The Walking Dead says a final goodbye to Hershel and Scott Wilson

Hershel’s appearance in The Walking Dead “What Comes After” is a bittersweet goodbye to both the character and Scott Wilson.

There were a lot of bittersweet reunions in The Walking Dead “What Comes After” as the show wrapped up the saga of Rick Grimes and started a new one without Andrew Lincoln. But the most poignant was the appearance of Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene and Rick’s return to the farm, which was a special place for both the characters and fans.

Scott Wilson passed away just a few weeks ago, and The Walking Dead family is still grieving the loss. That fresh wound was ripped open again seeing Scott Wilson reprise his role as the beloved Hershel Greene in Rick Grimes’ last episode of The Walking Dead.

It was only right that Rick should hallucinate a return to the Greene farm, which was for all the survivors in the group the last piece of the life from before the end of the world. The farm was really a bridge between the old world and the new. And the peace and tranquility of simple life on the farm gave them one last chance to catch their breath before plunging into the new world and trying to learn how to survive and how to rebuild.

Injured Rick talks about staying at the farm, which would give him a chance to finally rest and be at peace. But Hershel tells him that he need to keep going and that he can’t stay. Although he doesn’t say it Hershel’s “We all have jobs to do” sentiment hangs in the air.

Hershel, Maggie, And Baby Hershel

In a move characteristic of the hero who never feels that he’s done enough Rick apologizes to Hershel for not being able to save Hershel from The Governor, and for not being able to save Glenn, and for everything that Maggie had to go through because of him.

And Hershel tells Rick that it’s ok, and that Maggie is strong and so is his grandson. Seeing Hershel talk about his grandson who bears his name and knowing that he is watching over Maggie and her baby is both comforting and excruciating knowing how much Hershel would have loved being a grandfather.

Goodbye Hershel, Goodbye Scott

As Rick moves on and the farm fades it sinks in that Hershel is gone forever now, and so is Scott Wilson. The grief that fans feel for the loss of Scott is very fresh but it’s tragically beautiful that Scott got the chance to bring Hershel back to life for one more scene. And that it was a scene in Rick’s final episode has a symmetry to it that is one of the hallmarks of this show. We never forget those we have lost, but we keep moving on. As Glenn said, “You honor the dead by going on, even when you’re scared. You live because they don’t get to.”

It’s also comforting to know that Scott got the chance to see his finale scene with Rick before he passed away. According to Greg Nicotero he shared the video of the final scene between Hershel and Rick with Scott Wilson before Scott passed away. It was fitting that as a new era of The Walking Dead begins fans got the chance to say goodbye to the two men whose faith, love, loyalty, and humanity has shaped the show from the beginning.