If there’s one guy that’s guaranteed to survive the apocalypse, it would be Rick Grimes. His best friend, Shane Walsh, might have thought differently, but The Walking Dead continuously tested Rick with new enemies and intense ethical conundrums. Whatever Rick faced, he found a way to conquer it. That is until the Civic Republic Military (CRM) knocked on his front door.

Rick has no doubt been gone for a pretty long time. It’s been around six to eight years since Rick’s disappearance after the bridge explosion in The Walking Dead universe, and he still hasn’t made it home. Some people like Michonne, Judith and Daryl probably assume that Rick is being held against his will. It’s the only possible explanation why the family man isn’t watching his daughter and son grow up. Everything he does is to protect his children, after all. On The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, it’s technically true that the CRM is preventing him from leaving their facilities, but they’ve also manipulated Rick into switching his loyalty.

Rick Grimes’ Fears of the CRM Run Deeper Than Strength

Before the CRM, the only villain that truly shook Rick was Negan. The unexpected and brutal deaths of Glenn and Abraham in “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” pressured Rick to submit to Negan’s will. What Negan wanted, Rick was willing to get because he didn’t want any more people to die. He quickly snapped out of it thanks to Michonne convincing him to fight, but with the CRM, Rick has nobody. He’s all alone, apart from a potential ally named Pearl Thorne. But even she has accepted the CRM as the generating source of society’s future, despite its highly confidential and sketchy regulations.

Everything that’s happening with the CRM is like déjà vu to Rick. They want him to provide a service, whether it’s killing walkers or building new facilities across the country. They laugh in his face every time he fails to escape, because they know he’ll never be able to leave. Their restrictive guidelines, unlimited power and thousands of soldiers make sure of that. But those aren’t the things that Rick is scared of — it’s the thought of losing more people he loves that frightens him. Rick learns through Sergeant Donald Okafor that the CRM knows more about Rick than he ever believed. They’re aware of Michonne and Judith and where Alexandria’s located.

On the off-chance Rick does go home, CRM soldiers would have to kill him, his family and everyone at Alexandria to protect the CRM’s location. Rick’s desire to leave no longer became a dream for the future, but a pipe dream that’ll never be reality. It’s a smart move from Okafor; he knows Rick doesn’t care about his own life as much as his family’s. Okafor needs Rick to achieve his personal mission of changing the CRM at its moral core, and the only way to get Rick on board is to psychologically manipulate him into imagining Michonne and Judith’s blood on his hands. When he does, Rick no longer has the fearless and menacing nature that defeated Shane, the Governor and Negan. This is a man who trembles and cowers to his superiors.

The CRM Used Rick’s Best Qualities Against Him

Having observed Rick for over six years, Okafor knows what makes Rick tick. He’s a trueborn leader with a good heart, going as far as saving a little girl instead of taking advantage of his last good chance to escape. The only reason he’s at the CRM in the first place is because he sacrificed himself for his people’s survival. By no means is Okafor an angel for defending Rick to his boss, Major General Beale. Like everyone else, Okafor sees Rick as an opportunity to reach his own goal.

Okafor’s mission to improve the CRM is altruistic at its core, but his way of achieving it is selfish and exploitative. Rick is a tool that could’ve easily been thrown away if he’d denied Okafor’s request to join the CRM. But he knew Rick would agree because Rick isn’t like Okafor. Rick’s observation of the CRM wasn’t just that they were keeping him imprisoned. It was that they were keeping everyone imprisoned. Rick’s belief is that if he can’t escape, he might as well do what he can to make the Civic Republic safer for everyone else.

Is There Truly a Way Out for Rick?

Rick is in too deep with the CRM. He’s nearly unrecognizable by the end of “Years,” dressed like another mindless soldier that’s protecting the people that have trafficked and exploited him for the past several years. It’s not too late to say he’s too far gone, but he’s certainly on his way to it. Rick is stuck in a sad state of affairs — one that he’s probably conditioned himself to believe is his best course for the future. His empathy with Okafor’s cause is what’s going to make it harder for him to leave, even if Rick has reunited with Michonne. The latter will likely plea for Rick to leave, but he’s been reduced to a child who fears the repercussions of breaking the rules. He’d rather sit and obey, than disregard and suffer the consequences.

His happiness is no longer a priority to him, only the lives of his children and countless people in the Civic Republic. One could say that this is a symptom of what people have referred to as “Stockholm syndrome,” a term that gets thrown around recklessly in TV shows and films. Sure, Rick has the signs of sympathizing with his captors and their goals. He’s been psychologically, emotionally and physically abused to the point where he’s another hamster on the wheel. But to not mistakenly put a misinterpreted label on Rick’s situation, one could also say that Rick actually wants to change the CRM for the better. He did the same with the Commonwealth in the comics by inspiring the citizens to fight for a better future where civilization can thrive.

The sheriff’s deputy within him fights injustice when he sees it. Rick would willingly choose to stay at the CRM to continue Okafor’s work, only because he’s relentlessly altruistic toward people he doesn’t personally know. But this also isn’t condoning Okafor’s dirty methodology of tearing Rick limb by limb. Rick’s life is still in the control of other people, and he’s entirely the victim in this situation. Undeniably, it’s not the number of soldiers or amount of firepower that makes the CRM a formidable enemy. It’s the psychological torture and emotional manipulation that turns a resilient man like Rick Grimes into a shell of his former self. Time will only tell how Rick will pull himself out of this forced mindset.