The Walking Dead: Diverged, Carol and Daryl’s parallel symbolic journeys

The Walking Dead’s most recent episode, “Diverged,” followed Carol and Daryl along separate paths. We got to follow both of them along their journeys, but there were many instances when they experienced the same thing.

The episode starts with tension between Carol and Daryl that is so thick you could cut it with a knife. This is ironic because he then hands her a knife to aid in opening a jug of water. They carry on some small talk, and Carol realizes Daryl isn’t returning to Alexandria with her.

They come upon a fork in the road, which is symbolic of their relationship. As they head their separate ways, Dog chooses to go with Carol.

This episode’s filming is very well done with the back and forth shots between what Daryl and Carol experience in their own storyline.

The parallels and symbolism are heavy in Diverged

Carol spends the beginning of the episode trying to find something to keep herself occupied. She needs a job to do to make her feel like she is contributing. The struggle is there is no power, food is scarce, and her trip to find food wasn’t very successful.

Daryl’s bike breaks down along his own journey, and he sets out to find parts to repair it. Where Carol must find an occupation to keep her mind off of things, Daryl has to find parts to repair his bike to keep on his quest. They are both searching for something during their own quests.

In the pantry, Carol takes out the knife Daryl gave her to open some jars, making her thankful that he gave her the knife. When Daryl reaches into his pocket to use the knife, he is reminded that she kept the knife. We then see Carol using the knife to repair the solar panels. They can no doubt be thinking of one another during these times.

The hose on Daryl’s bike has a hole in it, and in Carol’s story, the lamp’s wire has been chewed by the rat. Two broken items reminding us of the brokenness between the two of them.

The rat gives Carol a purpose while also representing her inner turmoil. She must capture him, and she will feel like she has done something that needs to be done.

When the walkers advance on Carol, she can take her aggression out on them by killing them all, again making her feel useful. While Daryl is looking for parts for this bike, he encounters walkers and must kill them to either stay alive or get some much-needed supplies. Again it shows that Carol must do these things to deal with her feelings while Daryl has to do these things for survival.

Carol goes out to collect more ingredients for her soup and finds some nettles and dandelion greens. In Daryl’s story, he found the part to fix his bike. The struggles they both encountered, Carol, fighting off walkers and Daryl almost being smashed by the car, reminds us, again, that their burdens could have been lighter had they stayed together.

Daryl spies some walkers and notices one with fatigues on and a backpack that is sure to have tools he could use to fix his bike. He follows it into a ravine and kills it to retrieve the backpack. This mirrors Carol’s experience in the field while she is looking for supplies and kills the walkers. It may sound like a broken record, but this again shows the must-do for Carol and the have-to for Daryl.

See you later, asshole – They both use this line when referring to their respective problems, Carol to the rat and Daryl to the walkers. This shows the connection the two have even in their speech.

Though he encountered many obstacles, Daryl was able to fix his bike. While Carol chases the rat, it goes back into the wall, symbolizing Carol’s troubles leaving her for the day.

In the night, we see Daryl successfully fix his bike and drive off down the road. At the same time, we see Carol as she begins her battle with the wall while searching for the rat. All of her aggression, grief, and torment are taken out on that wall. And still, no rat.

In the morning, Carol’s soup is cooking, and she is sweeping up the night’s mess as nothing happened. Jerry comes along ultimately to check on her, which touches her, as she needs some human interaction, even if she won’t admit it.

Jerry tells Carol, “A best friend thinks your perfect, even when you are broken.” Carol wonders aloud what happens if your best friend is just the last person to realize how broken you are. Jerry hugs her as the rat walks out of the garage, taking some of her worries with it as Daryl rides in on his bike.

Daryl and Carol have an awkward moment during their reunion where they try some small talk, showing they are still friendly. When Carol offers to give Daryl the knife back, he tells her to keep it. If you remember, this was Leah’s knife and by letting go of it, is Daryl also letting go of Leah?

As they again go their separate ways and close the doors, does this close the door on the argument? Or just symbolic of closing the door on their personal torment?

Other symbolism to note: 

The scarf represents things Carol can’t fix, but sometimes she needs to realize she can’t fix everything and let it go.

The brokenness of Alexandria is reflective of the brokenness Carol feels.

The song that plays in the background is “No Worries” by Amateur Blonde, and the words to that song aren’t accidental.

Carol’s talks with Dog are conversations she wished she could ask of Daryl. Dog served as a Proxy for Daryl in this episode. One of the writers breaks this down in this article. 

I am sure there are many other pieces of symbolism that I have missed. What did you see that I missed? Tweet me and let me know @iowamamaof3

AMC will release the Walking Dead’s final bonus episode, “Here’s Negan,” on April 4.

AMC+ members can stream this episode on April 1, no fooling!