This clause contains spoilers – and spoiler - ish theories – about the most recent sequence ofThe Walking Dead , " East . "
Daryl Dixon is dead . Or maybe that should be : is Daryl Dixon dead ?
At this full point it ’s difficult to say . Daryl has been the most precious character onThe walk Deadsince he was acquaint early in the show ’s first time of year . Fans of actor Norman Reedus outwear T - shirts promising riots if the showrunners dare to publish him out or wipe out him off . And it was bound to happen;The walk Deaddoes not anticipate its casting much in the way of job security . But if there ’s one last virtually warrant to provoke an uproar , it ’s Daryl ’s . Not even Rick ’s safety seemed so assured – and he ’s thelead .
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Here ’s what we saw : Daryl left Alexandria in pursuit of Dwight , the Savior who kill Denise last week , and whose survival Daryl blames on himself . Rosita , Glenn , and Michonne , rightly fearing the worst , quickly followed . When briefly separated in the centre of the woods , Dwight and his Savior pal ambuscade the latter two . Daryl and Rosita attempted a rescue , only to run across a trap : Dwight was waiting for them . The episode terminate with Dwight shooting Daryl point - blank shell in the back of the head .
This seems cut and ironic . A heater to the head is n’t ordinarily an injury you take the air away from , and Dwight , having twice run afoul of Daryl ( and having sustained a jolly charnel injury during the last confrontation ) , has every reason to keep his dupe down . bring to that the over - the - top deluge of blood break into camera at the minute of the shooting and it ’s hard to reason out anything but the obvious . One niggling detail keeps hope alive : Dwight ’s final Word . “ You ’ll be alright , ” he drawl . Was it sarcasm ? Is “ you ’ll be alright ” codification for “ you ’re half - idle and for good disfigured , but it ’s mendable ? ” Does “ you ’ll be alright ” imply “ for now ” ? Nobody can say for trusted . walk Deadcontorts face time value .
Precedent might save Daryl ’s biography . The Walking Deadpulled our legs in the past , fritter us into opine that a character was dead only to reveal , an instalment or two afterward , that it was just a canny bit of misdirection . Only a few months ago , hungry walkers pull Glenn asunder after faceplanting into the horde . The show kept up the ruse , aggravatingly , for a whoppingfourepisodes before revealing the truth that he survive . That ’s only the most galling good example to date . Glenn had asecondbrush with death in the half - season premiere . Daryl ’s chum , Merle , " give way " before – surprise ! – re-emerge in season three . Even sister Judith had her dying briefly ( and cruelly ) teased back in the Governor days . At this point we should process every death as defendant until we see a cadaver on the ground or a head removed from the body .
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We ’ve been take note throughout the time of year that Daryl ’s last would n’t be a arrant surprisal , rooter love notwithstanding . It would make a certain moral sensory faculty , after all : Rick and the others have been so carelessly underestimating the threat of the Saviors this season that the most fittingly penalization for their hubris may be the exit of their strongest player . It would also set up up this new Big Bad as a villain worth taking severely . Negan is about to touch these two – and Rosita and Michonne – during next week ’s close . And it is very , very potential at this point that the stopping point will end with the scene readers of the funnies have been anticipating since the beginning of the season : Negan taking a baseball to the foreland of one of heroes . So even if Daryl survives this particular encounter there ’s no reasonableness to assume he ’s in the clear-cut .
Whatever the pillow slip , it ’s improbable thestoryof Daryl Dixon ended last night . Even if Dwight ’s bullet took him down , The Walking Deadwriters would give the man a right goodbye . ( bad - example scenario : a spry bleed - out and a few last Word . In the very least fan need something to remember him by . ) That ’s what wee the decision to stop the installment in such a way so frustrating . It ’s the most unblushing variety of cliffhanger : five brutal seconds that cast a dear character ’s circumstances into sudden doubt .
Meanwhile thirteen million viewers are go forth to look in torture until next Sunday night . Is Daryl dead or is n’t he ? We do n’t have a go at it and we ca n’t know . But the show knows – and have it away to make us wonder .
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