Judith has been through a lot in her ten years of life, and her revelation about Rick and Carl on The Walking Dead “Who Are You Now” is no surprise.
The Walking Dead fans have been cheering the arrival of time jump Judith Grimes, who single handedly took out enough walkers to save Magna and her companions. Though Judith seems to be a very well adjusted child of the zombie apocalypse, she made a very heartbreaking admission in The Walking Dead episode “Who Are You Now”: She’s starting to forget her father and Carl.
Judith Grimes, nee Little Ass Kicker, lost her mother, father and brother by the time she was four years old. Six years later she honors her fallen father and brother by wearing the sheriff hat and wielding a gun like her father did. She also keeps the Colt Python safe for use when she’s older.
The sad truth is that it’s getting harder and harder for the youngster to remember Rick and Carl, let alone their voices, which is why she feels so strongly about continuing their mission of helping others. She lives in a world where there are no family photos so she doesn’t have much to help her remember them. (It’s unknown at this point if Deanna’s videos survived this long, but those would be a great way for Judith to jog her memory)
Seeing Michonne and Judith together, and hearing Judith call Michonne “Mom,” is a reminder of how much these two have been through since Rick disappeared. The precocious little girl has grown up to be strong and independent thanks to Michonne’s influence, but there’s nothing that her mom can do to stop her from losing the memories of Rick and Carl.
Michonne, aware of what helping Magna’s group means to Judith, decides to bend her own rules and take them somewhere where they’ll be safe. She can’t bring the memories back, but she can honor Rick and Carl by helping Judith to help the new people. After all, Michonne can’t fault Judith for growing up to be the exact kind of person she and Rick would have wanted.
Judith may be too young to understand this now, but all she needs to do to remember her father and brother is to look in the mirror. Their spirits live on in her.