Even if Caryl never happens on The Walking Dead there’s no denying that Carol and Daryl have a very special connection. These are the ten best moments that these two beloved characters shared.
Carol Peletier has become a force of nature on The Walking Dead. So it’s really only natural that she and badass Daryl Dixon would have a very special relationship. Both come from backgrounds rife with abuse and neglect. But both have found the inner strength to overcome their pasts and evolve into tough apocalypse survivors. And both continue to evolve as the post-apocalyptic world changes around them.
The core values that the two share will keep their connection strong even if the Caryl relationship never happens. Over the course of the show these two have shared some beautiful moments that quietly prove even when they are apart their love for each other remains strong.
As two of the four remaining original Atlanta survivors their relationship embodies the values that Maggie talked about in her season 7 finale speech. Love, loyalty, and commitment to each other and to the group are everything to these two. They have always had a relationship rooted in quiet service and care for each other. Their relationship isn’t flashy. But their love for each other is evident in the small gestures between them.
Without the relationship that the two of them have it’s possible neither one would have evolved into the characters that they are now. In honor of Caryl here are the ten best moments between Carol Peletier and Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead:
3. We Ain’t Ashes
This was probably the deepest conversation that these two characters ever had. Carol is still in a dark place emotionally and she’s physically banged up too. They are stuck in the office building without any weapons because Noah took their weapons. They are still surveilling Grady Memorial trying to figure out how to get Beth out.
They start talking about everything that has happened and how it changed them. Daryl asks Carol about something she had said about him, that he wasn’t like he used to be. He asked her what she meant. She tells him that before, back in the quarry camp, he had been like a boy but now he’s a man. And he asks her how she’s changed. She tells him:
“Me and Sophia stayed at that shelter for a day and a half before I went running back to Ed. I went home, I got beat up, life went on, and I just kept praying for something. But I didn’t do anything. Not a damn thing. Who I was with him… she got burned away. And I was happy about that. I mean, not happy, but… and at the prison, I got to be who I always thought I should be, thought I should’ve been. And then she got burned away. Everything now just… consumes you.”
Daryl looks her in the eye and tells her, “Hey, we ain’t ashes”.
It’s a beautiful moment where he again gives her that subtle, quiet support that she needs. He doesn’t try to ignore or minimize her pain or what she’s going through. He just loves her. And lets her go through what she needs to go through. She does the same for her. The relationship that these two have is a great example of unconditional love. Neither tries to change the other person. They understand each other and accept each other unconditionally.
2. Daryl Sees Carol
From season 6 episode 13: “The Same Boat”
This episode really changed Carol forever. She was already emotionally conflicted about all the people she’s killed to protect herself and to protect the group. But the obvious parallels between her and Savior Paula really messed her up emotionally.
And when she had to kill Paula and the other Saviors to protect herself, Maggie, and the baby it broke something in her. She didn’t let that emotional pain keep her from doing what had to be done. She killed so that she and Maggie and the baby would survive.
But after she and Maggie locked the rest of the Saviors on the kill floor and lit the fire it triggered another evolution for her. When Daryl, Glenn, Rick and the others found her and Maggie Daryl immediately asked her if she was ok.
Daryl Knows She’s Not OK
He took her by the shoulder and looked her in the eyes to ground her and get her focused because he could see she was struggling. He asks her if she’s ok and she tells him no. He hugs her tightly and just hold her until she calms down.
He could see what the other didn’t see. He saw how deeply she was affected and the grief and uncertainty in her face. He knew that Carol was in a very volatile emotional state because he always sees her, the real her. He sees her struggles and sorrow and her pain.
The others never see that in Carol. They just see the chameleon who can adapt into any situation to gain an advantage or the capable killer. They don’t see her, not really. But Daryl does. And he knows exactly when she needs him to support her and he always gives her that support.
1. Daryl Finds Carol At The Kingdom
It seemed like a very long wait for Daryl and Carol to be reunited after Carol left the group and went out on her own at the end of season 6. But when Richard revealed his plan to start a war between The Kingdom and The Saviors and revealed Carol was at the cottage just outside The Kingdom’s gate Daryl of course went to her.
Seeing them reunited after so much loss was a great moment. But the moment that was the most poignant in their reunion wasn’t the emotional hug where they held each other so tightly, both of them crushed under the emotional weight of the losses they suffered. It was when Daryl lied to her about Glenn and Abe.
Carol was in the most emotionally fragile state she’s been in since she lost Sophia. Daryl, who always sees her vulnerability and fragility, could see that she was not ready to handle the news about Glenn’s death. He knew instinctively that she couldn’t bear it. So even though he was trying to bear the weight of his guilt and his pain and his loss he didn’t share that with her because he didn’t want to put that burden on her.
Daryl Lied To Spare Her
Instead, with an inner strength that can only come from the desire to spare someone you love pain, he kept that all to himself and told her that everyone was fine. It was a monumental act of love. He wanted her comfort and he wanted to share his grief with her but he kept it to himself rather than cause her pain. That is the very definition of selfless, unconditional love.
And in that moment he knew that he had to go back to The Hilltop and help Rick fight Negan because he would do anything and suffer anything to protect Carol from more pain and loss.
She had to have known he was lying. They have such a deep connection that she would have known immediately that something huge and devastating had happened. But she went along with his lie. She let him make it easier for her because it’s what he needed to do to make peace with the situation and go on.
Some people say that they don’t see any chemistry between Carol and Daryl and that the two of them wouldn’t be a good couple. What those people don’t see is that they already are. Their relationship is unusual and it might never turn into a relationship in a traditional sense, like Rick and Michonne’s or Maggie and Glenn’s. But these two survivors have a connection that transcends physicality. Their connection may be different, but it’s unbreakable. And beautiful.
As The Walking Dead story continues to unfold one thing that will remain constant is that Carol and Daryl will always be soul mates, even when they are apart.
