10 worst decisions made by Walking Dead characters

7. Rick’s group do not go after the Governor following the first attack

Another time when Rick and his group neglected to deal with loose ends was at the end of season 2, after the Governor’s first attack on the prison. And this time, the consequences were huge: they lost Hershel, the prison and everything they had built there.

Of course, another person could have been chosen for this entry: Andrea, who had the chance to stab the Governor in his sleep and didn’t. It wasn’t really a “decision”, though, as she probably knew what to do but couldn’t bring herself to do it.

The Governor: Could you really sleep at night knowing he’s still out there?

Rick’s group, by contrast, had been given every proof that the Governor was a dangerous maniac, but they decided to give up the search. This allowed him to return and attack a second time, doing a lot more damage.

There were reasons for this decision: the family couldn’t have guessed that, instead of running back to Woodbury to prepare another attack, the Governor would mow down his own people and disappear. Once they found out, it was probably already difficult to find him.

Scouting: you might want to consider it

In spite of all this, given how formidable an adversary the Governor had been, it seems strange that Michonne was the only one who kept looking. Even Daryl had given up, a decision he bitterly regretted afterward, as he confessed to Beth in the episode of The Walking Dead titled “Still”.

If the trail had “gone cold”, as Daryl told Michonne, then surely it would still have been crucial to keeping an eye out for any sign that the Governor might be back? Scouting the area for other settlements would probably have been a good idea: Martinez’s camp was a big one, and it was essential to the Governor’s plan to mount a second attack on the prison, as he needed numbers.

However, the group saw nothing coming until it was too late.