Our favorite moments from The Walking Dead season 5

Aaron Tells The Group About Alexandria

Season 5 Episode 11 “The Distance”

Joe says:

After weeks of barely scraping by and struggling to survive, Rick’s group was on edge throughout the beginning of season 5. With no faith in any other survivors following the events at Woodbury, Terminus, and Grady Memorial Hospital, anybody they came across needed to do a whole lot to earn their trust.

Enter Aaron. With promises of a community safely protected behind sturdy walls and supplies to go around for everyone, this should have been the perfect opportunity for the group. But, the survivors were tired of hearing about communities that seem perfect from the outside. The false hope from places like Woodbury and Terminus led the group to believe that you cannot trust anybody anymore.

Despite having photographic evidence of the protection Alexandria could provide, Rick’s instant reaction to knock out Aaron with a punch shows just how disillusioned the group had become. Without Michonne and others’ insistence that they at least check it out, the survivors would have continued their struggle to live out on the road. Even though Rick did not want to accept it, his found family was not going to survive much longer if they did not find a place to call home.

Not only did this moment introduce the fans to a fan-favorite character in Aaron, but, most importantly, it led the group to Alexandria. The community has served as a key location in the show since season 5, and will again be featured heavily in the upcoming season 10. While so many things on the show have changed over the past few seasons, Alexandria has remained a stable constant, which is why Aaron’s introduction is so important in the overall narrative of the show. While Rick and the others were reluctant, this moment eventually introduced the group to a larger world that would alter the trajectory of the show for seasons to come.