ones Who Live cast and all The Walking Dead spinoffs. Or check out the other best TV shows streaming.