Summary
- Daryl Dixon's season 1 ending sets up a potential reunion between Daryl and Carol in the spinoff, although the timing is unconfirmed.
- The Walking Dead tends to punish its characters' good intentions, introducing conflict and loss as a result of kindness.
- Daryl and Carol both have a focus on helping others in season 2, which may put those they care about in danger or result in their own harm.
To help The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2, the franchise needs to avoid one particularly annoying trend it's used before. Daryl Dixon's season 1 ending set up the titular character's story to potentially continue in France.
Moreover, Carol is already confirmed to be joining the spinoff with her primary goal being to find Daryl. This strongly insinuates a Daryl and Carol reunion will happen in the spinoff. How late this may happen in the season, however, is unconfirmed.
The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon season 2 teaser highlights how fitting "The Book of Carol" subtitle for season 2 is, since it focuses on her journey through America during her search. On the other side of this, if Daryl remains in France, it's expected that he'll defend the Nest.
The Walking Dead's history of separating its characters or keeping them mobile usually extends or progresses narrative arcs, like the Savior war lasting two seasons or Fear causing characters to relocate frequently. Additionally, it introduces a higher potential for danger due to weaker defenses. Typically, a much more upsetting trend follows a setup like this in The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead Tends To Punish Its Characters’ Good Intentions
Across the franchise, The Walking Dead displays a tendency to punish characters with good intentions. Some examples include Carl saving Siddiq then getting bitten, Beth saving Dawn at the hospital only to later be shot by her, and Andrea being friendly with the Governor, then getting bitten and him killing numerous people.
This plot device was used when Morgan and his group set up supply boxes in Fear The Walking Dead, only to be attacked and tormented by Martha for it. All these instances suggest kindness in The Walking Dead can have a high price.
By using good-intentioned actions as a gateway to conflict or loss, The Walking Dead leans into the cruelty of a post-apocalyptic world. This has been used when characters are on the move, like Morgan broadcasting about his group's services to help others, which led to Logan finding them.
There are instances where kindness has led to positive changes, such as Michonne bringing the baby formula to the prison, setting her up to join and contribute to Rick's group. But generally, the sheer number of times good intentions have led to disaster in the franchise is enough to raise concern for any future good deeds in spinoffs.
Daryl Dixon Season 2 Sets Up Daryl And Carol To Help Others
Since Daryl is supposedly staying in France, his primary focus will most likely be on helping Laurent and Isabelle defend the Nest against Genet. Additionally, with Carol searching for Daryl, she'll undoubtedly try to help him too. Doubling up on helping others could potentially cause the duo to experience harm, given The Walking Dead's trend.
Therefore, Daryl might be killed off sooner than audiences suspect. Given his popularity, though, an alternative could be that the duo might get badly hurt, or those Daryl is protecting could be killed, causing him anguish.
If looking at Daryl's track record in season 1, his good deeds have thrown him off course. While this is a smaller effect than that of Carl Grimes' good intentions, for instance, it highlights how helping Laurent and Isabelle has already altered his story.
This is not to say his new narrative arc is a punishment as it stands, but it presents the trend in question on a smaller scale and possibly acts as a prelude to the good intentions expected from Daryl in season 2 now that he genuinely cares for both Isabelle and Laurent.
The major cameo in the Daryl Dixon spinoff plants the seeds for a potential Walking Dead season 12 and teases something big could be on the horizon.Firstly, to have them die before reuniting would be anti-climactic and make Carol's mission pointless. Secondly, with hints like Carol's radio call in episode 5 and speculations that the CRM may have some ties to Genet's experiments, skipping a Daryl and Rick Grimes reunion only to kill off the former would be dissatisfying.
While available information about The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live's upcoming stories aren't detailed, it would be best to keep Daryl and Carol alive until all aspects of their stories in the franchise are complete. This would avoid relying on fake-outs or the repetitive tool of punishing characters for their good deeds.
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