Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol episode 1.

Carol’s official Walking Dead return finally happened in Daryl Dixon season 2’s premiere, but despite how refreshing it is to see her involved in the story, one detail makes her appearance devastating. Given season 2’s title is The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon – The Book of Carol, it is no surprise that Melissa McBride is heavily involved in the project, and “La gentillesse des étrangers” proved her value. Despite Carol featuring in Daryl Dixon season 1’s finale, she only had some brief cameos in the previous installment, but she was the main focus of season 2’s opening episode.

McBride has been a constant part of the franchise since it first started, appearing in every season of the main show. Unfortunately, despite Carol being one of The Walking Dead‘s longest-surviving characters, she wasn’t given her own spinoff, making her future unknown. This made her cameos in Daryl Dixon season 1 all the more relieving, and her crucial involvement in season 2 means the zombie series hasn’t let such a great character go to waste. However, while her role in the spinoff will likely provide a lot of excitement and drama, it has already caused some serious heartbreak.

Ash’s Son Died In Very Similar Circumstances To The Walking Dead’s Sophia

Both Carol & Ash Blame Themselves For Their Children’s Death

The Walking Dead wasted no time adding tragedy to Carol’s return, as the first pivotal character she meets in Daryl Dixon is a reminder of her saddest moment. After spotting a plane, Carol manages to track its pilot, Ash, who allows her to stay the night and the two eventually become allies. During their time together, there is plenty of tension and drama, which eventually leads to Ash telling Carol about his son’s death. He tells Carol that he let his son wander off and that he feels guilt and remorse for not being able to save him.

Ash painfully blames himself for his son’s death, and his story is a brutal reminder of how Carol lost her daughter. After disappearing during season 2, Sophia later emerges from Hershel’s barn as a zombie, which is still one of The Walking Dead‘s most haunting deaths. The emotional moment absolutely devastated Carol and while she managed to grow from it and become stronger, losing her daughter was a topic she rarely ever addressed. However, Ash’s speech clearly affects her, and it’s obvious Carol is thinking about Sophia during their conversation, adding a heartbreaking element to her Daryl Dixon return.

The Ash & Carol Parallel Makes Carol’s Lie About Sophia Worse

Carol Lying About Sophia Being Alive Will Hurt Ash Even More If He Finds Out The Truth

Given Ash and Carol share such a traumatically similar experience with their children, Carol’s lie about Sophia looks even worse. Rather than trying to connect with Ash during his most emotional moment by opening up about Sophia’s death, Carol actually uses this repressed memory to her advantage and claims her daughter is still alive somewhere in France. Given her main goal is to find Daryl, she knows a plane may be her only way of getting to Europe. Therefore, she decides to appeal to Ash’s emotions and humanity by seeking his help to find her so-called missing child.

When Ash inevitably finds out the truth, it will crush him even more to know that despite Carol going through the same thing, she was still willing to use this for her own selfish reasons.

The fact that Sophia actually died around a decade ago makes her lie so much worse, as she is using Ash’s grief against him. He wouldn’t have agreed to help her had it not been for his own tragic history and Carol lying about her darkest moment shows how cold she can be. When Ash inevitably finds out the truth, it will crush him even more to know that despite Carol going through the same thing, she was still willing to use this for her own selfish reasons, demonstrating the drama still to come in Daryl Dixon season 2.