Welcome back, Multiversity readers, to another recap of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Last we’d seen our group, Daryl and Laurent were on their way to The Nest with Azlan. Momentum was going in the right direction after many things had gone wrong, but after Sister Isabelle decided to stay back, it again put a hamper on things. Now, let’s jump into “Deux Amours” and see what we have in the penultimate episode.

1. Trip To The Nest

Tensions are high, and spirits are at an all-time low since Sister Isabelle decided to stay behind so Daryl and Laurent can escape the city. The two have differing viewpoints on handling even the smallest things, such as fishing. Laurent has vowed to God not to eat animals and certainly not hurt them, but Daryl and the man traveling with them, Azlan, give him the okay and provide some clarity that God will forgive, given their circumstances. Once things go well, a group of zombies enters their camps and kills Azlan, leaving the two to figure out a way to The Nest alone. They head back to the river and find the rope to their boat has been cut, and Laurent admits to severing it. He explodes with emotion, telling Daryl how everyone he has known or cared about has left him, and if they were to make it to The Nest, Daryl would leave him, too. It’s a rare uncalculated moment for Laurent, who, up until now, hasn’t discussed his emotions and how he feels about being “The Chosen One.”

2. Sister Isabelle Situation
Now Sister Isabelle is in Quinn’s mansion, and although he allows her free reign and use of his servants to make or get whatever she wants, it’s essentially a prison in her mind. Quinn knows that she isn’t there because she loves him or wants to give him a second chance, but instead, it is just a means to an end for Daryl and Laurent, so he’s trying to maintain a happy face to win her back. Isabelle, however, is looking around the mansion for anything she can make into a weapon for what is initially assumed to be used against him to fuel an escape. Yet, we’re provided with some unfortunate truths about Isabelle’s past once the scars on her wrist prove some self-harm in her past. It’s uncertain what gets her to change her mind, but she pushes to go with Quinn to his meeting with Genet. Maybe she’s playing dumb to gain insight or trying to look for the positive in this grave situation.

3. Karma For Quinn
Since his introduction, Quinn has been shown as the quintessential business-savy bad guy who acts more important and intelligent than he is. His “deal” with Genet for Daryl quickly blew up in his face due to his ex-girlfriend. She gave the details of where Laurent and Daryl were going and captured the two of them. In the meantime, Quinn’s “big invite” to her place turns into him getting put into a cell with Daryl. Not only does this dose of karma bring a smile to the audience for this slimy character, but he has the nerve to try and threaten Daryl about “sleeping with one eye open” when he got his butt kicked in the previous episode in hand-to-hand combat. Either way, he can try and play the victim card all. Hopefully, he gets what’s coming to him in the final episode next week.

4. Hunting In Maine
Throughout the episode, we’re shown a flashback of Daryl hunting zombies in Maine. The twist is that he’s not hunting in the sense of clearing out a space for expansion or helping a local group; he’s bringing them in “alive” in exchange for pints of gas. It still isn’t explained why he was out so far, perhaps still looking for Rick and Michonne, but his skillset certainly comes in handy for this mysterious group. Things go sideways when one of the young hunters ends up on the wrong end of the hunt and is one of the zombies turned in. Daryl starts a fight with the guy who brought him in, and they both get knocked out and put aboard the freighter heading for France. Daryl is never one not to go down swinging, so once he escapes, he creates an explosion, destroying all the zombies aboard and working aboard the freighter. Thus, we finally get the answer to the age-old question: how did Daryl end up in France?

5. Cage Match
Now, how does this first season’s penultimate episode end? It ends with Daryl being dragged into a prison-like fight ring and facing off against a suped-up zombie filled with Genet’s mysterious concoction. They do provide him with a hatchet and burner or not. I’d still put money on Daryl getting out of there fairly quickly. A couple of things that stand out from this moment is Laurent being next to Genet during her hype speech to showcase that France is united and has no factions. A false face that he has to put on, or both Isabelle and Quinn would be killed. Then we have Stéphane on the other side of Genet yelling about revenge for his brother, but I can’t help but wonder why he’s even still around. He’s failed time and time again. Genet seems like a one-and-done type of leader with mistakes, but he’s barking like the big dog when he wasn’t even the one to get Daryl. Either way, next week’s finale will start with some good action.