The Walking Dead 906: Daryl’s new living situation

The Walking Dead episode “Who Are You Now” revealed that Daryl isn’t living among the communities. He’s off on his own, and it makes sense.

Daryl Dixon has always been a loner on The Walking Dead. Though he’s at his best when he’s working with his friends, he’s a solitary guy by nature. Seeing him living in a tent in The Walking Dead episode “Who Are You Now” makes a lot of sense for a number of reasons.

Early on Daryl is seen living in a tent. He goes fishing, and he goes on long walks in the forest. He’s on his own, very much removed from everyone else. This isn’t unusual, especially for the guy who lived outside when everyone else was living in houses when the group first arrived in Alexandria.

Daryl seems to have lost his desire to live in communities, which makes sense given that they that aren’t what they used to be. Ezekiel hinted that the communities are not on equal footing and that the Hilltop is much different now, and the Sanctuary is gone entirely, so it’s very likely that something happened that made him leave. Clearly he’s on good terms with Carol, which means he’d have a place to stay at the Kingdom if he wanted to live there, but he’s opting for his own fortress of solitude in the woods.

Maggie and Daryl formed a bond after All Out War because they both wanted to see Negan dead. Daryl talked about those feelings on the day Rick “died” after Rick discovered that Daryl was keeping him from stopping Maggie. With Maggie gone, the Hilltop has become a very different place based on what Ezekiel said. Maggie would be the only reason Daryl would stay at the Hilltop, so now that she’s gone he is gone, too.

The other possibility is that living in Alexandria is too hard for him after losing Rick. Daryl and Rick were like brothers. Losing so many people over the years has been tough for Daryl: Merle, Beth, Glenn, Carl…the list goes on. But losing Rick was the final blow, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Leaving to live on his own was probably a coping mechanism, not only to help him deal with his own grief but also so that he wasn’t forced to witness Michonne’s grief.

Alexandria would also be a difficult place for Daryl to stay because that’s where Negan lives. When we posed the question of a friendship between Judith and Negan, one reason it wouldn’t work would be that Daryl wouldn’t allow it. Daryl is Little Ass Kicker’s guardian angel, after all. But Judith is friends with Negan (at least when it comes to math homework) so that’s a sign that he’s not as involved in her life as we might have thought previously.

We will no doubt learn more about Daryl’s decision to live alone in the woods, but at the moment it makes a lot of sense that the lone wolf has returned to the wild. At least, for now.