Daryl Dixon Finds Love—But This New Romance Might Spell Trouble!

The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Season 2, Episode 2, “Moulin Rouge,” which premiered Sunday, Oct. 6 on AMC.

The Walking Dead‘s Daryl Dixon is one of the most shipped characters within the franchise. The irony is it’s utterly painful to watch him in romantic situations. For 10 seasons on The Walking Dead, Daryl never had one romantic encounter. He had a few that could be considered flirtatious, but the flirting was one-sided and done by the other person in the scene. Daryl just isn’t a guy who enjoys a casual or serious fling. Now, anytime Daryl does engage in romance — like The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Episode 2, “Moulin Rouge,” — it’s incredibly out of character. It’s enough to say Daryl and Isabelle Carriere’s friendship was a point of contention between fans of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon in Season 1.

Some saw Isabelle as a potential romantic partner, others saw her as just a friend, and a lot of people saw her as a threat to a popular ship: Caryl (the romantic relationship between Carol Peletier and Daryl). In particular, the latter group of people have exposed themselves as the most toxic group of fans who harass others for simply viewing Isabelle as a compelling character, which she is. The kiss between Daryl and Isabelle in “Moulin Rouge” is likely to rouse up the shipping war again, pitting two fantastic female characters against each other over a man who repels intimacy like bug spray to mosquitoes. But why is it against better judgment to force Daryl into romantic relationships, no matter who he’s with? There’s a long history of Daryl’s sexuality being a point of discussion on The Walking Dead that may explain people’s fascination with putting a ring on Daryl’s finger.

The History of Daryl’s Undetermined Sexuality on The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) holding a gun on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

Among love triangles, love-at-first sights and friends-to-lovers couples, Daryl was always the loner on The Walking Dead. Even Carl Grimes (a young teenager), Eugene Porter (a socially awkward creep) and Father Gabriel (a priest) got their shots at romance. But Daryl is content with the single life. Any interactions that hint of intimacy turn Daryl in the other direction. Carol once jokingly asked Daryl if he wanted to screw around, knowing how repulsed he would be, and his reaction gave her the comedic moment she needed. When Abraham Ford asked Daryl if he ever thought about settling down, Daryl avoided the topic with, “You think sh*t’s settled?”

These moments, and many more, puzzled viewers: “Why hasn’t the show given him a romantic or sexual storyline? Why is Daryl so okay with being single?” Eventually, viewers’ questions became more focused on his sexuality. Two of the biggest theories were that Daryl was either asexual or gay. Imagine it being 2012 or so, and one of the most masculine-appearing characters on television was theorized to be anything other than straight. Of course, the most toxic of The Walking Dead‘s male fanbase wasn’t going to have that.

These questions eventually reached both The Walking Dead creator, Robert Kirkman, and actor Norman Reedus, both of whom were open to the idea of Daryl not being straight. Reedus admitted that he read Daryl as asexual “quite a bit” and that he got a lot of fanmail thanking him for portraying an asexual character. But he also clarified that there’s a chance Daryl could open up, implicating a potential romance. This was in October 2019, nearly two years before the Leah romance. Kirkman’s answer in 2014 was more all over the place:

“We play Daryl Dixon as being somewhat asexual on the show. He’s a very introverted character and I think that’s some of his appeal. I do have to clear something up, though: in the letter column of the comic book that I do, I mentioned that there was a possibility early on about making Daryl Dixon’s character gay. It caused quite a hubbub online and I just wanted to clarify that the possibility is there and that I would have been fine with it, the network would have been fine with it, but we ultimately didn’t do that. I make it official: Daryl Dixon is straight.”

From both Reedus and Kirkman’s wording, it seems as though they misinterpreted asexuality as a quality that can be grown out of. Asexuality is considered a sexual orientation that someone is born with, only there’s a lack of interest in sexual activity and attraction to others. He can’t be “somewhat asexual” and straight at the same time. It’s possible this misinterpretation of asexuality’s definition is what led to The Walking Dead being open to a potential Daryl romance. But once someone is written as strongly asexual — even if Daryl reads as aromantic — for over a decade, it’s very hard to naturally write him as anything else.

Why Caryl and Donnie Are the Biggest Ships

Questions over Daryl’s sexuality leads into the chaotic, scary world of shipping on The Walking Dead. Shipping characters has rarely been a point of neutral and respectful discussion in this fandom. Disagreements about certain ships have gotten so out of hand that people have resorted to racism, ageism and ableism to prove their points. Awful bigotry within the fandom aside, Daryl is probably the most shipped person in The Walking Dead franchise.

Daryl’s nonconformist, lone wolf personality makes him a blank slate for potential romances. It also allows some fantasies about Daryl living out a classic romance trope. Out of all the major ships Daryl is involved in, canon or non-canon, there are two that stand out the most: Carol Peletier and Connie. These two are the most popular ships because of their deep friendship with Daryl, which people hope will turn into a friends-to-lovers storyline.

The Walking Dead Is Missing an Opportunity for an Aroace or Asexual Character

Isabelle Carriere and Daryl Dixon on The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon

It wasn’t until the third half of The Walking Dead Season 10 that Daryl got the romantic relationship people had been asking for. Only, it wasn’t with Carol or Connie. It was with a new Walking Dead character named Leah. The relationship developed off-screen in a flashback episode, stumping viewers to ask why, out of all the people Daryl could’ve ended up with, it was someone nobody got the satisfaction of watching Daryl grow a connection to. Daryl doesn’t open his heart up easily. He’s a stubborn man with only so much room in his heart. The brief relationship was odd, and Daryl had zero chemistry with her.

It wasn’t a relationship that naturally pushed Daryl out of his box. It was a relationship to check off a box of things to do with a decades-long character. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon at least gave a little more time to develop a bond between Daryl and Isabelle, showing some understanding that the titular character needs an unbreakable connection with a love interest. But eight episodes still isn’t enough time. Whoever this version of Daryl is, he’s rushing into things and letting his guard down too easily. The more in-character Daryl Dixon would’ve stayed reserved, and would be completely oblivious to Isabelle’s advancements.

This doesn’t imply that who Daryl was is always who he should be. There could’ve been a scenario where Daryl believed he was asexual or aromantic because the concept of romantic love was foreign to him, due to his abusive childhood, but he rediscovers his sexuality after experiencing love. But if this is the route The Walking Dead wants to go, they need to make it believable that he enjoys operating with romantic intimacy. Daryl’s body language and emotional psychology still portray him as someone who lacks romantic and sexual interest. Any kiss he has with anybody doesn’t match his stand-offish characterization.

The Walking Dead had an opportunity to give the aromantic or asexual community great representation. Daryl could prove that romantic interests aren’t needed to build a riveting arc. He grew from being a combative outsider to a trusted friend through platonic relationships alone. Daryl’s friendships with Carol, Connie, Rick, Judith and Maggie are emotionally-fulfilling enough as is. Why bother making him a character who yearns for romantic love, when he doesn’t act like he wants or needs it in the first place?

New episodes of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon air every Sunday at 9:00 PM ET on AMC and AMC+.